IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE ALL OR NOTHING: THE FREEDOM OF ADAPTABILITY

I first dove into the world of wellness, holistic living, and all things related to health about 12 years ago. Rather, I dipped my toe 😂 Mind you I was 19 at the time, so ramen noodles, red vines, and binge watching Netflix were STILL certainly part of my repertoire. Fast forward to 31 years old, my day to day life looks a little different, and the things I fuel my body and mind with certainly look A LOT different.

But here’s the thing, we all start somewhere. And quite honestly, I think the biggest change in our lives comes from the small, sustainable changes that we make over time - versus an entire life overhaul that tends to leave us depleted and disappointed in a short amount of time.

When it comes to finding true health, it really is simple, and when we get our bodies into some semblance of balance, they really can handle A LOT. It’s all about ADAPTABILITY. It’s NOT about obsessing over only eating a certain way, exercising with no rest days, and micromanaging every aspect of your health to the point of mental turmoil. While this isn’t me saying go out and be wild with every decision you ever make regarding your health, this IS me saying that finding health and BALANCE isn’t reliant on being perfect 100% of the time.

The beauty of adaptability? That when we encounter stressful situations, less than optimal food choices from time to time, an abrupt job change, relationship struggles, and many more things that tend to fill our hearts with opportunities for problem solving - OUR BODY CAN HANDLE THEM when operating from a state of adaptability.

So how do we harness the power of adaptability? It’s kind of like a muscle that needs training within the body, we need both ample opportunity to grow that muscle AND to rest and restore that muscle.

Things that decrease our body's ability to adapt well:

• Low quality sleep
• Overtraining/overexercising
• Incessant stress
• Excessive alcohol/drug consumption
• Chronic dehydration
• Poor diet devoid of quality nutrients
• Nervous system dysregulation

Things that increase our body's ability to adapt well:

• Consistently good sleep (nose breathing at night especially!)
• Working out the appropriate amount for your body (and for females, in sync with your cycle)
• Prioritizing REST (this doesn't always mean taking a nap, rather taking intentional time to unwind on a regular basis)
• Staying truly hydrated (electrolytes versus JUST drinking plain water all the time) 
• Nourishing your body regularly throughout the day (this makes our body feel safe, and in turn - balanced) 
• Incorporating some form of stress relief on a regular basis (reading, taking walks, journaling, listening to music, exploring new hobbies) 
• GETTING ADJUSTED (getting adjusted tangibly shifts your body into parasympathetic mode, i.e. rest & digest!) 

When it comes to achieving adaptability within our body, it really just boils down to the basics. Now basic isn’t always easy, BUT overtime just start incorporating tiny changes until they become a regular part of your life, THEN add in more 😊

This post was inspired by watching an Instagram story of someone i follow. They’re in the wellness sphere, and her and her family were at a baseball game eating *GASP* baseball hotdogs *END SHOCK* So many people would look at that and call it hypocritical. I look at that and think, WOW, what a real representation of what REAL life and a healthy relationship with your body and wellness looks like. When our body’s are able to adapt to stress well, we’re not over concerned and hyper analytic about the occasional baseball stadium hotdog, because we KNOW our body can handle that small amount of stress when we properly care for them a high majority of the time. Now if we’re constantly bombarding our bodies with ultra processed fake food......that’s a blog post for a different day 😉

The point of this blog post is to highlight the importance of finding balance within our body, and within our wellness lifestyle. And it’s all rooted in adaptability!

Dr. Jordan + Dr. Pete