MY JOURNEY TO WELLNESS

After my mom’s 40th birthday, she suddenly developed a completely new lease on life. She decided to adopt a healthier way of living, particularly when it came to nutrition. Shortly after, we began to eat very little red meat and processed food, and added plenty more fruit and vegetables to our diet. I will be forever grateful to her for being a positive influence on me, and inspiring me to live a healthy lifestyle.

Shortly after, I discovered the life-changing magic of yoga. I remember reading a copy of Shape magazine with an article on Christy Turlington in it (she was the perfect example of ‘health goals’ for me). This was way before the rise of walk-in yoga studios and Uber, so all I had as a reference point was that magazine and Christy’s six asanas…and I’ve been hooked on yoga ever since!

It’s true when they say, “You are what you eat.” (I’d like to add that you are also what you drink!) When I moved to Cape Town in 2014, I really embraced the ‘wine farm’ culture - having lazy picnics with lots of food and wine - and found myself consuming way more alcohol than I used to. I eventually made a conscious decision to be more mindful, and have since cut down significantly on drinking alcohol as a first step in fostering a more active lifestyle that involves activities like hiking, running and swimming.

I turned 35 last year, and trying to maintain a healthy body as an older woman hasn’t been easy. I developed a number of gut issues in my late 20s, which have also been a challenge, so last year I decided to get to the root cause by seeing a functional medicine practitioner. They conducted a detailed genetics test which gave me an overview of my health markers, revealing the dietary guidelines I should follow based on my gene type. I consider myself a constant seeker, and am now exploring Ayurveda as a path to being healthier and more grounded, especially when it comes to improving my gut health. Developing a daily ritual of meditating, even if it’s just for five minutes, has been truly beneficial too. It feels like giving your mind a good vacuum clean.

My hope for my health journey is to continue to be curious about ways I can take better care of my wellbeing. It’s about developing habits that can be embedded in everyday life, living from a place of peace, gratitude, and focusing on the progress I am making – not on perfection. Being a solo entrepreneur means I have little room to get ill, so I try my best to get enough rest and make time for self-care to avoid burnout - something I have suffered from year after year. I’ve learned you need to set healthy boundaries and come to terms with the limitations of having only 24 hours in a day, and doing your best with them.

Finding sustainable solutions so that everyone has a better tomorrow is also very important to me. I spent the past year working with a team at the World Bank, looking at innovative ways to curb the high rate of youth unemployment. I’ve also recently been appointed as a board member at the Goodwork Foundation, a world-class NPO that’s committed to improving the education and employment prospects of young South Africans in marginalised communities. It is this work paired with my journey to wellness that give meaning to my life, so they are things I strive towards every day.

If you’d like to find out more about me, my journey to wellness, and my other adventures you can follow me on Instagram at @instamozzie.