Welcome to Women Who Inspire Wellness – September Edition! Today, we’re going to learn about Brittney Earnshaw, an inspiring young woman with a balanced view of health and wellness. She says when it comes to healthy living, you can’t skip the process.
Healthy Living Encompasses All Areas of Life
I asked Brittney what the word “health” means to her. She said that health is something that encompasses all areas of life, not just what you check up on with your GP. To her, it’s about how you take care of your body, your mind, and your relationships. That can mean your relationship with others, yourself, or even your relationship with the world.
Exercise Isn’t Everything
She doesn’t necessarily have a daily exercise routine. Brittney told me she actually used to beat herself up over not working out. But then she realized that while she didn’t have to do it all, that also didn’t mean she should give up completely.
That was when she decided to sign up for a barre/yoga class and eased into it by going once a week. And she was amazed by the difference getting a little weekly exercise made in her life! She began losing weight, gaining and muscle and always felt great after a yoga class.
Brittney said she plans to prioritize more workouts in the future, but she’s not there yet and for now it feels good to do what she can and still reap the benefits.
I started slow too, and it worked out great for me!
Self-Care is a Balancing Act
When it comes to self-care, Brittney says there is a lot of “treat yo’self” out there (we’ve all seen it), but self-care is also about simply being honest with yourself and allowing yourself the space to cop with your emotions. Self-care can mean developing healthy coping mechanisms when life gets tough.
Sometimes, a face mask and Netflix binge is self-care. But, sometimes it can look more like getting that work-out done when you don’t feel like it, but you know you’ll feel better after. It could also be sitting down to journal through something you’ve been avoiding.
Inspiration Overload
I asked Brittney who inspires her and she let me know that she’s come to realize that she has a tendency towards what she calls “inspiration overload.” She believes that she looks for guidance from too many people and assumes everyone else is “doing things right.”
Recently, she took the time to narrow it down to just a few people who are living the sort of life and being the type of person she wants to be. This narrowed-down list includes Sorerlle Amore, who is very popular on YouTube and Instagram. What Brittney admires about her is her vulnerability and how adventurous she is. She looks up to her as a business woman, and adventurer and a person in general.
An “Imperfect Vegan”
Something Brittney and I definitely agree on is our disdain for “diet culture.” The way she puts it, “diet has become sort of a dirty word defined by restriction and numbers, but really it’s just what you eat.”
As far as “diets” go, Brittney transitioned to eating vegan last year. She’s fascinated by both nutrition and sustainability, and the more she learned, the more pointed her in the vegan direction. As a “recovering cheese addict,” she says she “relapses” in the mac n’ cheese department from time to time, but besides that she’s doing really well with it. It helps that when she gives into dairy cravings, it usually results in stomach problems and breakouts. When she sticks with it, she feels healthier than ever.
The Importance of Reading Fiction
Okay. I asked Brittney what her favorite book is and I scared the poor woman! She says she is too indecisive for favorites, but she does love the entire Anne of Green Gables series (who the hell don’t?!). I must wholeheartedly agree when she says “they are the purest books I’ve ever read and so timeless, and Anne is someone I looked up to as a girl and continue to look up to as a woman.”
She goes on to share a few other books she loves and then mentioned t hat she could have also shared a list of self help books, but she believes that the importance of learning to appreciate fiction is often overlooked.
Health & Wellness Aren’t Unattainable
If Brittney could start her journey with wellness over again, she would focus on educating herself the best she could. She says there are a lot of trendy headlines floating around out there but if there’s anything she’s learned, it’s that people like to skew things to fit their agenda.
The most important thing she’s learned through this journey is that health and wellness aren’t big, unattainable things. You shouldn’t dread these routines. It’s all about shifting your mindset and realizing that these are areas of life we should be exploring. It’s adding value to your life, not placing restrictions.
By focusing on health and wellness as things that will bring more good into your life and open you up to new experiences and opportunities, not as things that take away from your pleasure. She’d like to say that she would do a lot of things differently, but admits that back when her journey began, she didn’t have the emotional maturity. It took a process to develop that.
You can’t skip the process!
Follow along on Brittney’s journey over at https://kieraco.com/
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