Have You Asked Your Yoga Instructor for Wellness Advice? If So, You're Not Alone...

Your yoga instructor or the associate in the supplement aisle are not your best resources to understand your wellness options. Here's why.

The internet has loads of information about health and wellness, but the sources vary widely and it can be difficult to discern what is truthful, credible, well-researched information. Much of the information in the health and wellness space is provided by individual practitioners (a physician, a yoga instructor or wellness coach, for example), a patient advocate (someone who has beat cancer and who is now providing advice about how to beat cancer), or professional organizations offering the appearance of a broad position however these, too, are primarily based upon one paradigm (WebMD for example focused on the allopathic model).

Each of these have significant limitations often looking at a one-size-fits all approach. Since one person’s experience does not always translate to another person’s experience, in some cases, wellness advice could actually be harmful. What if you asked your yoga instructor what he or she recommended in terms of diet and they told you that you should become vegan. Well, this is a great option for some people but, for others like those who are predisposed to certain types of anemia for example, this could be harmful. Yet this kind of advice is currently being given freely all the time from people who are not experts in this area.

There are plenty examples of patient advocates who have beaten cancer, for example, and who have since written books and made their entire livelihood in sharing and recommending strategies for others to copy and hope that they have the same result. This kind of information sharing is absolutely critical and has an important place in raising awareness however often these recommendations are limited to their own, very limited experience. Ultimately some of these strategies can be one important slice of wellness, but it is incomplete and often applied in limited ways.

While this kind of information regarding non-traditional wellness options are ubiquitous on the internet, there is nowhere for people to go to ask questions and to get comprehensive, well-rounded, educated guidance about wellness choices and how and what to integrate in their particular situation. The usual guidance of “for further information, please speak to your physician” is no longer sufficient in this area as complementary and non-traditional modalities are not the expertise of allopathic, functional, or even naturopathic physicians.

When we do not get the information we need, often we will resort to asking anyone who may know anything at all that could possibly help them. Sometimes people go to their yoga instructor or ask the associate in the supplement aisle of their local wellness store, for example, about advice and in turn often receive anecdotal, opinion-based guidance. Often without appropriate training, credentials or real-world application to support these recommendations, we still listen to this advice since we do not know where else to go.

There Are Other Options!

The Wellness Journey Club is here to help you navigate through your questions about complementary and alternative options. We have created a new wellness model integrating the best parts of many modalities. Our goal is to make alternative options and complementary options accessible to everyone in an educated, fun way.

Ask us your questions today!

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