American-born yoga instructor and Alma studio founder Danielle Harper brings LA wellness vibes to Hawke's Bay.
American-born yoga instructor and Alma studio founder Danielle Harper brings LA wellness vibes to Hawke's Bay.
Opinion by Danielle Harper
Danielle Harper is a health and wellness expert originally from Los Angeles. In addition to a BSc in neuroscience, Danielle is a certified Gyrotonic® pilates and yoga teacher and is the founder of Alma Studio in Havelock North.
OPINION
Health and wellness influencers love to tell you, in painfuldetail, about their morning routines. They love to demonstrate their breathwork protocols and how to make their magical smoothie.
They film themselves getting into ice baths … every day. Yes, they provide information, but I’m not so sure how useful it is for self-betterment.
In a culture that glorifies influencers completely obsessed with themselves, we are blinded to foundational elements of our physical and mental wellbeing.
There is a glaring gap in the information provided by influencers. They don’t often talk about how to build one’s character, how to change one’s attitude, or how to build mental toughness.
They don’t provide information on how to build self-esteem - in fact, in general, influencers undermine most people’s self-confidence by making people feel “less than” - less tan, less fit, less glowy.
Influencers often do not have any qualifications to provide their advice, in fact most of their advice is simply advertising.
The fantasy world in which influencers operate doesn’t apply to most of their followers - a world in which their lives revolve around self-care, three-hour morning routines, expensive equipment, powders and potions.
In turn, their followers feel useless for not devoting their entire day, and bank account, to self-care practices. This dejection leads them to buy the influencer’s latest 28-day course or event ticket.
The system is broken.
Wellness influencers are not really motivated to increase their followers’ wellness - rather they are motivated to sell. Whether they are selling their own product, online platform or in-person event, they are providing information to steer their following to buy, buy, buy.
Even worse, they are paid to advertise other brands’ products that they have a singular incentive to endorse - a paycheck. The collateral damage is often the follower’s self-esteem.
While cold exposure is a science-backed practice for physical and mental wellbeing, it has become a rite of passage for health and wellness influencers.
Although I admittedly engage in holistic self-care practices like ice bathing, potions and powders - and I must admit I make a mean smoothie, I see these as extras. The basics to good health are all free.
Keeping your body fit and healthy requires 150 minutes of cardio each week and lifting heavy stuff two to three times a week. If you cannot afford a gym membership, you can lift a sack of potatoes and take your dog for a jog.
Of course the gym membership helps, and there are myriad ways to improve beyond that basic level of investment in yourself. However, on a rudimentary level, not much is required to keep the ticker ticking and all systems operational.
The foundational elements to mental wellbeing do not cost anything either. Not engaging in negative self-talk, focusing on the positives in your life, not comparing yourself to others. None of these things require you to spend money, and most of these things require you to get off social media and the endless comparison to others.
When assessing wellness practices in my own life I often look at things through the lens of a caveman. I ask if my ancestors would have had exposure to the particular product or practice in question, this tells me whether it is ingrained into my DNA.
Ice bathing is a great example of something our ancestors most definitely would have had exposure to, for millenia. I also look through the lens of modern-day science. Looking at the raw data to see if the latest potions and practices are worth the investment of both time and money. The use of peptides and exosomes in skin care is a great example where the data gives a big thumbs up.
The one place I am not looking for information is on social media - these platforms give anyone and everyone a space to profess their unfounded, uneducated and anecdotal opinions as gospel. I suggest you do the same.
