breathing room: wellness in my current season

There’s a kind of wellness I feel like we don’t talk about enough. Maybe it doesn't fit the picture-perfect aesthetic of wellness that has curated forbid via social media, or isn’t easily captured in a photo. The type of wellness that lives quietly in the small, almost invisible moments of a day. Not in our green juices or goal trackers, but in the gentle, barely noticeable moments when we allow ourselves to just be. That’s what wellness feels like to me right now: giving myself permission and intentionally making space for breathing room.

To feel.

To soften.

To be imperfect.

To not have all the answers (and to not force myself to go looking for them right away).

In this season, I am living well and redefining what that looks and more importantly feels like for me.

There was a time when I thought wellness had to look a certain way; I forgot about how it should feel. It began to get exhausting, the focus on the look and expectation of things (i.e., full morning routines, sharing every gain, perfectly posed photos, early morning gym check-ins, and perfectly portioned meals). And while there’s nothing wrong with any of those things, because I’ve done them all and still do. but they began to feel heavy. almost consuming my joy. I felt like I was checking off boxes for others and no longer for myself. Those things stopped feeling like care and started feeling like performance. I don't want to go through life, or my days, simply checking the boxes. I want to experience life fully, feel things as they are meant to be felt, enjoy things the way I want to enjoy them, and do the things I want to do. I want to slow down.

I want experience, not performance.

So, living well for me is about being softer and more human. It’s canceling plans when I know I can’t show up as my full self. It’s crying in the car for no reason other than my body needs a release. It’s curling up on a Sunday evening and turning Harry Potter on for the 100th time because I know my daughter loves it. Or sitting outside barefoot and doing nothing but watching the sky change colors without worrying about what needs to be done next, or “productivity.”

Wellness is about being honest with myself. about what I need, what hurts, what helps, and what heals. It’s about unlearning the pressure to keep up and learning how to simply come back to my center. Not searching, not rushing, just being still and finding my breathing room.

What Breathing Room Looks Like in My Day-to-Day Life

Nowadays, breathing room shows up in the smallest choices I make:

• When my alarm goes off, I give myself two slow, deep breaths and a moment for prayer and meditation before I reach for my phone.

• I leave one day a week without a to-do list so I can move at my own pace.

• I schedule “digital detox” days frequently.

• I prioritize conversations with my child, even the silly ones.

• my skincare routine is simple, not necessarily aesthetic.

• I take short five-minute walks throughout my day with no AirPods — just me and my thoughts.

• I allow myself to say, “I can’t” even when there’s an option to push through.

• I choose to romanticize the smallest moments of daily living (pouring my tea in my favorite mug, putting on a playlist that makes me feel, writing with a pen I love, lighting a candle before dinner, wearing perfume or my favorite essential oils, etc.).

• I curate a life of joy for me and my daughter based on things that feel good for us. and ‘work’ for us.

• I celebrate all of my wins, big a nd small, even if I don’t share them.

  
  

I realize that I don’t have to rush through my healing or my days, and neither do you. For me, breathing room isn’t only about rest; it’s about trust. Trust in God’s timing and that life is unfolding as it should. I don’t have to rush my journey, and I trust that I can hold space for all versions of myself. the tired one, the curious one, the growing one. I trust that slowing down doesn’t mean I’m falling behind.

I am allowed to rest.

I am allowed to not perform.

I am allowed to change my mind and heart as often as I need.

So if you, too, are in a season where your energy is tender or your healing feels slow, I hope this reminds you that your version of wellness is valid — and that it doesn't have to be a reflection of mine or anyone else’s. You don’t have to do life like anyone else. You get to choose what living well looks like for you.

And if all you did today was give yourself a little breathing room, well, that is more than enough.

Closing Reflection Prompt (for your journal or your heart), and I encourage you to think about it:

What does wellness mean to you right now, not what it used to mean, or what it should mean, but what it honestly feels like in this moment?

With grace,

Han