In this post: Feeling anxious, exhausted, or achy but not sure why? I’m sharing my personal journey of discovering holistic healing for better health & happiness — plus practical resources to help you start your own holistic healing journey.
Have you ever felt like something was just… off?
Your body feels tired, your mind feels foggy, your emotions feel all over the place — but you can’t quite put your finger on what’s wrong?
That was me not too long ago. And what I discovered changed everything.
Now I’m not a doctor, but when I learn about something that has had such a huge impact on my health, I’ve gotta share it with you… But, as always, please take your own unique circumstances into account and use this as inspiration rather than straight-out advice.
When Everything Just Felt… Off And I Didn’t Know Why
For months, something had just felt off for me.
I was more anxious than usual and couldn’t seem to follow through with my usual mindset work. My legs ached at night. My sleep was broken. My moods dipped in ways I couldn’t explain.
And the brain fog? Ugh. Some days, I felt like I was wading through clouds just trying to think straight.
At first, I figured it was just stress and grief. Or maybe something to do with my kidney condition. Or maybe I was just… getting old. 😱
But then I spoke to a psychologist — and she suggested something I hadn’t really considered:
“It could be perimenopause.”
I didn’t know much about it at the time. I’d assumed it was just hot flushes and irregular cycles — and that I wasn’t old enough to be experiencing that just yet.
But the more I looked into it, the more the puzzle pieces started clicking into place…
The Perimenopause Revelation
Once I looked into it properly, I couldn’t believe what I found.
Things like frozen shoulder, achy legs, brain fog, low moods, sleep issues… all common symptoms of hormone changes that many women aren’t told about.
And these symptoms can start earlier than you may think – anywhere from your 30s onwards.
So after realising that I was experiencing menopause, I started hormone replacement therapy (and after learning that it’s not as risky as many of us have heard).
I won’t pretend it was a magic fix — I had a bad reaction to part of the treatment at first when it literally knocked me out — but once I found the right balance, I started feeling a little more like myself again.
And that, paired with what I did next, made a HUGE difference.
The Diet Wake-Up Call I Never Expected
I’d been working on my mindset for years — journaling, meditating, doing the inner work.
But I’d never taken a deeper look at my diet — because honestly, I thought I was doing okay.
I was eating mostly in line with the typical health advice I grew up with… Wholegrains, low-fat dairy, lots of fruit and veg, not too much junk.
Then I joined a round of WildFit, a food program that was newly included in my Mindvalley membership (here’s my affiliate link if you want to check it out and get $100 off — I highly recommend it!).
And oh wow. It opened my eyes.
I learnt:
🍬 Sugar doesn’t just affect your waistline, but can also impact your mood and thinking.
🌾 That grains (even the “healthy” ones) can be hard for our bodies to digest — and can cause inflammation and pain (which I now know was the main reason for the aches in my legs).
🍿 How some foods provide no nutritional value because they are so far removed from the foods our bodies evolved with.
As part of the WildFit reset phase, I removed sugar, dairy and grains completely — and it brought me so much awareness. I could actually feel the difference and was able to notice which foods cause me problems in my body and/or mind.
I couldn’t believe I’d just been putting up with pain for so long — because I thought it was just how things were.
The Mind-Blowing Connection Between Everything
Honestly, it still blows my mind how much our mental, hormonal and physical health are linked.
And how little we’re taught about looking at the full picture.
When I zoomed out, I realised that what helped me most wasn’t one quick fix. It was taking a holistic approach — looking at my mental health, hormones, and diet together — and making small, doable changes across each area.
That’s what this whole journey taught me: our bodies and minds aren’t separate systems. Everything’s connected. And sometimes the answers we’re looking for aren’t where we expect to find them…
It seems obvious in hindsight, but it’s not something that’s talked about a lot, especially in the modern-day culture of seeing specialist doctors who only look at one part of the puzzle.
Resources That Actually Helped Me
If you’re curious about where to begin, here are the things that made the biggest difference for me:
🧠 Understanding Hormones & Mental Health
- Perimenopause: The Anxiety & Depression Link – The Imperfects Podcast
- Women’s Mental Health & Hormones – Prof. Jayashri Kulkarni on The Imperfects
- Michelle Broad on Menopause & Mental Health – The Unlearning Project
- The Pause Life by Dr. Mary Claire Haver
- Balance App for tracking what’s happening with your cycle
🥕 Food & Lifestyle Stuff That Opened My Eyes
- WildFit Program through Mindvalley (seriously, this was game-changing for me!)
- How to Boost Mental Health Through Better Nutrition – American Society for Nutrition
- A New Study Reveals the Shocking Link Between Diet and Burnout – Food & Wine
- The Real Problem with Grains and Pain – Integrative Pain Science Institute
- Are Grains Driving Your Pain? – The Spinal Centre
🌿 Extra Support Tools
- EFT Tapping for Anxiety – Brad Yates (weirdly effective!)
- Insight Timer for mindfulness support that can help calm your thinking for better self-awareness
- Emma @ Therapy in a Nutshell – her whole anxiety playlist is gold
- See the Proud Happy Brave shop for mindset and mental health resources
- Read My Daily Self-Care Routine That Keeps Me Healthy & Happy to learn more about what I include in my days
Where to Start If This Resonates
So if anything I’ve shared today resonates, consider this your gentle nudge to look into it for yourself.
Here’s where I’d start if I were doing this all over again:
🧐 Start listening to your body. Are certain foods making you feel worse, not better? Keep a simple journal for a week or two and see if you notice patterns.
🧬 Check in with your hormones. Talk to a GP or women’s health specialist who gets perimenopause and knows the signs. Don’t let anyone dismiss your symptoms as “just stress” or “part of getting older.”
🥗 Explore a program like WildFit if you’re ready to go deeper into the food side of things. It’s not just about weight loss — it’s about understanding how different foods actually make you feel.
🩺 Find healthcare partners who actually listen. This might take some shopping around, but it’s so worth it to find practitioners who look at the whole picture instead of just treating individual symptoms.
🥰 Be patient with yourself and the journey. This isn’t about overnight change — it’s about small steps, self-kindness, and becoming your own best advocate.
You Deserve to Feel Good
You deserve to feel good in your body. You deserve to feel clear, emotionally stable, and well.
And sometimes, the answers are there — they’ve just been hidden under years of messaging that told us to “just get on with it.”
I’m not a doctor (so of course I can’t give you advice specific to you or your body), but I can tell you that making these changes — and looking at the full picture — has made a real difference for me.
So start doing your own learning and advocating for yourself. I know that can be daunting when you’re a sensitive introvert, but it’s also one of the best things you can do for yourself and your happiness.
Holistic healing for health and happiness isn’t about being perfect. It’s about paying attention. Tuning in. And being willing to question the “normal” we’ve been told to settle for.
And I’m cheering you on the whole way 💛
Much love,
Sarah xo
Disclaimer: I’m not a medical professional, just someone sharing her personal journey in the hopes that it’ll inspire you to find your own answers. Please talk to your own healthcare team about what’s right for you.
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