Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand April / May 2017: Health & Wellness Issue | Page 36

From the Ashes of Disaster
It took just five
minutes of breathing
exercises to lift my
energy and spirits in an
amazing way.
Then I started reading more
about health, and I became in-
creasingly conscious from doing
so. I gradually removed pork from
my diet. If I felt like having a piece
of sausage, I would have it. But
when you start to show the body
that there are other ways of eating,
the body feels so good! And your
body begins to ask for those good
things.
After removing beef and pork, I
removed seafood and fish from my
diet. A four-year journey lead me to
where I am today: I am now a vege-
tarian and have been for more than
10 years. I do not smoke or drink, and
I have even stopped consuming caf-
feine, too.
I used the word “journey” on
purpose.
The difficulty with quitting smok-
ing, drinking or eating unhealthy
foods is that there are emotions at-
tached to these things. While I re-
spect the people who can quit a hab-
it from one day to the next, a gradual
process is what worked for me.
When you’re on a journey, you
do not need to inflict violence on
your body or your emotions. Instead
of using forceful phrases like, “You
have to!” it is better to say, “I want
to.” I want to gift my body with nu-
tritious food. I want to be able to
breathe deeply. I want my body to
feel energetic.
When I made changes to my health
starting in 2002, it wasn’t fashion-
able — most people then did smoke
and drink and eat meat. Things are
different now, and you may be feeling
a lot of pressure from other people
to change your unhealthy habits, be-
cause health and wellness have be-
come the latest trends.
If there are changes you’d like to
make in your life — eating better,
sleeping better, working less, enjoy-
ing more — then perhaps you can
embark on a journey of wellness, one
that you do just for yourself, allowing
you to make changes on your own
terms. If you take one step at a time
and see your changes as a process,
rather than one giant leap, then one
day, you might look back in amaze-
ment at how far you’ve come.
The journey toward wellness is
a gift to you — a valuable one that
lasts a lifetime. It’s something worth
celebrating. All you need to do
is begin.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amelie Yan-Gouiffes’s job and passion is inner diamond mining.
She is a motivational speaker and public speaking coach who
empowers people to uncover their inner diamonds and unleash
their full potential through her “Be and Become®” programs. To learn
more about personal and professional development through public
speaking, contact Amelie on www.facebook.com/beandbecome
and on her Public Chat www.viber.com/beandbecome.
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