Welcome to Holistic Happiness
I’m Jessica and I’m here to take you on a journey through the wonderful world of holistic living.
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My own search for a lifestyle that nourishes my mind, body and soul began in my late teens when I read James Redfield’s novel The Celestine Prophecy. It opened my mind to an alternative view of life and how to live it. It also made me realize that caring for my soul wasn’t just a nice-to-have detail for my well-being: it was a vital must-have that was just as important as caring for my body and mind.
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When I graduated from university in 2005 and got my first job I still firmly believed that true health was only possible when your mind, body and soul are nurtured and in balance. That belief never really disappeared but the more I got caught up in the rat race and worked my way up the career ladder, the more it faded into the background.
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So by the age of 35 I had an impressive job title and nice salary but my soul, mind and body were starving. I had stopped doing the things that made me feel joyful, enthusiastic and passionate, I had lost connection to the people and things that were important to me and I felt stressed, unhappy, overwhelmed and stuck. Outwardly I looked successful but inwardly I was empty, unhappy and off course. By this time stomachaches, nausea, extreme tiredness and sleeping problems were also a part of my everyday life. But I kept going. Until one spring morning in 2017… That day started as usual with me dragging myself out of bed while feeling sick to my stomach. I went into the bathroom to get ready and dressed for another day at the office while trying to ignore this weird feeling inside me. When I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, my heart suddenly began racing. I also felt very dizzy and nauseous and my vision went all blurry. At that very moment I really believed there was something seriously wrong with my heart and that I was going to die so I was taken to the emergency room where they monitored me closely for the next five hours. But the doctors couldn’t find anything physically wrong with me so they sent me home saying it was only a panic attack. When I got home I couldn’t stop crying and I felt completely burned out. Not just physically but also mentally, emotionally and on an energetic level.
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At first I couldn’t get my head around the fact that this physical, mental, emotional and energetic breakdown was caused by the thought of having to go to work but slowly the truth sank in... For the past ten years I had been living a life that starved my mind, body and soul of the nourishment necessary for me to thrive. I had created a life based on living up to other people’s expectations and judgments instead of pursuing my own dreams. My life lacked meaning, purpose and spiritual connection and I felt as if I had lost my authentic self. And that was not how I wanted to spend the rest of my life.
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Fast forward to 2023
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Although my body physically never fully recovered from my burnout I don’t think of it as a bad thing that happened to me. Which may sound strange since living with memory issues, brain fog, concentration problems, fatigue, a hypersensitive nervous system and fibromyalgia (chronic pain) isn’t always a walk in the park. But my burnout also gave me the courage to create and live a life that is true to myself. It also helped me to take better care of myself. For instance: eating foods that make me feel my best, getting more high-quality sleep, making time for silence and self-reflection, finding healthy emotional outlets such as writing and art journaling, living with purpose, achieving spiritual and personal growth, living life aligned with my values and spending time on meaningful contributions to the world.
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I’ve been blogging and writing about these subjects since 2022 when I created the Flemish website Ziel&Zo (I was born in Flanders – the Dutch speaking region of Belgium – and I still live there) but I also love the English language so I decided to give my Flemish website an English sibling where you can find all sorts of information, tools and techniques to help you live a happy and holistic life. I hope you enjoy exploring this website and I wish you a nice day!
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Love
Jessica