Health has become one of the biggest businesses in the world.

Don’t worry, this is not suddenly going to become an economics newsletter. I am not about to start discussing the stock market or asking you to invest in green juice companies.

But just so you know, the Global Wellness Institute valued the wellness economy at $6.3 trillion in 2023, representing approximately 6% of the entire global economy. It also projected that this figure could reach nearly $9 trillion by 2028.

Six point three trillion dollars spent on helping us exercise better, sleep better, eat better, look younger, reduce our stress, improve our digestion, balance our hormones and, apparently, live forever.

If you look around, it sometimes feels as though everyone is trying to become healthier.

Of course, “being healthy” means something different to each person.

For one person, it means going to the gym once or twice a week. For another, it means avoiding processed foods and keeping sugar to a minimum. Someone else may remove all fat from their diet, become vegetarian or follow the latest eating plan they discovered online.

One person will aim for ten hours of sleep every night, while another will feel very pleased about reducing their cigarettes to five a day.

We all have our own scale of health.

But today, I want to talk about the moment when looking after our health stops being something that supports our life and slowly becomes the centre of it.

When healing becomes another objective.

When food is no longer food but a complicated calculation.

When movement is no longer something we enjoy but something we must complete.

When an afternoon spent doing absolutely nothing makes us feel guilty.

And when we become so busy trying to live a long and healthy life that we forget to enjoy the life we already have.

We are constantly encouraged to do more.

Wake up earlier. Exercise more. Become more productive. Earn more money. Drink more water. Take more supplements. Improve your morning routine. Track your sleep. Track your steps. Track your glucose. Track your cycle. Track your stress.

We soon may also need to track the amount of time we spend tracking ourselves…

The message is always the same: the person you are today is not quite enough, but perhaps with another routine, another product or a little more discipline, you can finally become the improved version of yourself.

Of course, wanting to feel well is not a bad thing. Taking care of our body is important. Moving, eating nourishing food and sleeping enough can support our physical and emotional health.

The problem begins when health turns into fear.

Fear of eating the “wrong” food. Fear of missing a workout. Fear of gaining weight. Fear of ageing. Fear of resting. Fear of losing control.

This is particularly relevant for women experiencing functional hypothalamic amenorrhea, or HA.

HA is often connected to a combination of low energy availability, exercise and psychological stress. The body is not necessarily receiving enough energy to support everything we are asking it to do. According to the Endocrine Society’s clinical guidance, recovery often involves correcting that energy imbalance by eating more, improving nutrition, reducing exercise and, for some women, gaining weight. Psychological support may also be an important part of recovery.

But many of us arrive at HA precisely because we became very good at doing more while giving ourselves less.

We exercised more because exercise was healthy.

We ate less because being slim appeared healthy.

We removed foods because someone online told us they caused inflammation.

We ignored our hunger because discipline was praised.

We slept less because there was always something more productive to do.

And then, when our period disappeared, we sometimes approached recovery with exactly the same mentality.

We researched harder. We followed recovery rules. We analysed every physical sensation. We watched for cervical mucus. We worried about whether we had eaten enough fat, rested enough or gained enough weight.

Healing became our new full-time job.

I understand this because my own definition of health has changed considerably over the years.

I used to be vegetarian, and I was also vegan for a period of time. At that moment, I genuinely believed it was the healthiest way for me to eat.

I am not saying that veganism or vegetarianism is unhealthy. Many people feel very well eating this way, and a thoughtfully planned plant-based diet can work beautifully for them.

But it was not working for me in the way I believed it was.

Sometimes we become attached to an idea of health even when our body is quietly telling us something different. And we don´t listen.

For me, reintroducing some dairy and a little meat helped me feel stronger and supported my recovery. It was not because these foods are magical or because everyone needs to eat them. It was because I needed to stop following an external definition of health and begin paying attention to MY own body.

That difference is very important.

Health is not simply a list of “good” and “bad” foods.

It is not a diet that works perfectly for one woman on Instagram and therefore must work for you.

It is not automatically vegan, carnivore, gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, fat-free or anything-else-free.

Sometimes, with all these rules, the only thing our meals are not free from is anxiety.

Have you ever noticed that one person seems able to eat anything without gaining much weight, while another person’s body changes much more easily?

There are many possible biological and lifestyle reasons for this, including genetics, appetite, hormones, body composition, movement, sleep and differences in metabolism. Our bodies are simply not identical.

Ayurveda understood individuality through a traditional system of constitutions, or doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha.

This is not the same as a modern medical explanation of metabolism, and it should not replace medical advice. But as a traditional way of observing patterns in the body and mind, it helped many things make sense to me.

Ayurveda does not begin by asking, “What is the healthiest diet for everybody?”

It asks, “Who is this person?”

How is her digestion? What is her natural constitution? What is happening in her life? What season is she living through? Is she feeling depleted, overheated, restless, heavy or ungrounded?

The same food, routine or form of exercise will not necessarily affect two women in exactly the same way.

And doshas are not only used to reflect on physical tendencies. They can also help us observe patterns in our thoughts, emotions and behaviour.

As someone with strong Pitta tendencies, I recognise the desire to have an objective and reach it. Sometimes, a bit too much.

Pitta likes direction. Pitta enjoys improvement, organisation and accomplishment. Give Pitta a goal and she may arrive with a strategy, a spreadsheet and a deadline before you have finished explaining it.

These qualities can be incredibly useful.

But when health becomes the goal, that determination can become another form of pressure.

We do not simply want to feel better. We want to recover correctly, efficiently and preferably ahead of schedule.

Unfortunately, the body does not always respect our deadlines.

When you have amenorrhea secondary, it is natural to want your period back.

You may want reassurance that your body is functioning well. You may be thinking about fertility, bone health or your future. You may simply want to feel like yourself again.

But your period is not a prize awarded for perfect recovery behaviour.

Your body is not withholding it because you failed.

And you cannot bully your hypothalamus into feeling safe.

You can nourish yourself, rest, reduce excessive exercise, receive appropriate medical care and work on the emotional patterns surrounding food and movement. These are meaningful actions.

But there is also a point at which you have to allow your body to respond in its own time.

This is where yoga becomes much more than physical postures.

In yogic philosophy, vairagya is often translated as non-attachment or dispassion.

It does not mean that we stop caring.

It does not mean becoming passive, ignoring our health or pretending we do not want our period to return.

It means doing what we can without gripping the result so tightly that our entire peace depends on it.

We can eat enough without examining our body in the mirror after every meal.

We can rest without demanding evidence that the rest is “working.”

We can support our recovery without making recovery our whole identity.

We can care deeply while accepting that we cannot control everything.

This is difficult because we live in a culture that celebrates control. If something is not working, we are told to work harder, find a better strategy or optimise the process.

But perhaps healing is not always something we can force.

Perhaps sometimes the practice is to create the right conditions and then step back.

A farmer can prepare the earth, plant the seed, give it water and protect it. But she cannot pull the plant out of the soil to make it grow faster.

One of the reasons Ayurveda is so close to my heart is that it reminds us that we are nature.

Nothing more and nothing less.

Nature does not produce constantly.

Trees do not carry fruit throughout the entire year. The earth does not remain in permanent summer. There are periods of growth, flowering and abundance, but there are also periods of release, quietness and apparent stillness.

We accept this in nature.

We do not stand in front of a bare tree in winter and accuse it of lacking discipline.

Yet we expect ourselves to remain equally energetic, sociable, productive and motivated every day of the month and every season of the year.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons we have become so disconnected from our bodies. We expect them to behave like machines while asking them to look perfectly natural.

Ayurveda offers another way of thinking about health.

Health is not a trophy that we finally obtain after completing the perfect routine. It is something we cultivate through our relationship with food, sleep, movement, nature, other people and ourselves.

It changes as we change.

What supported you five years ago may not support you today. What works during summer may feel completely wrong in winter. What nourishes your friend may leave you depleted.

Real health requires attention, but it also requires flexibility.

Even rest has become something we try to optimise.

We use meditation to become more focused. We practise yoga to become more flexible. We sleep to perform better tomorrow. We walk to reach our step target. We spend time in nature because an application told us it would lower our stress.

There always has to be a result.

But can you do something that has no measurable outcome?

Can you sit in the sun without listening to an educational podcast?

Can you take a walk without counting the steps?

Can you eat something simply because it gives you pleasure?

Can you lie on the sofa without calling it “nervous-system regulation”?

Can you practise yoga without turning it into exercise or another attempt to fix your body?

Can you have an afternoon during which absolutely nothing impressive happens?

This does not mean giving up on yourself.

It means remembering that you are a human being, not a permanent self-improvement project.

Maybe health is not about following every recommendation.

Maybe it is about having enough energy to laugh with your friends, enjoy your food, travel, create, love, work, rest and occasionally stay up later than planned because the evening is simply too enjoyable to leave.

Maybe health is being able to miss a workout without anxiety.

Maybe it is eating dessert without needing to compensate tomorrow.

Maybe it is choosing the food your body needs, even when it does not match the identity you once created for yourself.

And perhaps healing begins when we stop asking, “How can I control my body?” and begin asking, “How can I build a kinder relationship with it?”

If you are experiencing amenorrhea, please remember that a missing period should be medically assessed. HA is a diagnosis made after other possible causes have been excluded. Rest, yoga and Ayurveda may support your well-being, but they are not substitutes for an appropriate medical evaluation.

Then, once you have the support you need, perhaps you can loosen your grip a little.

Eat the meal.

Take the rest.

Go outside.

Enjoy the afternoon.

Let something remain unfinished.

Your health matters enormously.

But you are allowed to have a life while caring for it.

With softness,

Audrey