Looking back, I would say that the seed for my own rewilding lifestyle was planted back in my undergraduate career and has taken quite a few years to begin blooming. 7 years later, I have seen a full shift, impacting me in such a positive way and allowing me to live my best life. 

It has been through a combination of receiving higher education, personal experiences, working in the field of mental health, and through my own research and interactions with others that I have learned to think critically and begin questioning the mainstream. This has allowed me to find the best combination of what being healthy and living a meaningful life means for me. 

The Planting of the Seed

I spent four amazing years attending Bucknell University, where I received a very strong and positive undergraduate education and experience. Of all my time there, the class that still stands out to me as the most memorable and most impactful to this day, was my Critical Psychology course. This course introduced something brand new to me as a student. It challenged me and pushed me out of my comfort zone.

Up to that point in my life, academically, I had been taught to learn and take in as much information as possible - being tested, quizzed and expected to regurgitate all the information given. I was good at this, and a successful student because of my ability to memorize information. The Critical Psychology course taught me to do the opposite. To question what we were being taught and the information that was given to us, the intent behind it, and the audience it was meant for. For me, this seemed wrong and it felt uncomfortable to get up in front of my small class of 7 people and question the professor (who held a doctorate and was an “expert”). But, that is what he had us do each week, and it eventually became a little bit more bearable.

Like I said, this was the initial planting of the seed. I wish I had known then how powerful that lesson would be, and in how many different ways I could begin applying that throughout my life. Unfortunately, it was not until years later that I was able to comfortably incorporate this lesson. 

Question the Experts and Use Intuition

This personal experience is one in which thinking critically and being comfortable with questioning authority would have come in handy and changed almost a year of my life in many ways. 

For an internship, I was tested for Tuberculosis - something that had to be done in order to attend. My numbers came back on the “higher” end, but were not positive. Yet, my doctor at the time wanted to go ahead and treat me as if I tested positive anyways. I was young and worried and listened to the doctor’s “expert” opinion and knowledge surrounding the subject and went ahead with being treated.

I had to take a specific medication every day for 9 months. This medicine made me feel ill every morning, had me limit what I was able to put into my body and at the end, made my fingers and toes start to go numb. It was not until that point that I went to a different doctor with my symptoms of tingling and numbness. This doctor had then shared with me that I should not have been put on the medication from the start. 8 months later. 

Years after that, I learned of the long-lasting impact that taking any drug or medication has on my body and believe that my gut lining is still recuperating. Since then, I have been skeptical of taking medication and going to doctors unless it is absolutely necessary.

I have begun questioning what I put into my body, its necessity and its effects on me rather than blindly taking it because it was suggested.  

Mental Health Profession

Over the past 5 years, I have had various internships and jobs working with children and adolescents in the mental health field, doing individual therapy sessions. These experiences, paired with my own personal experiences, have taught me to further question and think critically about the mainstream.

Why is mental health such a needed field now? Why is our company’s waitlist a mile long? How are there currently not enough therapists to be seeing all of those in need? What is going on culturally and physically/mentally that is contributing to such demand?

I believe it is a combination of our Western lifestyle and healthcare system that has caused such an impact on mental health. I could write a whole additional blog post (and probably will at some point) on this piece but am going to quickly summarize what I believe to be the most negative impacts on current mental health - specifically with children/adolescents. 

• Sedentary lifestyle/too much time indoors

• Children need to be active, exercising and outdoors to boost mood and physical health

• Technology and overuse of it

• Too much screen time and easy distraction takes away from children’s ability to help themselves through difficulties/anxieties (a very important skill that many of the kids I see are currently lacking)

• Social media and constantly worrying about/comparing self to others 

• This takes away from children’s self-esteem and confidence and adds to anxiety/depression 

• Medication as a “quick fix” 

• Medication is not always the answer, sometimes it takes questioning what changes I could make to better my own outcomes - this takes effort and work and is definitely more difficult, but also much more rewarding and beneficial

Seeking Further Information/Viewpoints

If you are, or were like me, and know something is off with your current lifestyle or could be better - whether you are feeling anxious, sad, or that something is missing - make a change.

One way to help in shifting toward rewilding is seeking out information or other viewpoints than those of the mainstream. I can almost guarantee, at some point in conversation with friends, family members or coworkers, the topics of social media being negative or the lack of time spent doing things one wants to be or knows they should be doing (like going to the gym, getting outside, or spending quality time with friends/family) has come up more than once. Here are some ways to begin informing yourself and seeking inspiration/motivation: 

• Have conversation with like-minded people

• Have conversation with those who differ and respectfully question and listen 

• Listen to podcasts that voice different viewpoints on topics

• Do your own research

• Read books 

• Click Here to see a few that we really enjoy 

• Find out for yourself what makes sense to you and what can benefit your own personal situation/lifestyle.

• Trust your intuition!

For myself, my husband was my biggest push/motivation for shifting my lifestyle choices. Before meeting him, I battled with deleting and redownloading social media ( Why I Choose to be Social Media Free) and would go back and forth with various workout routines and diets, always losing interest and going back to previous ways.

Because of his experiences and willingness to share the benefits he has reaped, he has motivated me to make changes in my own life. I am now social media free, eating cleaner, working out more regularly and know for a fact that my mental health and physical health are so much better because of it. We get outside much more and I find I am challenging myself in ways that make me feel stronger and more confident in myself quite frequently. 

Conclusion

At the end of the day, you are all you have. No one else will advocate for you, like you will. It’s up to you to recognize what may not be going the way you would like in your life and question why that may be. It’s not easy to go against what most people think they know or follow, but you will become that much more resilient and confident in yourself for doing so and your quality of life will grow exponentially.

Starting to question the mainstream and thinking critically has led to very positive changes for myself - being more conscious of what I am putting into my body, balancing work, exercise and time outside, and limiting my screen time by ridding myself of social media. All of this has lessened my anxieties and stress and increased my quality of life for the better. I encourage you to begin taking your first step to rewilding and reflect on what changes you can make and where you can begin.