Hello, my friend! How are you?
I hope you are enjoying our beautiful spring. May is quickly becoming my favourite time of year in the Okanagan. Everything is so lush and green, and the air is clean! It’s also the perfect temperature for walks, hikes, and anything outdoors.
My hope is this month's newsletter will nourish your spirit and plant positive vibes in your headspace to help you achieve your health goals this season and beyond.
This month's content:
- Practicing health imperfectly
- A glimpse into my own imperfection (personal)
But first: an admin task:
As a reminder, I have changed up how I do newsletters. Going forward, the purpose of this newsletter will be to bring you health tips, information, special offers, and personal stories I don't share anywhere else. This is intended to enhance the experience for patients working with me + provide plenty of value for non-patients too.
**For clinic updates (price updates, move notifications, etc), I have a separate mailing list. To be added to this list, simply reply to this email requesting to be added.
It's time to take imperfect action with your health
After years of clinical practice, I’ve noticed a common pattern: many people know what change they need to make for their health—but they delay it. Not because they’re unwilling, but because they fear they won’t do it perfectly.
I often hear things like:
- “Now’s not the right time—I have too many social events.”
- “I have guests coming next week, so I’ll start later.”
- “I just did a big grocery shop, so I’ll wait until the fridge is empty.”
- “I’m quitting my job in two months; I’ll wait until then.”
- “I’ll start after this school term ends.”
- “I have a trip coming up in six weeks, so there’s no point starting now.”
And so it goes.
But here’s the truth: if you wait for the “perfect” moment to begin, you may never begin at all. Life will always present interruptions. There is no perfect time—only now.
Even a single positive action today is better than waiting endlessly for flawless circumstances. One healthy choice is still a win. It moves the needle, even just a little.
The goal isn’t perfection.
It’s not about making healthy choices every single day without fail.
It’s about making more healthy choices more often than you currently do—even if that’s just once more a month.
Your health doesn’t hinge on one big decision. It’s shaped by the millions of small choices you make across days, weeks, months, and years. One piece of cake won’t ruin your health. Skipping the gym now and then won’t derail your progress. Eating a single green vegetable today is still better than eating none.
The key is this: choose the habits you want to build, and start practicing them—imperfectly, but consistently.
In my eyes, you are already whole and worthy. But just for a moment, try approaching your health as if you're allowed to be imperfect—and take action anyway.
Ask yourself:
- What have I been putting off because the timing isn’t “just right”?
- What would it feel like to try it once? Then again, another time?
If all you did this entire year was take five positive actions for your health—just five—you’d still be five steps ahead of doing nothing. That’s a net win.
So here’s your permission slip: stop waiting to be perfect.
Accept that you're not. No one is.
Celebrate every small step. High-five yourself for every effort.
Your imperfect, beautiful, human self deserves to feel better—starting now.
No, I'm not perfect either
When I think back to the healthiest I’ve been in my life, it was back in my mid-20s when I practiced yoga almost every day. I was lean and strong - both in body and mind. But in the last five years I have maybe done yoga five times total! For many reasons including ongoing stress and personal trauma, this health-supporting practice of mine went by the wayside.
And I felt it. My core strength disappeared. Upper body strength? Forget it. Weight gain? Absolutely. For the last 5 years, every single day my inner voice would pop up and tell me “Erica, you should do yoga” but I would not do it because it felt too overwhelming to imagine committing to yoga every day. I knew my schedule and energy were too irregular to stick to a daily yoga schedule. A big ol' mental barrier was erected in my mind, preventing me from even trying. If I'm honest, some of my automatic thoughts were: "I can't do it well enough to bother starting," and "it's too hard right now." I might also have been telling myself that "I sucked" because I wasn't doing something I knew would be good for me. Sound familiar?
But then a couple of weeks ago something snapped and I decided enough was enough and I was going to start doing yoga again. And I did! And it felt as you might expect — TERRIBLE! I discovered my muscles are weak and everything hurt. I discovered my body was stiff and inflexible. And yet I persisted for several days in a row, noticing that I was already feeling great and pleased with myself just for having made the decision to start it again.
And now: Have I done it every day? No!
But have I done it several times? Yes!
Am I feeling a benefit? Yes!
Am I going to keep working at it? Absolutely!
Do I wish I'd done it sooner? Yes!
But do I forgive myself for doing the best I could? Wholeheartedly.
In my opinion, part of being healthy is choosing to love and accept ourselves no matter what. This means cutting ourselves some slack when life happens. Health also means making healthy decisions for ourselves when we can, remembering that our little daily decisions add up to big change over time.
So this month, join me in practicing imperfect action.
I'm leaving you with some "imperfect action" mantras to take with you into the days, weeks, months, and years ahead:
Every small, imperfect step I take is moving me toward better health.
Imperfect action is still progress—my consistent effort is healing me.
With each imperfect action, I am steadily improving my health.
I don’t need to be perfect to get better—my health improves with every effort I make.
That's all for this month! Wishing you and your perfectly imperfect self a wonderful rest of May!
Psst!!
If you're in BC and looking for a personal health detective, I'd be happy to do my utmost to support you. Simply click below to book an appointment or a discovery call.
www.okanagannaturopath.com
hello@drericavolk.com
Tel: 778.760.3400 Fax: 844.991.3601
1025 Tamarack Drive | Kelowna, BC | V1X 1E3
