A Meaningful Lifestyle

“We need to take risks. We need to prove them wrong, simply by not giving up”.

I like this thought by Awk Wafina, and I like to interpret it as an encouragement addressed to all women including the ones who are venturing into an holistic business model or are already involved in it, and feel alone or overwhelmed or notice there is not enough support for them out there. No matter the role we play in the society.

It is not easy.
The good news, though, is that we are an army! An army of determined women who don’t want to give up on their aspirations and have finally decided to take risks equipped with good intentions to improve people lives. Especially women involved in the wellness industry at large.

Going around and listening to many of you, I learned that most female wellness businesses started out with the goal to improve the quality of women’s lives, providing options across different categories. From fashion to beauty to food.

Like for The Beddha, it was also and is the outcome of a personal need, a want to share an idea/product with the world, and a desire to help raise consciousness. Women on a mission to answer questions other women often ask from how things are made and where they come from, to how to live in harmony according to how mother nature has always intended to.

And this is what a holistic lifestyle means.

photo: Britney Gill

We question what we wear, eat and put on our face (to the point it is becoming too much of a trend, so we need to be vigilant and tell what is genuine from what is marketing), we want to live by our own rules and work with what is best for us. We keep our mind and body busy. We meditate. We listen to our bodies. But it wasn’t so common just a few years ago, when some earliest starters to the sustainable living movement, started it all. At a time when what was available to meet green ethos was limited.

The wellness industry has evolved but ethos and missions that moved and move women today stay the same. Whatever role you play, consumer or producer, you are part of this community of women who live on good vibes, keep a positive mind frame, believe this is the time to take control of our lives and look after ourselves in order to express our femininity and ambitions, and trust we can make a difference for other women. In a world dominated by men, it’s important to make sure that we help each other.

Living a natural lifestyle also means living a meaningful lifestyle. Caring for us, for mother nature and for others.

It’s interesting to see how conscious consumption is intersecting with other movements like the eco movement and feminism. I have also noticed there are some common traits female holistic lifestyle producers and consumers share: social and environmental good principles. Like:

  • A want for fair wages (and equal pay at work) and working standards

  • A will to improve women’s livelihoods in every part of the world

  • A desire to support other women (when they follow their aspirations or when they want to end the cycle of poverty in developing countries)

  • A wish to sustain craftsmanship (to retain traditions)

  • A need for a conscious ethical consumption. We are human being and it’s part of our nature to consume and have an impact on the environment. But we can reshape our habits and ask for a better moral production

  • An aspiration to educate consumers about production, costs and value. Explaining what’s behind the price tag

And last but not least a very new addition
  • An increasing desire to end period poverty

This is something we were unaware until very recently. I have to admit I never thought about it. But it’s a real problem in poor rural areas, where girls miss school due to their periods.
Some female producers are starting taking into account this issue and other female consumers are responding to it.

Making a conscious effort to improve is a small step to a better life, for us and for others.

Love

✒ BY MARGHERITA ANTINORI 

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