Bio-individuality means “There’s no one-size-fits-all diet – each person is a unique individual with highly individualized nutritional requirements. Personal differences in anatomy, metabolism, body composition and cell structure all influence your overall health and the foods that make you feel your best.“
I’m going to take that definition one step further and apply it to all areas of life, not simply diet and nutrition. “Personal differences in soul anatomy, emotional and mental composition, history, environment and direction all influence the choices you need to make to live your truth and be your best self.”
We live in a society today that champions hype filled fads, the mentality of what’s right for one is right for all, and the culture of following something or someone rather than listening to yourself. Don’t believe what I’m saying? Just take a look at how many people are becoming for example vegan or gluten free or low carb/no carb, without having a real idea of what these lifestyle choices actually mean, much less why they chose it. They’re simply following a fad or listening to hyped up information displayed in the media. Or in the area of branding, how many people buy major brands such as Apple iPhone, Nike sneakers, Victoria’s Secret lingerie, or even Mercedes Benz cars, because they have been sold by highly sophisticated marketing campaigns. Not to say these products are not of high quality, but each have competing brands that are of equal quality. It is marketing that created the staggering popularity, because those behind such marketing campaigns realized a key weakness within the human population, the sheeple factor. Make a product or service represent such desirability that with it a person subconsciously feels they have ‘arrived’ or are ‘with the best’, and without it they may feel ‘less than’ or that they are ‘missing out on having their best life’.
I’ve shown above how the culture of mass persuasion works on a basic level. One only has to do the research and look at modern society to realize how deep the rabbit hole can go.. How could this be harmful, you might ask? With respect to health and well being, in innumerable ways. I’ve personally had a myriad of these experiences in the past! I followed dietary plans and protocols and tried products that were sworn by experts to be the answer for the problem I was facing, only to find that not only did they not help me, but they hindered my healing or made me sicker. It took me years to finally realize the truth to the statement ‘one man’s food is another man’s poison’. If a so called expert makes a claim that a certain product or lifestyle choice is right for everyone, don’t believe them!
For example, Veganism is the absolute right answer for some people, but can do much damage to the health of others. Again, I can personally attest to this. When I tried a couple of weeks as strictly vegetarian my body suffered, not simply because I enjoy eating some meat but because my blood type is O positive (who require meat and fish in their diet). I also come from a Mediterranean background, and this coupled with some other factors reveals the obvious choice for me. Yes, it is healthy to eat meat and fish consciously, if that is the right choice for your body. By consciously I mean lesser quantities of wild caught fish and meat that was farmed humanely and organically. There are biodynamic farming practices that are holistic for the environment and would actually end the problems we face in our world caused by the US created gluttonous and toxic ‘factory farming’ model.
The principle of bio-individuality applies not just to diet but to all areas of our lives. No two people function identically, therefore if we are to live in our truth and be our best selves, we can’t expect to follow some generic ‘other person’s path’ and have success. It just won’t work. Or it may work for a little while but will ultimately create problems, causing us to feel unhappy and dissatisfied. So how do we find our own path and what is uniquely right for us? By developing and honing the intuition.
Intuition: the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. Intuition will lead us to exactly our right path, as long as we listen to it. The easiest way to describe intuition is when you get that hunch in your gut about something, without knowing why, you just feel it’s right. That is what you need to follow, against all odds. If you’re unsure what that hunch is or how to find it, the best thing you can do for yourself is to take at least 20 minutes a day to be still and meditate. Ideally more is better, but just 10 minutes in the morning and 10 at night is a good enough start. If you have trouble sitting still, take an active meditation in the form of a walk in nature, a swim, or an activity in solitude that brings you peace. Imagine you are asking that all knowing part of yourself, or the universe, or whatever you wish to perceive it as, the questions you need answers to. Ask with true sincerity, and ask for the answers to come in a way that are easily visible and understandable to you. Then simply wait for the answers and trust what you receive. They may come in a myriad of ways, an idea or insight, something someone suggests to you, in the media or even on a street sign. By practicing this on a daily basis, little by little you will develop the muscle of intuition, which will ultimately lead you to making the right choices for you, always. You will find you become stronger in yourself and are less influenced by what society or marketing tries to sell you. This is the path to bio-individuality and the true path to happiness and success.
