The Rise of Messy Wellness

Have you noticed it? Healthier living has transformed into something else. The 5 AM wakeup, the 17-step skincare routine, the 10K step goal – all tracked, tallied, and totaled to perfection and shared online. Or if not shared via TikTok, Instagram story, or Substack post, then at the very least, mentally logged for a larger goal, one that’s less about caring for yourself and more about reaching a new self. An upgraded version that gets enough sleep, enough movement, enough protein, enough time outside, enough water. But when is enough actually enough?

Perhaps what we’re wondering is when wellness became indistinguishable from constant self-improvement.

The pushback against perfectionism has arrived and it has perhaps taken the ethos that ‘Wellness’ was originally meant to embody.

Messy Wellness makes room for mistakes, embracing the beauty in the attempt and recognizing the human nature of inconsistency – the impossibility that comes with doing the same routine the same way every single day. The trending term is moving through the internet’s ether, starting to take up the space that its high-intensity predecessor (Wellness with a capital W) once owned.

Messy Wellness dares to ask the question ‘What actually helps me feel better?’ ME, not the version of myself that may emerge if I continue barrelling toward self-improvement. Messy Wellness believes in flexibility over rigidity, refuses to regard convenience as a moral failure, and prioritizes real life over the highlight reel.

If this sounds like something you might be interested in, a less-resistant path on your personal wellness journey, then we encourage you to take the next step: embrace what makes you feel good and leave the rest behind.

Messy Wellness is not about abandoning all of the self-care staples that make up your routine. It’s about tapering your habits to reflect a schedule, system, or style that actually works for your everyday.

Any given TikTok would lead you to believe that in order to have a successful, holistic life, you need 7 individually packed, meticulously prepped meals in your fridge, all protein-maxed and portioned to perfection. If this is what works for you, then by all means, load up those glass containers, snap those lids on tight, and stack them in impeccably aligned rows. If not…that’s okay too. Not every wellness habit deserves equal energy. Identify the ones that give you the biggest or best emotional return. Maybe it’s a daily walk, maybe it’s some time in the sun, maybe it’s an hour of meditation or reading in the mornings to keep your mind clear and functioning. Whatever it is, make sure you’re getting a return on investment. Your time matters…whether you’re posting about it, or not.

A lot of the new wellness mentality relies on consistency in a way that isn’t always realistic. Many people believe that a routine must be done perfectly in order to have merit…which is why those same people likely end up abandoning said routines. Missing one workout becomes skipping the whole week and ordering takeout becomes “starting over on Monday.” Try embracing the art of the partial effort. A 10-minute walk is better than no walk at all, doing a few push-ups before bed still counts as daily movement, and rest can actually be productive (getting 8 hours of sleep as an adult is actually a huge feat). You did something. That still counts.

The goal is not building the perfect routine. It doesn’t matter if your favorite influencer has crafted a schedule that allows her to rise with the sun, go hard at Pilates, and craft a perfectly seasoned avocado toast (with obligatory jammy egg), all before 11 AM. That’s amazing. But if that doesn’t work for you, get a little messy. Choose the habits that truly satiate you. That could mean ending the night with a face mask, weekly therapy sessions, an evening walk after work, an hour with your phone locked in a drawer, or even just cooking 1-3 meals per week. Whatever feels like wellness to you is what we encourage you to lean into.

Remember: a routine that only works under ideal conditions is just waiting to break. Life is messy – demanding jobs, parenting, grief, mental health struggles, and financial limitations are all incredibly real factors that aren’t always considered when scrolling through GRWM’s and ‘What I Eat In A Day’s. We hope that the next era of wellness is less about becoming your “best self” and more about becoming a functioning, thriving, beautiful, maybe-sometimes-messy self.

Be well! Be messy!

XO,
FP Movement