Has anyone else been concerned at the growing trend of wellness here in Toronto? It’s like everywhere I turn there are fancy shops that all seen to smell that same promoting wellness or whatever that is. Yesterday I was walking through Eaton Center and happened to walk by Lush and got an immediate headache. Following Lush was some sort wellness shop Saje maybe?? And while it was a relief from the literally assault on the sense that is Lush, it smelled like any other wellness shop that you would happen to pass by.

My theory is that, here in the west we have so much. So much money, so much food, so much access to health and wealth that companies need to create something else to give us that exclusivity feeling we all crave. Especially here in Canada where if you are born here or have PR, you get free healthcare for life. Can you believe it? We evolve from the African savannah dying in droves from all sorts of ailments to free access to high quality healthcare. It’s incredible.

But I think part of our human condition is that we always want more… we need more. We have to get better, to optimize our lives, become more productive, etc. And nowadays it’s so trendy to do selfcare. and so, overconsumption has now infiltrated our perceived need to somehow make our lives better.

And so, while I’m a big grumpy butt there’s one aspect in life where I believe I am a hypocrite. That’s in the arena of birth and postpartum. For all our advances here in Canada I think that we treat the creation of another human much more poorly than other cultures. Maybe it’s in part to our isolation. Here, we all have our own homes, and intergenerational living really has been falling by the wayside. When I was studying in Morocco my Arabic teacher lived in a building with her in-laws and her brother-in-law’s family. They all had their own individual flats, but it was a family home. Even more interesting was the fact that since it was a concrete building, they could easily add another floor once her kids needed a home.

I think her family’s take on intergenerational housing would solve a myriad of difficulties after you have had a baby. Birth is a marathon and postpartum can be brutal especially if you decide to nurse. Lactation is no joke, and it takes an incredible amount of hormones, calories, and effort to establish a good nursing routine. Only in this context do I think having a wellness coach, or a postpartum doula to be helpful. They can be a guide for first time parents when so many of us have literally no idea what to do when we bring home our new creation.

So I will step off my grumpy soapbox and stop railing against the wellness industry. There’s much more important things going on today! It’s the final day of the federal election, fingers crossed for a Liberal win!