Your Body, Your Rules: Understanding Bio-Individuality

Growing up I had always wondered why my parents served me less food than my brother. Siblings tend to be competitive, so I was always comparing myself to him in every aspect, especially in the amount of food we were given. So, our portion sizes frustrated me to no end. He is four years older than me, but I believed that parents should treat their children as equals no matter what. While I was partially correct about this for certain situations, for example in how much love and affection they show us, I was mostly wrong. My brother was a growing boy and older than me, so he required more energy and nutrients to get himself through the day.

I instantly remembered these comparisons at the dining table when I first learned about bio-individuality in my health coaching course. Bio-individuality is a concept that describes everyone’s health and wellness needs as a unique experience. It can be applied to all aspects of a person’s lifestyle. For example, you and a friend decide to lose weight together, but your friend is able to do so with a smaller calorie deficit than you require. It is natural to compare ourselves to others and wonder why something that does not work for you works for them and vice versa. However, bio-individuality emphasizes that we are all unique in mind, body, and spirit, and understanding this can help promote holistic health and satisfaction in ourselves.

Honoring your bio-individuality can empower you to personalize aspects of your life, and make changes to those personalizations as you grow. I believe the best example of this growth is the amount of sleep needed per night. Infants and toddlers require an average of 12-16 hours of sleep per night, while young children require about 9-12 hours and adolescents require about 8-10 hours of sleep per night, and after this age group, only 7-9 hours of sleep is recommended (Paruthi et al., 2016). Our biological and mental needs change as we age, yet everybody continues to be unique in the amount they require to feel energized.

I encourage you to keep bio-individuality in mind as you decide what you need to stay energized and comfortable. Listen to your mind and body in order to understand what works best for you physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Remember, “[o]ne person’s nectar is another person’s poison, and the best person to understand what’s best for you is… YOU!” (IIN, 2024). The moment we honor our bio-individuality is the moment we are able to stay happy and healthy.

Read more about bio-individuality here.

If you would like to discuss this concept more at length or anything else on your mind, feel free to sign up for a Health Coaching session with me!

References:

1. Paruthi, S. et al. (2016). Recommended Amount of Sleep for Pediatric Populations: A Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 12(6):785–786. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.5866