Women’s health isn’t just about diet and exercise. Experts say managing stress and making small lifestyle changes can have a big impact on overall well-being. Ozarks at Large reporter Sarah Laiche spoke with women in the Northwest Arkansas holistic health space about simple ways women can improve their everyday health.
The phrase “holistic health” can feel overwhelming. For some, it might sound expensive or time consuming, like a complete lifestyle overhaul that requires waking up at 5 a.m. everyday, drinking green juice, and never touching caffeine ever again. But there are some women in the holistic health space that keep circling back to something much simpler.
You don't have to make extreme lifestyle changes to really improve the relationship that you have with your body and your health. Andrea Fournier, founder of the Arkansas Yoga and Therapy Center in Fayetteville, describes her philosophy in a way that immediately softens the edges of the word “holistic.”
"So, we wanted to create basically one journey, many paths. We're all on the journey of life. So, I tell people, you know, you're on this journey of life, but you're going to be going in and out of different paths. So VariYoga was trying to meet the person where they're at on their path, instead of trying to make them fit the style that we were teaching."
Her specific approach, called VariYoga, is a type of yoga she created, built on four words: safe, accessible, sustainable and adaptable. Not strict or rigid- sustainable. Something that you not only feel like you can keep up with, but something that you want to keep up with. Inside her studio, yoga isn't framed as a calorie-burning workout.
"You don't come to the Arkansas Yoga and Therapy Therapy Center mainly to like burn calories. That will happen because yoga- yoga helps your metabolism and it happens almost like, oh."
Instead, she starts somewhere a lot simpler.
"My first thing I say to people, your breath is your first defense against stress."
Breath sounds almost too basic to be powerful, but Andrea frames it differently.
"You can live without food for weeks. You can live without water for maybe five days. How long can you live without your breath? That's how important it is."
Stress, she said, doesn't just live in the mind. It settles deeply into our bodies.
"And then most of our stress is shows up in our body. We hold a lot of logistical stress and tension in our neck and shoulders."
And especially for women. Andrea adds that we hold a lot of emotional stress in our pelvic area. The idea isn't mystical, it's physical. Your shoulders creep towards your ears at the computer, your jaws tightened, your back starts to ache. And over time, that accumulation of stress begins to feel normal.
Certified Holistic Nutrition Specialist Isabella Meneses-Furseth sees that same stress pattern from a biochemical angle.
"Honestly, this is not even nutrition advice, but I would say work on your stress like it's like, and I get it, people are always like, oh, like- stress, stress. But like it really, really is a very big deal."
She explains that stress doesn't just make you feel bad, it chemically changes how our bodies function. Isabella points out that many women skip breakfast entirely, relying on coffee to get them through the morning, but stabilizing blood sugar can make a noticeable difference. She encourages women to prioritize protein in the morning rather than starting the day fasting or fueled by only caffeine.
"Eat breakfast. Stop skipping out on breakfast because, like when I'm talking about stress, it doesn't necessarily have to be mental stress. You can also have cellular stress. And that's- is there a lack of hydration? Is there no food coming in? When am I going to eat next? Is my blood sugar crashing and like skyrocketing?"
It's not really the most glamorous advice, but it is very practical.
Holistic health in this sense doesn't mean doing everything. It means adjusting a few key things consistently. Jen Sweeney, who also works at the Arkansas Yoga and Therapy Center, approaches it from yet another angle.
"It's a gift. It's it's a gift you can give yourself. And it truly is the gift that keeps on giving. I have yet to hear somebody say they regret coming to a class. Like, 'Gosh darn it, I wish I didn't go to that class.'"
Back at the studio, Andrea often tells students the same thing.
"So, for someone who's just trying to figure out how to step into that world of alternative ways to decrease stress, not through the through medicine and drugs, it's just one step at a time. Just one little bite. One little step."
And if yoga isn't the right fit?
"It's finding what resonates for you that draws you back again. That that little voice inside you goes, oh, remember how good you felt when you went? Let's go back."
The main idea of each of these conversations isn't guilt. It's not a lecture about what women should have been doing differently this whole time.
It's an invitation.
An invitation to notice when your shoulders are tight. To notice when you've been surviving on caffeine alone, to notice when you haven't taken a full breath all day.
Holistic health isn't about perfection. It's about paying attention and trusting that small, sustainable shifts can accumulate into something extremely powerful. Because sometimes dramatically changing how your body feels doesn't start with a complete reinvention.
Sometimes it starts with breakfast. Or a breath. Or one class. And the realization that it might not be as intimidating as it once seemed.
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