One-size-fits-all?

A newsletter on movement, awareness, and reflection in everyday life.

This edition is about why “one-size-fits-all” doesn’t work in healing, and how starting light—sometimes even with practices dismissed as pseudoscience—can open the door to lasting routines.

🟢 MOVE

Most of us already know yoga and meditation are good for us. The problem isn’t awareness—it’s practice. Books don’t fix it. Apps fade out. Teachers can only take us so far.

Some people can’t do yoga. Others try meditation but give up without guidance. So where do you begin? Sometimes the better way is not to start with yoga or meditation at all, but with energy-based practices—Reiki, qigong, chakra work, or simple breath sensitivity. These ask less in the beginning, yet help you notice energy, regulate your breath, and feel balance without force.

👁️ SEE

This matters because even the most “scientific” routes aren’t perfect. Psychiatry itself is moving toward personalized care because one-size-fits-all treatments don’t work. Antidepressants help in severe cases, but evidence is mixed for everyday stress or mild depression. Relapse is common once medication stops (NIH on meditation).

Meanwhile, life keeps us hurried, distracted, restless. We already know what could help us feel better, but we don’t do it. That’s where energy-based practices have value: they lower the entry barrier, create routine, and introduce a rhythm of attention that can grow into deeper practices.

🪞 REFLECT

Maybe the path is not to force the heaviest lifts first—strict yoga schedules or advanced meditation—but to begin light. Reiki sessions, chakra meditation, breath work. Build sensitivity, steadiness, and confidence. Once that foundation is there, yoga and meditation become easier to adopt and sustain.

The question isn’t whether a practice passes every scientific test. Psychiatry’s own results are mixed. The question is: does it help you relax, reset, and show up lighter? If placebo is part of it, let it be. Repetition turns small practices into lasting habits, and habits shift energy over time.

🌀 SUMMARY

Healing doesn’t have to start big. Start light, repeat often, and let it become yours.

👉 Call to Action
Hit reply and tell me: what’s the one smallest practice—scientific, spiritual, or somewhere in between—that’s helped you reset? I’ll read every response, and may share a few (with your permission) in the next edition.