What Physical Health, Fitness, and Cultural Identity Can Tell Us About Our Emotional Well-Being
Mental health is never simply a question of “mind.” So much of our emotional health is connected to our physical health, our daily rhythms, our relationships with others, and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are. As a psychotherapist and wellness enthusiast, I have also witnessed how focusing on just one part of a client’s life can leave the work we are doing together incomplete. Real healing involves mind, body, and culture; it is more holistic than many people appreciate.
In this piece, I look at the three major crossings of mental health and fitness: The importance of physical health and body health in contributing to emotional resilience. The role of cultural identity and body image in self-esteem among African American college women. Every day practices to incorporate holistic approaches in your daily life for long-term health.
The aim is to showcase not just the science but also the everyday implications of whole-person mental health care, with a particular focus on the specific challenges that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities experience.
There is a deep connection between body and mind. When we pay attention to our bodies, it indirectly benefits our mental health. On the flip side, if your physical health needs are not met, your mental health will suffer.
Working Out as Mental Medication
Studies spanning decades have shown that routine physical activity decreases symptoms of anxiety and depression. Working out raises levels of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine — neurotransmitters that help relieve feelings of stress and regulate mood. Indeed, in certain instances, the efficacy of exercise has even been compared to antidepressant medication in the treatment of mild to moderate depression (Blumenthal et al., 1999).
The benefits extend beyond neurochemistry. “Training gives us that sense of mastery and structure and accomplishment,” Dr. McKee said. Clients who experience anxiety can create achievable movement goals and feel less overwhelmed in the world around them.
Sleep and Nutrition Moderating Role
Sleep and food are just as important. If you’re perpetually tired, it can put you in a bad mood, make you unable to concentrate, and reduce your ability to withstand stress. Similarly, high-sugar, low-whole food diets were associated with greater rates of depression (Jacka et al., 2010). On the flip side, a well-rounded diet contributes to not just physical but also mental stamina. Omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, and magnesium are associated with lower levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms (Lopresti et al., 2013).
For both therapists and clients, his findings are a wake-up call: You cannot expect to treat depression or anxiety successfully without keeping a close eye on how others in your life are doing and how you respond to them (especially if they are anxious or depressed in ways that are familiar to you). Treatment should include lifestyle changes.
Exercise and nutrition are keys, certainly, but to talk about these things without also analyzing cultural identity and body image is to focus only on flat tires to the exclusion of the rest of the car. Body image and cultural standards play a huge role in how you see yourself and your self-worth for many people, especially in BIPOC communities.
Cultural Standards and Body Positivity
Mainstream wellness culture tends to focus on Eurocentric beauty ideals, such as thinness, fair skin, and “perfect” body ratios. These standards might make BIPOC people feel like they don’t fit, or that they ought to feel out of place, even at the expense of their cultural background.
To wit, among many Caribbean and African societies, thicker body types are generally revered. But in Western media environments, those same body types might be stigmatized. This tension is excruciating: people feel stuck between celebrating their cultural identity and seeking external validation.
There is nothing wrong with this dynamic, in and of itself, but as a Jamaican-American therapist, I have seen how it affects clients personally. Some come to therapy struggling with shame over their bodies, not because they are living in communities where they are devalued, but because they have internalized external messages of their inadequacy. Debunking these concerns includes acknowledging cultural phenomena coupled with dismantling the ill locks of society.
Racism, Stress, and Mental Health
There are also systemic inequities that intersect with cultural identity. Racism, discrimination, and the inequities in healthcare access weigh on many BIPOC people in the form of chronic stress. This stress takes a mental and physiological toll, leading to higher rates of depression, anxiety, hypertension, and other stress-related health conditions (Williams & Mohammed, 2009).
It is important to recognize these systemic barriers. Telling a client to “just exercise more” without acknowledging the toll of racism, financial strain, or a lack of safe space to exercise can feel belittling. An inclusive practice approach involves working at the levels of both individual behaviors and structural constraints of clients.
Understanding the intersections of physical, cultural, and mental health is just the beginning. The problem is getting clients to embed those insights into their daily lives. Here are some simple, holistic tools I recommend in my practice.
1. Movement as Self-Care, Not Punishment
I avoid prescribing strict exercise regimes and instead invite my clients to think of movement as an act of care for oneself. For some, it is a daily walk, for others, it’s dancing, yoga, or strength training. The trick is to enjoy movement, not work out because you feel guilty.
2. Building Sustainable Routines
Mental health thrives on consistency. I often work with clients to set “wellness anchors” — small, repeatable actions that anchor their day. Try a five-minute morning stretch, journaling before bed, or having technology-free meals. These anchors are doable, empowering, and will build momentum toward bigger changes.
3. Integrating Cultural Strengths
Wellness is not supposed to erase cultural identity, but to honor it. That might mean supporting a client to cook traditional foods in healthier ways, to participate in community rituals that inspire belonging, or to adopt cultural narratives about body positivity. From there, clients can transform cultural traditions into wellness resources to support both identity and mental health.
4. Therapy Plus Lifestyle Coaching
As therapists, we need to consider ourselves partners in whole-person healing. Though therapy teaches tools to cope with thoughts and feelings, therapists may also empower clients to generate healthier habits in between sessions. It could be working in partnership with dietitians, personal trainers, or health care providers.
5. Addressing Barriers Compassionately
It is also important to confirm barriers. A single parent with two jobs may not have the time or the income for a gym membership. In these instances, wellness interventions would be scaled accordingly, such as instructing clients to complete brief stretching exercises or take a quick break for mindfulness at home or on the job.
Read the tale of “Danielle,” a 35-year-old professional who is overwhelmed with anxiety and burnout. When she first sought therapy, she felt as though her thoughts were racing, she wasn’t sleeping well, and that years in a high-stress corporate job had left her disconnected from her Jamaican heritage.
For therapy, we poked at cognitive and whole person health issues. Danielle started taking brisk lunchtime walks, doing mindfulness exercises before bed, and cooking traditional dishes with her family on the weekends. These rituals not only helped with her anxiety and sleep but also reconnected her to cultural roots that had given her strength and pride. Danielle’s path shows us that healing doesn’t come from just one set of interventions, but from weaving together the psychological, physical, and cultural strands of well-being.
The future of mental health care is to treat the whole person. There is no dichotomy between emotional well-being and physical health, cultural heritage, or systemic influences. We need to be much more than those who relieve symptoms, and instead foster integrative and sustainable wellness for our clients.
For BIPOC clients, that means creating environments that acknowledge, and in many cases celebrate, cultural identity as a source of resilience. For all of us, that means reframing wellness not as a rigidity we must submit to, but as an individualized, gentle path toward balance. Through the intersection of evidence-based therapy, lifestyle initiatives, and cultural competencies, we can support people to not just get by, but to successfully thrive.
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