Is the system we're living in today actually supporting our human nature?

Is the system we're living in today actually supporting our human nature? Is it aligned with our physiology, our mind, our soul?

Or is this misalignment the root cause of the extreme decline in our health as a society?

These are questions I keep coming back to. Because the more I align with the concept of natural living, the more I see how urgently we need it!!!

And I don't mean going off the grid or becoming a hermit in a forest — although honestly, sometimes that sounds tempting. When I talk about natural living, I mean the healthiest, most aligned way of interacting with the world outside of us, so that we can actually take care of what's going on inside.

Here's the thing: so much of what surrounds us is quietly working against that. Against our nature.

And that's why so many of us: end up sick, burnt out, depressed, or just… off. Not living anywhere near our fullest potential — and often not even knowing why.

The first step is simply learning to see it. Because you can't fix what you can't recognise.

In this article, I'm focusing specifically on the external systems and environments we're born into — and how they shape our health & well being. I dive deeper into mental health in my other content.

This here is about the bigger picture stuff. The collective. The structures most of us have no choice but to move through. Anyway...

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The School System - Starting Young

Let's start here, because this is where it all begins. The school system is built to condition us into obedient little workers. I know that triggers some people — but hear me out, because I think it's worth understanding why this matters so much.

When we're put into a classroom at age five, we're immediately taught to sit still, be quiet, and suppress all that wild, playful, high-energy natural state of being that children are supposed to have. Kids are not designed to sit in a room for eight hours a day. They're born with this incredible curiosity, this life force energy that just wants to explore, jump around, experience everything. And the system shuts that down.

"There's a difference between loving structure and forced oppression with many consequences if you don't agree to it."

We're taught to fit into a box instead of exploring the many interests we naturally have. And then we're tested on standardised content — which makes so many children feel stupid, inadequate, and like something is wrong with them. I felt this deeply. I was really bad at math. And the more bad grades I got, the worse it got — for my confidence, my self-image, everything.

The problem isn't learning itself. Some structure is great. It's the one-size-fits-all approach, the constant comparison, the squashing of anything that doesn't fit the mould. Some kids become obedient and adapt. Others become "rebellious" — but maybe they're just resisting the system that doesn't support their authentic expression. And honestly? Good for them.

The point is: our conditioning from the system starts incredibly early.

And understanding that is really important if we're going to undo any of it or at least help us see why we might be in misalignment in other areas of our lives in the first place.

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Nutrition— What Our Bodies Actually Need

Okay, this one is a big one. Our nutrition has changed dramatically in the last 50 to 100 years, and not entirely for the better. I love using our ancestors as a reference point here — not because I'm romanticising the past, but because the human body evolved over thousands of years eating in a certain way. And we are not that far from those ancestors, physically speaking.

They ate wild berries, mushrooms, honey, fruit, vegetation, and occasional high-quality animal protein. Everything was grown in mineral-rich soil, without pesticides. Now? The earth is recultivated so many times it lacks minerals. Crops are drenched in pesticides. Animals are kept in horrific conditions, full of antibiotics and stress. And now we're talking about lab-grown meat, which, honestly, I am deeply skeptical about. I genuinely don't know what eating protein grown in a lab will do to our bodies long term. Time will tell. But I'd advise serious caution.

A Few Practical Things That Actually Help:

Choose organic and regional produce where you can. Frozen vegetables are often more nutritious than fresh ones that spent weeks on a boat. Grow herbs or tomatoes on your balcony if you can. And when it comes to supplements — buy quality ones, read the labels, and understand that some vitamins need others to work properly (iron needs vitamin C, for example).

Extra Tip: Intuitive Eating — Our body knows more than our mind

One thing I'm genuinely passionate about — and I give workshops and courses on this — is intuitive eating. The idea is simple but kind of radical in today's diet culture: stop making food decisions with your head and start listening to your body. We are born with an inbuilt system that tells us exactly what we need! Babies don't overeat. They stop when they're full. We were all intuitive eaters once.

The diet industry has completely disconnected us from that. We've been told to fear fat, count calories, avoid this, restrict that. And our bodies suffer for it. Your body craving fat, or meat, or something random but very specific — that's not weakness, that's information. Listen to it. Those that learn to listen to the cues of their body end up slim and healthier than ever before... If you want to learn more about intuitive eating, reach out to me — I'd love to help or follow me on instagram at: @intuitive.eating.by.lola

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Movement — We Are Not Meant to Sit Still

This one seems obvious, but I think it's massively underestimated. Humans are hunter-gatherers. We were designed to move constantly — walking especially. I'm literally on a walk while recording the podcast episode this is based on. Being outside, under the sky, in nature, moving your body? That is so profoundly natural and healing. And yet so many of us spend our days hunched over a desk under artificial light, not seeing the sun, not breathing fresh air, and then we wonder why we feel terrible.

And I want to say something specific about muscles — because I don't think people talk about this enough. I'm not talking about having a bodybuilder physique. I'm talking about functional muscle mass. The benefits are enormous: muscles regulate insulin (which matters for diabetes and Alzheimer's prevention), they are genuinely anti-aging, they keep your body strong and pain-free, and they signal to your body that you are active and vital. People with good muscle mass tend to look younger, feel better, and have more energy. Full stop.

If the gym isn't your thing, no problem — there are literally 150 other ways to move your body. Find the one that feels fun. Because movement that feels like joy is so much more sustainable than movement that feels like punishment.

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Connection — We Are Not Meant to Be This Isolated

We are so isolated these days. We think scrolling through social media and texting counts as connection. It doesn't. I mean real, deep, intimate in person human connection — hugging people, being vulnerable, talking authentically, being truly seen. Humans are wired for this. It's not optional, it's biological.

Going against our natural need for community — cooped up in our apartments, communicating through screens, becoming friends with AI — takes a real toll. And you don't need to be in a romantic relationship to have this kind of deep satisfaction. Friendships, community, chosen family — these things matter enormously. Don't underestimate them..

The rise of the internet, technology and social media has done some real damage to our wellbeing already — and it'll keep doing so unless we consciously choose to step away from the screen and back into the real world, with real humans, in real time.

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Spirituality — The Thing We Keep Dismissing because it Lacks Scientific Proof

Okay, here's the controversial one — but I'm going there anyway. Every single culture in human history has had God*s, Spirituality or some form of the Divine. Every single one. That is not primitive thinking. That is not superstition. That is a universal human recognition that there is something greater than us — something sacred that we are born from and connected to. We all feel it. We've always felt it. And I think a lot of our modern suffering comes from pretending we don't.

Spirituality helps us step outside our own suffering and ego, look at the bigger picture, and feel our connection to something beyond just ourselves.

People who are very focused only on their individual, material existence tend to suffer more. Those with a sense of spiritual connection, or even just a community orientation and a belief in life's deeper meaning tend to have more peace and more resilience. When you're too locked into the system — school, taxes, material goals — you stop believing that fulfilment, joy, and true alignment are even possible. And they absolutely are.

Life is magical.

We tend to forget that among all the bureaucracy and appointments.

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Big Pharma, Toxins & The System That Benefits From Your Sickness

Let me be clear: some pharmaceutical developments have been genuinely incredible. Antibiotics, penicillin, vaccines — remarkable. The reduction in child mortality and deaths in childbirth? Life-changing. I'm not anti-medicine.

But — and it's a big but — when we follow the money, we find that a lot of the pharmaceutical industry profits from keeping us sick. Treating symptoms is far more profitable than treating root causes. And there are so many effective alternatives that get dismissed that don't have so many side effects: traditional Chinese medicine (which is based on thousands of years of knowledge), acupuncture, Reiki, herbology, homeopathy, and of course food as medicine (lemons, ginger, peppermint, etc.)

The real OG healer is nature itself.

The goal should be to take such good care of ourselves so that we rarely need Western medicine's emergency interventions (like antibiotics — which mess up your body big time when overused). Rest when you're sick. Don't suppress symptoms with Aspirin just so you can keep hustling. Give your body what it needs. You can also do it the natural way.

Your body is genuinely a self-healing machine — but it can't do its job if you're running it into the ground.

And while we're here — the toxins. Everything we put on our skin, spray in our homes, and breathe in from "clean" products is going directly into our bodies. Phthalates hiding under the word "fragrance" are endocrine disruptors that mess with our hormones and fertility. Harsh chemicals in cleaning products? You're breathing those in daily.

Turn the packaging around and read what's actually in things. Less is more. Baking soda and vinegar clean your house just fine without poisoning you in the process.

Yes, we have a liver, kidneys, and an intestine built to filter out toxins. But not in this quantity — this is not a natural load for the body to carry. And some toxins and microplastics take years to fully leave the body. This is yet another way the system we live in has normalised something deeply unnatural — we are surrounded by synthetic chemicals in almost every product we own, and we don't even question it because it's all we've ever known... all thats every been advertised to us as good and fine and necessary.

And here's the irony — this obsession with cleanliness is often more harmful than the bacteria itself. Our bodies are designed to coexist with bacteria. We need it. Stripping everything away with harsh antibacterial products destroys our microbiome and weakens our natural defences.

Now consider the combination of everything I've mentioned: a body that isn't rested enough, isn't eating well, is suppressing its authenticity, is disconnected from other humans, is stressed out and medicated — and on top of all of that, it's supposed to filter out a modern-day toxic overload too? No wonder we're struggling and getting sicker and sicker. Poor body. It's doing its absolute best under impossible conditions.

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So, What Now?

Look — with everything I've said, take it with a pinch of salt. There are pros and cons to everything, and this is only a glimpse of a much bigger picture. I'm not here to be dogmatic or to make you feel overwhelmed. I'm here to open the conversation and invite you to look a little more critically at the world you're living in and ask: what's working for me, and what isn't?

We started with a question: is the system we live in actually supporting our human nature? And the honest answer, across all the areas we've touched — education, nutrition, movement, connection, spirituality, medicine, toxins — is mostly no. Not by design. But that doesn't mean we're powerless. It means we get to make more conscious choices.

Being in alignment feels genuinely amazing. Taking care of your body, getting outside, eating well, building real connections, trusting your intuition — these things don't have to be a huge effort. The thinking and the worrying about it is usually harder than the actual doing.

If you want support figuring out what alignment actually looks like for you — that's exactly what I do. As a holistic health mentor, I work with people on all of this: the physical, the emotional, the spiritual. I offer alignment assessments to help you identify where the misalignment is showing up in your life, as well as 1:1 mentoring, courses, and workshops — including on intuitive eating, which is close to my heart. Everything is tailored to you, because there's no one-size-fits-all path back to yourself.

You deserve to feel healthy, vibrant, and fully alive. That's not a luxury — it's your natural state. We've just been pulled very far from it. But we can find our way back, one small aligned choice at a time.

Sending you lots of love. 🌿

— Lola

📸 @befreebylola · ✉️ befreebylola@gmail.com