This has been the most unpredictable year of our lives, and it’s time to recalibrate. Nutrition expert and meditation teacher Kimberly Snyder’s healthy reset is exactly what we need right now.
In March, when COVID-19 first swept the nation and stay-at-home orders ensued to flatten the curve, holistic health guru Kimberly Snyder found herself—like so many parents—struggling to stay on top of new work and family demands.
Just over seven months pregnant at the time, the New York Times bestselling author shifted into WFH mode and continued her full-time duties as one of Hollywood’s top nutritionists (she’s advised the likes of Reese Witherspoon and Drew Barrymore ) and the founder of Solluna , a lifestyle company that showcases her feel-good programs and products . With her son Emerson’s preschool closed due to the pandemic, Snyder also put pressure on herself to maximize his learning. “I was trying to schedule all these activities and get all these arts and crafts supplies … as if I’m the teacher,” she says. “It was exhausting, and it was stressful … It brought up this idea of hustling for self-worth.”
Quarantine challenged many of us to confront our inner drive for perfection in one way or another. Perfect parenting, the ideal work/life balance, flawlessly coiffed hair and manicured nails: All of that had to go out the window. But for Snyder—a self-described “recovering perfectionist” who has made a career out of guiding others to embrace imperfection (notably in her most recent book, Recipes for Your Perfectly Imperfect Life: Everyday Ways to Live and Eat for Health, Healing, and Happiness)—the challenge went straight to the heart of her own wellness philosophy. “I too get sucked into this idea of ‘not enough-ness,’” she says.
To get re-centered, Snyder fell back on the four cornerstones that underlie her approach to radiant health and beauty: food, body, emotional well-being, and spiritual growth . As she processed the stresses of self-isolation using these principles, she relaxed into the experience and opened to its opportunities.
With COVID-19 case numbers fluctuating across the country, the uncertainties of navigating life in a pandemic are far from over. Here, Snyder shares advice for how her four cornerstones can provide a foundation for thriving within life’s new (and unpredictable) normal: everything from stocking a social isolation-proof pantry to boosting your immunity, preserving your sanity, and—of course—letting go of “perfect”…