For the month of July, we chose "Health, Wellbeing, and the Self" as our theme. We began with a question: "Can wellness be sustainable?"
It was the question at the heart of our special feature with Marilen Elizalde, which kicked off our month-long exploration of what it really means to live well. Beyond routines, remedies, and the ever-expanding language of self-care, we wanted to look at wellbeing as something we can actually live with—not only when life is calm or convenient, but through the changing demands of everyday life.
RELATED STORY: Can wellness be sustainable? Marilen Elizalde says it starts with the basics
That idea of sustainability also asked us to look beyond ourselves.
In "Holistic Habits" by Mariane Perez, we explored the idea that the familiar mind-body connection is only part of the equation. Our personal wellbeing does not exist separately from the wellbeing of the world around us. The choices we make about what we wear, use, consume, and discard inevitably ripple outward.
Through local brands embracing conscious fashion, thoughtfully made beauty products, and creative approaches to upcycling, we saw how caring for ourselves and caring for the planet need not occupy separate spaces. Wellbeing becomes more holistic when we recognize the interconnectedness of the different aspects of our lives—and understand that living well can also mean considering the impact of how we live.
As the stories unfolded throughout July, something else began to unravel: wellbeing is much more expansive, and much more personal, than we sometimes make it out to be. It is not simply about being healthy. It is about learning how to live well within the reality of the life we already have.
Because so much of the conversation around wellness today is built around improvement. There is always something we could be doing better: sleeping longer, exercising more, eating cleaner, becoming stronger, managing stress, setting boundaries, spending less time online. Even self-care can sometimes feel like another list of things we are somehow failing to accomplish.
Our stories this month offered another possibility. Perhaps wellbeing isn’t always about becoming a better version of ourselves. Sometimes, it begins with paying attention to the person we already are, so we can be a more authentic version of ourselves.
In our Monday Check-In series with mental health coach Zarah R. Hernaez, we explored the deceptively simple question, "What am I really feeling?" Before fixing an emotion, rationalizing it, or pushing it aside, there is value in first being able to recognize it and acknowledge it.
We also looked at burnout beyond the workplace, through an honest and straightforward question: "Am I burnt out?" Exhaustion does not only happen at a desk. It can come from parenting, caregiving, relationships, responsibilities, and the invisible emotional labor we carry every day. Sometimes, the person who continues to show up for everyone else is also the person who needs just as much care.
In "Ten ways to Protect Your Mental Health While Using Social Media," our exploration of social media and mental health raised another question: how much of what we consume every day affects how we see ourselves? In a world of curated lives and constant comparison, protecting our wellbeing may sometimes mean knowing when to look away and pause.
Then there were stories that brought us back to the body.
Through "What is Slow Food?" licensed nutritionist-dietitian Samantha Morales introduced us to the practice of slow eating—not as another diet or wellness trend, but as an invitation to become more present at the table. To notice hunger, recognize fullness, and taste our food–and I mean really taste and savor our food. To allow something as ordinary as a meal to become an act of nourishment and gratitude, rather than another task to hurry through and check off our to-do list.
We encountered a different expression of intention at Restaurant Idalia, through "Cooking with Intention and a Little Bit of Rebellion," where the philosophy behind the restaurant begins with cooking from the heart and doing good food the right way.
Chef Kevin David spoke about returning to the fundamentals of how cooks are taught to cook, while owner Ferdi Salvador described intention, rebellion, and respect for ingredients as foundations of the Idalia experience.
That philosophy manifests in practices such as fermenting their own ingredients, finding uses for essential parts of produce and proteins rather than simply throwing them away, and creating a menu that deliberately resists convention.
It was another reminder that nourishment can begin long before a plate reaches the table. There can be care in how ingredients are regarded, intention in how they are transformed, and respect in choosing to waste less.
Through ONE LIFE’s Tanya Aguila in "Raising the Standard," we explored what it means to truly listen to women’s bodies through their different stages of life. Her work with women—from pregnancy and postpartum to perimenopause and menopause—challenged the idea that our bodies should remain constant. They change because life changes. And perhaps caring for ourselves requires learning to change with them.
That idea of honoring where we are also surfaced in our conversation with Bea Elizalde, titled "Showing up anyway: Bea Elizalde on fear, resilience, and leadership."
After undergoing spinal fusion surgery, Bea once believed certain physical limitations might be permanent. Her journey eventually led her to become a trainer. But what stayed with me most from her story wasn’t a message about conquering limitations. It was her understanding of resilience: that it isn’t about being fearless, but about showing up anyway.
There is something profoundly human about that definition. We may not always feel strong or ready, since some seasons ask us to move forward; others ask us simply to stay present.
That same idea of learning to stand firmly in who you are came through in our story about Alex Eala, "Homecoming Conversations with Alex Eala," written by Bianca Salonga.
Following her historic Wimbledon run, Alex returned home carrying more than the momentum of another milestone. During her BPI-sponsored homecoming, she spoke candidly about self-care, self-love, and the importance of learning to love herself through the demands and pressures of her journey.
But what made her reflections particularly meaningful was how quickly that sense of self extended beyond herself. Prior to the homecoming, Alex spoke about the honor of paving the way for young girls and how inspiring others would be one of the great honors of her life.
Her words offered another way of looking at wellbeing: perhaps the work we do within ourselves is not meant to end with us.
When we learn to value ourselves, trust who we are, and care for the person we are becoming, we are better able to show up for others. And sometimes, simply having the courage to pursue our own path gives someone else permission to imagine theirs.
But one of the more enlightening themes to emerge from our July stories was gratitude. It reminded us that wellbeing isn’t only about what we do to care for ourselves. It can also be shaped by how we look back at the lives we have lived, the people who have walked alongside us, and the opportunities that have allowed us to become who we are.
In “Thank You Universe,” also written by Bianca Salonga, we looked back on Jo Ann Bitagcol’s 30-year creative career—a journey across fashion, photography, art, and self-expression. At the heart of that milestone was gratitude: for the experiences, encounters, creative turns, and even uncertainties that shaped three decades of becoming.
In "A Decade of Evolution," We encountered gratitude again through contemporary Filipino designer Jor-el Espina, who marked ten years with ArteFino, the platform that became an important part of his evolution as a designer. Rather than treating a decade as simply an achievement to celebrate, Jor-el looked at it as an opportunity to acknowledge growth—to keep discovering, experimenting, improving, and learning.
And Jor-el’s milestone formed part of a much larger celebration. ArteFino’s “Dekada: Heritage in Motion” marked ten years of championing Filipino craftsmanship and creativity—a decade of creating space for homegrown designers, artisans, makers, traditions, and ideas to be seen and appreciated.
The anniversary reminded us that gratitude can be collective, too. Looking back allows us to honor not only individual journeys but the communities, traditions, and creative ecosystems that make those journeys possible.
Heritage, after all, remains alive when people continue to engage with it, reinterpret it, create from it, and carry it forward. There was something meaningful about hearing creatives at different milestones look backward not simply with pride, but with gratitude. Because perhaps wellbeing also means being able to recognize how far we have come without believing that we have finished becoming.
Travel gave us another language for wellbeing. "Nature, Culture, and Self" by Pepper Teehankee featured Amorita Resort & Spa in Puerto Princesa, where we explored the value of slowing down, reconnecting with nature, and creating enough space to hear ourselves again.
And perhaps that is why our conversation with Soulful Feasts' Stephanie Zubiri felt like such a fitting way to close the month.
In "Honoring Every Season with Grace," Stephanie spoke about life in seasons: the joyful and heartbreaking, expansive and humbling moments that can exist alongside one another. There was no insistence that every season must be productive, beautiful, or transformative.
Some seasons are for flourishing, others are for surviving; some are for building, while others ask us to release. But all of them belong to us.
Looking back, I realize we began July by asking Marilen Elizalde whether wellness can be sustainable.
A month later, after listening to all these different voices, perhaps we came a little closer to an answer.
Sustainable wellbeing cannot be another standard of perfection we impose upon ourselves. It has to make room for real life. More than once, we heard the women of our July special features say that “wellness is not about perfection.”
It has to make room for exhaustion and resilience, nourishment and rest, changing bodies and changing priorities, gratitude and growth, as well as moments when we feel certain of ourselves and seasons when we are still figuring things out.
Living well does not mean living perfectly. It does not mean waking up every morning with the right routine, eating the perfect meal, having an uncomplicated relationship with our bodies, or moving through every difficulty with grace.
Maybe wellbeing is something quieter.
It is knowing when we need to move and when we need to rest; when to reach outward and when to turn inward. It is paying attention to what our bodies are telling us; making space for difficult emotions instead of immediately trying to escape them. And it is about looking back with gratitude and allowing ourselves to change.
Perhaps most importantly, understanding that caring for ourselves will look different in different seasons of our lives. At ABS-CBN Lifestyle, we will return to one question when thinking about the stories we tell: How does this help our community of readers live better today?
After July, I think the answer may begin with another question: What do I need in this season of my life?
There may not always be an immediate answer. But perhaps learning to listen is already a form of wellbeing.