From burnout to balance: Simple shifts that transform wellbeing
Meet Guion Phillips, the founder and driving force behind UpWell Labs. With a genuine passion for empowering people to take charge of their wellbeing, she launched UpWell Labs after her own journey through burnout. Guion leads the company with a blend of scientific insight, hands‑on coaching and a clear mission: to give individuals the tools they need to step into their best selves.
Why is focusing on interconnected systems so important for overall wellbeing?
The body is an eco-system, a whole universe of smaller systems in conversation with each other. Your gut talks to your brain, your hormones, your immune cells – even your mood. When one system is off, the rest are impacted and the external results snowball quickly. That’s why focusing on symptom band-aids rarely gets people thriving again, they just have to keep adding more ‘tape and blu-tack’ or things fall apart again. By working on multiple systems at once, one can unlock real incremental gains that over time restores the body’s natural equilibrium.
What are three practical steps you’d recommend right away to start reclaiming our health?
· Turn down the volume on stress: Strictly no phones in the bedroom, eat some (30g) carbs within 30 min of waking, have your coffee later, after food, simplify where you can.
· Nourish and heal your gut. Add in fermented foods, fibre or a good symbiotic like REBOOT. So much of overall health - mood, energy and clarity depend on tight epithelial barriers and microbial diversity.
· Support your circadian rhythm: Get outside early, 5-10 minutes of morning sun with no shades on; evening dimmer lights and no screentime for a minimum of 2hrs before bed. Keep the same wake/ bedtimes. The ‘body clock’ runs a schedule for everything - including when your ‘tired’ signal comes on. Small daily wins matter more than drastic overhauls.
Why do quick fixes fail and what helps people build real, lasting momentum with their wellbeing? Quick fixes might silence symptoms briefly, but they don’t reset your baseline back to sustained thriving. Consistency builds capacity: when you keep showing up for your wellbeing, you strengthen those neural pathways of resilience – that ’extra stretch’ left in the rubber band before it snaps. Small, manageable changes that become habits feel easy, bolster motivation, and allow you to keep going, adding further small gains that compound like interest.
How does our lifestyle shape our ability to heal and thrive? The world as it has evolved currently, surpasses our physiological capacity to deal with it, all our systems are maxed out. Supplements are tools to help, but the real transformation comes from aligning your daily routines and practices with how you want to feel. That should include protecting your sleep, gentle movement and real food, which can easily become the things we sacrifice first when we’re overwhelmed. Mindset underpins it all – choosing curiosity over guilt, progress over perfection and less self-judgement.
