Science Says It Works, But Does It Work for You?
- 1 hour ago
- 8 min read
Ale is a Holistic Wellness Practitioner and founder of Ale's Health, who creates transformative programs combining Breathwork, Mindfulness, Nutrition, and her own line of organic health snacks. She empowers driven individuals to reconnect their mind and body while unlocking their full potential.
You know what I love? Science. Give me the study. Show me the data. Tell me how many participants, what the researchers found, and what the limitations were. I genuinely love understanding why something works. But there is one thing I have learned through years of working with people and working with myself. To be more precise, by living: Something can be scientifically supported and still not be the right fit for you.
That doesn't mean the science is wrong. It means you're not a statistic. You're you. So what happens when we stop asking, “Does this work?” and start asking a much more interesting question: “Does this work for me?”
What does science tell us?
Let's clear something up first. When a scientific study says an intervention “works,” it usually means researchers observed an effect in the group they studied, under the conditions of that study. That is incredibly valuable.
It gives us evidence. It helps us make better decisions. It protects us from believing every wellness trend that goes viral on Instagram. But an average result is not a guarantee of your personal result.
Research in medicine has long recognized that people can respond differently to the same treatment. The National Academies describes this as heterogeneous treatment effects. Simply put, the effects of an intervention can vary from person to person.
There is even a research approach called an N-of-1 trial, where one person becomes their own comparison, and researchers look at how that individual responds over time. These studies exist because sometimes the question that matters most isn't “What works for most people?” It's “What works for this person?”
Honestly, I think there's something cool about that because it gives you permission to become curious about yourself again.
Maybe you've been outsourcing yourself
This is where I think many of us get stuck. We Google. We ask the expert. We read the book. We listen to the podcast. We save the Instagram Reel. We download the protocol. We buy the supplement.
We try the morning routine of the person who wakes up at 4:30 am and apparently has their entire life together before sunrise.
Then it doesn't work for us. So what do we do? We blame ourselves, thinking, “I must not be disciplined enough,” “I must be doing it wrong,” or “Maybe I need to try harder.”
Or worse: “Something must be wrong with me.” But what if nothing is wrong with you? What if it’s simply part of the journey that is taking you closer to what you’re looking for? What if instead you learn, “It’s not working this way. Let’s try another approach”? That can change everything.
Your body is giving you information
This doesn't mean throwing science out the window and declaring, “I just feel it, therefore it must be true.” Please don't. Your feelings can be valuable information, but they aren't automatically facts.
Your body can also misread signals. Stress, fear, expectations, past experiences, sleep, hormones, illness, medication, environment, and countless other factors can influence how you feel.
So I'm not asking you to blindly “trust your body.” I'm asking you to listen to it, investigate it, and get curious about it.
There's a difference. Instead of saying, “Everyone says meditation makes them calmer, so why am I still restless?” try asking, “Interesting. What happens in my body when I meditate for ten minutes?”
Instead of saying, “Everyone says this diet gives them energy, so why am I exhausted?” try asking, “Okay. What happens to my energy, digestion, mood, and hunger when I eat this way?”
Instead of saying, “This breathing technique is supposed to calm me down, so I must be doing something wrong,” try asking, “What happens when I use this particular breathing pattern? Do I feel calmer, more alert, uncomfortable, or exactly the same?”
What we’re doing is personalising your relationship with the information science gives you.
Stop collecting answers, start collecting evidence about you
This might be one of the biggest mindset shifts I can give you. You don't need another 47 wellness hacks. You need to become a better observer of yourself. Think of yourself as a friendly little scientist. Not obsessive or extreme, just curious. You try something, observe, learn, adjust, and try again.
Suddenly, wellness becomes less about following someone else's perfect formula and more about building a relationship with yourself.
For example, let's say you've heard that a particular morning practice improves focus. Don't immediately decide it will transform your life.
Try it for a week. Keep it simple. Notice:
How do I feel before?
How do I feel afterward?
What changes during my day?
Does my energy change?
Does my mood change?
Do I actually enjoy doing it?
Can I realistically maintain it?
Does the benefit outweigh the effort?
Here's the important part: change one thing at a time when you can. If you completely overhaul your diet, start exercising, meditate for 30 minutes, stop caffeine, wake up at 5 am, and start journaling all on Monday, and then you feel amazing, great.
But what actually helped? You don't know. If you feel terrible? You don't know what caused that either. Small experiments create clearer information.
Remember the goal is: “I am willing to learn from science, professionals, experience, and myself.” That’s a much healthier kind of self-trust.
This is where it gets really interesting
Because sometimes what we're searching for isn't actually another technique. It's permission. Permission to stop forcing something that doesn't feel right. Permission to change our minds.
Permission to say: “That worked for her. It doesn't work for me.” “This approach helped me six months ago, but I need something different now. I tried it properly. I gave it a fair chance. It's not for me.”
You claim your power and the freedom to decide what to stick with because it works for you. I've written before about how easily our minds can absorb beliefs and then treat them as truth. If you've ever felt trapped by an internal voice telling you who you're supposed to be, you might recognize the connection here. The Voice in Your Head Isn't Yours and Here's the Proof.
Sometimes the biggest breakthrough isn't discovering a new answer. It's realizing: “Wait… I never actually decided this was true for me.”
Your body deserves a seat at the table
I want to be really careful with this because wellness can sometimes romanticize “body wisdom” to the point where everything becomes: “Just listen to your body.”
But listen to what? How? Your body communicates through sensations, emotions, energy, fatigue, tension, appetite, and countless other signals.
Those signals matter, but they require context. Sometimes tiredness means you need rest. Sometimes it means you're unwell. Sometimes it means you slept badly, you're grieving, you need food, or you've been pushing yourself for months.
The interpretation may require you to dig deeper. That's why I believe the strongest relationship you can build with yourself isn't based on blindly believing every thought or sensation.
It's based on curiosity and consciousness. Listen. Question. Learn. Adjust. Repeat.
You don't have to choose between science and yourself
This is the part I really want you to remember. You don't have to become anti-science to trust yourself, and you don't have to abandon yourself to follow science. We can hold both. We can say, “Show me the evidence.” Then, “Now let's see how this applies to me.”
Not somebody else's body, somebody else's morning routine, or somebody else's definition of healthy, but your definition of what helps you genuinely thrive.
Then there is faith
Now I'm going to get a little more personal. Because for me, there is another piece of this puzzle that science cannot answer for me: God. I don't believe I have to understand everything to keep going. I don't believe I need certainty before taking the next step.
When I doubt myself and don't trust myself, I come back to faith. I remind myself: “I've got this. God has got me.” Maybe your faith looks exactly like that. Maybe it looks different. Maybe you're still figuring it out.
You don't have to have every answer before you move. You can be scared and still go. You can doubt and still go. You can have no idea what happens next and still take the next step.
Sometimes faith is saying: “It looks out of my hands now. I’ve done my part, and I leave it to God or the universe now.”
So go find out what's true for you
Try things, not recklessly or desperately, but curiously. Try the walk, the breathing practice, the meditation, the earlier bedtime, or the different breakfast.
Try putting your phone away. Try saying no. Try saying yes. Try sitting quietly long enough to actually hear yourself.
Then pay attention. What gives you more energy? What makes you feel more like yourself? What makes you feel grounded? What makes you more present with the people you love? What helps you show up as the person you know you're capable of becoming?
When something doesn't work, don't make it mean something is wrong with you. Maybe it simply wasn't yours, or maybe you need to try a different approach.
Keep experimenting. The goal is to become someone who knows themselves deeply enough to make conscious choices. One day, something will click.
Not because somebody on the internet told you it should. Not because a study guaranteed it. But because you've experienced it, you've tested it, you've lived it, and you know. You feel it in your bones: “This is for me.”
If there's one thing I want you to take with you
Learning is your superpower: Learn from people, learn from science, and learn from experience. Learn from your mistakes, your body, and your emotions.
Learn from the people who love you and from the people who challenge you. If faith is part of your life, learn to lean into God when you don't have the answers, and even when you do.
Keep going and remember: You are allowed to participate in deciding what your life, your health, your happiness, and your wellbeing actually look like.
Keep exploring
If this idea of reconnecting with yourself resonates with you, you might also enjoy my previous conversations about the mind, body, and the patterns that shape us:
If this article made you stop for a second and think, “Maybe I need to come back to myself,” that's exactly the conversation I want us to keep having.
Come join the community. Let's keep learning, questioning, experimenting, and growing together.
Read more from Maria Alejandra Toledo Valderrama
Maria Alejandra Toledo Valderrama, Holistic Wellness Coach
Ale is a Holistic Wellness Practitioner passionate about helping others discover their true potential and live life to the fullest. Through her comprehensive approach combining Breathwork, Mindfulness, and Nutritional guidance, she empowers driven individuals seeking balance, health-conscious professionals navigating stress, and wellness enthusiasts ready for deeper transformation. She has developed her own line of five organic health snacks made exclusively with natural ingredients, providing clean, guilt-free nutrition.
