We are wired for well-being. Our bodies are truly amazing creations. They function beautifully in a state of balance: an exquisite orchestra that produces wondrous tunes of divine brilliance.
That is until we start to interfere.
It is hard work to go against nature. (Try swimming against the current. You can never win.) From the moment we begin to make our own choices, the vast majority of humanity dedicates entire lives to testing its default settings of “being” and “wellness.” By the time we get to the finish line, we arrive depleted and weary.
How well are we living? What is our health-span? Are we in tune within ourselves and the world around us?
Or have we (and the earth) surrendered to the inevitability of disease, depletion, and suffering?
Chronic diseases are the major cause of human death and disability worldwide. They are called “chronic” because the expectation is they will never be reversed. Instead, to the delight of industries profiting from our misery, science has come up with a way to manage them: pills, more pills to manage the first set of pills, expensive tools and fancy memberships to encourage us to move, and gadgets to remind us of our laziness and excess.
Most of the top ten causes of death are unquestionably linked to nutrition, physical activity, and lifestyle. These are aptly referred to as Diseases of Affluence: diseases of excess, laziness, and entitlement.
Our life-span today is not a health-span. It is for most a life of dis-ease and suffering. And it is totally a result of our own un-doing. Science has helped us live longer. Our choices have completely disrupted the built-in wiring that ensures we live a life of health. This internal GPS thrives on space and purity. They are, in fact, what keep it intact.
Space and purity in the body, the mind, and the spirit are the tune that harmoniously unites the orchestra of well-being. The resulting music reverberates beyond our bodies, into the earth and all her living beings. Yoga and movement, nutrition, meditation, loving relationships, and compassion toward the planet and its inhabitants all support our nourishment, growth, and well-being.
A wholistic approach to well-being is one that nourishes every pillar of wellness. This is the essence of compassionate living: start within and from your nourished being, allow the world to be uplifted and energized.