Wellness, What is it Exactly?
What is wellness? And why is it that I am investing so much of my time and energy into this idea? Why, as a collective, is it so trendy? What lies beyond and underneath?
I have been chewing on these questions for quite some time now.
If it were up to my iPhone to define wellness based off of my algorithms I’d get flashes of tropical fruits, green salads, yoga flows with great views, ginger shots, and red light skincare routines. Then it’d likely show a few ads for Lululemon leggings, a guasha scraper, or whatever else it wants me to consume.
But that’s just a phone’s answer. That’s all it knows. And while it is superficial and materialistic and really spotlighting only a mere spec on the tip of the iceberg, what more could be expected from a phone?
For a phone, a robot, a machine, they cannot tell the difference between looking good and feeling good. Really feeling good. And it’s not their fault. They don’t have this body. They don’t have these curves, these shapes that resemble rolling hills. These emotions that pass through body like waves lapping sandy shores. It’s just us in here. And so it is up to us humans to decide.
What does being well in this body feel like?
What is body?
Where does it begin and where does it end?
These skin suits bound by bones, tied together by muscle and memory, suspended in water, what do they need?
What do they desire?
To be a human is to be multifaceted and multidimensional. I believe wellness must be as comprehensive as our complexities.
Wellness for me has felt like this:
A healthy pumping heart
Strong legs that allow me to climb mountains,
To chase my wildest dreams
A happy inner core
Clear skin and balanced hormones
An acceptance of where I am
Knowing that here is exactly where I need to be
And that what I seek is also seeking me
A resistance to see my worth as what I can produce
An ability to rest
A supportive community
A collective defiance against hate
A communal movement towards Love
Knowing the names of birds and my neighbors
A meditation practice
A willingness to reflect
A shift from scarcity mindset to one of abundance
Bare feet to Earth’s plane
A balanced relationship to stimulants, to technology
Zero sugar intake due to zero sugar cravings
An ever growing repertoire of plant medicine friends
A discernment to determine fiend from friend
To recognize poison posing as food
Self love in the form of discipline
A practice of connecting to Self, to Source
A freedom to be,
A freedom to create,
A freedom to dream,
What then can’t we achieve?
While this list is continuously growing and changing, as I grow and change, it is a start. And if I can be well in my own body, what can that mean for the collective body?
This feeling of feeling. Of feeling good. It can be revolutionary. We can be revolutionary. When we are empowered, we understand that we are the Alchemists. We can take the traumas handed down and the wounds and hurt from his lifetime, transforming them into Love. We have the power to heal, so that we can live. And we all deserve to feel well in these bodies of ours. We deserve to have control over our existences, rather than be controlled externally. And that if we all show up to the communal fire with overflowing cups, we will never grow thirsty.
Wellness is more than just a trend. It is a way of life. A way out of this old narrative and away from outdated patterns of living. It is a vision for what is possible. It is sustainability as we know it in our body. It extends to the small and the large.