A Vision: The Future of Wellness

As we enter this new year, imbued with possibility, I want to share a vision I’ve been sitting with, playing with, holding space for.

My vision for the future of wellness, the future that I, and many others, and maybe you, are longing for. Desires and dreams that have been born out of the unnecessary pain and suffering and trauma caused by oppressive systems. A reimagining that we’re all being called into, especially after nearly 2 years of pandemic life.

I invite you to imagine with me…

What would it be like to live in a world where all life was valued? All forms of life revered, respected, honored with dignity?

What would it be like to live in a world where it was understood that my well being impacted your well being? And your well being impacted mine? 

What would it be like to live in a world where it was understood that my suffering is tied to your suffering? And your suffering is tied to mine? And the suffering of our rainforests and oceans and birds and air is tied to each and every one of our suffering?

What kind of culture could we co-create with this understanding? 

How might a culture that values the interconnectedness of all life challenge current societal structures and norms?

What then becomes possible? What could be born from this space?

Indigenous psychologies are rooted in this understanding - that we are all interconnected, that we live in a relational universe. And in recent years, the field of Quantum Mechanics is backing this. 

Perhaps we don’t need Western scientific “proof” to connect to this wisdom, though. 

I believe the memory lives inside of our bodies, reflected back to us in every single aspect of nature. Because after all, we are relational beings, with relational biology, living within relational ecologies. 

We only exist today because of a long lineage of collaborative beings - not just humans, beings that lived interdependently millions of years ago in the ocean and the old growth forests. Beings from the very beginning whose choice of mutual flourishing ended up forming the very cellular makeup for all of life. Interspecies relationships that worked together to co-create our stunning planet as we know it.

Our evolution is interconnected.

Our growth is interconnected.  

Our healing and thriving is interconnected. 

And when I am present with this wisdom, I am able to open up to the possibility of a different world. A dream of something truer for us and our planet. 

A future of wellness that is communal, equitable, foundational to everything, earth-based, and body-based. And I even wonder what could exist beyond this - what could be dreamed up by the future generations who are: more well than us? More rested than us? More externally liberated than us? 

The limitless possibility of this question floods me with love and joy and hope- can you feel it too? The possibility that lives in the space where these tenets are already realized for future generations and would allow for something even more powerful and beautiful to emerge.

It’s difficult to pick one of these tenets to start with since they all overlap and influence each other in many ways, flowing circularly. So I invite you to notice where you see connections between them and perhaps reflect on what else you might add.

1. Communal

With the right conditions our bodies can heal naturally, we can move through and integrate the inevitable challenges and heartbreak of the human experience. And one of these conditions is communal support and care.

Communal ways of being are most natural to us. All of us come from ancestral peoples that shared rituals, rites, and ceremonies in the name of collective wellbeing. Dancing, singing, eating, praying, connecting with and praising the land and the elements, healing together. 

These practices make us resilient. 

If we are all interconnected then the only way we can truly be well is in relationship to each other and in relationship to our earth. We can then only heal and thrive in relationship to each other and our earth. 

So then, what if the pain, suffering, or trauma of the individual was responded to as a reflection of the community or larger social context? And mattered to all of us?

And the opposite of that? Dominant culture - individualization and isolation are inherently traumatizing/retraumatizing because neurobiologically we need each other to be well and to heal. 

Many perspectives in the field of trauma have shifted to agree that most trauma is caused by other humans, either relationally or systemically (systemic oppression perpetuates relational trauma so you could pose that it is the root cause of modern trauma). Understanding this can help us shift toward a more radical and relational approach to healing and social change, (read more on this topic in Staci Haines’s book, The Politics of Trauma).

The antidote to trauma is connection and support that wasn’t accessible during the traumatic event - feeling seen, heard, loved, understood and belonging within relationship, within all forms of relationship - self, interpersonal, cultural, institutional, societal, land.

Would there be the same prevalence of trauma and other illness in our society if we reclaimed our communal ways of being? 

What are the communal wellness practices that enrich your wellbeing? 

What are the communal practices that you long for? 

I see us reclaiming our communal practices with conviction.

I see us communing in beautiful ways with people, ancestors, plants, animals, and the land.

I see us moving in the direction of collective care.

I see relational healing. I see interconnectedness as our compass.

2. Equitable + Ethical

With the extreme wealth that exists in our world (and it only continues to grow), it is undeniably possible for all of us to have access to everything we need: food, shelter, clean water and air, education, health care, art, nature, safe neighborhoods, and communal spaces.

These are our birthrights. Beings born to an abundant, regenerative planet.

What does it mean to make sure everyone has enough before excess gets to occur?

Wellness practices, policies and possibilities can only be equitable and ethical if they include everyone and center the needs and wellbeing of historically marginalized people. 

Our current system of “health care” and other social systems are not even deserving of their names, because every single one of them is built upon structures of abuse and exploitation of human (and planetary) life. Black and Brown people, Queer people, Trans people, people with disabilities, women and poor people have been systematically harmed for centuries. Excluded or turned away, dismissed, mistreated, not listened to, and sadly even murdered in the hands of the state. 

Language has power. None of these systems deserve their name. So we reimagine. 

This is not to discredit health care workers. I offer my deepest bows and gratitude to all care workers. They are the true MVPs of this pandemic.

This is about a larger system, a powerful system that has failed and continues to fail people.

What if we let go of trying to “improve” these systems and the culture they impact, but imagine redesigning them altogether? Not settling for systems and practices that should be called by an entirely different name? 

I see us recreating our wellness systems and practices based on compassion and true care for all.

I see the needs of historically oppressed people at the center of all care practices.

I see everyone having enough. 

3. Foundational 

What if wellness was at the foundation of everything in society? What could grow from this as our root system?

It is what we all truly want after all right? I feel like you could ask most people across the  planet what they most desire and they would respond that they want health and happiness for their loved ones. 

So what if we actually prioritized this fundamental desire in everything we do and be? In schools? Courtrooms? Other institutions? Our economy?

Could certain parts of our society even exist anymore? Like prisons? Caging human beings is inarguably damaging to someone’s mental and physical health. Which also impacts collective wellbeing when a previously incarcerated person re-enters society. 

Mariame Kaba prompts us to ask, “who profits from this indignity? Who profits from the ills of this system?”

How might we create a more dignified approach to accountability and justice that actually benefits personal and collective safety and wellbeing? Might placing wellness at the root of society transform the conditions that create criminal behavior to begin with? 

I don’t have the answers, but we deserve to ask the questions. (If you’re interested in a more circular and dignified approach to justice and safety, I encourage you to read Mariame’s book called We Do This Till We Free Us on transforming justice.)

And that is just one example. What if we applied these same questions to every single institution?

If education was no longer an institution replicating all of these other systems of harm - no longer about punishment and productivity and instead committed to fostering community care, curiosity, creativity and other transformative skills to build a well society? What becomes possible for our children? What becomes possible for our world?

What could grow from this root system?

I see us growing new roots of care.

New roots that nourish us in every part of our lives.

New roots that build structures of wellbeing beyond our wildest dreams.

4. Earth-Based/Land-Based

I imagine that you are all feeling the same grief I feel about the way our earth is being violated and a strong longing to return to her. Robin Wall Kimmerer asks, “and what if the earth is longing for us too?”

We are of the earth. We are not above her, or anything else. Grounding back into the earth means grounding back into ourselves. Back to our true nature, back to truer ways of being. 

And what if returning to the wisdom and wonder of the earth not only protects and heals our planet, but is also the key to unlocking the necessary change we need throughout all of society? An earth-based approach to everything? 

What if the answers to each and every crisis are actually right in front of us and all around us?

In her book, Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer says, “in Native American ways of knowing, human people are often referred to as the younger brothers of Creation.” She shares that we have the least experience on earth so it is only right that we look to our older and wiser teachers, plant and animal guides who can teach us through their ancient ways of being and thriving in the world together. 

What does it look like to have themes of honor, gratitude, reciprocity, abundance, sustainability and regeneration guiding our everyday lives? A ripple of right relationship flowing through our interpersonal, cultural and societal lives?

I see us coming home to the earth.

I see us reclaiming our natural ways of being.

I see us practicing nature reverence in our rituals that become embedded in our culture.

I see the wisdom of the earth carrying us forward toward regeneration and balance and brilliance.

5. Body-Based

Westernized approaches to wellbeing separate us from our bodies. And like we have touched on, animal bodies have been around a lot longer than the modern human mind.

Our minds are beautiful. And when the mind is the only/main focus of our care practices, it limits us. It fragments us. 

What does it mean to be cut off from such a profound part of ourselves?

I grieve the ways we have been disconnected from our body’s miraculous wisdom and power.

I grieve the ways society has us ashamed of or even convinced to hate our bodies.

I grieve the way society has attempted to steal the dignity of the bodies of oppressed peoples.

I see us reconnecting with ourselves in an embodied way. Because it’s who we are.

I see us building trust with our bodies and one another.

I see us practicing embodied care.

I see trauma informed frameworks in health care and wellness and all institutions.

I see deep replenishment of our nervous systems and a return to wholeness.

I see body love and body acceptance. I see body celebration.

I see us making a home in our bodies and with one another.

I see collective embodied liberation. 

Thank you, dear one, for reading this and imagining with me. I know how much courage it takes to sit with these questions.

Here’s to the future of wellness. And a new year filled with fierce love to take us there.

“This may only be a dream of mine, but I think it can be made real.”

– Ella Baker