What is Wellness?

written by YeShey on Friday, July 16th, 2010

What is Wellness?

Dictionary.com has two definitions that I like; I see wellness as a combination of both.  The words that stand out for me are “deliberate effort” and “preventing”

1. the quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, esp. as the result of deliberate effort.

2. an approach to healthcare that emphasizes preventing illness and prolonging life, as opposed to emphasizing treating

Mediation requires deliberate effort and according to the law of karma, we are unable to change the past, we only have control over how we deal with things that happen to us now and do so in a way that will have a positive effect on our future.

When we practice meditation, we learn to be present, to accept what comes; simply and objectively experience the thought, the emotion, the situation, the feeling.

When an experience is positive, we like it and want to prolong it or repeat it, when this does not happen we suffer a little or a lot. When an experience is negative  or unwanted we tend to resist it;  and do what we can to stop it or at least minimize it and figure out a way so that it will not happen again.  The result is anxiety, stress and pressure.

Meditation teaches us to become the witness and to observe without response. We learn to observe and then just let go.

This does not mean that we accept the unacceptable and lose quality or do not try to achieve something better for ourselves.

As we tune our minds and become less reactive to negative situations, we stop the chain of conditioned responses that cause us so much suffering.

Take the example of being given a report to complete by the end of an already very busy week.  Watch the chain of thoughts that the mind rides:

What!! – are you crazy?  I am already up to my eyeballs at work.  Why do you always give me the job and never give it to Sarah over there.  She just coasts by, does not provide the insight that I do, does not stay late every day and she takes so many sick days!!!  I do not like Sarah at all.  I cannot stay late this week, my kids need me too, Johnny has a big soccer game.   I am so unappreciated. My job sucks.  But I need to do this or I will never get the promotion. I need the money.  I have bills and I really want that new Beemer.  How can I get all of this done? My life sucks……..

And then after all of that, maybe we go home, go to bed and the entire story plays in our head again…

What if we were able to train the mind to surrender?  And just say:

OK one more thing to do this week,  I need to talk to my boss about my workload, I will set up a meeting next week.

And continue the day.

This is wellness. Wellness of mind and spirit and when we are feeling well we also want to take care of our body.

In the beginning of meditation practice we tend to use the meditation time as a kind of refuge, a place where we do not have to deal with anything. This is great, nothing wrong with this.  This will help to calm the mind, increase focus,  lower blood pressure and reduce stress.

As our practice matures, we learn to become an objective witness. We learn to watch the mind and not get caught up in the endless chain of thoughts. We learn to receive and let go without all of the drama. This will help transform us.

Practice throws us right into the heart of the fire. Practice allows us to accept the pressure and transform it into something full of love and light; just as pressure transforms coal into diamonds.

Love,

YeShey