HEALTH AND WELLBEING.

Wholeness.

There’s an interesting contrast that lies in the idea that in order to become something bigger than ourselves, we must first become ourselves. Becoming a part of something that is larger than ourselves, or it maybe argued that we return to something bigger than ourselves, enriches, bringing with it meaning and wholeness.

Human beings have long held a tendency to separate what is whole into parts, the body from the mind, art from sciences, races, classes, us from our environment, individuals from the collective. In holding this view we can become to develop a sense of disconnect, a lack of grounding and orientation.

Western and modern cultures have glorified the pursuit of the individual, which in one sense is very important, granting one autonomy, empowerment and self expression, however in another sense this can diminish, removing us further from feeling that we are all connected.

The idea of a singular self as been challenged in traditional and indigeous cultures as Dr Dan Siegel a renowned psychiatrist, and author writes in an article that explores mental health in relation to community and environmental health ““ modern culture” around the globe may teach that the Self is a separate, noun-like entity, Indigenous and contemplative teachings from around the world have independently offered a different view—of a self that is a more verb-like emergence embedded in all of humanity and in all of nature”.

In this more intertwined light, the abundance of life and health maybe felt. Health lying in the union, in the togetherness, in the connections between. To sense this unity, if only for a brief moment is to hold a feeling of beauty, to offer us hope and resilience. When we feel connected to a whole, we feel whole.

27 March 2025.

References and Further Reading.

Siegel DJ, Drulis C. An interpersonal neurobiology perspective on the mind and mental health: personal, public, and planetary well-being. Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2023 Feb 3;22(1):5. doi: 10.1186/s12991-023-00434-5. PMID: 36737822; PMCID: PMC9897608.

Kimmerer Robin, Braiding Sweetgrass. 2013 Milkweed Editions.Chicago.