Health And Well-Being Rediscovered
‘Wealth’ comes from the old English ‘weal’, which means ‘wealth, welfare, and wellbeing’. Weal is in turn related to the older word ‘wel’, meaning ‘in a state of good fortune, welfare, or happiness’.
‘Wel’ gives birth to ‘welth’ around 1250 AD, and ‘welthi’ a century or so later. By 1430 it seems to have settled around the idea of riches and prosperity, leaving behind the older meanings for a wider understanding of wellbeing and health.
Today’s health care system in the west is broken. It is unsustainable and the crisis is real.
“Medicine is: 1. the science or practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease (in technical use often taken to exclude surgery).
Similar: medical science, practice of medicine, healing, therapeutics, therapy, treatment, healing art
2. a compound or preparation used for the treatment or prevention of disease, especially a drug or drugs taken by mouth.”
The western model of medicine contributes to longevity of life. Additionally, advances in medicine have led to remedies for dangerous diseases. We are all thankful for surgical methods that correct innumerable maladies. Amazing advances in medicine and science are able to address chronic diseases and conditions that have become so advanced they require intervention.
Unfortunately, these advances have come to dominate the consciousness of what it means to be well, because being well is more than the absence of being ill. One cannot partake in unhealthy habits -daily, weekly, and monthly- and then turn to the medical practitioner for help, seeking prescription drugs or surgical interventions to resolve a health issue that could have been prevented.
When the English language as we know it today was borne in the 1300s, the Old English word root "hal" evolved into 3 words: "health," "whole," and "holy." Preceding the emergence of the three words, there was just the one word..."hal" to express all three meanings. It was common to toast to one’s good health because clearly without health, life was pointless. Then western scientific advances led to eradications of some of the most deadly & dangerous diseases on the planet. We were lifted out of the scourges of plagues & rampant threats to longevity. But today it has become obvious of the need for each person to invest in the knowledge so necessary to ensure good health. And more importantly, feeling good is to be the normal state of your life.
(The 2020 COVID global pandemic illustrated the vulnerabilities of the human body. Maintaining a strong immune system along with high self-awareness of your own health and wellbeing are never more important. )
To Be Well, means to Live Well. To be well means to know how you feel. To be well means to live each day so that you seldom need that trip to the physician and address a health problem.
If you know your body, your mind, your digestion, your sense of inner and outer balance, you become your own physician. You know what your body is telling you to eat, or not to eat. You know when you need exercise. You know when you need to rest or get extra sleep.
Do you see the difference? Your health is your good fortune.
Good fortune has come to be interpreted as solely ‘money’. Such a reduction of good fortune has all too often rendered people lonely, addicted, incessantly working to pay bills, and unknowing of the human experience of happiness, deep purpose, and personal meaning. Such satisfying experiences in human life must be brought into balance in the midst of a culture that is out of balance. Imbalances are evidenced in pervasive stress conditions, dissatisfaction with life in general, an unknowing of the terrain of relationships, and a disconnection from what it means to feel good; as in healthy and well.
Remember, Wellness, Healthy, and Wholeness are all from the same root. It’s about bringing your life into balance. The key to bringing balance to your life- your mind, your body, your emotions, your energetic system, and your spirit- is to widen your belief about what it means to have good fortune. Health and Wellbeing is your birthright. Your health is your truest wealth.
What is Ayurvedic Wisdom/Healing/Medicine?
Knowing your Dosha is a big help. And looking at how you eat and what you eat will provide you with areas where you can improve your health and wellbeing right away.