Next BeeWell Gathering is this Friday at 6pm on Zoom!! The plan includes shifting from winter to spring (one of the most challenging seasonal shifts of the year), but we’ll also make time to talk about what you need to focus us. These classes unfold from the needs of the Gathering. Don’t miss out.
Continuing to BeeWell can be hard to do alone. That’s why we have monthly BeeWell Gatherings on Zoom. Zoom means that everyone is safe and welcome and can more easily join no matter what’s going on around us. Zoom means that we can show up even when it’s hard. Join us for the practice of being well.
Each BeeWell Gathering includes a Welcome and Hello where we each get to introduce ourselves to one another and create “Sangha” (community of Good Company). This is a good time to talk about where we are since our last Gathering or what’s going on if you’re new to the Gathering. I’ll offer a mini lecture around wellness (with an Ayurveda leaning, but one that’s user friendly for everyone at any level) that can help to get the mind thinking and churning in new ways around health. After the mini lecture, we’ll discuss and talk about what we might need moving forward and make an individual plan to practice for the next month. That plan might simply be to create space to show up for the next Gathering, to go for a daily walk, make a shift in diet, commit to a yoga practice, and/or something completely different. Your plan is about you, supported by your Good Company!
If you haven’t already, or it’s been a while, take a few moments to define these three words for yourself: Heal. Cure. Health.
What does each mean to you? No rush. Take your time. What do these words mean? What does “being well” mean to you? What did you discover is different about these words as you define them for yourself?
Here is the definition of “health” from Ayurveda: Swastha, which means (in short): to be situated in one’s own self.
The long definition of Swastha means (from the classical texts of Charaka): “Samadosha, samagnischa samadhatumala kriyaha prasanna atmenindriya manaha swasthya ityabhidheeyate” “The doshas (Vata, Pitta, Kapha) must be in equilibrium, the digestive fire (Agni) must be in a balanced state. The tissues (dhatus) and malas (wastes) must be working in a balanced state. The sensory (five senses) and motor (movement) organs, the mind, and atma (heart/soul) must be also in a pleasant state. Such a person is called a healthy person or Swastha.”
There is a difference, a big one, between healing and curing. I like to think of healing (and health) as “being well” in body, mind, senses, and heart/soul/Self. In being well, we aren’t seeking to “cure” anything or to turn ourselves into some “self improvement project” that we judge on end results. We are seeking to being well on a day to day basis, in our daily lives, exactly as we are. In true healing, we can have a disease but we are still well in body, mind, and heart/soul.
There is no “failure” in true healing. There is no “doing it wrong”. There is no judgment. I’m going to say that again: there is no judgement. Discernment, yes. Judgement, no.
It is the process and practice of taking care of one’s self as best we can in every moment (in every “now”). Yes, breathe easy, but there is still work to be done. Coming back to “discernment”, there is also a foundational aspect of “truth” (satya) as we talked about in yoga this week. Honesty. There may be no “failure” or “doing it wrong”, but there is honest working toward self care, self love, and the practice of wellness.
Practice Being Well and join us for the next Gathering to support your wellness and the wellness of your community!
Love & BeeWell, Charlotte
Trillium Ayurveda 