I don’t know what’s happened to this word but it seems like it’s lost its integrity.
The integrity we collectively held for it. In the name of wellness. In the name of well-being. In the name of a healthy mind, body, and spirit. Those that have been in it, have known for a while, but it feels different right now.
I don’t know if it’s just me. Maybe it is. Am I just getting old? [rickety voice] back in my day, wellness was just something else.
I don’t know if it’s just this one-time conversation with my friend Britt about this exact topic. As we sit on the phone in silence, disheartened by our vision to lead a retreat this summer; it goes in one ear and out the other to people we invite we say. We’re called to pivot.
I don’t know if these words like Retreat, and Conscious, and Yoga, and Mindful, and Meditation and Breathwork and Energy (Cacao Ceremony is getting up there too)… if the mass culture & internet hold the value of what they truly are??
Has mainstream stripped them dry? Of content after content after content written about them, but the most essential for them… is practice. Practice with a trusted and experienced teacher or guide or facilitator. It’s become incredibly hard to discern between digital facades and meaningless claims without experience.
Like, there’s this guy on LinkedIn that continues to message me about how he’s used and I quote “natural/spiritual principles” to power the growth of his business and sell his business for $50m+. And now wants to invite me to this spiritual SOS community with a tagline like “Supercharge your personal and professional growth and let go of worry, using simple spiritual principles, in less than 30 days”
While I know the words he’s using can have truth to them…not by him and not this way…I’m sorry but it’s true.
And then I wonder, people see this and the wonderful offerings that we put out — can they tell there’s a difference?
I don’t know if the word has just been corrupt. By those with microphones made of money.
That when it’s our turn to speak, we sound like phony snake oil salespeople.
How many more apps need to get created to make us more well and calm? We don’t need another Goop Lab Netflix lecture, please.
I don’t know if I’m part of the culprit. If so, handcuff me now.
I don’t know if things get lost through the ether of the internet. The place where information is fed to us without even wanting or needing their type of nourishment. Stop feeding me that story that this random person has a secret formula for six-figure months. That doesn’t nourish me.
“Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art”
— Henry James
How can we harness this doubt?
As my doubt lingers in my mind, I know it’s meant for something else. What do I know to be true?
I know that The Contentment Corner is 1 year old this month! Thank you for the journey. That’s something to celebrate.
I know that I turned 35 this month and it fills me with both grief and gratitude. It’s hard to describe, I tell David (my partner) as I hold back tears folding my laundry wanting to bury my face inside this drawer.
If only I could be a neatly folded sock but I have too much to say and unravel that I’m better here this way. I’m a sensitive human after all and my birthday got mixed in with the Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio, and Mercury Retrograde. I’m on the other side of it now, to say the least, lol
And I know that we have it in us to reclaim and reinvent this curse of the word wellness — because what falls under this umbrella term is so essential, so vital for this human experience we’re having.
But, I’m also tired of virtual wellness and virtual life. I can't stand another fucking Zoom link. With a meeting ID. Then pairing my Bluetooth headphones. Sitting in a muted vortex, unable to “read the room” because we’re not in a room. Seeing the tiny image of the woman on her phone, while I try to facilitate a heartfelt talk on strategic communications. It makes my heart sink.
And in that same breath, I know our virtual work and classes and workshops are not leaving, they’ve kept us connected in some shape or form. And that’s something to celebrate.
So how can we make it sustainable? How can we nourish the physical self? And integrate with the virtual self?
That is going to be my practice for the time being. I invite you to practice too and share with us how you’ll be integrating your virtual and physical self!
Here’s what this might look like for me:
Read morning affirmations like these
The deity Chadmuya intuitively came to me this month. I’ll be calling on her support.
Attend more in-person events and classes to balance my virtual work
Affirmation: I can be present feeling harmonious, or overwhelmed, or heavy. Nothing needs to be a certain way to be “more present.”
In this month’s Contentment Corner, you’ll find:
△ New Monthly Rituals
△ New Page! Easily see how and where to practice with me.
△ 3 Tips for Creating a Clear 90-Day Marketing Plan
Talk soon,
𑁍 “I am worthy of being honored” with Londrelle
𑁍 How to follow the wisdom of your body
𑁍 Absolute Beauty: Radiant Skin and Inner Harmony Through the Ancient Secrets of Ayurveda
For Your Practice
I made it much clearer how and where to practice with me, I mostly redesigned a few things but it feels like a new page in some ways. Practices coming up:
May 17, 7 am PT/10 am ET MEDITATION + WRITING SESSION (virtual)
May 17, 9:30 am PT/12:30 pm ET MEDITATION + WRITING SESSION (virtual)
May 24, 4 pm PT/7:00 pm ET COMING BACK HOME TO YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM (virtual co-facilitation with Britt Dorazio)
For Mindful Marketing
3 Tips for Creating a Clear 90-Day Marketing Plan