Thoughts on the Quote: “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society” by Jiddu Krishnamurti

I have often said that when something is common, it is normalized and socially accepted despite often being very unhealthy. News channels frequently cover stories about soaring unhealthy trends such as various chronic disease epidemics or overdose and poverty rates. The assumption is that if only we took better care of ourselves and worked harder, we could avoid becoming statistics.

Social media trends of spreading glorified yet extreme portrayals of lifestyles claim we all could experience wellbeing if only we just bought this new shiny plastic "must have" product. Popular social media posts assault us with all the reasons we aren’t good enough and aren’t ever doing enough despite spending more resources to feel better. Despite there not being such thing as an average day, most of us eat multiple times a day, work or study, groom, view media, drive or ride a form of transportation, and sleep during a 24-hour cycle. However, even if our wallets are big enough to afford organic food, the soil that the food grows from is still absent from many essential minerals. It’s almost impossible to avoid plastic touching your food or drink if you live in the USA. In this country, we spend over 8 hours a day on average in front of a screen. Grooming can include using mouth wash or floss which often have PFAS “forever chemicals” present. Transportation to work/school/errands often includes sitting in stress-inducing traffic and contributing to a high carbon footprint. The meme “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” and prevalence of stimulants, depressants, and technological devices negatively influence the quality and quantity of our sleep.

You may think those with privilege can take the time away to go on a silent or yoga retreat and surround themselves with nourishment. But what do those privileged people do once they return to their paid 9 to 5 but really work 8 to 7 jobs whose commute is 90 minutes one way on a good day? How can we integrate the healing we have experienced when the sickness is all around us, in our food, our medicine, our water, our minds?

We can change our values and resist the story of separation that tells us we are separate from each other, the earth, and ourselves. Individual change shifting on a collective level is supported by aligned communities. However, the high incidence of relational trauma can make us not want to meet new people or join communities for fear of merging with another and concern for interpersonal boundary violations. But the developmental and relational movement practices of Chi for Two promote healthy boundaries and help us sense from our core out rather than our head down. The practice of sensing and moving from our core out can help us become more aligned with earth’s rhythms like falling asleep when the sun goes down or enjoying making a sandwich when midday rolls around. Chi for Two uses movement practices to celebrate fighting rhythms (efforts to individuate) which help people say NO. We can learn to protect our boundaries in our interactions even when there is power differential such as an employee speaking with their supervisor. We can access our social engagement system easily despite triggers in the shifting environment. Novel experiences and new relationships can feel exciting and genuine rather than scary and unsafe. Relationship with self and living beings is a dance…with a flow….that we all deep down know.