Wellness: An Inside Job

Mindfulness: The Inside Job

When I teach meditation, I often refer to it as an inside job. 

In mindfulness meditation, we look closely at our inner experience. We pay attention, in a particular way, using a spacious quality so that we can see more clearly. It is kind of like applying Teflon, allowing us not to get stuck in rumination or worry or whatever our crazy heads are doing. We are with it but not overly involved in it. 

So, mindfulness is like a gatekeeper vetting whether visitors have friendly or harmful intentions. In mindfulness, we monitor what is happening as skillful or unskillful, wholesome or unwholesome. We notice if thoughts cause pain or joy. Sometimes like the telephoto lens of a camera in that we are very precise and zoom in, and sometimes we need to take a step back and opt for a more panoramic view.

In the same way, Wellness is an inside job. We must monitor what we are doing as helpful or not. We have our hands on the steering wheel. Sometimes the weather is bad, and we proceed with caution focusing on the few feet we can see ahead of us. Other times, we can roll down the windows, let the air blow in our hair as we take a big picture view and enjoy the scenery. Either way, we are the ones driving the car. 

Wellness cannot be found in a particular product, Instagram-worthy body, a meditation app, or a green smoothie. Wellness is not the absence of disease, nor is there some sort of wellness peak which we are striving to reach. It is a journey, and it is different for everyone. 

There may not be a wellness summit, but we certainly hope that in all aspects of wellness we are climbing upward, heading toward our True North. Whatever the route to the top, it’s reached via switchbacks. It zigs and zags. There is no straight line up and the journey is not quick. Those switchbacks might feel like you are heading backward, but the path is still uphill. 

This is true for all eight interconnected realms of wellness. Picture the metaphor in terms of physical well-being. It is not a straight shot up. Emotionally, this is how we learn to handle life’s challenges. Financially, the plan is to build, but have you ever known financial markets to be predictable? Socially, your sense of connection with others shifts and changes depending on your life situation. Spiritually, your sense of meaning and purpose takes on its own experiential process. Intellectually, recognizing and tapping into your creative abilities is forever shifting. Occupational wellness or finding satisfaction in your work will change as your job evolves. The Environments in which you thrive will be different in different situations. 

Is there any aspect of this process that is not like climbing up a zigzagging path? You might argue that as you age it is all downhill, but I disagree. It only seems that way because you are comparing yourself to a former self with a different set of circumstances and capabilities. Aging is part of the process and it is not a problem to be solved. Remember you are on a switchback and being kind to yourself along the way makes the voyage much more pleasant. 

Not like climbing up a zigzagging path?

Each aspect of the wellness system must be taken into context. Every one of us can take charge of our well-being by cultivating a wellness mindset. We must cultivate a shift in our perspective and thus the way in which we relate to all that is happening to us. 

So, we are back to mindfulness and wellness being inside jobs. If you have both hands on the steering wheel, you are still driving in the direction you want to go. As a True North wellness coach, we are just sitting in the passenger seat. We are here to inform, to be sure that you know you are not alone, to support and guide you along the way. To paraphrase the Tao Te Ching:

Look within yourself and you’ll find everything you need.