Spiritual wellness is beyond the wellness of the body and the mind. It is much more than exercising or practising de-stressing techniques. For spiritual wellness, we have to go beyond what we do for our body and mind to focus on the soul, the spirit, the atman—for that is who we are.
Spiritual wellness is about living with the realisation of the truth— the truth about life, about who we are, about who god is. It is the sense of wellness that comes with acceptance and surrender, faith and trust, and living a meaningful and purposeful life. It is about living in the light of the truth, eradicating the darkness of ignorance.
It is about living with a heightened sense of awareness about our true self and connecting to the supreme immortal power we call god. It is about transcending the body, mind and ego. Needless to say, to attain spiritual wellness, we need to be spiritual. Being spiritual transforms us, our life; it changes everything.
The first step towards attaining spiritual wellness is self-realisation. Who are we—are we this body that dies? When the body dies, people burn or bury the body. They say that he or she passed away. Who passes away? Would our loved ones burn us if we were the body? No, of course not. This indicates that we are not the body.
If we are not the body, are we the mind? Most of us believe that the mind is king, it is everything. This is because of our ignorance. The mind is actually our enemy. It constantly bombards us with thoughts, creating fear, stress and anxiety. It is a monkey that jumps from thought to thought. It produces about 50 thoughts a minute and about 50,000 a day.
We have to bring down the Mental Thought Rate from 50 to one thought a minute. We have to make the mind still. We have to watch it and catch it. We have to observe the mind just like we observe fish in the water. If we, however, go one step further, we will realise that the mind doesn’t even exist. Where is the mind? Has anyone seen an image or picture of the mind? What we think is the mind, is only a bundle of thoughts. Therefore, neither are we the body, nor the mind. We are that, the power within, we are the soul, the spirit, the atman.
To realise this truth is the purpose of human life. The realisation of the truth creates spiritual wellness. We realise we are not the body and mind and, therefore, we become free from the pain and misery that comes with it. We live with bliss and peace. We drop the ego. We no longer have material ambitions or aspirations. We live with contentment, not greed or desires.
Because we realise that we are all the Divine Soul, that we are not different from one another, we treat people with kindness, reverence, love, compassion. We become aware that nothing is permanent, that this world is a cosmic drama, that we are actors that come and go. Therefore, we do not get disturbed or distressed by what happens around us. We live with acceptance, and surrender to the Divine will. With spiritual wellness, we move from a life of chaos to clarity, from ignorance to enlightenment, from darkness to light.
Spiritual well-being changes the paradigm of life. It is beyond feeling fitter or being more relaxed or generally happy. Spiritual wellness is true wellness because as we evolve in life, we are transformed. A spiritual outlook or approach at our place of work, therefore, can make all the difference.
The writer is a spiritual leader and the founder of AiR Institute of Realization and AiR Center of Enlightenment.
The Workplace Wellness Formula
✥ Lead by example. As we give, we get. Your own spiritual transformation can become an inspiration.
✥ Encourage colleagues and team members to meditate, and be in silence.
✥ Encourage introspection by maintaining a daily journal. Contemplate and make a note of your reactions, moods, sense of connection with others, positivity levels, and sense of purpose.
✥ Encourage people to practise yoga. Though yoga means in union with God, practising asanas can inculcate, not just better health, but discipline as well.
✥ Go beyond deadlines and work to encourage and initiate discussions on life, existence and death. Better than an after-work party.
✥ Create more team-bonding exercises. Not just outbound but literally, at the office.
Activities like periodically writing a letter to god can be therapeutic.
✥ Introduce weekly prayer meetings or satsangs.
✥ Involve more and more people in altruistic activities, and encourage giving.