As a healthcare practitioner and health coach, my primary concern is the health and wellbeing of patients. Truth be told, the more I study the field, the more I integrate my clinical background with traditional healing practices, the more I realize that we are not seeing the big picture of health. No matter what new medical advances are invented, what technology is implemented, or what techniques applied, there is a deeper issue at hand.

The emerging health trends, coaching programs, and functional medicine fields are definitely a step in the right direction. The focus on the individual patient is admirable, and getting to the root cause is essential when trying to eradicate disease and promote health. However, the access to such individualized healthcare is limited to those who can afford to be treated by leading industry experts, as well as the cost of diagnostic testing and health-promoting supplements.

As the trend for synthetic chemicals is shifting to nutraceuticals and plant extracts, the quality control and the efficacy gets not only murky (due to lack of testing and evidence), but extremely costly. In addition, getting extracts, even from plants, is moving into the very model of care we’re trying to get away from. It certainly seems more intuitive that plants are “healthier” than synthetic products, but make no mistake — a whole plant is very different than the “extracts” that we deem to be the “active ingredient.” Sound familiar to the drug development process?

In order to get to the real root cause, we cannot stop at the level of the individual patient. We must dig even deeper and discover the root cause of our sickness as a society. Just as an individual tree is nourished by its roots, the health of a forest depends on the interconnected root system of all the trees. This network is actually a complex symbiosis of plants and fungus, called mycorrhiza, and its total health depends on soil quality, nutrients, sunlight, and water, among other factors. What’s interesting is that it functions as one whole organism, and if one tree is suffering, the roots of many step in and provide the necessary help. The forest innately realizes that its very survival depends on the wellbeing of each individual, and acts accordingly to preserve the health of each.

Extrapolating this to our human world, we can see that there is a pattern of illnesses that is cropping up across the spectrum. But why are we all falling prey to the same diseases, on a global scale? And what can we do to not only stop it, but prevent this vicious cycle? In order to provide utmost care to our sick individuals, we have to examine the sickness pervading our culture. The leading causes of the most prevalent chronic and infectious diseases are stress, inflammation, and the more intangible emotional/mental distress. And the reasons for these underlying issues can be condensed into just two main categories: our lifestyles and food supply.

Our capitalist and individualistic, money and power-driven world is setting the stage for impossible standards. With every couple of years, technology is growing exponentially, but brings its own sets of complications. We put enormous pressures on ourselves to both “succeed” and attain the ultimate work-life balance. We don’t have enough hours in the day to reach our work, fitness, and personal development goals. We forego sleep and nourishment with home-made meals from healthy, local, organic produce. Instead, we reach for a fast bite of a mass-produced “food-like” item that has been laden with preservatives and driven hundreds of miles to get to us. Moreover, the family and social structures are falling apart, leaving us feeling lonely and unfulfilled. To top it off, we have lost our connection not only to each other, but to the rest of the earth. We’ve lost the wonder of honoring life as a whole.

How can we expect to achieve health and wellbeing of an individual without looking at the grand scheme of things? To have a chance at both personal fulfillment and health, we have to fix our relationship not only within the self, but also the relationship to our land, our planet, and to its inhabitants. Without clean, nourished soil, we cannot reap healthful foods that will nourish us in turn. Without proper self-care, rest, and creative play, we cannot achieve health, nor enjoy our time here on Earth. Without connecting to, and caring for, one another and the other elements of our planet, we don’t stand a chance of healing.

Right now, more than ever, there is an epic battle waging across the globe. The miniscule virus referred to as COVID19 is sweeping our nations, claiming lives. And it’s also shining the light on what’s missing in our healthcare systems and our societies. It’s showing us that no matter how much time we have on this planet as individuals, it’s never enough. Worse than death is the feeling that you haven’t lived to the fullest while alive, that your life didn’t make a big contribution to society — that our lifestyles and values are preventing us from being truly in balance, at peace, and the ability to experience joy.

There is a general mistrust of nature, because of all the overt and hidden dangers that can harm and kill human life. But I believe this is nature’s way of bringing back balance, because of the human trend to disregard nonhuman forms of life. There are natural ecosystems in nature that thrive when in balance, and beautiful symbiosis and synergy IS possible. When we stop focusing on differences, on duality, and bring in balance and harmony, we, too, can thrive.

This is what’s keeping me up at night. I don’t want to be a Debbie downer, that’s not my purpose in writing this. I hope we can continue to provide healthcare with the big picture in mind, and shift to preventative care on a global scale. We can shift supply with our consumer demand for certain types of products and services with our spending dollars. We can slow down and reconnect with the land. We can put a halt to, and reverse pollution and climate change. But we need help. In addition to individual efforts and consciousness, we need the big players to step in to implement big changes.

We Will Never Attain True Health Without Addressing the Collective