The part can never be well
unless the whole is well.
— Plato
Oh, the miracle of it all! There is far more to life than what is physically obvious.
Conventional wisdom, most notably the traditional model of medical science, has it that we are primarily physical beings. We are cells, and groups of cells, physical and material in nature.
Others believe the mind holds all the answers. You are what you think. Your mind has unlimited power. Your attitude determines your altitude, some claim. The message: we are primarily mental beings. Motivational psychologists live in luxury spinning this tale.
Still others want us to consider ourselves essentially spiritual. We are souls, supernatural beings, endowed with spirit. This spirit gives life and is life, now and forever. Our spiritual leaders comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable with this idea every week.
In truth, we are body, mind, and spirit. We are three distinct entities. Yet these entities are inseparable. One. Whole.
The awareness that body, mind, and spirit constantly and powerfully interact has significant implications for the way we view illness, treat disease, and conduct our lives. Wellness encompasses this entire spectrum.
Taking prescribed insulin, for example, will help control excessive amounts of sugar in the blood and urine. But the effectiveness of insulin without dietary control is limited. If diabetics regularly and joyfully exercise, they increase their chance of living a long and healthy life. Many who include a period of daily meditation have found that the symptoms of diabetes decrease even more. Adopt a forgiving, grateful, loving, more spiritual stance toward life, and the physical response is often astounding.
What’s at work is one of the most powerful truths in wellness: the Law of Unity.
How exciting!
We are more than a group of cells. Our minds are not only in our brain but also in every cell of our bodies. Our spirit — and yes, we each have a powerful spirit — does not reside in a symbolic heart but suffuses every tiny corner of our being, and beyond.
There is constant interaction between body, mind, and spirit. We are always making and remolding ourselves on all three levels. We are forever hiding or releasing our great potentials for enhancing our health and well-being.
The perpetual communication between the body, mind, and spirit implies that if we address only one of these elements we may not be able to achieve the best possible results.
The Law of Unity tells us we can no longer separate body, mind, and spirit. When we do so, our analysis no longer conforms to the truth. Our new understanding takes us beyond our previous beliefs of separateness and asks, “Where does body end and mind start? Where does mind find its limits and spirit become reality?” The line of division between the three is very fine, indeed. It quickly blurs. We need a new analysis.
My wife, Linda, and I received a call that our daughter, eight years old at the time, had fallen while visiting the public library with the neighbors. She was going down a flight of stairs, tripped, and smashed her head into a brick wall. The bleeding was profuse.
We rushed to the hospital. The scene was pandemonium. Our daughter was on an emergency-room table. Two nurses, one at our daughter’s side, the other at a supply closet, shouted at full volume and frantically waved their arms, signaling to each other. Our daughter’s loud cry pierced the bedlam. And the neophyte physician yelled, “Be quiet. I’m in charge,” even though she couldn’t get the stitches started.
Linda took one look at the situation, turned a strange shade of gray, and fainted. Out cold!
Examine this for a moment. Where does Linda’s physical response of fainting originate? Is it physical? There certainly is a physical component; she’s momentarily not with us. But is this response fully triggered on the level of the body?
Or is the trigger mental? Does Linda’s mind perceive the situation as overwhelming? And might that perception start a series of physiological responses that result in a temporary decrease in blood supply to the brain? That’s how the emergency-room personnel explain it.
Or is the trigger spiritual? Is Linda’s fainting a way of coping with a life trauma that threatens to take away her only child. Is it God’s way of helping Linda to take care of herself and her own needs in the midst of a crisis?
It’s a simple issue of a person fainting. But where are the demarcation points between body, mind, and spirit? The medical authorities answer quickly: the blood supply was temporarily decreased to the brain. They tell us what happened on a physical level. That explanation may be technically true, but it is not complete.
That’s the Law of Unity. Body, mind, and spirit work together.
Doctors say wellness is found through medical treatment. Psychologists tell us the Holy Grail is personal introspection. Our priests and rabbis seem to think answers lie in Scripture and in ceremony.
Partial truths all. Each has only one piece of the answer. The Law of Unity demands of us a recognition that it all works together.
A vibrant balance between body, mind, and spirit makes the wellness world go round. A daily jog and salad for lunch won’t get you the results you seek. All the Laws of Wellness must work together.