Holistic Wellbeing: A Mindful Lifestyle Rooted in Body Awareness

Many of us have heard about it, discussed it, pursued it. And often, we had something similar in mind when we tried to attain it.

But what is wellbeing, really? And perhaps more importantly: is it available to all of us?

If we move beyond the words for a moment and turn toward the feeling of wellbeing within us, we may discover that the answer is already there. Perhaps wellbeing is simply waking up in the morning with vitality; beginning the day with enthusiasm that carries through all our activities. Not with naïve illusions that everything around us is perfect — far from it. But with a natural joy nonetheless, one that is, above all, contagious.

Perhaps wellbeing is simply listening to our body and caring for it as if it were the most precious thing we have. Because it is. It is our best friend, our doctor and our psychologist, our advisor and our constant companion. It is our vehicle for experiencing anything at all.

And the more we care for it, the more it gives back to us: improving the quality of our daily life on every level. And what influences it? The familiar and well-trodden paths most of us are tired of hearing about: physical activity — even in gentle forms such as yoga — nutrition, lifestyle, and time dedicated to ourselves.

We were born to move. And at every age, even the smallest amount of movement is better than stillness.

Likewise, the food we provide our body is the energy we will draw upon for everything we do throughout the day, with a direct impact on our psychology and our thoughts.

By becoming aware of — and perhaps changing — our activity and nutrition, we transform our psychology, our thinking, and our way of life. And if we approach it from the opposite direction and first choose a way of life, we will naturally turn to these same factors, enriching or adjusting them in order to make that life truly our own.

Somewhere along the way, if we commit to dedicating a little time just for ourselves, we may open the most important door of our lives: the one that leads us to truly know who we are.

And all this unfolds in a place that seems made for those who seek wellbeing: in Chania, Crete.

There, we still have access to pure, local ingredients, to landscapes that call us to step outside and rediscover them again and again, and to rhythms of life that often serve as an example of the much-celebrated “blue zones.”

So what prevents us from saying, with honesty:

Yes, I know what wellbeing is — because I live it.