Life School for Your Whole Self
When my editor/writing mentor, Nirmala Nataraj, suggested that I consider running a course alongside the launch of my new book, Care of the Whole Self: Yoga-Inspired Tools for Befriending the Self, I said, “A course? Isn’t the book enough?”
After contemplating, I came to the conclusion that the study of ourselves—our deepest motivations and the most essential aspects of who we are—never ends. Perhaps my book opened the door for some to further excavate their daily rituals. It may have also affirmed for readers their own inner wisdom and ability to take care of all dimensions of themselves. And as I’ve heard from some of my readers, it opened a window of curiosity onto the question of how to live one’s life in such a way that honors the whole self at every moment.
We start with small habits that shift our daily life—and we need reinforcement to keep going. Life School for the Whole Self is a ten-week course will offer weekly applications via live Zoom calls that include a discussion and exploration of a specific practice. Each week will be supported by a specific practice, delineated by one of Bita Ghavami’s beautiful asana drawings, like the one below.
The course follows from many of the principles offered in my book, but it also goes further. In my conversations with Nirmala, I reflected on what I would want a course that continued the exploration of care for the whole self to embody:
1) Equity/accessibility: Whole-self-care is a fundamental human right, and now more than ever, we need the tools that my book offers. I knew that I didn’t want cost to be a deterrent, and that the course would have to speak directly to a range of life circumstances in order to be genuinely inclusive.
2) Personal inquiry: In yogic philosophy and other schools of wisdom, self-inquiry is the path to enlightenment. Like the book, I wanted the course to offer just as many opportunities for participants to ask themselves fundamental questions as it would for receiving answers.
3) Application: Whole-self-care is not a theoretical construct; it is something that we must apply in tangible ways in order to see and know its benefits. In this sense, everything I am offering in the course is actionable and can be implemented in your life immediately.
4) Creativity: The course invites people to come up with creative ways to practice self-care, either in the privacy of your own home or in a community of like-hearted folks. By attuning to all dimensions of yourself, you also open up to the wells of your creative potential—whether that means through the expressive arts or simply by envisioning how you can lead a life that is most aligned with your highest well-being.
5) Empowerment: I wanted the course to include a certification option[1] because not only is it meant to be a tool for personal self-discovery and development—it’s also a tool that you can take back into your communities to teach the power of resilience and connection to what matters most. When we empower ourselves and others to reach for our natural well-being and wholeness, we move toward a world that is free of dis-ease, distraction, and delusion.
I envision my course and the principles I teach blossoming out into a movement that includes people from all walks of life. Whole-self-care need not be for the privileged. For society to expand and shift into a more contemplative culture, a movement needs to occur at the grassroots level.
In a 2017 article in Harvard Business Review, Bryan Walker and Sarah A. Soule write, “We often think of movements as starting with a call to action. But movement research suggests that they actually start with emotion—a diffuse dissatisfaction with the status quo and a broad sense that the current institutions and power structures of the society will not address the problem. This brewing discontent turns into a movement when a voice arises that provides a positive vision and a path forward that’s within the power of the crowd.”
This sense of dissatisfaction is a powerful catalyst that cultivates the power to look within and say, “Something’s not right.” We may feel guilty about taking a course on self-care when we see so much suffering. However, the simple acknowledgement that things are not as they could and should be is meant to invite so much more than a personal investigation of our well-being; it is meant to challenge us to transform the conditions of a world that fuels stress, trauma, burnout, and disconnection.
Everyone needs to be given tools for this type of contemplation. It’s our duty to consider our own well-being, as it will support our awareness of the importance of others’ well-being. Personal inquiry and whole-self-care are a necessity for everyone on this planet, especially in this time.
This is where I challenged myself to think beyond my own success. After all, being a social entrepreneur calls one to consider how they are contributing to the benefit of all.
This is why I am offering scholarships to those who desire to commit to the course but cannot afford the program. Just email me at careofthewholeself@gmail.com, and we can discuss next steps.
As we are in “back to school” mode, consider this an invitation to register for Life School for the Whole Self! I enthusiastically welcome you!
[1] Participants can choose to journey through the ten weeks for their personal benefit, or they can journey for themselves and get certified to teach their own Care of the Whole Self Circles, adding their unique voice and expertise to this work. Those who pursue certification will be asked to: 1) write a reflective paper on their experience of the course, what they learned, and how they will apply it in their teaching; 2) prepare a 2–5-minute video presenting one of the principles learned from the course and making it their own; and 3) complete a private mentoring session via Zoom or in person with me.