Is Wellness for the Wealthy?

Wellness seems to cater to the wealthy. Fresh fruits and vegetables are more expensive than canned and pre-packaged foods. Getting away to the countryside or oceanside for a few days or weeks takes money. Working part-time and attending workshops take resources.

I recently learned about a rustic retreat where participants lived outdoors, took outdoor showers, and communed with nature for a pretty price tag. It reminded me of when I lived in a small village in Kerala, India as a child. We didn't live outdoors, but we did bathe outdoors with well water from a bucket. That life would be considered paradisiacal by many today who would pay thousands of dollars for such a wellness experience as long as they only had to do it for a short while. My grandmother lived it for free 365 days a year. It was hard work. She wouldn't have called it wellness, but she also wouldn't have had it any other way.

Wellness can be simplicity if the mind is free. If the mind is shackled, rustic simplicity won't cut it. At the same time, a rustic simplicity–expensive or not–can provide the space needed for a complex mind to disentangle itself.

I find myself reflecting like this as I communicate more about the nature of consciousness. While much of this work is freely available, some of it is out of the price range for many. It seems imperative, then, that such programs must also stress the shared nature of consciousness so that those who do have resources find ways to put them to use to bring wellness within the reach of more and more people. This is where wellness and spirituality meet and blend into social justice, politics, education, and every other field of human endeavor.

For those who are sincere about realizing their fuller nature, doors will open regardless of money. It has always been this way. But living well in this world does require money for most. This is where there is much work to be done, especially by those who have financial wealth.

Richness is in realizing one's nature, realizing its everyone's nature, and sharing this with all.