Finding harmony with the planet, is indistinguishable from finding harmony with one’s self
Have you ever noticed that sustainable practices often overlap with a healthy lifestyle? I’ve come to realise that being ‘green’ has far wider implications than just the environment.
When you reduce single-use packaging, you are forced instead to buy fresh vegetables and wholesome foods. Fatty, salty or nutrient poor foods are typically excluded.
When you decide to drive less, you inadvertently choose to walk or cycle more. Our carbon footprint is never lower that when we are doing the most basal forms of exercise.
This interesting duality also seems to work in the other direction. I was tempted by the health benefits of veganism for years, but I only really committed when I learned about the environmental impact of the meat industry. In the end my excuses were simply broadsided by two highly consequential endpoints stemming from the same damn life choice.
But it’s about more than just physical health. In a previous post entitled, ‘Hurting the planet becomes an act of self harm for those with sustainable values’ I highlighted that the path to sustainable living helps one find greater meaning in life. The mental health connections are perhaps the most poignant of all.
You may find that you have to avoid the ‘convenient’, but in doing so you rediscover simple pleasures in life. I find there are few endeavours more rewarding than the art and therapy of cooking, it reminds me that the pursuit of happiness was never about convenience. Life is about richness, the more you put in, the more you get out. But I digress.
It appears that which pollutes the natural world also pollutes the inner world and I’ve begun to wonder why. What if they represent two halves of the same message? A message that only makes sense when read as a whole.
Charles Darwin coined the term ‘survival of the fittest’, which means only those adapted to their environment will pass their genetics to the next generation. It stands to reason that the ‘fittest’ are not only the healthiest, but also those that live in balance with the environment. An environment that their progeny will inherit.
The connection may simply point to our ‘natural being’ or a lifestyle that sits closer to the way we have evolved.
Modern society is a departure from our ancestral environment which explains why this lifestyle has become obscure, but the answer to modern problems could be to reconnect with the past.
The health of our bodies, our minds and the planet seem to suffer with every step of human progress. Is this not a dire warning? An obvious sign that we are ploughing on in the wrong direction.
Perhaps its time for a shift in thinking. Perhaps for a healthier, ‘fitter’ future we should embrace new ideals. Ideals that use natural indicators to formulate better trajectories.
When we combine the values of health and sustainability we find a way of life that promotes balance, harmony and wellbeing on a multidimensional front.
Personal wellbeing is often plagued with unrealistic or misguided goals. Likewise, being environmentally friendly can lack the ‘what’s in it for me’ factor.
Where there is overlap, there is complementation.
A healthy lifestyle could be guided by deeply held values pertaining to planetary health. Likewise, behaviours that save the planet becomes deeply rewarding when it maintains physical and mental health.
The two offer a synergy, where the sum of the whole is much greater than the sum of the constituent parts.
Why have separate values that divide your time, motivation and headspace. Look instead for a single, manageable focus that benefits from combined motivational forces.
Consider the new ideals of ‘Health-sustainability’.
Stay tuned for more on this in coming posts.
