You Are Only as Well as Your Community
Wellness has historically been a participatory act that white, upper middle class, sociologically advantageous people partake in that is often individualized to the point of exclusion and selfishness. But what if it wasn’t?
Research in social psychology, interpersonal communication, community psychology, and quantum theory all reveal that we do not feel full individual wellness if our communities are not well. Simply put, our own personal well-being does not exist in a vacuum—it is interconnected, interrelated, and interdependent on the wellness of those around us. The truth is we cannot meditate and yoga our way out of social, economic, racial, and environmental injustice because of our interconnection with the web of people around us. The days of sending “love and light” and continuing on with our day are over, or rather those days were not even truly here to begin with. We must acknowledge such research and lived experience of those marginalized that tells us our well-being is only as good as the well-being of the people around us. By doing so,we learn that sustainable wellness can only be cultivated when we educate ourselves about, listen to, and fight for our most marginalized community members who deserve daily access to wellness practices.
Looking at the research in social psychology, interpersonal communication, and community psychology grounds us in the real conviction that holistic wellness is not synonymous with individual wellness. Rather, it is inclusive of the wellness of others. Social ties affect mental health, physical health, health behaviors, and mortality risk (Umberson & Montez 2011). Thus they are an impactful resource that can be harnessed to promote population health to benefit health beyond specific individuals, by influencing the health of others through social networks. Conversely, if social ties are overburdened, strained, conflicted, or abusive, they can undermine health (Umberson & Montez 2011). When our marginalized communities experience negative social ties due to the institutionalized injustices they face, not only is their health and well-being at risk but ours as well.
Psychological well-being is defined in five parts- inclusive of positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment and such effects of psychological well-being can lead to increases in life satisfaction, creativity, moral development, and civic citizenship (Seligman 2011). This means when everyone in our community experiences psychological well-being their willingness to participate and improve civic life increases. Allowing everyone to experience wellness means we have more engaged and passionate communities benefiting us all. Positive psychology goes on to say supporting well-being goes beyond positive emotions and positive character traits but requires positive institutions (Schueller 2009). Yet if we look at our institutions of power, including the institution of or rather the Industrial Complex of wellness, we can say for certain it has not been a positive or welcome space for everyone. Community psychology expands on this sentiment by finding that issues around empowerment, diversity, civic participation, and problem prevention all require positive social change which can only be created one of two ways—by fostering change in individuals to prevent and fix community level problems or by changing the social systems that contribute to the problems. It is time the wellness industry, wellness practitioners, and wellness participants begin doing shadow work around their privilege and start educating themselves about a wellness that involves their entire communities.
Liken this concept to a theory in quantum physics. Many of us meditate or practice manifestation because we know these practices ripple out into the quantum field and affect our reality. Similarly, the quantum entanglement theory says when a group of particles interact and share spatial proximity in such a way, the particles cannot be described independently from the state of others so actions performed on one affect the other. Because we are simply space dust, humans move and act within the quantum field making the statement “you are only as well as your community” as true and valid as the quantum theory itself. The question now becomes, will you be as convicted about this quantum concept of community wellness as you are with your quantum practices of meditation and manifestation?
Our wellness does not exist in a vacuum but instead hangs on the very sensitive thread that is the intersectional and communal wellness of those around us. What we choose to do or not do affects not only makes a difference to others’ well-being but what we do to and for others affects our own wellbeing too. Interdependence theory says the way in which goals are structured determines how individuals interact which in turn creates outcomes. This means if the wellness industry and the people who buy into it reimagine what exactly the goal of wellness even is—if we redefine the end goal from being personal wellness to community wellness—the way in which we create and interact with inclusive, accessible wellness will result in an outcome beneficial for more than just the individual. A beautiful symbiosis exists within the wellness of the individual and the wellness of a society. Once we acknowledge this symbiotic relationship, we can make steps to educate ourselves about how we can show up to promote, fight for, and maintain the wellness of others. It is advantageous to educate ourselves on how wellness interacts with social, economic, racial, and environmental injustices so that we may begin redefining and reimagining a wellness that is sustainable and accessible for all. Start doing research, start listening to wellness leaders of color, start doing the work to learn how we can make wellness culture more community-inclusive because we are only ever as well as our community.
About the Author
Kahryn Pedroza is a writer and intuitive-intersectional wellness educator. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies with a double minor in Sociology and Health Studies from the University of San Francisco. She combines this education with certifications in functional medicine health coaching and yoga teaching and her own rhetorical knack to communicate in person, online, and in print about the intersectionality and accessibility of wellness, sustainability, spirituality, and intentional living. You can read her creative work at ILoveYouLikeThis.com and connect with her on instagram @nyrhak.
