Nothing about our bodies, our nervous systems, or our brains is black and white. They do not function independently of one another, and what we need, what brings the most wellness and wholeness, is understanding, inclusion, and integration of the complexity of our systems.

The nervous system is our primary internal navigation system, pulling the levers and influencing our behaviors with lightning speed, just beneath our conscious awareness. Although all human nervous systems are made of the same essential parts, our particular life experiences sculpt unique neural pathways that shape how we respond to situations and our environment.

In the last two decades, I have come to understand that fundamental social change seeds and roots within the intimate and often uncharted terrain of our emotional and physical bodies. Terrain that has been devalued, colonized, and commercialized by the dominant culture just as it is often ignored by activists themselves.

I’m in bed with my partner of 3 years. The sunlight is beginning to stream through the curtains, and we’re just stirring from slumber. He’s spooning me and his hands start to roam across my body in a gentle, barely-awake way. His hands speed up, almost imperceptibly, he gently pushes his hips into mine, and in a flash, I go from feeling held and relaxed to scared and trapped

I’m sure you’ve heard it, time and time again, the oft-used axiom, “Growth happens outside your comfort zone.” Of course, there is some truth in this statement. Yet, if we get too far out of our comfort zone we aren’t going to grow either.

I need to be honest. When it comes to writing right now, I’ve been lost trying to find my voice. I’m in the soup of deep feeling and inquiry and my words and thoughts about racism and justice aren’t formed well enough to share in a meaningful or helpful way. I’ve been sitting here with a blank page for hours wondering what the hell I’m going to say.

Life is an ingenious inventor. And, after about 4.54 billion years of trial and error, upgrades and product recalls, the system we humans have been endowed with is a brilliant organic web of optimal functioning….that is, if we follow the simplest of operating instructions; if we learn and follow the practices of fundamental wellness.

Like just about everyone I know, my life has been reoriented in ways I couldn’t have imagined just three months ago. With limited options for moving around, I’ve learned to inhabit my home in new ways, relying on the mobility of my laptop to find new places to work hour by hour, day by day.

Rest restores balance and resilience to a stressed system. Habitual, forced action is a barrier to deep wellness. The ingrained cultural values of advancement, innovation, and improvement have left many of us depleted and out of touch with the natural rhythms that have sustained and evolved life on Earth since the beginning of time.