The Wheel of Co-Creation New Ways of Being in the World in a Vast Movement for Positive Change

The Wheel of Co-Creation is a whole system worldview created by renowned thought leader Barbara Marx Hubbard. It identifies 12 sectors of endeavor in an active society, including arts, economics, education, environment, government, health, infrastructure, justice, media, relations, science and spirituality.

When they identify what’s new and beneficial in any of these sectors, individuals and communities begin to feel more confident and form a positive worldview. By looking at what truly is working in our communities instead of absorbing the bad news constantly showcased in traditional media, we are inspired with a renewed sense of hope for the planet and collective future.

 

The Health Sector

This month we focus on the Health Sector, which speaks to a new paradigm for health as the vitality, well being and wholeness of a connected living system whether it be we as individuals or all life on the planet.

We’re familiar with traditional health care and the response to disease. It is about providing treatment to a patient’s current symptoms. Attention is narrowly focused on the isolated illness or disease and is reactive.

Now at the leading edge of health care is a proactive multi-dimensional approach. Concepts of health have evolved with our awareness. We now know our thoughts, emotions, environment, nutrition and other factors have an impact on our health and wellness. We have come to learn that what happens inside our bodies is directly affected by what happens around us.

In the new paradigm, prevention is paramount, and when faced with illness, the goal becomes a comprehensive approach to attend to all aspects of personal wellness. We recognize and include the pioneering holistic, allopathic, alternative and complementary approaches, as well as traditional methods. We make use of the power of intention, thoughts and prayer to bring our bodies back into balance. We remember the important basics: drink water to stay hydrated, move the body, rest and breathe fresh, clean air. In this model, the patient takes more responsibility for their care. Instead of the doctor as an authority figure making all decisions, the relationship between doctor and patient becomes collaborative.

This approach promotes a model of healing in which personal relationships, emotions, meaning and belief systems are viewed as fundamental points of connection between body, mind, spirit, society and nature. The new medicine embraces an awareness that as humans, we possess emotional, spiritual and relational dimensions that are essential in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and the cultivation of wellness.

As we become more aware of our interconnectedness with the whole living system, socio-political issues also become relevant to our individual well-being. For example; the humane treatment of animals in our food chain is covered in social media and the news. Now in 2016, studies suggest that more than one-third of the population is interested in plant-based eating. Vegetarians, flexitarians, lessitarians and other consumers that would not identify with any of those terms now confidently say, “I’m choosing to eat less meat.”

As one local organization embodying this portion of the wheel, Slow Food Chicago, founded in 1988, is an educational nonprofit that believes the environment, culture and economy are profoundly affected by what we choose to eat. They stress that everyone should have access to high-quality food produced in a sustainable and equitable way. Slow Food is all about discovering good, clean and fair food in Chicago. 

The new paradigm for health is related to a shift in consciousness. It includes the enduring and effective elements of conventional, as well as complementary, medicine, while at the same time launching into something completely new and more expansive that considers the whole living system on our planet. Through this new approach to health, we are connected to the vast movement for positive change

 

For more information about the Wheel of Co-Creation, visit Evolve.org or CEChicagoland.org. For more information on health in action in Chicagoland, visit SlowFoodChicago.org.

 

Nina Patrick is co-president with Barbara Marx Hubbard of the Foundation for Conscious Evolution.