Hi Everyone!
I want to extend the invitation to our Open House this Friday, January 15 to all, new and old, to the space. We will be talking about the vision of MetaSpace and what we are working on. Then we want to hear from you! We’ll be opening the floor for people to share their personal experience, in or outside of MetaSpace, with health, wellness and spirituality. To receive the calendar invite to the event click here.
Here is a brainstorm piece inspired from a conversation that took place in metamystics from a member of the MetaSpace community, Kristin. Enjoy!
As a healthcare practitioner and healer with a soul and wish and dream for accessibility, inclusivity, and social justice, I feel trapped in our current system. The incentives are not aligned. I see two main options: to work within the medical model or to be the holistic wellness renegade in private practice.Health insurance companies often seem to be looking for ways to make true healing inaccessible and unattainable. And holistic healing and wellness services seem reserved for the wealthy and privileged.
My desire to work within, and my potentially foolish dream to reform the system, comes from a desire to serve people struggling most with their health and facing the greatest barriers in accessing care. But this road is filled with bureaucracy, red tape, closed doors, and lack of funds. Nevermind, the personal sacrifices and high risks of burnout healers feel as they attempt to wrestle with a system designed to prioritize profit over human life and dignity. To serve people with health insurance, I must justify my services through “medical necessity” - in essence, labeling and pathologizing the people I wish to serve. Western medicine trains us to see people as their problems. Moreover, most people can’t get affordable access to healing services until they are already sick and have symptoms and functional deficits impacting how they move through the world.
In a nutshell, I see our current medical model as promoting, sustaining, and profiting off separation. Individual organs are separated from the whole system and symbiosis within the body. The physical body is separated from the mental, emotional, and energetic bodies. One’s personality is separated from the soul. “You” are separated from your community, your neighborhood, and the social and economic systems that surround you. In the medical model, individualism is king. The person is separated from their roots, their interconnectedness, to other people, to society, to the earth and what’s beyond.
My bigger problem with this whole system? Well, it's not working - plain and simple. Our medical technology has given us huge scientific advancements. It has helped us identify specific genes and biological mechanisms, save lives, and remedy acute medical emergencies in times of crisis. It is saving our lives, but not supporting us in living our lives fully. It is not helping us to live with health, with wellness, with fullness and richness.
And then there is option 2 - I gain greater autonomy by going into private practice and offer individuals an alternative to the traditional medical model. For me, this route makes my soul feel more alive! I want to focus on holistic health and wellness, integrating the wisdom of Eastern philosophy, spiritual traditions, energetic practices to promote radiant health.
But, in our current world, there is a sacrifice within this path. There are limits on who I can serve from this place. My services become less accessible and less affordable. Perhaps the most vulnerable, the people who truly need healing support won’t be able to access my services, or even know they exist. These realms of spiritual and holistic health hold so much unspoken, illicit privilege.
Also, this renegade path can be isolating. How do I find and connect with a community of like minded individuals? The only resource that comes to mind as a mainstream option is Instagram - where every other person claims to be a wellness coach or healer. Instagram may have a place in the ecosystem, but I don’t believe it's the connector and facilitator of community we are seeking.
A healthcare world I dream of:
An ecosystem where being of service to others doesn’t come at the expense of my own wellbeing
A system where having access to services is a right rather than a privilege
A framework that services the body, mind, and soul as an interconnected whole
An ecosystem where clients are empowers and led to develop sovereignty regarding their health
A system that aims to foster radiance, vibrancy, whole body health and vitality as its end goal rather than the absence of disease.
A framework that encourages and incentivizes collaboration among diverse healing disciplines