By Sunith Reddy
Health, a term used to define the degree of “wellness” of a living being, is translated as the fitness of physique and mind, often viewed and talked about in solidarity. Modernization has brought hyper-specialization to medicine, leading to compartmentalized solutions for various aspects of our wellness. This can sometimes miss the bigger picture and underlying causes.
Holistic health addresses this gap by considering the entire person and their environment, aiming for a more comprehensive understanding of well-being. Holistic health, rather than medical wellness, is an approach to living similar to ancient approaches to health that signify the overall wellness of the being – the connection of body, mind, and spirit. This approach to life suggests that these aspects of a being, although having their own identities, behave as one and can only be understood in relation to others. Just as a morale hit can lead to a stressful mind state, our bodies react to the chaos in our minds. Their health is co-dependent. But the question remains – how can holistic health be achieved? Permaculture may be the answer.
Permaculture: A Framework for Living
Permaculture or Permanent Agriculture, as defined by Bill Mollison in 1978, is “the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems.” Although its introduction primarily aimed to tackle modern farming issues and shift towards sustainable practices, it has evolved into a more inclusive concept, slowly shifting its definition to “permanent culture”. This framework of living borrows from multiple disciplines, including architecture, biology, environmental sciences, agriculture, business, and health care.
The concept is not just limited to designing systems we can touch and feel but also extends to how we think, interact, and live in harmony with nature and its embodiments. The framework is held together by 3 core ethics – People care, earth care, and fair Share. Caring for the people we share this planet with, caring for the earth’s health (which provides us all we need), and giving each element of nature its due share. This reciprocity and mutual support between the beings of nature is what shapes resilient and sustainable lifestyles.
Permaculture reinforces that humans are not different from nature but are a part of it. The web of life is an interdependent system where being is above the other and needs the support of others to keep standing. We can fetch everything we need from our landscapes – from food to social networks to numerous ecosystem services. These all-inclusive values we can adopt from permaculture help us shift to a healthy lifestyle for ourselves and the earth.
Permaculture: Nourishing Body, Mind and Spirit
The practice of permaculture involves ecosystem-centric activities such as restoring the natural nutrient balance of land, ensuring healthy water levels and soil diversity, generating abundance and diversity of food, and accounting for all inputs and outputs to build a self-sufficient ecosystem ultimately. Permaculture, at its core, motivates us to spend more time with nature by not just taking from it but also giving it back, which builds a greater sense of purpose – an essential component of our spiritual wellness.
Countless research has proven that working with soil, and plants and spending time in a natural setting positively impacts a person’s mind. Permaculture principles such as having balanced (and diverse) meals, regular physical activities like running and hiking, adequate sleep, and life in harmony with nature encourage people to lead a ‘healthy lifestyle’, which trickles down to the overall wellness of the person. It also promotes collaborative action with fellow humans or other organisms of nature, building a stronger sense of belonging and purpose.
Many organizations and independent farmers have started adopting permaculture principles in their work and lifestyles for the collective growth of the individual and their shared environment. Following these principles closely, Beforest, a lifestyle solutions company that builds crowdfunded collectives across diverse geographies in India, aims to formulate sustainable solutions. By practicing permaculture farming, they aim to rewild natural scapes to abundance, build landscape resilience, regenerate soil health, and grow food forests for communities who wish to be in harmony with nature while fulfilling their lifestyle needs.
Beforest has been building forest-friendly collectives across 850+ acres in Coorg, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Bhopal, with the help of a diverse team of members, business partners, experts consultants, farmers, naturalists, permaculturists, architects, and engineers, who are ethically aligned with the permaculture framework and are breaking new grounds in the field of sustainable development.
(The author is a CEO & Co-founder, Beforest Lifestyle Solutions Pvt Ltd. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of the FinancialExpress.com.)
