The philosophy that drives Complete Wellbeing

Complete Wellbeing is a path-breaking philosophy. The idea behind Complete Wellbeing is that individuals are not sum of parts. In other words, we are not a mind + body + soul like it is popularly believed. We are an integrated whole, that is much greater than the sum of its parts.

There exists a definite connection, an interdependence if you will, between our mental, physical and spiritual aspects. This connection implies that we cannot treat our illnesses in a silo, as is done by the traditional approaches to healing. To be healthy and happy we must endeavour to establish a harmony between our tangible and intangible aspects.

For instance, let’s assume that you were experiencing problems in, say your primary relationship, or at your workplace. Now, if you were asked the common courtesy question, “How are you?”, even if you were absolutely fit with no illnesses troubling you, you would still not be able to reply with a confident and happy, “Very well, thank you”.

This is where Complete Wellbeing makes a departure from all other conventional philosophies to health. We follow principles set out by WHO, which states that health is not about absence of illness. It’s about enjoying a fit body and living a life filled with joy and fulfilment.

Complete Wellbeing has emerged from a copyrighted concept called the Three Chakras© [not to be confused with the seven body chakras or meridians]. The three chakras stand for the physical, the physiological and the psychological.

Physical — Visible and measurable

According to the Three Chakras concept, physical is that which is visible and measurable. This would typically include our external attributes such as height, weight, waist size, skin colour and texture, hair colour and texture, and so on.

Physiological — Not visible but measurable

The physiological is measurable but not visible to the naked eye. For instance, heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, urea levels can be easily measured but are not visible.

Psychological — Neither visible nor measurable

The psychological is neither visible nor measurable. The various emotions (fear, joy, love) as well as emotional states (anxiety, guilt, confidence, self esteem) cannot be seen or measured with tools available today.

The concept states that because of the interconnectedness and interdependence of the three chakras, it is impossible to have a problem in one of the chakras without also affecting the other two. For instance, stress falls under the psychological chakra. But stress affects our heart and other organs too. This means stress affects our physiological chakra. Moreover, stress can cause premature hair fall or greying, thereby affecting the physical chakra.

Let us try and understand the Three Chakras © philosophy with the help of an example.

Most people would classify the obesity problem as either physical or physiological or at the most a combination of the both. Yet, from a 3-P perspective obesity is largely a psychological problem with physical and physiological manifestations. Ask any expert about the best way of tackling obesity and he/she will suggest that the first step is to make a decision to lose weight. Without the determination it is impossible to initiate the physical and physiological steps that are needed to combat it. To be able to resist the temptation of gorging needs mental strength, which falls in the psychological chakra. Read Adnan Sami’s heart-rending account in his own words, about how he went from being super-obese to a healthy and confident individual.

Looking from another lens, you may be surprised to learn that our emotions affect our eating propensities, thereby affecting our overall health. Most obese people concur that they associate all kinds of emotions with eating. In other words, when they are happy, they eat. When they are sad, they eat. When they are indifferent, they eat. So, in such cases, while all dieting attempts are bound to fail, no amount of exercising can also help. Though, managing emotions might just do the trick.

How Complete Wellbeing applies the 3-P philosophy

The underlying theme of the content published on Complete Wellbeing magazine as well as completewellbeing.com brings out the various connections between our tangible and intangible aspects. For example, few people would suspect that our emotions can affect our skin in a direct way. Yet, The emotional life of skin reveals this interdependence and helps you understand a hitherto unknown health secret.

Since wellbeing is such a critical subject, it is important to provide knowledge that is not only revealing, but also credible. You will feel safe and comfortable knowing that Complete Wellbeing relies only on subject matter experts from around the world to educate and inform you. These experts are usually highly experienced and qualified in their area of specialisation; many of them are considered an authority in their fields and quite a few have even written bestselling books.

Team Complete Wellbeing

The website is led by Manoj Khatri, award-winning editor, author and counselling therapist along with his wife Dr Grazilia Almeida-Khatri, homoeopath, wellness coach and expert yoga teacher. Together, they strive to publish the most credible content on health and wellbeing so that the readers of Complete Wellbeing are better informed and can take charge of their lives.