An Eco-systemic Point of Viewpoint
Biology describes an ecosystem as a diverse group of living and non-living things that exist together in a cooperative and collaborative way. That description is helpful, too, when we explore the nature of our personal struggles to remain healthy and to regain our health when we aren’t. Each of us stands as an individual ecosystem of internal pieces and parts that live - ideally - in cooperative and collaborative balance with each other. Each of us is also part of the larger ecosystem that surrounds us - our personal, relational/social, cultural, spiritual, and even planetary system of which we are but a single and unique element.
When our inner and/or outer ecosystems are out of balance with our most basic needs, ill-health or disease results (dis-ease: dis,” which means apart or asunder, and ease, which means comfort or without effort). In other words, we lose our health when our natural and effortless comfort falls apart or is torn asunder.
Maintaining Our Health
Too many of us fall for the illusion that health is a state we can reach and hold onto. “Hurray! I’ve achieved work-life balance.” Really? That is as best temporary. Health is not a place where we can arrive and remain. Health should be viewed as a state of constant activity, or as a verb like “healthing,” meaning we are always moving toward or away from health. “How are you feeling today?” “Well, I’m healthing pretty well, all things considered.”
Health should be thought of as a verb because, as with any ecosystem in nature, the elements that make up all ecosystems are in constant motion, always interacting, forever advancing and retreating, expanding and shrinking, resting and moving, being born and dying away. Health is when the sum total of all these actions meets the needs of all of the individual elements that make up the ecosystem as a whole.
Our Internal Ecosystem
Let’s take a look at a specific ecosystem. This one exists within us. It goes by the name of our microbiome . This refers to the world that lives inside our digestive tract or our gut. The elements of the microbiome include the food we have chewed and swallowed, the high powered acids our body produces in the stomach, the mounds of saliva and mucous we produce to protect our gut’s inner lining against these corrosive acids, billions of immune system cells that stand guard against any nasty germs and parasites that have tried to hitch a ride on the food we are attempting to digest, and somewhere between 500 and 1000 different species of bacteria that are permanent residents of our digestive tract, that lend us a helping hand in breaking down the food particles we lack the enzymes to digest without their active assistance.
The relationship between these different microbiomic elements gets even more complex. The bacteria, which at 100 trillion, or more, outnumber our human cells 10:1, get their daily meals from parts of the food we eat. By breaking down this food, they unlock nutrients in that food to which we would not otherwise have access. The bacteria also release molecules, such as neurotransmitters and messenger molecules like norepinephrine, serotonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and dopamine, which are essential to our survival and that indirectly communicate with and influence our body’s organs, including our brain and immune system. In turn, our moods, thoughts, attitudes, stress level, energy level, and general health and well-being, shape not only how we feel inside, but how we interact with the world around us. Our gut bacteria outnumber us. They regulate our mental and physical states. Are they running the show?
Who’s in Charge
When looked at in this ecosystemic way, our internal ecosystem could rightly be seen as the grand programmer of how we function in the world. We literally are what we eat. But this view would be simplistic. That is because the direction of communication goes not only from gut bacteria to body and brain, but from brain to gut bacteria, and from our general lifestyle - our behavior, our sleep habits, our relationship patterns - all the way into our gut bacteria. The mind-brain-gut axis. Thus, our microbiome lives in ecosystemic connection with our macro-level being and lifestyle.
Because the communication network is so vast and complex, and because no matter where a signal originates, the message is transmitted throughout the network, nurturing the ecosystem within comes down to a series of choices. We can influence our immune health by cultivating a diet and dietary supplements rich in the vitamins and nutrients that support a healthy gut. We can influence our gut bacteria by cultivating good sleep routines and utilizing solid stress management tools. We can influence our sleep, energy, and positive mental outlook by consuming the kinds of foods that help the good bacteria thrive and support those bacteria in their ability to keep the numbers of bad bacteria in check. We can function as “organic lifestyle farmers” with routines that include meditation, practicing kindness, gratitude, and compassion, practices involving forgiveness and vulnerability, all of which translate into a healthier microbiome, improved sleep, stronger immune responsiveness, and an inner ecosystem vigorous and vital enough to support our general health.
As Paul Wellstone, the famed U.S. Senator from Minnesota, once said, “We all do better when we all do better.” While he was talking about communities and the country, the same is true for the various elements of the inner and outer ecosystems of which we, as single individuals, are an essential part.
Stay tuned for future blogs, vlogs, and other offerings containing specific tools and techniques to support your vital health.