Energy Medicine and the Politics (Politeia) of Health
“Politics” is derived from the juicier Greek word, “politeia,” which implies an active engagement in which people empower each other to enhance their communities. – Jean Houston
“The Earth is what we all have in common.”
—Wendell Berry
4th of Series
If you didn’t read the earlier installments, we suggest you start here.
Bringing a New Paradigm to Politics by Becoming That Paradigm
Anneloes Smitsman, Ph.D.
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Just what would that look like? How do we become this desired change? In the previous article in this series, my dear friend and co-author Jean Houston wrote about the six forms within which the energy of politeia can operate towards establishing a culture of vibrant health for the individual and the community.
Becoming the New Paradigm in Politics. With this article, I’d like to invite you to explore with me how you can become the change into a new paradigm in politics – a politics of health, collaboration, and planetary flourishing, rather than greed, competition, and political control. As our world grows increasingly complex, many people are uncertain that the future will be able to sustain a healthy and thriving humanity. Politeia is the art of mobilizing our collective will for the good of all.
Beyond the influences your place in society grants to you, each of us is endowed with an inherent political power. This political power resides in three qualities you already possess: your autonomy, your creativity, and your ability to envision. Autonomy means being able to use your will to direct your attention, intention, behaviors, and actions. Creativity means being able to approach old problems in fresh ways, unbound by external forces that attempt to define you, your circumstances, or your destiny. New challenges require new solutions, and it is in the creative powers of your heart and mind that new solutions can begin to emerge. Envisioning goes to Donna’s and David’s teachings about energy. What you envision deeply and consistently becomes an energy form, a field of influence that is the first step in establishing new forms in the outer world. It can be done in the privacy of your mind, but it becomes even more powerful when done in concert with others.
12 Exercises for Shifting Your Political Paradigm. All significant advances in human culture have begun on the inner plane as shifts in consciousness. The following exercises are oriented around 12 aspects of politics, many of which you may not think of as politics. Each exercise invites you to do an experiment in the laboratory of your mind. And that is to envision how you can hold this aspect of politics in your being in a manner that radiates into a healthier and more vibrant next step in nature’s great human experiment.
Each of the 12 aspects of politics is briefly described in the list below. It is followed by an instruction (in italics) for the inner experiment:
- Politics as Consciousness—Politics is how we express, develop, and evolve our consciousness, individually and collectively. Envision the consciousness of a healthy, whole, and enlightened politics.
- Politics as Unity—Politics serves to unite us in our diversity, by placing the well-being of life and our planet at the centre of our common priorities and decision-making. Imagine a world in which politics serves to unite us in our diversity.
- Politics as Collaboration—Politics is how we collaborate and work together for the issues, opportunities, and tasks that require concerted and coordinated actions, shared visions, and common responsibilities. Explore your collaborative capacities and actions, and how you can enhance your collaboration with others for a better future.
- Politics as Community—Politics serves to bring us together in community with the Earth and each other, to decide, dialogue, and envision together how to act on our individual and collective responsibilities, rights, and opportunities. Make the commitment to joyfully contribute to the health and wellbeing of the communities you are part of.
- Politics as Relationship—Politics is a relational process that involves feelings, dreams, aspirations, expectations, beliefs, and actions. Politics as relationship reminds us how to partner with life and each other for a thriving world and future. Invest in your relationships and explore partnering life as a future ancestor of a more evolved and caring world.
- Politics as Choice—Politics serves to enable, respect, and protect our power and right of choice. Politics as choice reminds us of our autonomy and our universal rights and responsibilities. Explore the choices that make a new paradigm in politics possible.
- Politics as Creativity—Politics serves as a possibility-increasing process that creates the conditions for us to thrive and evolve. Politics as creativity empowers, inspires, and evokes in us the evolutionary response of the worlds we seek to become. Explore your political power as creativity and become aware of how you respond to challenges and opportunities.
- Politics as Learning—Politics is a continual learning process that challenges us to develop and grow in consciousness. Reflect on what you are currently learning about yourself and others, and the areas of your consciousness that challenge you to evolve further.
- Politics as Healing—Politics is a process through which we can heal the wounds and traumas of division, conflict, and disunity. Politics as healing helps us to develop the heart spaces for learning how to trust, let go, surrender, open, renew, and evolve together. Explore the areas in yourself and your life that require healing support.
- Politics as Love—Politics serves to empower and enhance our caring capacities and empathic awareness. Politics as love is how we make it safe, empowering, and joyful to human well together. Envision politics fuelled by the power of love.
- Politics as Wisdom—Politics serves to make us wiser people by listening to each other and learning how to steward our Earth in partnership with life. Commit to growing and cultivating your inner wisdom and sharing this with the world around you.
- Politics as YOU—Vividly imagine the ways you can be the New Paradigm in Politics.1
These are vital challenges in today’s world. It is sobering to see that doubts about the very future of our species are on the minds of so many young people. To map a path that restores trust in human possibility and our proven capacity over the millennia to overcome seemingly impossible challenges, I’ve co-authored the Future Humans Trilogy with Jean Houston. We recently published the second book in the series, Return of the Avatars, which explores what a politics based on love, creativity, and consciousness would look like.
Next month, the guest contributor to the series will be our good friend David Gruder, Ph.D., a psychologist who served as the founding President of the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP). He will be discussing what everyone we know is finding to be a sensitive issue during divisive times: “Facilitating Constructive Discussions of Touchy Topics.”
Anneloes Smitsman, Ph.D., LLM, is a futurist, evolutionary systems scientist, teacher, and systems architect. She is the Founder and CEO of EARTHwise Centre. Her unique educational programs, trainings, coaching, and systemic strategies and practices have empowered thousands of people and organizations from around the world. She is the co-author of the bestsellers, The Quest of Rose and Return of the Avatars, the first two books of the Future Humans Trilogy with Jean Houston, Ph.D. She is the co-editor and co-author of The New Paradigm in Politics with Alexander Laszlo, Ph.D., and author of many other publications, including her soon to be released musical narration of Messages from Mother Earth with soundtracks by Alan Howarth. She is also the initiator of The Earth Song project for singing our world together with Mother Earth.
1These exercises are adapted from my recent book, The New Paradigm in Politics, co-authored and co-edited with Alexander Laszlo, Ph.D.