a life 360º

Have you ever seen a banyan vine? It looks like a tree with many roots, but really it's a multitude of interconnected vines.

In the Indo-European Gujarati language, banya means "grocer/merchant," not "tree." The Portuguese picked up the word to refer specifically to Hindu merchants and passed it along to the English as early as 1599 with the same meaning. By 1634, English writers began to tell of the banyan tree, a tree under which Hindu merchants would conduct their business. The tree provided a shaded place for a village meeting or for merchants to sell their goods. Eventually "banyan" became the name of the tree itself. *

Ancient scriptures use the analogy of the vine to talk about the role of man in relation to God. References to vines, fruit and pruning all point to a cultivated spiritual life. Many of those references conjure a grapevine or a fig tree, which is essentially what a Banyan tree is. A banyan (also banian) is a fig that starts its life as an epiphyte (a plant growing on another plant) when its seeds germinate in the cracks and crevices on a host tree (or on structures like buildings and bridges). When you see a Banyan vine up close, the analogy takes on a whole new meaning.

The vines are interconnected and deeply rooted. The tree cannot be easily moved. If you saw the movie Avatar, you witnessed a tree that served as home to a whole community. The roots were interconnected throughout the forest with other living plants. For some, this takes the analogy too far. What you cannot discard is that many things in life are interconnected this way. Your holistic well being is a perfect example.

You can care for your heart and neglect your soul. You can discard both in favor of physical fitness. Either way, your life is half full. (Or half empty, depending on your world view.) To tend your heart, soul, mind and strength like a garden, or a Banyan tree, is the center of living fully alive.

*Quotations from Wikipedia. Though not a valid research source, still a good repository for general information.

your strength 360º

In the holistic context, strength is talking about pure ability, force, strength, might. Your mind conjures a strong weight lifter of a guy, or Natasha Romanov in The Avengers. Seconds before I logged in to post on what makes our bodies strong:

• exercise
• great food
• sound sleep

I stopped to consider those with chronic pain and conditions that prohibit them from experiencing comfort in every day life. When I think of the chronic sinus pressure I deal with, I consider my brilliant friend who suffers from a long list of physical issues. He's in pain every day to the point that he lives on painkillers. Yet in the midst of that pain, he's the most brilliant technical architect on our team.

Lesson learned here is that we can only do so much to care for this earthly shell. At some point our bodies will fail us. If we've invested 360º in our heart, our soul and our mind, then the body might fail but we still have a lot to give. That  healthy balance is what feeds our ability to live 360º even when things are not perfect - to choose life when pain threatens to overtake it.

your mind 360º

How do you distinguish between your mind and your heart (center of physical life) and your soul (the seat of your feelings, desires, affections, aversions)?

1) the mind as a faculty of understanding, feeling, desiring

2) understanding

3) mind, i.e. spirit, way of thinking and feeling

4) thoughts, either good or bad

This is why 360º living is so vital to a great life. The mind is a hosting ground for the contents of your heart and soul. Joyce Meyer in her bestselling book says that "the mind is the battlefield." Once we've lost in our mind, we've lost.

My daughter lost something we'd accidentally donated to charity. In her frustration she said out loud, "there's no way they'll give it back." I looked her square in the eye and said, "honey, if you really believe that, then it will be true." I called the manager and explained the situation; we got the item back the next day. This was a small issue, but a huge life lesson for a teenager who has to choose whether she will believe what she fears over what's true.

Part of the process of beating the mind into submission is to train it, feed it and give it rest. A good book (qualifying the word good as in stimulating) is just as important as a good nap. A mind that's busy all the time is like a cluttered closet. What does your mind look like today?

your soul 360º

We use the word soul for things that touch us in a deep place. When we experience music or art that seems to set off an electricity inside us, this is how the human feels the soul move.

The first mention of the word in the King James Bible was on the occasion of the creation of man. It was when God breathed the breath of life that man's soul came alive. The same Hebrew translation uses the word differently in a holistic context:

1) breath

a) the breath of life

1) the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing

a) of animals

b) of men

b) life

c) that in which there is life

1) a living being, a living soul

2) the soul

a) the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.)

b) the (human) soul in so far as it is constituted that by the right use of the aids offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness, the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life

c) the soul as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from other parts of the body)

We think of breath as a physical thing, yet it's the seat of creation and an ongoing vital force. It's no coincidence that our vital functions are tied to our breath. Our emotions and passions,  as well. How many times have you heard, it took my breath away, when someone was talking about an expression that moved or inspired them?

Our breath is linked to our mind as well. How many times have you been concentrating on a problem and didn't realize why you were growing a headache until you noticed you were holding your breath?

If we starve our soul in favor of intellect or physical accomplishment, we're living a life half full. How do you feed the soul? It begins with stillness. Selah.

your life 360º

What is life 360º?

George Bernard Shaw wrote, "Where is the joy lost in living?" Take a moment and ask yourself. Happiness is purchased with possessions, experiences and circumstances. Joy circumvents the things we cannot control. A life lived 360º taps into all the ingredients of a full life to create someone fully alive - heart, soul, mind and strength.