This fall I attended a seminar in Calgary with my long time teacher, Deepak Chopra. Deepak spoke on the topic of The Future of Wellbeing, drawing upon his new book, Super Genes: unlock the astonishing power of your DNA for optimum health and wellbeing, which he coauthored with Rudy Tanzi.

Deepak shared Six Pillars for Radical Wellbeing.He stated, “consciousness is the distinction between every day wellbeing and radical wellbeing.”In his book, for each of the six pillars, Deepak and Rudy list easy choices, harder choices and experimental choices. They state that the key is making good choices, consistently, persistently and repeatedly that develop healthy rather than unhealthy habits.

These six pillars have recently come to light again for me, as I prepare to set my intentions for 2016 in the area of my own Radical Self Care.

Six Life Style Choices for Radical Wellbeing:

1.Meditation: Deepak emphatically told us that meditation is the centerpiece of our wellbeing. This past year I participated in several of the Chopra- Oprah 21day free meditation challenges. Check out www.chopra.com for the next free offering and for other meditation resources.

2.Sleep: This is something I have personally worked on for the past number of years and know first hand how a quality eight-hour sleep links to my wellbeing, creativity, focus and happiness. I now have an evening sleep ritual to prepare for a good nights sleep, in the same way I have a morning meditation and journaling ritual to prepare for the day.

3.Exercise: Deepak recommends yoga and pranayama (breath work), as the exercise of choice because it is an integral or wholistic practice designed to relax the body, calm the mind, still the emotions and develop a state of restful alertness. There are lots of yoga resources and videos on www.youtube.com. Check out www.gaia.com and www.yogajournal.com.

4.Stress Management: The Heart Math Institute is the number one global provider of stress management tools, resources and techniques. Check out their resources and videos at www.heartmath.org.

5.Emotional Wellbeing: Both Linda and I coach and facilitate programs for leaders on emotional intelligence. We really like Daniel Goleman’s framework for learning about emotional intelligence– emotional self-awareness, emotional self mastery (impulse control and resilience), social awareness (empathy) and relationship management. Learn more at www.danielgoleman.info.

6.Nutrition: Deepak advocates an anti-inflammatory diet and this is a priority area I am going to pay attention to in 2016, starting with the easy choices as outlined in his book Super Genes.

I encourage you to check out Super Genes, in particular Part 2: “Lifestyle Choices for Radical Wellbeing”. Let us know what choices you are consciously going to make in the area of your Radical Wellbeing in 2016.

Have a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year!

Lillas Hatala

December 27, 2015