Where is the authenticity?

I have been reflecting these last few days on the wellness industry.

I have been reflecting these last few days on the wellness industry.

Information had emerged about Deepak Chopra within the Epstein files, this has instigated discussions about names in the wellness industry staying silent rather than speaking out. Following this there's been articles written about what these wellness and "higher transcended" gurus are actually like behind the scenes (see below for links).

We are all human. No one is perfect. No one is fully healed, fully transcended, or beyond their shadows. Growth is never linear no matter who you are, questions will always be asked of you. No matter how much work you do on yourself, life will continue to bring new lessons.

If you build a career teaching transformation, integrity, consciousness, healing and if you write books, lead programs, and earn a living guiding others then there is a responsibility to walk the talk as much as humanly possible. And when you inevitably fall short (as every human does) own it, acknowledge it and if you you teach publicly, as far as you can, share this next step - authenticity is everything.

These people must model what it actually looks like to meet the shadow instead of pretending they are beyond it. I don't care who you are, no one is beyond it!

Spiritual maturity isn’t about being flawless, it’s about accountability, congruence and humility. And do you know what, the ones that are best at that are usually the ones not shouting it from the roof top and not trying to make money out of book sales and lectures. They just get on with it and trust. I bet they are the happier ones, even of their bank balance isn’t full.

I really struggled with the concept of earning money from wellness. I often undercharged and gave freebies. That's probably something I need to work on - my worth - but I have struggled financially my whole life and know what it's like when something you desperately want to try for your health and wellbeing is out of reach. To think these wellness gurus earn so much from their speil and aren't even modelling their talk is appalling, but not a surprise. I do think to make it big in the industry you generally have to have a certain type of attitude and ego that won't always sit right with the teachings.

I have disliked seeing spirituality, reiki, mindfulness etc. become such a marketing commodity. It is really hard to know who to trust now with so many brands and people giving it the right look and talk - crystals being a particular cause for concern when noone pays attention to where they even come from - that's perhaps for a separate rant! Those reaching out for this type of work are usually vulnerable, it is a concern, not helped by now seeing even those trusted for many years, before it became a fashionable fad, cannot be trusted.

I admit it is a fine balance as we need this work out there so we are aware, but we have to be so careful.

Of course for most I am not saying their work is a load of nonsense, there is something in most of it but it needs to be kept real not as something we all think we can attain but actually in truth it is unattainable.

The wellness world doesn’t need more perfection myths, we need honesty, we need authenticity and realness and we seem to be going the opposite way. I wrote recently of my disappointment when I attended a ceremonial gathering with a well known spiritual wellness person - everyone was filming and posting photos and reels online - where is the safety? Where is the container? Where is the truth and realness?

Accountability is everything.

As more information drips out I will be interested to see who stands up and owns it. We grow through our lives, at different stages we change and adapt and see things differently. Perhaps some past behaviours can be forgiven (and some definitely not, no excuses) with the correct responses now.

Further Reading:

Lissa Rankin, MD https://open.substack.com/pub/lissarankinmd/p/blowing-the-whistle-on-deepak-chopra?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=ql95a

Scott Mills
https://open.substack.com/pub/drscottwmills/p/deepak-chopra-wrote-the-book-on-shadow?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=ql95a

Stephen Dinan
https://open.substack.com/pub/stephendinan/p/deepak-chopra-and-the-epstein-reckoning?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=ql95a