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The Five Modalities of Optimum Health, Wealth, & Success
By: Neesha D. Meminger
The Five Modalities of Optimum Health: Body, Mind, Spirit,
Emotions, & the Overarch.
Optimum health, wealth, and success, require peak performance, or
functioning, in each of the five major layers of the Self – what
I have come to define in my Coaching practice as the Five
Modalities. There are the basic three: Mind, Body, and Spirit,
that many “progressive” thinkers in the current medical paradigm
are beginning to acknowledge and embrace.
The fourth layer is the Modality of the Emotions which is as
important as the above-mentioned three; and I coach through a
fifth Modality that has yet to become part of the ongoing
conversation about Optimum health and success: what I refer to as
the Overarch, or Social Ecosystem.
Each of us is born into a Social, or Economic Ecosystem. The
dictionary definition of an Ecosystem is: “a localized group
of interdependent organisms together with the environment that
they inhabit and depend on.” So, we all enter into this world
ecosystem in a particular social or economic status. And, we
enter into this world as interdependent creatures. Socially,
and economically, we depend on one another for survival, just
as much as we depend on the earth for our food and water and
other essentials.
Although our social or economic status can change throughout our
lives, based on a variety of factors; the structure of the
Overarch, itself, remains intact, and will continue to remain
thus. It has been this way for thousands and thousands of years
in all parts of the world.
This structure is hierarchical in nature, resembling a pyramid.
Those near the apex, have more control, access to resources, and
decision-making capabilities than the ones near the base. Yet,
those toward the apex are only able to exist at that spot with
the support of all those that are holding them there from the
base on up. So, we all fall into position somewhere in this
hierarchical pyramid structure. And, as the physical structure
of a pyramid would suggest, the vast majority of the world’s
population is closer to the base of the pyramid than the apex.
Why would this be important in Optimum Health? Three reasons;
the first is that the level of control over one’s basic
physical survival, (in our current paradigm, this takes the
form of finances and access to resources) increases as they
move toward the apex – fewer people have direct influence
over major areas of a person’s life the closer s/he gets to
the pinnacle.
Factors such as whether a person has an income and how much
they earn, are examples of specific areas that a person gains
increased command over as he or she nears the top of the Social
Ecosystemic pyramid. In other words, there are less people
that have the capacity to fire or hire you; less people who
decide how much or how little money you make; less to decide
when you work and the terms of that work; less who decide
whether or when there is time off for family or leisure.
The closer a person gets to the top of the Social Ecosystem
pyramid, the more control they have over their time and
resources, and decision-making capacity increases dramatically.
For example, heads of state have the ultimate decision-making
capacity; the decisions they make affect the entire social and
economic ecosystem of our pyramid. They have ultimate control
over their own finances, when and under what terms they work;
access to more resources than anyone else in the Overarch; and
ultimate control over how much income they are able to generate
(not all of it necessarily being through earned income from
their "job"). The same is true for others who are not heads
of state, but are on par with that positioning on the pyramind.
The second major reason that this Modality should be a
significant consideration in evaluating anyone’s capacity to
achieve Optimum health and success in life is that the further
up the pyramid they are situated, the lower their levels of
chronic stress. An overwhelming number of studies have shown
that predictability and control over one’s life, one’s body,
one’s destiny, one’s finances, etc., is directly linked to
stress levels; the less the amount of control, the higher the
stress levels. And, levels of stress, especially chronic stress
which is the type most common to this particular Modality, are
directly linked to how healthy a person is in each of the other
Modalities.
So, our aforementioned heads of state may consider themselves to
be Optimally healthy in this Modality because of the level of
control that being in their position affords them. Yet, whether
or not they are Optimally healthy in the other Four Modalities,
is debatable. Depending on what one’s definition of “success”
is, having a position that affords ultimate financial control
and access to resources, while having chronic ailments related
to suppression of emotions does not make for optimum quality of
life.
The third reason is that this Modality affects each of the other
four. It has a direct relationship with the Mind, Body,
Spirit, and Emotions. Some of the factors that have direct
bearing on where we fall in the Overarch are the social dynamics
of a particular region; economic strata; one's relationship to
his/her surroundings; and the accepted wider cultural perception
of a person or group. Whether you are male or female, whether
you are Asian, Latino, European, or American; whether you are
considered Wealthy, middle class, or working class; whether
you never finished high school, or have several post-graduate
degrees under your belt. All of these factors contribute to
where you are positioned in the Overarch. And, that
positioning absolutely lends itself to how you are perceived
by your environment, how your enironment relates to you, and
by extension, has the capacity to shape your thoughts and
perceptions about yourself, your abilities, and what you are
entitled to in this world. This all has a profound effect on
each of the Five Modalities.
In order for Optimum success and health, one must strive to be
healthy in all Five Modalities: Mind, Body, Emotions, Spirit,
and the Overarch, or Social Ecosystem; creating balance, and
thus, actualizing maximum potential, through placing equal weight
in each Modality.
About the Author
Copyright Neesha D. Meminger, 2005. All rights reserved.
About the Author:
Neesha Dosanjh Meminger is an Optimum Health, Wealth, & Success
Coach who works with people to actualize their full potential
using the Five Modalities of Optimum Success™ program that she
developed over years of consulting and coaching. Contact her at
Neesha@seeitbeit.com for a free collaborative interview.
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