What goes around: Practicing student well-being with an Indigenous lens | Gavin Bell | TEDxNCState

Key Concepts

Holistic well-being, medicine wheel, interconnectedness, balance, physical well-being, spiritual well-being, emotional well-being, communal well-being, self-reflection, self-reconciliation, proactive vs. reactive emotional processing, community layers, grace, compassion, interconnectedness, self-regulation, self-composure.

Introduction: The Sinking Boat Analogy

Gavin Bell, a Lumbee tribe member and student affairs practitioner, opens with an analogy of a man fishing in a boat with four holes. He emphasizes that patching only one hole while ignoring the others will still lead to the boat sinking. This illustrates how neglecting aspects of one's well-being, even while focusing on others, can lead to negative consequences. He argues that many people hyperfocus on one or two areas of well-being, neglecting others, leading to imbalance.

Personal Experience and the Need for a Framework

Bell shares his personal experience during the 2020 pandemic, where he focused heavily on physical well-being but neglected his emotional and communal well-being, leading to a period of self-reflection and the pursuit of holistic well-being. He observed similar struggles in his students and sought a framework to help them visualize and define the different areas of their well-being, with practical daily application.

The Medicine Wheel Framework

Bell introduces the medicine wheel, a framework used by many tribal communities, as a visual and circular representation of holistic well-being. He explains that the medicine wheel consists of four interconnected quadrants, each representing a different aspect of well-being. Different tribal cultures have different interpretations of the wheel, including stages of life, cardinal directions, and aspects of the self.

Applying the Medicine Wheel to Student Well-being

Bell adapted the medicine wheel for his students, using the four quadrants to represent:

1. Physical Well-being: Beyond just exercise, this includes basic needs like hydration, deep breathing, and laughter. He advises students to ensure they are urinating hourly as a measure of hydration and to actively seek opportunities for laughter.
2. Spiritual Well-being: This is defined differently for different people, with orientations towards a higher power, the environment, or internal passions. The key is orienting to the present moment, avoiding dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.
3. Emotional Well-being: This focuses on dealing with emotions proactively rather than reactively, preventing the "Pompeii effect" of suppressed emotions leading to an explosive outburst.
4. Communal Well-being: This emphasizes the importance of both pouring into and receiving from community. He uses the analogy of an onion to describe the different layers of community, from casual acquaintances to close confidants. He stresses the importance of having a few people who know you well enough to provide truth, accountability, and love.

Interconnectedness and Balance

Bell emphasizes that the four quadrants are interconnected. For example, deep breathing (physical) helps orient to the present moment (spiritual), which allows for clarity in dealing with emotions (emotional), which benefits community relationships (communal), and hopefully leads to laughter (physical), creating a full circle. He stresses the importance of balance across all areas, acknowledging that perfect balance is not always achievable and that self-compassion is crucial.

Beyond Personal Fulfillment: Interrelatedness and Interconnectedness

Bell concludes by stating that the medicine wheel is not just for personal fulfillment but for fostering interrelatedness and interconnectedness with others. By extending grace, compassion, and balance to oneself, one can more authentically extend those qualities to the community. He argues that in a polarized and individualistic society, self-regulation, self-composure, and balance are essential for collective healing and progress.

Notable Quotes

• "My man what you doing you might not be sinking as fast but rest assured if you don't patch up those other holes you're still going to sink."
• "...simply doing a laundry list of good things is the same as holding effective balance across those things..."
• "...moving forward means moving forward in tandem with one another..."
• "...you're not about to be able to move forward in tandem with anyone you're not going to be able to extend grace compassion accountability to anyone if you have not first done so for yourself."

Technical Terms and Concepts

• Holistic Well-being: Addressing all the different areas that comprise who you are as an individual.
• Medicine Wheel: A framework comprised of four interconnected quadrants that ultimately come together to make a hole.
• Schemas: A representation of a plan or theory in the form of an outline or model.
• Pompeii Effect: Suppressed emotions leading to an explosive outburst.

Conclusion

The medicine wheel provides a practical and visual framework for understanding and improving holistic well-being. By recognizing the interconnectedness of physical, spiritual, emotional, and communal aspects, and striving for balance with self-compassion, individuals can not only improve their own lives but also contribute to a more compassionate and interconnected society. The framework emphasizes proactive engagement with each area of well-being and the importance of community support.