By Werner Brandt

As a Board member of HCN it was a privilege to offer the Work That Reconnects in China last month. All six board members were invited to participate in the first Holistic International Wellness Forum in Beijing both as keynote speakers and faciliators of experiential workshops.

I arrived at Beijing airport in the late evening and was welcomed warmly by the translator. Quickly ushered off to meet our driver, we merged into a sea of late model cars that clogged the roads. 20 years ago roads in China were absent of automobiles; only bicycles and motorcycles were the primary mode of transportation. But this is modern Beijing, a city of twenty million, living in dense clusters of high-rise apartments throughout the city. [Read more…]

By Dan Hines

“We all have an inner wise navigator that is reliable and trustworthy. Our mystical traditions are unanimous that we all have a still point: a raised perch on the boat from where our soul-navigator can calmly whisper to us… where we are… and describe the vision of the island beyond the horizon, even when we are voyaging through rough confusing seas.”

Last month, I was graciously invited to speak for an hour to a crowd of over 700 leaders, entrepreneurs and community activists in a remarkable hotel complex just south of Beijing, China. These were some of the words that I voiced as I shared a set of stories, reflections and a guided meditation on the theme that was entitled “Holistic Navigation”. The gathering was given the hopeful title of the ‘Holistic Wellness International Forum’. The forum was co-hosted by both an inspiring organization I have visited in Beijing- Bene Wellness– and also by the global Holistic Centers Network. It lived up to the billing of being holistic and international. [Read more…]

Reflections from Mr Yu
Project Manager of Find Wellness Ecological Villages.
In partnership with Songlin Liu, Founder of Bene Wellness.

The following reflections were inspired by our visit to emerging ecovillages on Hainan Island after the Holistic Wellness International Forum in Beijing. After our first evening and a sharing of values and ideas, we invited Mr Yu to share his philosophy in writing. He embraced the opportunity and later said he hadn’t thought about the subject as deeply before.

Let me talk about something that has not been discussed on other occasions – the Chinese people’s thinking about why we need ecology in the world today. Environmental issues are one of the greatest concerns. Human beings face an extreme ecological crisis related to their own survival and development.

People began to wake up and reflect and the global movement for environmental protection developed. Ecology is of great significance and value to society in the 21st century, mainly manifested in the re-shaping of human values and the redefinition of the relationship between man and nature as a harmonious unification.

[Read more…]

By Ralph White

A visit to China today for someone with an interest in holistic matters is a heartening experience. Our image of this country for decades has been that of relentless economic growth, and before that the horrors of the Cultural Revolution in the Sixties with its focus on the destruction of so much of China’s ancient heritage both culturally and architecturally. [Read more…]