Why PrasadaU?

Exploring why we need more ways to access wholebeing practices.

We're living in a time like no other. As we rounded the corner of 2019 into 2020 life seemed for so many to be accelerating. We were doing too much, in almost every way possible. We were stretched thin, our conversations about stress and balance were common and yet we marched on celebrating the start of a new year, and a new decade. 

My calendar was full for 2020. Lots of travel that I was looking forward to and yet even by February I was feeling scattered, secretly wishing under my breath, if only I did not have to go so many places. I just wanted to stay still. At home. 

I'm confident that no one will blame the pandemic on my wish.

In the future, I'll be more careful about what I wish for.  

At the time, it was hard to even begin to comprehend all the losses that were ahead. The list could go on for chapters and chapters.

And we also had no idea of what we might gain. 

One of the greatest losses I noticed was that of the invisible memberships within my "circumstantial communities." With that loss also came a sense of my life shrinking within its context of a larger whole. 

Collective when we were living a "normal life" we had a routine of going places, of being together intentionally, at events, for work, and for play. We also grouped together in random ways as we walked down the street at the same time, stood at the bus stop, waited in line to get coffee and share an elevator.

I did not know you. You did not know me. I may not even have glanced your way. Or maybe we smiled at each other when we successfully waved down the Septa bus on Market Street. 

Either way, our paths crossed. Humans. Living. Sharing a sliver of our day. Together. 

These circumstantial communities, that happened so often, and with little fanfare, I realized were one of the pandemics' great losses. Those resultant spaces where we came together. 

In the new environment of our lives, Zoom rules. We have lost the randomness of connecting and the workplace will never be quite the same. 

So much of the work we were doing could be done from home. With that transition, we gained time, and energy and a new way to work. 

But want about that loss of the larger context of life, and the communities we are no longer part of? 

Do we really need community?

What we are hearing is YES! People share daily that they miss being together. 

We're going to have to rebuild the puzzles of our lives. It was as if our lives were a carefully assembled puzzle that completely fell off the table into 5000 single pieces in March 2020. It's not been easy to pick up the pieces, yet now we get to recreate a new scene for life moving forward. With intention, care, love, and new ways of being together.

Zoom fatigue is real, and if Zoom ever goes down we'll know a new kind of first-world apocalypse. And wether its zoom or another tool we also have learned we can connect across miles in meaning full ways. 

For our team, we transitioned from being 95%onsite to being 100% online, and that required redesigning EVERYTHING. We had to let go of our ideas of what we were losing, and forage the unchartered waters in search of new possibilities. Our work, what we teach, mindfulness, resilience, and having a growth mindset, had prepared us well.  We discovered some unexpected surprises. 

With virtual programs, we could connect to so many more experts and partners and bring their expertise and experiences to you. Our first program with Environmental Artist Elayna Singer brings an experience of making and creating and connecting that we never could have made possible.

But it's not just about bringing you one single program. It's about making a space that is a community for wholebeing. We're working hard to build a suite of programs that can inspire and help you define and sustain the habits of wholebeing. Some of those will be connecting online with other, and some of those will be in person. Others will be self guided for you to choose your pace.

They will all be part of building a community to support us, individually and collectively, so we can live a life of health, purpose, and joy. To live a life of being whole. 

Be well,

Alice Dommert
CEO + Wholebeing Architect
Prasada