Reflections on Health, Joy, and Awareness

By Christine Sagan, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC

Founder Friday

Every Friday, our founder pulls back the curtain and shares something close to her heart—whether it’s a lesson learned, a personal story, or a behind-the-scenes glimpse into our journey. These posts are part inspiration, part reflection, and always written to connect, encourage, and spark conversation. It’s a chance to see some of the “why” behind what we do, straight from the person who started it all.

Recently, I listened to an interview with Deepak Chopra. At 78 years old, with 90 books written, he continues to inspire me to think differently and to pause to review my own life. Years ago, before he retired, I attended one of the last retreats he hosted. I’ll never forget running into him in an elevator. He asked me how I liked the retreat. My honest reply: “The birds are beautiful, and I love the yoga.” He smiled.

In his timeless wisdom, Chopra often returns to a set of daily questions:

• Who am I?

• What do I want?

• What is my purpose?

• What am I grateful for?

• Who am I without these constructs?

  
  

He reminds us that the great mystery of life is not what we are doing, but who we are. We are the awareness in which all experience happens—not the experience itself. Experiences are fleeting, bound by time, while our deeper essence is not.

The Foundation of Health: Daily Habits

I’ve long been a proponent of designing a life around your “perfect ordinary day,” as Martha Beck calls it. Align your mornings with what brings you into flow, and the rest of life follows more naturally. Chopra emphasizes what research also confirms: your health is your greatest asset. The return on investment is exponential. Consistency over time allows us to reverse biological age, improve quality of life, and ultimately save time and money by avoiding ill health.

Here are the daily habits that matter most:

• Sleep: The #1 predictor of longevity. Poor sleep raises risk for Alzheimer’s, inflammation, and robs us of creativity.

• A quieter mind: Practices like meditation, prayer, or contemplation calm the nervous system and create clarity.

• Exercise & movement: Regular physical activity sustains both body and brain.

• Mind-body practices: Yoga, tai chi, qigong, martial arts, and breath work coordinate body and mind while activating the parasympathetic nervous system. ( i.e calm)

• Relationships & environment: Emotional, social, and physical surroundings matter deeply. Avoid toxic connections; cultivate nourishing ones.

• Nutrition: Food is either medicine or inflammation. Plant-rich, anti-inflammatory diets set the stage for health.

• Spiritual awareness: Aging, illness, and death are inevitable. Meeting them with presence, purpose, and acceptance brings peace.

  
  

In a world saturated with information, Chopra warns against mistaking knowledge for wisdom. The real education is self-awareness—living daily in the questions of Who am I? and What is my purpose?

Creativity, he reminds us, is an act of joy. And if we are not joyful, we’ve wasted our life.

He believes that the healthiest emotion we can cultivate is awe—the childlike wonder that reminds us we exist, and that life itself is miraculous. As Chopra says, the final exit for us all is death. Hustling through life without joy or self-awareness only leaves us empty.

Our fundamental purpose is to live in joy, love, and awareness. To return, in many ways, to innocence.