The Intersection of Body. Mind. Community.

People often ask Kelly and I about “why” the name Life Elevated 3(LE3) and what does it mean. First, Life Elevated was chosen because we know life is meant to be lived upright. The 3… Body. Mind. Community. They are the cornerstones. The non-negotiables that matter most to achieve vitality at any age. We are unwavering in our emphasis on how the three weave together and build upon the other, fueling purpose and engagement that truly is a beautiful collision.

Body. Simply stated, if you want to do most anything in life there is an element of movement required as a pre-requisite to discover purpose and live your best day. In Kelly’s words, without the ability to rise from a seated position and go to what it is that brings joy, inspires, and motivates you to be engaged, one is already compromised. Unless you can maneuver through life with assisted modalities. Keeping the body mobile, strong, powerful, and nutritionally well is fundamental to truly live life on your terms and maintain physical independence.

Mind. The mind is a great resource and organ. It is the thought processor that tells the body what to do, chasing curiosities that continue to feed and water the neural pathways. There is work and effort required to stay mentally healthy and cognitively intact. It is not by happenstance that the mind remains complete. No, we are not all destined for cognitive decline as a normal part of aging, but research shows us the overwhelming need to stay engaged and learn new things as fodder to nourish the mind with what it needs to mentally age well.

Community. Being surrounded with a network of friends, family and supportive allies is the energy that causes one to rise, moving to where you want to go and the network that sparks mental engagement, pushing a person towards stimulation and action. Without community, people fall into isolation and loneliness without seeing the perpetual creep that ensues when social systems become scarce and continually diminish. The interesting part of life we must acknowledge is as we age our social network typically diminishes in size, but often the relationships that are present become deeper. This is not a terrible thing, but the recourse that occurs when we lose a deep, meaningful relationship is detrimental and hard on the soul. Such relationships are often irreplaceable, and one is left with memories instead of excitement towards the future. We must be intentional about forever building community.

Community is the catalyst that becomes an uplifting element seamlessly ushering people toward ways to preserve the body and enchant the mind. Community is assumed when a collection of people gathers together. Yet we know that community does not naturally occur as organically and easily as we tell ourselves. Community requires participation. To move people to that level of participation when they may not be cognizant their network is decreasing is an art and a culture; a mindset that needs to be fostered and an openness and vulnerability that encourages conversation, acceptance, and the tradeoff of one’s skill set in exchange for the other.

The interweaving of Body, Mind and Community are much more than three components or facets that stand together on their own. They are holistic and all encompassing, each one driving and impacting the other. We believe this approach is strategic and crafted, building upon each other, constantly fueled by the other at any given time. Creating this strategic approach is developed through an intermix of programming and culture. You cannot have great programming without culture, and you cannot have a great culture without engagement and opportunities that are framed from the individual knowing and insight of the people that make up the community.

To separate into buckets, make checklists of this many or that many, mind, body, and community offerings will not be the answer to designing a lifestyle approach that keeps people as involved and engaged as we desire. They must be approached in a culture driven, interwoven approach to aid and support individuals to live with purpose and zest for each new day.

If this strategy is lacking, please reach out to see how we can design and craft this beautiful collision for your organization.?