ASEI: What does wellness mean to you?
Sibanda: It means living a meaningful, powerful and well-organized life. It is a fact of life that life by its nature is stressful or demanding. The question that usually pops up is: How then can I heal myself naturally?
For me, wellness is about how one manages the twins of health and habits in a holistic, happy and high fashion. ‘High’ because our practices and behaviors need to be encouraged, elevated, and sustained in a healthy fashion on a daily basis. It takes a measure of commitment, discipline and sacrifice. It means following a process that is geared toward a healthy lifestyle, which is a path that prioritizes self-love and self-responsibility. For example, on a personal note, we can make use of what we think, hear, see, feel, taste and touch as a conscious strategy to reduce and regulate stress. My buzzwords are positivity and productiveness. I always try to stay positive and productive.
ASEI: How do you move toward more optimal wellness, for yourself and for others?
Sibanda: I believe it is imperative to move toward more optimal wellness by seeking to understand and embrace its areas of holistic health that exhibit themselves nutritionally (we are what we eat), emotionally, socially, financially, occupationally, environmentally and spiritually. It means practicing healthy habits in a holistic manner and preaching them for the benefit of oneself, one’s workmates, one’s readers and one’s society at large. In practice, one could write a poem about the advantages of eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, thinking positively and living productively. For instance, I lately penned a poem on the importance of a brain break for schoolchildren. We currently live in a world that is reeling from the deadly and disturbing wrath of the coronavirus. It is very easy to get bogged down in bleakness, grief and pessimism in such a situation. Hence, I recently published a book titled: The Virtual Landscape: How to be Safe, Positive and Productive in a World under Siege.
ASEI: What can you do today, to amplify your own wellness, and that of others?
Sibanda: Wellness starts with oneself. One should not only preach it. That’s not enough. One should live it as well! Start living a healthy lifestyle at home, at work and in the community. A community’s engine and glue for development is communication. Communicate with one’s community and country and even go beyond in a virtual manner. For authors, one could come up with an interesting story based on the theme of wellness and health, make use of various networking sites to spread the good gospel of wellness. For all is well that ends with wellness.
ASEI: Thank you! You can read Ndaba Sibanda's work in Anthology House Volume 2, with all proceeds donated to UNICEF.