Health is more than the absence of illness; it is the wholeness of mind, body, community, and spirit living in harmony with our environment. For centuries, Indigenous peoples and those of the global majority have had a deep connection and understanding of this truth, embodying practices of care rooted in balance, respect, and reciprocity. Yet, modern health systems, particularly those structures in mental health, are built on the oppression of unique expression, and structured around imperialism, capitalism, and supremacy. This means the connection to our felt experiences and indigenous practices are being, and have been, systematically erased. It is time for us to reinstate the wisdom of our ancestors, leading with trust to enable our community and Indigenous knowledge keepers to co-create a new way of reimagining health for our communities. Some or many Western treatments are very much needed to support health temporarily; however, what is really needed is for communities to literally be built from the root up, to work with our natural soils, elements, climate, and environment to nourish all aspects of our human experience. This concept applies particularly to the hierarchical and social expectation for people to raise children alone (or as a couple or paying others for childcare), work hard to pay the rent making ourselves unwell, and exchange money to pay tax on essential resources including food, sanitary products, water, education, healthcare, and access to spiritual and religious support—things which in community and on unclaimed land would have been part of everyday life and survival, and are still possible when equity is reclaimed.
The Toxicity of Current Systems
As a mental health nurse, I have witnessed first-hand how oppressive systems manifest in healthcare. The National Health Service (NHS), a cornerstone of “free” healthcare in the UK, operates within a framework that often prioritizes metrics, guidelines, and efficiency over true whole human healing and prevention of illnesses. These guidelines, developed within structures of supremacy and suppression, often fail to address the nuanced and intersectional needs of individuals, especially those from marginalized backgrounds. As we blend cross-culturally, there has never been a more significant time to offer a person-centred approach to health, considering every part of the person, including genetics, experiences, and life purpose. While working in the NHS, I felt forced to reckon with the limitations of a system that expects practitioners to uphold policies that often perpetuate harm.
For me, the turning point came when I realized that following these guidelines alone was not enough. I saw how systemic oppression ignored the cultural and communal contexts of health, particularly for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC). Mental, physical, social, and economic health are not isolated pillars; they are intrinsically interwoven. Yet, the healthcare system fragments these aspects, leaving health-seekers and practitioners to navigate a fractured model of care.
Moreover, neurodiverse individuals are disproportionately affected by these systems. The current models of care often pathologize neurodiversity rather than embracing it as a natural and valuable variation of human experience. Indigenous cultures have long recognized and valued different ways of thinking and being, understanding that neurodivergence brings unique strengths and perspectives vital for community health and resilience. A truly inclusive health system must recognize and support neurodiverse ways of processing, feeling, and interacting with the world. Instead we too often see those labelled as neurodiverse (and I mean those with mental health diagnoses of any description, in addition to ADHD, Autism, etc) as being unable to access the same opportunities due to colonial socialization; which not only leads people to believe these people are “different”, but also disables them from feeling a way forward to communicate and share space with a neurodiverse population…. unless it benefits them in some way.
Reclaiming Indigenous Wisdom
Indigenous communities have long understood that health is a communal and ecological endeavour. Practices like plant medicine, spiritual healing, storytelling, and communal support systems are more than cultural artifacts—they are vital methods of sustaining well-being. These practices emphasize interconnection, an understanding that every individual is part of a larger web or wheel of life, where imbalance in one area affects the whole.
To reclaim this wisdom, we must:
- Centre Indigenous Knowledge Keepers in Education: These peoples carry generations of understanding about holistic health. Their expertise must be recognized and valued as educational —if not superior—to Western biomedical models as these were built from indigenous wisdoms.
- Decolonize Health Systems: Or at least attempt to begin this process, which will involve challenging the dominance of Eurocentric practices and creating spaces where Indigenous practices can flourish without tokenization.
- Enhance Community-Led Initiatives: Health services should be co-created with the communities they serve, ensuring cultural relevance and collective ownership. Whilst many will say this is already happening, the truth is policies make it appear to be, but the decisions are rarely made in communities but by the services funded or paying for the treatments. As we also know, these services are being drip-fed incentives from large capitalist corporations who thrive on keeping people unwell to increase profits.
- Promote Economic Justice: Capitalism’s commodification of health must be dismantled. Sliding scale payments, mutual aid networks, and resource-sharing models can support equitable access to health and care. For many people, it is not possible to move away from earning money to exchange for resources entirely, therefore it is not possible expect free services and provisions. We just need to find a balance so each person can access what is needed, at a high ethical and wholesome standard, based upon what they can afford to give up without it affecting their health in other ways.
- Reframe and Honour Neurodiversity: Embracing unique traits in ourselves and one another, like neurodiverse ways of thinking, learning, and being needs to be integral to community health. This concept can be extended to practitioners too, not only those seeking support or care. We need different ways of considering, communicating and supporting needs. Our western health systems are built on words like “professionalism” and “resilience”, both of which have been reformed to the toxicity of the workplace and healthcare environment to ingrain supremacy and emotional suppression in practitioners. We need to create support systems that nurture the whole individual, recognizing their unique contributions to cultural and communal growth and health.
Stepping Away to Step Forward
Leaving the NHS was a difficult but necessary decision for me. I could no longer reconcile my role as a mental health nurse with the harm perpetuated by a toxic system. The burnout I experienced was not solely from the work itself but from the moral injury of participating in a structure that often prioritized the system over the individual. Additionally, my attempts to battle the system from the inside out, and from outside in, as a parent supporting my children through racism. harassment and discrimination.
Stepping away allowed me to reimagine what health could look like outside of these confines. Through my work as a Mentor, Trainer, Energy and Breathwork Therapist, I have begun to co-create spaces where health is understood as holistic, dynamic, and collective and worked through together as an ethical and respectful cross-sector venture. These spaces honour the interwoven nature of mental, physical, social, economic, and spiritual health, rejecting the fragmented approach of the current system.
Co-Creating a New Future
To truly grow together, we must reimagine health as a collective endeavour. This means:
- Building Networks of Care: Community-led health initiatives must be supported to create resilient networks that prioritize local individual and community needs.
- Healing as Justice: Recognizing that health cannot be divorced from social justice or politics. Addressing systemic ism’s, environmental degradation, and economic inequality is essential for true healing.
- Education and Empowerment: Equipping communities with the knowledge, wisdom- deep education and tools to sustain all health practices, both Indigenous and Western medicine, ensures longevity and resilience.
- Supporting Individuality: Establish environments where normal is current seen as different, so individuals are valued and supported through a wider range of adaptive health practices.
Although it is extremely challenging to change these established and rigid systems, when we work cross-sector co-creatively, change will happen. Individual understanding will evolve, and these individuals are decision-makers in their own rights. When they make educated moves within the system, this creates ripples of transformation. Each of us has a unique opportunity to become specialists in our fields. Let’s not follow what others are doing unless we know this is our path. Instead, let us lead with authenticity, knowing that both we and the children of now and the future will someday become the Indigenous wisdom-keeping elders in our communities. We just need to get the wheel turning.
This is not a call to reject all modern medicine or advancements but to integrate them with the wisdom of our ancestors for decision-making and practices that rest in alignment with individual needs. The knowledge of Indigenous communities is not outdated; it is timeless. By honouring it, we can build health systems that are inclusive, equitable, and truly healing.
A Collective Responsibility
Reinstating Indigenous wisdom in health is not just a task for global majority peoples; it is a collective responsibility. The systems that oppress us all are deeply interconnected, just as our liberation is bound together. By centring Indigenous practices, decolonizing health to co-create, and prioritizing community-led solutions, we can build a future where health is not a privilege but a birthright, as it should be for all humans and was before the very uncivilized days in which civilization arose.
In this journey, let us remember the words of our ancestors, who taught us that true health is rooted in balance, harmony, and collective care. Together, we can reclaim this wisdom and re-build a world where everyone thrives. The only alternative is to continue handing over ours and children’s bodies to imperialist capitalist corporations and powerful cannibals, so they can profit from our enslavement and feed from our corpses.
Amanda Davis is a dual-heritage (black Jamaican and white English) Registered Mental Health Nurse with a diverse career spanning various sectors. After leaving the UK National Health Service, Amanda now focuses on offering holistic emotional and mental wellbeing support as a Mentor, Trainer, and Breath Work Therapist. She draws from her extensive personal journey and professional experience. This experience, along with her own struggles with societal expectations and systemic oppression, led her to create programs focused on community healing and liberation, such as Emotional Ecology and Breathing Emotions. These initiatives combine holistic healing methods with anti-oppressive practices, prioritizing collective well-being and personal empowerment. Amanda is passionate about educating practitioners and communities on navigating and healing from cultural and systemic injustices. She offers CPD training, workshops, and retreats, including events designed to provide people of the global majority a platform to share experiences and explore wellbeing practices. Through her work, Amanda strives to create a world where person-centred whole health is valued, liberation is achieved, and communities thrive together.
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