By Alina M Hernandez in conversation with David Delrahim
Whenever talking with David Delrahim, he will tell you straight up that “COCUN wellness is a consciousness,” and what’s more, it’s non-prescriptive and non-directive. What does this mean?
I was inspired and intrigued, so I invited him to chat with me about his broad and outside-of-the-box thinking to explore what he means by this, and his thinking behind COCUN. The conversation that follows is a deep dive into the mindset of a wellness visionary for the 21st century – and beyond.
Alina: Hello, David. Since we met over two and half years ago, I have been struck by your uncompromising commitment to bringing to life a new vision of Wellness. Tell me more about that, please.
David: Over a decade ago, I started asking myself “Why are people getting sick?” That single question launched the journey of a lifetime, and I feel a deep calling to share this with as many people as possible.
Alina: I often hear you say something I find very profound, and you often frame this with three questions. I hear: Where am I? How did I get here? And…Where am I going? I think they are foundational because they are not directive – they are curious, open and truly engage the listener.
David: You know, life has become more complex, and we are in the “Information overload” age. How do we trust the sources because there are so many voices saying so many different things – and this creates a big problem – mass confusion. All the information out there is fragmented, so it makes it even harder to sift through all these different opinions, offerings, and choices. Is that wellness? It means that there are narratives out there that are unhelpful in giving people guidance about true wellness, and I say “let’s look past the narrative, pause and just ask ourselves these three basic questions. First, where am I – what about getting a read where is my life at this moment? Am I fully fulfilled? Am I really well? Then, go in and ask myself how did I get here? This is so important because it requires that I am truthful first-and-foremost, with myself. Once I get a read on these two things, I can get a better idea of where I want to do, and the direction I want to go. This is a shift in consciousness, and it starts with me taking response-ability – the ability we all have to respond and activate this capability we have as humans.
Alina: I also hear you say, “there’s nothing wrong with making a good living, but in Wellness you can’t chase Wellness by chasing dollars.” This is a fundamental reframe because what I’m hearing is that Wellness is non-transactional – it’s so much more.
David: Bravo! 100%! If I start from a place where all I’m looking at is what I’m getting out of something and it’s just about making money, I am missing the point about Wellness, and that is “the human first!” How can I provide true wellness if I fail to see that real human beings are in pain and that they’re seeking relief from this pain because let’s face it we’re all in some sort of pain – if not we wouldn’t be in a trillion-dollar industry trying to put a fix on what makes us sick whether physical, mental, emotional, spiritual – you name it. We’re all chasing a solution to this pain. But, if I just run to a quick fix, a formula, am I really dealing with what caused the problem in the first place? COCUN is about the truth because we are pursuing human wellness and yet we understand that we are operating in a system that chases profit. I have chosen to create and be in a system that is focused on human wellness first, and I know that there is an organic exchange circuit of value exchange, and if I follow the truth of caring first for the human, that reciprocity just happens.
Alina: Now I invite us to get a bit more granular. You are so right about the confusion and stress associated with trying to figure out how to get wellness “right. Just a few weeks ago, Lululemon published, its fourth annual 2024 Global Wellbeing Report, “revealing a perpetual and counterproductive cycle where the relentless pursuit of wellbeing is making us less well.” They point to a “wellness burnout,” with the pressure to keep up with wellbeing is making people less well – the “prescriptive” approach. I am blown away by the synchronicity of this because it really maps to what you’re saying.
David: Throughout my journey, I have come to learn that wellness is non-prescriptive and that each individual is the expert in his or her own life. The best I can do is guide and support that individual to become aware, guide them in their choices and support them in setting them up to succeed! This builds autonomy and independent thinking. I believe with all my heart that we need to build capacity in ourselves – all of us, and respect people where they are. This is what COCUN Wellness is all about. We guide and we support – and we provide the right environment, community and ecosystem to help understand the choices they have; what fits best for them, for their own journeys, and continued growth. I can’t make anyone do anything, and the best I can do is help people understand that they do have choices, and they can be the best versions of themselves. Limiting beliefs prevent us from understanding this and our societal conditioning creates this limiting belief that we can’t do it. If we become aware that we have the power to change this, we start to know, feel and act towards real wellness. This requires new thinking because if I start to think differently, eventually I will act differently, too.
Alina: This has many deep layers because you are describing the secret to long-term sustained change something we now know from the Behavioral Sciences – and you’ve locked in on this key point just from your observations on human beings and what is a basic need: to be heard, to be understood, and to be loved.
David: Yes. We all have this cycle of beliefs that limit us, and we’re constantly in this circular thinking – a conditioning and doesn’t question why we do things that actually are negative for all the aspects of our wellbeing, and it’s not just one thing because human wellness is multi-dimensional. What about understanding our foundations, where these beliefs that limit us are rooted? We need to raise our awareness. That is the foundation to finding our wellness.
Alina: Tell me more about your thoughts on awareness.
David: It’s simple. Lack of awareness creates pain and suffering. And that’s not wellness. We have so many distractions from everywhere, and these distractions take us away from ourselves, away from becoming aware. If I want to be well, the first person I need to have a healthy relationship with is myself because it starts with me taking responsibility. The distractions move me away from focusing on what’s important. How have can I have wellbeing if I don’t know me? If I am swept away from this ocean of information overload and I can’t discern one thing from the other? So, if I create awareness in my life, I can begin to understand what is needed and I can achieve wellness, but no one is presently talking about this in wellness. Most offerings are focused on components or separate parts of wellness without the knowledge or awareness of how it fits into the big picture of the individual’s life. Following a method that only addresses a component of wellness does not check the wellness box. This is compounded by the fact that offerings, programs and message are so fragmented, and this leads to even more confusion.
Alina: Can you speak more about what the individual journey is? What does that look like?
David: O.K. Let’s break it down. Before we can talk about any wellness journey or community wellness, what about starting with the truth of what’s not working? We need to stop generalizing that everyone’s path to wellness is the same. It’s not. As an example, if I just get a “menu” of solutions without getting a read on where I am emotionally, and I am in a reactive emotional state, it only serves to deregulate us and can derail all these efforts we might be making on a physical or mental level to be well. The menu doesn’t provide the starting point, it just provides a lot of choices that most of us can’t begin to make because we are unaware of the starting point in our wellness journey. We need to understand “Where am I?” “How did I get here?” Where do I want to go?” If I build this awareness, I start to build discernment and set myself up to be an independent thinker and then become the best expert on me.
Alina: How do you see COCUN Wellness in all of this?
David: I see COCUN being a channel that people can trust because we’re about the truth, not the illusion cause human beings are messy – it’s not all wrapped up in a neat package because to get away from the pain we’re willing to just package stuff to distract even more. That’s anti-wellness. Transactional wellness will eventually disappoint because it creates false expectations without doing the work we need to do – taking responsibility that it starts with me, not with anyone else, and COCUN Wellness guides and supports getting you to figuring out who you really are so you can be the best architect of your own life.
Alina: What advice would you give someone who wants to go on this inward journey?
David: Choose to be aware, to be part of this new emerging consciousness, and become the “witness” to your own life. In this state of witness, we can reach a kind of “neutrality” and stay grounded. This requires the focus and awareness to look inward and suspend the outer noise so we can connect and trust the truth of things. And that’s wellness. When we position ourselves in this space, we avoid confusion and take ourselves out of the chaos and towards this consciousness. That is a conscious choice, and a consciousness – the precursor to true wellness. Ultimately, this always leads us to the truth. This is the essence of COCUN. A new way to be in Wellness.
Alina: Thank you, David for sharing your enormous vision, and the foundational aspects of COCUN Wellness. I look forward to continuing this conversation.