The J’can sabbatical that sparked ‘Holistic Wealth’

Western Bureau:

Sometimes healing shows up in the most unexpected ways. For Keisha Blair, it came in the form of a sabbatical to Jamaica after the sudden death of her first husband, a journey that quietly planted the seeds of what she never thought would grow into a global movement.

“My husband died, and I thought I needed to get away… seeking meaning and purpose,” Blair told The Gleaner in an exclusive interview. “He died from a very rare disease. Only one in one million people get it every year. Most doctors have never seen it in their lifetime, only in textbooks.”

At just 31, Blair was sadly left a widow with an eight-week-old baby and a three-year-old son.

“I packed up everything … in a 40-foot container ... and shipped it to Jamaica,” she recalled. “I did a lot of soul searching. I was hiking every day in the Blue Mountain Range, going to the beach.”

It was during this sabbatical that Blair started writing. That writing quickly evolved into a viral article titled My Husband Died at Age 34. Here are 40 Life Lessons I Learned From It. It was this article that laid the foundation for her book, Holistic Wealth, published in 2019.

That book, which coined the term ‘holistic wealth’, sparked a global movement which included a podcast, produced by her current husband, Lindsay Blair, whom she features in a chapter dedicated to finding love again, a coaching programme, and the Holistic Wealth Institute.

In 2022, Blair released an expanded edition, with a prelude by actress Kelly Rutherford. who starred in Gossip Girl, Dynasty and Melrose Place. Blair credits Jamaica as the soul of her healing and the birthplace of her transformative philosophy.

“If there was no sabbatical in Jamaica, there would have been no holistic wealth movement. I don’t even know how I would have healed. So it was like a shedding of that material possessions to find myself and to find my soul.”

Blair meditated for hours each morning. She reconnected with nature, hiked the hills, and found solace in Jamaican culture.

“I was staying up in the hills, 800 feet above sea level. Birds woke me up in the morning. The sunshine, the music, the food ... it’s all healing.”

‘The turning point’

In her book, Blair records her favourite healing spots such as Port Royal, where she frequented Morgan’s Harbour for steamed fish and piña coladas, the Blue Lagoon in Portland, which she described as an oversized Alice in Wonderland teacup, and the Blue Mountains, where she hiked daily. One unforgettable moment, she says, involved her son who used his gentle hands to rescue an injured hummingbird just before releasing it back into nature, a heart-warming symbol of their shared healing, as Blair describes it.

“That sabbatical was the turning point,” said Blair, whose contact with Jamaica came through her father, who was one of the last Jamaica Defence Force soldiers to be trained by British soldiers in Jamaica. “It was everything about the atmosphere of being there and healing and getting that time away that allowed me the frame of mind and the clarity to be able to put this all together.”

As Blair is now known as the Mother of Holistic Wealth, the philosophy, born from grief and blossoming out of nature, extends far beyond money, she says.

“When my husband died, I realised it’s not just the money. We need a more holistic view of wealth to include our relationships, mental health, emotional health, physical health.”

Holistic wealth has since become a blueprint across various nations. The article that started it all has been republished by major outlets including MSNBC News and the New York Observer, gaining traction from over 50 million people.

“Without physical health, you don’t really have a life, you can’t live,” she said, also noting that spiritual renewal plays a role, too. “I used to get up at 3 a.m and meditate. And I would lay there in anticipation. It was like the heavens were opening up and telling me what to do. And I would pray.”

Blair later introduced Global Holistic Wealth Day on April 9, the day her husband passed.

“We have mayors in cities around the world who have signed proclamations. Even in Europe, and a mayor in Ireland used it to launch a wellness event for entrepreneurs.”

Schools across Ethiopia and India are now celebrating Holistic Wealth Day.

“The first year, it was just me posting,” she recalled, “The next year, I saw children in classrooms celebrating. It was unbelievable “

The Holistic Wealth Expanded and Updated Book soon won a Best Book award for 2023, among other honours.

As the movement continues, a German edition of Holistic Wealth was scheduled to be released on July 31 with an estimated market of over 54 million Germans only.

Next, Blair hopes to transform Global Holistic Wealth Day into a month-long celebration while she envisions a new venture in wellness tourism which she pegs ‘The Holistic Wealth Trail’.

“I’ve always wanted a Holistic Wealth Trail in Jamaica,” she said. “It would be a transformational tourism journey that blends culture, wellness, local heritage, and the principles of the Holistic Wealth framework. It would allow visitors to walk in my footsteps both literally and symbolically while engaging in deeply enriching experiences rooted in intentional living, healing, and self-renewal.”

The trail, she added, could be a 7- to 10-day guided journey with all the places mentioned in her book. Additionally, Blair believes Jamaica plays a major role in the future of wellness tourism.

“Jamaica is synonymous with healing,” she said. “Jamaica as a wellness destination is heavily underutilised. There’s so much healing power in our food [and] in our water.”

Finally, Blair hopes to launch an all-island holistic wealth retreat in Jamaica soon, perhaps to be included in the next Global Holistic Health Week.

“There’s healing everywhere,” says Blair.

In the water. The food. The music.

mickalia.kington@gleanerjm.com