Zuheyash
(ZOO-hey-YAHSH)

1. When two or more are in step with each other; in the flow of the dance without stopping or inconveniencing another.
2. Being in the flow such that it is impossible to know whether the information moving between one being and another is coming from the first, the second, or both. A mutual gut connection with both intentional and unintentional back and forth.
3. Awareness that all beings are in the dance of co-creation, that there is no separation, and that ALL beings are moving together toward thriving. Understanding that behavior, regardless of ebb or flow, is always contributing to meeting needs, such that one acquires peace in the mind, body, and soul – even during periods of adversity.
   ~from “The Dictionary of Ahzhvii”

Zuheyash is a word we created for our book series because, well, we needed it, and there was no English equivalent.  Here’s a deeper look at what it means.

Consider the notion that human beings are one of billions of life forms who are part of the multitudes of life cycles and systems on Earth. Even when our technologies appear to separate us from the rest of nature, we are still impacted by what goes on around us. Whether we talk about the water cycle that moves ocean water to clouds to rain to rivers and back to the ocean again, or the political cycles that move people through wars and times of peace, these cycles are moving around us, affecting us, whether we are paying no attention at all, actively tracking and participating, or somewhere in-between.  We are affected by outward phenomena like drought, floods, earthquakes and other natural occurrences, and we are affected by the inner state of our microbiome and the health of our cells. We are affected by the words and actions of other people in our homes, our communities and the wider world, and we are affected by our own patterns of belief, thinking and feeling. We might picture each of these multitudes and layers of interacting cycles as currents in a vast, complex, swirling life river. Zuheyash is that river. Zuheyash includes our participation in that river.

Another metaphor we like to use is that we are all ingredients in a grand (delicious!) soup. Even if I am only one grain of salt, and you are one slice of garlic, we are both still part of the whole, contributing our little piece, or special flavor. And it is the same in the metaphorical river of zuheyash, too. We could say that every one of us is always in the river somewhere, as a drop of the water, or a protozoa, or a piece of moss. We flow and spin and get stuck on big things. We wash around fish and ducks, we scrape against the bank.  Floating on the surface of slow-moving water for awhile, we might move without much intention, hardly noticing anything until we are surprised when we get caught in the white-water or feel stuck in a whirlpool. Times we are more aware we might choose to steer purposefully toward calmer waters, find ways to enjoy the adventure of the rapids, and maybe even become adept at avoiding the rocks. But no matter how we choose to look at it, no matter what we wish were true, zuheyash is the idea that we are all, always, in the flow.

So in real life terms, we can understand that we are in zuheyash with millions of other life forms when we are hiking in the mountains filled with pine trees, skittering insects, colorful birds and shy animals, clouds of invisible bacteria, underground spreading mycelia, and all the rest of life there. Our presence there changes the environment for all of them, and their presence certainly changes our mood, our health, our day.
Or we may be in a sterile room and in zuheyash with no-one but the trillions of little life forms on and within our own bodies, in addition to the thoughts and feelings, experiences and memories, dreams and physical sensations that are happening within each of us. Even when we believe we are “alone”, all that life in us continues to move, to impact us, and we move and influence it, too.

By this definition, we are in zuheyash whether or not we want to be, try or try not to be, and whether or not we are aware of it. This means that each one of us, no matter what our species – human, butterfly, dog, starfish or algae – is perpetually influencing and being influenced, affecting and being affected, learning and teaching, training and being trained, all of us by one another.

Understanding zuheyash can open the door to working, communicating, loving and playing more successfully with all the living ones in your life.

And yeah, it’s a word we happen to really like!