subject: Wellness Is More Than The Health Of Your Body [print this page] What does it mean to "be well"? We're all striving to be healthy, fit, happy; but what about well? The most basic definition of well being is "living healthy and disease free" - Wikipedia. A healthy body is a balance of mind, body and spirit.
Often times, alternative medicine is associated with wellness. Alternative practitioners focus on human health using different techniques such as natural herbal medicine, acupuncture, message therapy, and nutrition consultation. The common goal with all these practices is to increase well being.
Many of the services used in the context of wellness have been misconstrued as luxury services when in actuality they should be perceived as medical and healing practices.
During the time the World Health Organization (WHO) was being created in 1948, health was defined as being "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" - Wikipedia. The definition of health proves that wellness or well-being is not just an added luxury but rather the essence to human health.
The term "wellness" is broad so it's often broken down into categories.
Physical Wellness - maintaining a healthy body by exercising, going to routine check ups, and incorporating a balanced diet to avoid fatigue and physical stress
Emotional Wellness-self understanding and adapting to life's challenges, sharing feelings in a productive way
Spiritual Wellness-being at peace and content in ones life, feeling that we are all inner-connected and have a purpose
Intellectual Wellness-being open to new ideas,learning new concepts, improving skills and overcoming challenges
Environmental Wellness-understanding the ability to positively impact the quality of our environment; air, water and planet
Social Wellness- relating to and connecting with people, positive relationships with family, friends and co-workers
Occupational Wellness-making a positive impact on the organizations we work in and gaining fulfillment from our jobs or careers
Wellness is a life style and life choice. By choosing wellness, we choose happiness. While preferences, passions and interests may vary for each person, there are wellness services proven to work for all such as; acupuncture, massage, meditation, and nutritional counseling.
Here are a few statistics, to motivate change, from the World Health Organization:
"$300 billion is spent annually in the U.S. on stress-related compensation clams"-stress causes preventable illnesses....this is preventable!
"38% of all deaths are due to avoidable factors: tobacco use, poor nutrition, physical inactivity and alcohol consumption"-avoidable death? we already have the answer-wellness.
Wellness is more than the Health of your Body. Gandhi says, "Every human being is the author of his own health or disease". We are in charge of our health- if we choose not to take care of ourselves, our bodies will fail us.
