Wellness: What is the True Concept Behind it?

Although the term 'wellness' is fairly recent, the concept behind it has existed for a very long time dating back to thousands of years, and has been widely practiced almost everywhere in the world.

Originally, the true foundation of wellness was built on a multitude of morals and principles that had their main focus on natural and holistic medicine, preventative medicine and practicing self-care. This has given rise to the concept of wellness we know today, a concept based on the notion of healthy living and good habits for the body and mind.

In recent times, as the wellness concept gained more popularity and became more widely known, it has become engraved into our lifestyle, has shaped the manner we live our daily lives today, and has even become a wellness industry. 

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But what is the definition wellness?

According to the Global Wellness Institute, wellness is defined as:

The active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health.

Two important points that can be derived from this definition about wellness:

1. It is an active process that is associated with multiple actions and decisions.

2. It is multi-dimensional that considers multiple factors including physical, emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing.

The first part of the definition — that wellness is an active process — is the main difference when compared to terms such health and wellbeing. Although there are numerous common aspects between those terms, wellness does not refer to a fixed or a constant state at any one moment i.e. having good health or a positive state of wellbeing, but rather is an active pursuit towards a positive outcome in terms of achieving optimal holistic health and wellbeing.

The second part of the definition — that wellness is multi-dimensional — describes the concept as a combination of multiple factors, some over which we have individual control of such as eating habits, sleep etc. and some we cannot control such as some aspects of the external environment.

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Multi-dimensional wellness

While some models describe wellness as having over 10 elements, here we will focus on the 6 main ones:

Physical wellness - includes aspects such as sleep, nutrition, exercise, etc. for improving physical health.

Emotional wellness - includes the ability to cope and express own emotions, and showing compassion towards the feelings of others.

Mental/ intellectual wellness - involves engagement in lifelong learning and the creative utilisation of knowledge and expertise.

Environmental wellness - is the awareness of the positive relationship we have with the environment in which we live.

Social wellness - this involves the development of positive and meaningful connections with people including family, friends, colleagues and other people in our communities.

Spiritual wellness - this includes having the ability to reflect on own values and beliefs and a good understanding of one's existence.

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Summary

Although wellness is an individual pursuit i.e. one is responsible for own choices, decisions and attitude towards own life, there are numerous factors in the external environmental that have substantial impact on it including society, culture and the environment.

Nevertheless, an individual must make oneself a priority and be resourceful by utilising all available options. One must adopt a proactive approach to improving own lifestyle and attitude. Because the ultimate aim is to build a solid foundation for wellness, and maximise the chances of healthy living and achieving an optimal quality to life.

"Wellness is a journey that starts within" - Phoebe Lapine

Therefore, let us get well together and enjoy the journey along the way!

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