“Wellness is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
– The World Health Organization.
What is wellness?
The concept of wellness has been around since the 1970s but with commercialization, the meaning of the word sometimes gets lost in a sea of products, lifestyle diets, and even travel ventures. If you’re beginning your wellness journey, it’s important to realize that wellness is not a “thing” and certainly can’t be achieved by doing one thing or even mirroring somebody else’s wellness journey.
“Health is a state of body, wellness is a state of being.”
J. Stanford
Wellness involves living intentionally to actively make choices that will optimize the well-being of your mind, body, and soul as well as your community.
Wellness is a process and like learning how to read and write, it takes time, practice, and guidance.
Wellness doesn’t just come and there is no magic recipe to achieve it overnight or in “14 weeks.”
Wellness is an ongoing process of intention, action, and choices that we make everyday to live our best life possible.
How do we achieve wellness?
The ultimate question then is, how do we achieve wellness?
There is no right or wrong answer and what may be all-encompassing for one person may not be the case for another. In philosophy, much contemplation has been done around the concept of happiness and what makes a person happy.
Happiness though, is an emotional state, and like anger or sadness, it comes and goes as a reaction to a particular situation. But situations are temporary, as are emotions. Wellness, however, is a state of being content with yourself and the world around you. This state of being doesn’t come and go like emotions do, rather it is more like a mindset shift.
Living well doesn’t mean that you’re happy 24/7. Humans are built to experience emotions. Living well is actively pursuing the best version of yourself even if you have some off days or life throws a curve ball at you.
Actively choosing to live well allows you to whole-heartedly embrace those moments of happiness and moments of sadness while always being able to return to your middle ground and keep on your journey.
“Wellness is a positive approach to living”
World Health Organization (WHO)
Wellness embodies 8 main domains
- Physical health
- Mental/Emotional health
- Spiritual health
- Financial health
- Social health
- Environmental health
- Intellectual health
- Occupational health
These domains are interconnected and each can be broken down further into more specific subcategories but let’s just keep it simple. It can be overwhelming to look at all 8 domains and feel the need to optimize wellness in all areas. However, it’s important to realize that all domains are intertwined, and working toward optimizing wellness in one area will likely positively effect another.
It takes time, patience, and hard work.
Remember that wellness is not a one-size fits all thing. Your own wellness goals are based on who you are and what’s important to you. The first step on your wellness journey should be answering questions like, “what’s important to me?”, “who do I want to be versus who I am now?”. Once you’ve thought about where you want to go, you can set some wellness goals for yourself.
“The key is not to prioritize your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
Stephen Covey
As mentioned in the previous section, wellness is like learning how to read and write. There are steps to take to become proficient at it and there’s always room to grow and improve.
To give better perspective, let’s use a broad example.
Remember back to when you were in pre-school, if you can’t remember that far then just imagine a little you sitting in a pre-school class.
In pre-school your journey began with learning the alphabet, at this point you probably couldn’t read or even spell your name yet. You learned the alphabet through singing ABCs, it was fun and catchy, and eventually you learned all the letters of the alphabet.
Fast forward to grade 1-6 where you slowly learn how to write your name by memorizing the letters in a sequence, then you learned to read by sounding out the letters of a word and combining the sounds. Slowly but surely you start to read and write simple sentences, and eventually begin to read whole chapter books, write stories, and essays.
Grades 1 to 6, that’s 6 years people. If you count pre-school, that’s 7-8 years to build up enough foundation for basic reading and writing skills.
But you’re not finished, from grade 7 into adulthood, you use the foundation you’ve built through grade school and further develop your skills day by day depending on your interests, occupation, and life stage. In this stage of development, you no longer write your name 10 times in a row to memorize the sequence of letters. Here, the development is subtle and almost unnoticeable but it’s there.
During the early stages of language development, going to school involved a series of tasks and practices that you had to do everyday because the teacher told you to. These tasks probably had little to no meaning to you. Ah, but the teachers had a plan the whole time, guiding you through each lesson with an intention to teach you something new or solidify a skill you previously learnt.
Over time, the collection of habits and practices from school became a valuable skill that you now use in your everyday life to gain new information, articulate your thoughts, entertainment, and the list goes on. But when did those tasks and practices turn into a valuable skill? Most of us probably wouldn’t be able to pinpoint a specific moment in time that it became apparent.
Learning to read and write was not an overnight achievement for anyone, and wellness is the same way.
“Wellness is a connection of paths: knowledge and action.”
Joshua Holtz
To achieve wellness, you first need to develop some foundation by being aware and informed of your own values, actions, choices, the environment you live in, your social circle, your wellness goals, etc. This awareness will guide you to create actionable steps to take toward a specific wellness goal.
Once you’ve developed that foundation and you can set your goal(s). You can begin by trying actionable habits to help reach your goals. Practicing habits intentionally and consistently will eventually become a vehicle towards your wellness goals.
Although the progress will be subtle and unnoticeable, it’ll be there. Just keep going.
Wellness is a process but unlike learning how to read and write, there is no public institution with teachers to guide you through this journey. You create the lesson plan and you decide which habits to practice to work toward a goal that you set for yourself. This can make it difficult to progress through and work towards achieving them.
You can start by trying what others are doing and figure out what works for you through trial and error. Don’t be afraid to pivot and adjust your goals along the way. Humans are dynamic, we change, and that’s okay.
No matter where you are on your wellness journey, don’t be afraid to try new things, pick up new habits, gain new perspectives, be vulnerable, and continue to work toward your goals despite all the hardships life can bring. The journey might be long and hard but it’s well worth trying, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to read this article, right?
Wellness is the feeling of contentment with yourself and the world around you. The habits that you practice and the goals you set for yourself should be based on things that are important to you – relationships, physical health, financial stability, intellectual development to give a few examples but you be the judge of what avenues you want to explore.
The journey is lifelong so no need to rush. Be present and enjoy your day-to-day routines. After all, our routines are what make us who we are.
Here are some habit ideas for you to consider incorporating into your life depending on your wellness goals
Eat healthy
Know what you’re eating and why you’re eating it.
Does it benefit your body? And if not, does it bring you pleasure? Can pleasure foods be enjoyed in moderation?
What are some of the negative effects of some of these food or drinks on your body?
How does this align with your wellness goals?
Be honest with yourself and evaluate your food habits
Exercise
Any type of physical activity is better than no physical activity.
Try to pair exercising with other things you enjoy to create a habit that makes you want to do it everyday. Get creative, start slow, you can do it!
You could
- Listen to good music or a good podcast while walking
- Watch your favourite youtube videos while on the treadmill
- Take the stairs at the office instead of the elevator
- Do some yoga stretches while watching your favourite TV shows
Self Reflection
One of the most important aspects of wellness is exploring yourself. Allow yourself to learn more about yourself, about your needs, your fears and desires, etc. It takes time, but the more you do it, you will find that you become more aware, more relaxed, and more kind and empathetic.
Try
- Journaling
- Therapy
- Engaging in conversations with someone you trust
Meditation
A busy life can cause a foggy brain. Foggy brains distract us and prevent us from being present. Meditation is difficult to do at first, but once develop the discipline you would be amazed of how it can clear the mind of all the fog. A clear mind helps you relax and create space between you and your work or daily tasks, which can significantly improve your quality of life.
Connect with your loved ones and your community
Your social health is important, try to make time for that when you can. Learn to manage your priorities by balancing your needs and the needs of your loved ones. There is certainly room for both and to foster good relationships there has to be balance.
Practice Gratitude
Sometimes we can become our worst enemy but the practice of appreciating what you have rather than dwelling on what you don’t have can be very powerful for developing a positive mindset.
Engage in interesting podcasts, books, videos for intellectual development
Expand your mind, gain new perspectives, learn new things, and embrace what you don’t know. Knowledge can be very rewarding even if there is no direct reason for obtaining it. You’ll be surprised at how indirectly useful it could be later on.
Walk outside, be in the nature
Go outside. Interacting with nature reminds us that we all share the environment and helps us appreciate all the things that mother nature provides for us.
- Sit on a bench outside while having your morning tea
- Go for a hike or a bike ride in the evening
- Breathe the fresh cool air while walking
Conclusion
To sum up this article, what is wellness?
Wellness is an ongoing process of intention, action, and choices that we make everyday to live our best life possible. There is no magic recipe for achieving wellness overnight, it is a lifelong journey. Good habits that you practice consistently everyday will turn into a vehicle towards your wellness goals.
How do you achieve wellness?
1) Do some self discovery and reflect on your values, fears, choices, environment, social circle, ideals, etc.
2) Based on your self discovery, determine where you are and where you want to go. Then, develop some wellness goals to work towards.
3) Choose some habits to practice everyday that are relevant to your wellness goals.
4) If things aren’t working out, pivot and try something else until you find something that works for you.
Most importantly, enjoy the journey! You will look back and be really proud of yourself. As always, embrace simplicity, take time for yourself, and create beautiful moments.