What is Wellness?
In order to fully understand the meaning of optimal wellness, one must first grasp the consept of health. True health is associated with achieving our maximum health potential. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." A healthy body operating at its highest potential is resistant to infection and is quick to respond to stressors with appropriate adaptive changes to establish balance. The body’s ability to obtain and maintain balanced health and wellness by continual adaptation is termed homeostasis. To achieve homeostasis, one should focus on the three key components of health (Triune of Health): structural, biochemical and emotional. It is important to note that this is an equilateral triangle, illustrating the equal importance of each side in the establishment of a balanced and healthy lifestyle.
Structural (Soma): This area of health represents such things as cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and conditioning, flexibility body composition, posture and gait. Many of those primary areas addressed through fitness training and exercise fall into this area, as well.
Emotional/Spiritual: This area of health represents such things as belief in a higher power (some entity which is greater than you) which may serve as a guide for your life. Additionally, this area represents one’s mental outlook and often relates to their perspective of control in a given situation.
Biochemical*: This area of health represents those factors effecting ones nutritional status … ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation, and elimination. Management of waste and toxin removal is also considered within this area.
*Some will replace the "biochemical" portion of the triune of health with "mind." This is to address the strong effect that the mind plays in all aspects of our body functions. The difference is related mostly to the emphasis of the practitioner and their training.
Good health, therefore, is not simply the absence of illness. The notion of good health has evolved notably in the last few years and continues to change, as scientist learn more about lifestyle factors that bring on illness and affect wellness. Furthermore, once the idea took hold that fitness by itself would not always decrease the risk for disease and ensure better health, the wellness concept developed. Wellness living requires implementing positive programs to change behavior to improve health and quality of life, prolong life and achieve total well-being. There are seven dimensions of wellness which should be adequately addressed to achieve balanced health.
Seven Dimensions of Wellness*
To achieve optimal health, one needs to achieve a balanced approach to wellness. Overall, wellness is the ability to live life to the fullest and to maximize personal potential in a variety of ways. Wellness places responsibility on the individual; it therefore becomes a matter of self-evaluation and self-assessment. Wellness also involves continually learning and making changes to ones lifestyle while enhancing their state of health. Wellness requires combining seven key dimensions of well-being into a regular quality way of living. The seven key dimensions of wellness are:
Physical (Body)
A healthy body maintained by good nutrition, regular exercise, avoiding harmful habits, making informed and responsible decisions about health, and seeking medical assistance when necessary.
To remain well, physical wellness requires that you take steps to protect your physical health by eating a well-balanced diet, getting plenty of physical activity and exercise, maintaining proper weight, getting enough sleep, avoiding risky sexual behavior, trying to limit exposure to environmental contaminants, and restricting intake of harmful substances.
Intellectual (Mind)
A state in which your mind is engaged in lively interaction with the world around you.
Intellectual wellness involves unbridled curiosity and ongoing learning. This dimension of wellness implies that you can apply the things you have learned, that you create opportunities to learn more, and that you engage your mind in lively interaction with the world around you.
Emotional (Feelings)
The ability to understand your own feelings, accept your limitations, achieve emotional stability, and become comfortable with your emotions.
Emotional wellness implies the ability to express emotions appropriately, adjust to change, cope with stress in a healthy way, and enjoy life despite its occasional disappointments and frustrations.
Social (Family, Friends, Relationships)
The ability to relate well to others, both within and outside the family unit.
Social wellness endows us with the ease and confidence to be outgoing, friendly, and affectionate toward others. Social wellness involves not only a concern for the individual, but also an interest in humanity and the environment as a whole.
Occupational (Career, Skills)
Preparing and making use of your gifts, skills and talents in order to gain purpose, happiness and enrichment in your life.
Occupational wellness means successfully integrating a commitment to your occupation into a total lifestyle that is satisfying and rewarding. The development of occupational satisfaction and wellness is strongly related to your attitude about your work.
Environmental (Air, Water, Food, Safety)
The capability to live in a clean and safe environment that is not detrimental to health.
The quality of today's environment has a direct effect on personal wellness. To enjoy environmental wellness, we require clean air, pure water, quality food, adequate shelter, satisfactory work conditions, personal safety, and healthy relationships.
Spiritual (Values, Purpose, Intuition, Vitality)
The sense that life is meaningful and has a purpose; the ethics, values and morals that guide us and give meaning and direction to life.
Spiritual wellness is a search for meaning and purpose in human existence leading one to strive for a state of harmony with oneself and others while working to balance inner needs with the rest of the world.
Adapted from North Dakota State University Wellness Center’s website, http://www.ndsu.edu/wellness/education/dimensions.shtml (11-3-03)
