Wellness is one of those words that can have many different meanings depending on the person and topic. When I think of wellness, I think of the whole body. Everything in our life goes into the overall wellness of our lives. According to Pfizer’s definition, wellness is the act of practicing healthy habits on a daily basis to attain better physical and mental health outcomes, so instead of just surviving, you’re thriving.
Wellness in Fitness
Wellness is such a bigger word than we give it credit for. Right now in the fitness industry, wellness is a buzz-word to have so many different meanings. Wellness is giving us the power to take back our lives to achieve our goals. Create the life that we are meant to create. Wellness is not something that we can do passively. An individual pursuit of taking back the ability to make our own choices towards a better lifestyle or well being.
Definitions of Wellness:
- Physical: Nourishing our body through exercise, nutrition, sleep. Includes regular physical activity both cardiovascular and strength training.
- Mental: Sometimes called Intellectual Wellness. Engaging through learning what works for us and our lifestyle, being creative. We can increase our levels of in this area by talking with someone with a different viewpoint, reading a book, putting together a puzzle, or master a new skills. Being able to do this consistency not only help us as individuals but also impacting our city/community
- Emotional: Expressing our feelings and understanding the feelings of others. Also being aware and accepting of other peoples emotions. This includes learning how to manage all of our emotions instead of being controlled by them. Having the ability to feel and express a wide range of emotions in our life. Being able to manage our emotions more effectively allows us to participate in activities we enjoy, help others, and improve relationships with others and importantly yourself.
- Spiritual: Searching for meaning, purpose in our life. Spirituality allows us to find an inner calm and peace to get through life both positive and negative. By having this grounded in our life allows us to have compassion towards others more effectively.
- Social: Connecting in our communities in meaningful and purposeful ways. Social wellness deals with being part of a community and enjoying everything it has to offer. We are humans are meant to be part of a community. WE are not designed to live life and do life alone.
- Environmental: Creating powerful interacts with our surroundings, choices, and community. This involves maintaining quality food supply, decreasing negative/unpleasing interactions, and protecting ourselves from danger.
For me, wellness has taken on a new meaning for me. It’s about me taking the personal responsibility to find works for me and my lifestyle. It’s finding the right balance of the list above. Not all areas have to be equal, but we do need to find peace in each section. Also some areas might not be as important to us in this season of life.
I would love to know what your definition of wellness is by leaving me a comment below.
