What is Wellness?
Recently, the term “wellness” has been tossed around quite a bit, but what exactly does this mean? Simply put, wellness is defined as “the state or condition of being in good physical and mental health.” However, the concept in it’s entirety is not quite as simple as it’s definition. Wellness can be broken down into the following six dimensions:
- Physical wellness (i.e. fitness, nutrition)
- Intellectual wellness (i.e. finding solutions, thinking critically)
- Spiritual wellness (i.e. providing service to others, pursuing beliefs)
- Financial wellness (i.e. managing money)
- Interpersonal/social wellness (i.e. developing meaningful relationships)
- Environmental wellness (i.e. positively impacting the environment)
- Emotional wellness (i.e. positive self-esteem, optimism)
Critically assessing each one of these dimensions gives you what is known as your “wellness profile.” What is encouraging about wellness as a whole is that each component somehow ties into another. For example, if you decide to pursue your physical wellness and begin exercising and/or changing your diet, you may find that improvements in your emotional wellness will follow. This new found self-esteem may then lead you to seek relationships with more confidence, causing you to improve upon your interpersonal wellness…and so on. From a different angle, one of the countless benefits of exercise is a decrease in stress, which can consequently lead to a betterment in both intellectual and financial wellness. As you can see, physical wellness can serve as a stepping stone for improvements in several areas of your life. Stay tuned to find out more about the ins and outs of physical wellness!
Stephanie Spoto, Personal Trainer