When it comes to health, people think about what they eat, any physical issues and even maintaining mental fitness and mental health. What is often left out is wellness, the holistic idea that wellbeing contributes to mental and physical health.
Wellness is quite broad, the Global Wellness Institute defines it as actively seeking lifestyle choices and activities that add to a holistic view of health. The keywords here are active, as in to seek wellness a person needs to choose activities and ideas that support wellness. The definition is multidimensional, but it includes physical, mental, social, spiritual, emotional and environmental aspects of life and being.
To boost wellness, you just need to make choices that help you feel your best. The obvious is what you eat, sleeping consistently, getting sufficient exercise and staying hydrated, but holistic health experts would add more dimensions to think about when working on wellness.
Boost your wellness by learning about why it is important, and how to make it a lifestyle habit.
Why Is Wellness Important
Wellness is important because it is like the glue to personal health. It is a personal measure, of what an individual can control about themselves, opposed to medicine or diagnosing a problem which is more about fixing health issues from a singular perspective.
The key is that wellness is a holistic way of living your life. Living by the doctor's orders can be viewed as neutral health, whereas taking wellness into your hands can bring your health level to thriving.
You know that feeling when you eat a healthy meal, actually get eight hours of sleep, get some exercise and stay hydrated? That state of feeling good can describe wellness, but so can taking the time to improve a hobby, join a book club or learn to surf because it combines multiple modalities and contributes to your personal life goals.
To be clear, wellness is not the same as well-being. Wellness refers to actively making good choices for yourself, it is the intentional choices to thrive in your body and mind. It does affect well-being, that is happiness and a state of mind.
Keeping up with wellness often leads to a positive well being, a stable state of mind and body. There are many ways to boost your wellness, all centered around making active choices.
How To Improve Your Wellness
To see a difference in your personal wellness, it takes a commitment to new habits and routines. That is not to say you have to do the same thing every day or restrict yourself, but going back to the main idea of being intentional with what you want.
For example, sweating a little bit each day is good for your wellness, to stretch your body or getting yourself walking for 30 to 60 minutes a day will make a difference in how you feel. The same goes for doing activities that make you feel capable such as strengthening a skill or hobby or even just putting time towards it.
Wellness only has one goal, for you to feel your personal best. So imagine what that means to you, does that mean you are that girl who wakes up and goes for a walk then works out and mediates every day? Or will you try to go for a walk every day and pick one afternoon a week to dedicate to your hobby?
It isn't all about physical fitness, even though sleep needs to be essential for feeling your best, engage the parts of yourself that include mental, emotional and social needs.
Wellness Tips & Selfcare
To see a difference in your wellness, actively commit to yourself. If you aren't completely sure how to make advancements, go back to the different aspects: physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual and environmental, and pick one thing from each category to build awareness around.
Your plan could be too: get some exercise each day, recognize when you need to rest, deal with stress instead of ignoring it, meditate and keep your home tidy. Starting new habits all at the same time can be a bit overwhelming, which might actually cause more stress. Instead of being hard on yourself, have a growth mindset and decide to build intentions to work towards these lifestyle choices.
Choosing lifestyle habits that support wellness is an act of self-care because, amidst a busy schedule and responsibilities, you are choosing to put yourself first. When life gets busy, usually wellness is the first thing to go, such as sleeping less or not making time to move your body or doing activities that bring joy, which leads to a poor state of holistic health.
Keep up with all aspects of health by making active choices to live well.
