1. What is the definition of Wellness?
What is the definition of wellness? More than ever before, we hear this word in the news, on billboards, in conversation and even at work.
Wellness / good health has traditionally been viewed as freedom from disease; thus, if you were not sick, you were considered healthy and conversely if you were symptomatic you were considered un healthy. This perspective is changing. While everyone agrees that the absence of illness is one part of being healthy, it doesn't indicate whether you are in a state of well-being or WELLNESS.
So that begs the question What is Wellness?
I see wellness as a state, an experience. It is created through actions, but the concept of wellness itself is the state you are experiencing.
Wellness is defined as: “Wellness is the degree to which an individual experiences health and vitality in any dimension of life.”
Health refers to biological function – blood pressure, body fat, etc. Wellness is a more expansive concept. It includes health AND vitality. The Latin root Vita means “life” or that which pertains to the expression and experience of life. When we talk about vitality, we are talking about how you experience life, not just how is your waist line. .
The first thing you notice in this definition is that Wellness is a continuum. It is not a matter of “either you have it or you don’t,” it is a matter of to what degree you experience it and express it. This is why we have a Creating Wellness Assessment called a “Wellness Quotient” or “WQ”. It gives us a sense of where a person is on the wellness continuum based on many different factors.
Based on an individual’s personal assessment, we build a customized program for that person to improve wellness in multiple dimensions. It is designed to reduce negative stress, and express more life in all three dimensions: Physical, Biochemical and Psychological. This will result in a higher, healthier state of experience in body, mind and spirit.
I also like these two definitions of wellness from leading medical dictionaries:
Wellness,
A dynamic state of health in which an individual progresses toward a higher level of functioning, achieving an optimum balance between internal and external environments.
Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. © 2009, Elsevier.
well•ness n.
The condition of good physical, mental and emotional health, especially when maintained by an appropriate diet, exercise, and other lifestyle modifications.
The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
2) How important is wellness?
In my opinion there is nothing more important. Wellness is at play in every aspect of our individual lives and in our society as a whole.
If “Wellness is the degree to which an individual experiences health and vitality in any dimension of life.”
Then that means wellness covers the spectrum. While wellness is certainly about experiencing health it is not about being a bodybuilder or a fitness model it is about balanced health and vitality in all dimensions of life. That means more health in our most meaningful relationships with our children, spouse, and family. It is about healthy habits in lowering stress: such as organization skills, financial health, stress management. Wellness is about our own personal self esteem, self image, motivation, and accountability. Wellness is about quality of life and quantity of life.
It may be a cliché, but as a society we are in a health care crisis. We are at the precipice and action needs to be taken. Our Nation’s Population is Largely Sedentary. Over 60% of adults do not achieve the recommended amount of regular physical activity and 25% of all adults are not active at all. Obesity Is Reaching Monumental Proportions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 1 in 5 adults is now considered obese. Over 50% are overweight. Chronic Health Conditions Continue To Plague The Population. According to the National Center for Health Statistics and the national Health Survey, the typical adult over the age of 18 has seven chronic health conditions. In addition, more than 90 million are presently living with chronic illnesses.
The Economics of Illness: this “crisis” has serious economic implications for us as individuals and as a society. The crisis is not just the fact that we are sicker as a culture; there is also a serious economic crisis. Despite this soaring investment, the US ranks 37th in the world in its health system performance according to the W.H.O. Over 50% of all personal bankruptcies are a result of health related problems.
Chronic diseases, particularly heart disease and cancer, are the leading causes of death in the United States. These diseases account for seven of every ten deaths and affect the quality of life of 125 million Americans. Although chronic diseases are among the most common and costly health problems, they are also among the most preventable. Smoking causes about 30 percent of all U.S. deaths from cancer. Obesity and physical inactivity cause about 25 to 30 percent of several of the major cancers in the U.S., including colon, breast, endometrial, kidney, and esophageal cancers
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