The Importance of Health and Wellness

The health and wellness market is predicted by experts to be the next multi-billion dollar industry. This should come as no surprise when one looks at what is included in this market; beauty products, healthy eating, fitness trends, gyms and even things such as meditation classes.  People are realizing the importance of health and wellness. With things such as cardiovascular disease on the rise globally the need for a higher quality of life is becoming more sought after. Unfortunately, if you were to do a quick google search to see what portion of the health and wellness industry generates the most revenue it would be the “beauty and anti-aging” portion. I say “unfortunately” because such products are not, in my opinion, part of either “health” nor “wellness”. These products are completely superficial. If we look at the term health and wellness we will see it referring to two separate ideas; “health” and then “wellness”. Most people think of these as the same thing, and most are mistaken. Let’s break down what “health and wellness” is and then we will take a look at the overall importance of it and how it plays into everyone’s lives.

            What is “health”? Health refers to our overall physical condition and lack or presence of disease and injury. If a person is healthy then they are not injured or afflicted by illness. It is pretty straight forward, right? Things get a little more complicated when we want to define “wellness”. According to the dictionary wellness is the state of being in good health especially as an actively pursued goal. That is the point I want to hone in on; “an actively pursued goal”. Wellness is a way of life, health is the product of that life. If we put the two in conjunction we will see the importance of a well-rounded approach that addresses both aspects. To help understand what I’m saying let’s use the mnemonic “SPICES” which was developed by DR. Terry Fulmer for the evaluation of geriatric patients. While this mnemonic is intended specifically for geriatric patients the NFPT (National Federation of Professional Trainers) took it and spun it to use it as a tool to teach about the aspects of Health and Wellness. It is such an easy one to remember I wanted to use it here. Many of these definitions are pulled directly from their text book “Personal Trainer Fundamental Theory and Application”.

Social Health- Involves your ability to form satisfying interpersonal relationships with others. It also relates to your ability to adapt comfortably to different social situations and act appropriately in a variety of settings.

Physical Health- Refers to one’s overall well-being and is the easiest to observe of the various dimensions of health.

Intellectual Health- this is the capacity to assimilate and integrate new information into one’s thinking/thought processes. We should all work to understand and comprehend new concepts on a daily basis, even when it is not “formal education”.

Cognitive Health- While intellectual health is the assimilation of new information, cognitive health is referring to the efficiency of the processing of said information as well as how we perceive the world around us.

Emotional Health- It means you are aware of your emotions. You can deal with them, whether they are positive or negative. Emotionally healthy people still feel stress, anger, and sadness. It is the ability to take a step back from yourself, understand what you are feeling and then decide to act or not to act on those feelings.

Spiritual Health- While many give this a religious context, it is focused on the connection of ourselves with a higher power, a sense of purpose, self-actualization, and an inner joy. It is often described by self-acceptance, repentance for misdeeds, a willingness to give to and forgive others and a desire to seek peace with the community and world overall. This dimension is closely tied to emotional and social health but is clearly its own category.

            So, we can see plainly the multiple levels of health and how it relates to our wellness. These six levels; Social, physical, intellectual, cognitive, emotional and spiritual health should all be actively pursued. They are fluid aspects of our lives. By fluid I mean to say that as we age they will change and should be challenged to change for the better. Modern medicine has enabled humanity to live longer lives, but a longer life does not guarantee a quality life.

Let’s look at the skeletal muscular system since it is an easy example. When we are in high school our bodies are going through an extremely important developmental time in our lives. How much physical activity we put ourselves through at that time will lay a foundation for our adult lives. It is widely believed that if we spend more time participating in physical exercise when we are young and developing then our “baseline” physical fitness level will be higher when we are adults. It is also widely believed that losing weight will come easier to those who were physically active as children than those who were not. As we grow older the body begins to slow down, muscle tissue is lost, the distribution of body fat begins to change, and recovery time increases. This does not necessarily have to be a hard truth to face, though. If we understand just a portion of the science of our bodies we will understand that a well-balanced exercise routine can go a long way to balancing hormones, reducing stress, retaining muscle and keeping us moving well into old age. Basic exercise can combat and at times even reverse the negative effects of aging.

More than just our muscles suffer as we age, all 6 levels of health take a toll. That means we must try to stay healthy in every level of SPICES. The good news is that they are all interconnected. There are numerous ways one can make an effort to literally “re-engineer” themselves to make health and wellness more of a priority. Some of the obvious choices are avoiding negative behaviors like tabaco use, alcohol abuse or consuming too much junk food. These negative behaviors are not only bad for our physical health, but things like alcohol are depressants and even a small amount of alcohol can take a toll on our emotional and mental state. There are also positive behaviors that we can use to invoke positive change. Reading a book, socializing with friends, going to the gym, drinking enough water and being creative are all behaviors that are easy to add to our day and can bring on positive change.

 The simple act of physical activity is enough to not only make us stronger physically but supports us emotionally. Exercise releases a cocktail or hormones, all of which help promote healthy brain cells. Even the very act of doing something that we know is positive helps our mood and nourishes future choices to continue to care for ourselves.

In the end wellness is not something that is earned once and then kept on a shelf like a trophy. It is constantly changing, evolving and must be grown and then nurtured throughout our lives. Wellness is a zest for life and requires a level of self-responsibility. We need a level of discipline to keep moving, keep striving to challenge ourselves to grow. Any given behavior can lead us towards our goal or it can lead us astray. It is like the adage “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. We all start somewhere, and it is important to have goals set. They should be goals that are reasonable and in sight. Anything that is set too far away or is unrealistic will only lead to discouragement and then disappointment. The mindset should be more on why one is doing something and not what one is doing. Those who frequent the gym generally go because it gives them a sense of balance and accomplishment afterwards. That is the mindset that should be fostered to grow. One must think about how they have moved to achieve a goal for the day, which is part of the bigger goal instead of an endpoint in of itself. If one takes the time to nurture the aspects of health and wellness they will find that it is a type of preventative medicine that will lead to a long, quality life filled with happiness and fulfillment in themselves and their relationships.