What is wellness? Well, the wellness movement emerged in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s as a combination of strategies promoting healthy lifestyles in an effort to shift focus away from and prevent illness. Today, if you type the word in Google Scholar you can find articles on psychological, financial, fitness, prevention, healthcare, and other wellness areas. I would like to go beyond categorizing wellness and just pull all the pieces together. I believe for one to experience wellness, wholeness needs to be embraced. When one or more facets of your life are chronically out of sorts, dis-ease in many forms may wear you down. Prolonged and unresolved issues with familial, physical, mental, emotional, financial, spiritual, environmental, and/or other life arenas can lead to frequent and/or reoccurring problems in one’s life.
A holistic approach to wellness offers a more balanced, well-rounded, and healthy perspective to tackling the complexities of life. No doubt life is tough, rugged, and challenging at times occasionally bringing us to question the meaning of it all. What holistic wellness can offer is a buffer, support, and protection from collapse, illness, and further loss in the midst of life’s challenges. Holistic wellness embraces an individual’s whole system of beliefs, actions, and resulting positive and negative consequences in all aspects of life. Take a look at yourself for a moment.
· Are there areas of your life you continually struggle with and dwell on like weight, finances, chronic health conditions, and so forth?
· Do these concerns regularly cause you distress?
· Have you focused and dedicated time to one of these concerns only for the motivation to fade away?
First off, you’re not alone and secondly this pattern of behavior is common as is evident in America’s unfortunate struggle with obesity.
The point here is many of us often have an area of life we struggle with everyday; however how we continue to approach the problem or not determines the outcome. If we focus on the problem area with the same belief, thought, and action patterns year after year then we will garner the same results. Conversely, if we change those patterns by adopting new beliefs, thoughts, and actions then we can change directions. For example, if you believe restrictive dieting is the best way to lose weight and you have tried this twenty times in the last year it’s probably safe to say it’s not going to work. Turning to a holistic approach with the same vigor can lead you down a new path.
What does the holistic wellness approach offer? For starters the approach focuses on your whole system and not just one aspect of yourself, relationships, and/or environment. For instance, maybe you struggle with maintaining a healthy weight, exercise program, and excessive spending as a result of working long hours, little sleep, and depression. If you were to focus on just one of the previously listed problems then more than likely one of the other problems would be exacerbated or another problem would emerge. However, if you work to develop a healthy lifestyle plan including addressing all of the listed problems you are more likely to maintain a healthier lifestyle. Holistic wellness programs are founded on self-esteem, healthy peer support, and mindful living. Some people find it helpful to talk with a wellness expert, counselor, or other professional to personalize a program to their individual needs, hopes, and circumstances. Please find below some links to some holistic wellness programs and resources.
American Holistic Health Association
Thanks for reading and check back soon for more information on this and other healthcare topics!
I'm concerned with a new healthy life style since I found out I have diabetes. I've been losing weight and I want to get involved in some healthy groups. I wondering if there is some people in my area that are doing the same as me. I'm really becoming a health nut because I want to live longer. I know I'm really going to call MyBath for some info on a steam shower/sauna combination.
Posted by: William | Nov 19, 2008 at 06:13 PM