What is wellness, and why you should pay attention to it

Wellness, if you are not familiar with it, can seem very new age and you might not take it seriously. You might classify it up there with holistic healing or something else you think is silly. It doesn’t sound like good old hard work and exercise. Of course, don’t attack me if you already know what wellness is and love a holistic lifestyle, this article is for introducing people to the basics that they might not be familiar with. Wellness is all about health. It looks at multiple aspects of your life, not just exercise, and helps you become healthier and better all around. Here the some of the main areas of wellness, and as you will see, they are all things we understand and want to improve.

Physical

This is the same as your normal fitness. This can be going to the gym, playing basketball, or taking yoga. It is all about your physical health. It is about how you move, and feel, it is all about the physical you. The better you make yourself, the better your life will be.

Mental

This is all about keeping your mind strong and healthy. Making sure your intellectual thoughts and actions have a positive effect on you and your surroundings. This is all about your decision-making process and how you deal with stress. Your mind is just as important to exercise as your body.

Social

This is having good friends and family to help you and support you. Removing anyone toxic in your life and surrounding yourselves with people that love you and care about you. We don’t mean Kumbaya at the campfire, but we do mean having a healthy social environment.

Environment

This would be where you live, and the environment you put yourself in. You can imagine the difference that living in a dirty room that is in disrepair, compared to a well-kept and clean place with plants and a park nearby. Your environment has a direct relationship with your mental health; one tends to reflect the other. So make it somewhere that you enjoy being and that makes you feel happy, and it will help you stay that way.

Medical

Keeping on top of your medical and dental health is also important. You might work out and eat right, but you need to go for regular checkups and deal with anything that breaks down as it happens. Remember it’s your body, and you have to keep it healthy and repair it when it needs repair.

Nutrition

Eating right is important. Getting all the right nutrients, having enough protein and keeping at a healthy weight are all things that will help you live a longer and happier life. Learn what works for you and stick to it. You know what you should and shouldn’t eat generally, so do what you know you need to do.

Spirituality

When we say spiritual here, we don’t mean worship of a higher deity, though that can be part of it as well. It is about who you are. What are your core values and who you are inside really? Knowing your purpose in life is a large step towards wellness.

Occupational

What is your job? How do you make money? What is your career? Are you happy? You hear it all the time how people hate their job. If you hate your job, part of making your life better would be to find a job that you enjoy. Ask anyone that enjoys their job and you will see they are much happier than everyone else you know that hates their own. Don’t accept less than happiness.

All these categories are logical and make complete sense for making your life better. If you work on each of these and improve them, then overall your life will change for the better. This is what wellness is. Fitness is just a sub category of wellness. Wellness is you and your life. You can treat it how you like, but using wellness as a guide will help you master what you know you want to become.