Wellness; An Integrated Approach to Wellbeing
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” ~World Health Organization, 1948
Wellness encompasses several building blocks for a healthy lifestyle. These foundations include an integrated model for healthy living that promotes good self-care and lifelong education in order to thrive and flourish.
Wellness links all aspects of our health to enhance quality of life at any age.
Our Vision: to create and maintain a valuable community resource that educates, motivates and empowers clinicians, medical professionals and patients alike to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyle choices.
Our Mission: to provide up-to-date comprehensive integrated health and wellness resources to support and educate the public in creating healthy, happy and productive lives.
Wellness is an all-encompassing state of being that is much more than physical health, diet and exercise. It is the integration and alignment of mind, body and emotions to help us live more fully and consciously in the following dimensions*:
- Physical Wellness Is the ability to create a healthy quality of life that we maintain without undue fatigue and stress. This recognizes that our choices, behaviors and actions have a significant impact on our wellness and quality of life. Adopting healthy habits such as routine check-ups, good nutrition, appropriate exercise, sufficient rest and sleep as well as stress management and avoiding destructive behaviors such as substance abuse (drugs, alcohol, tobacco) and poor self-care leads us to optimal Physical Wellness.
- Mental Wellness is our ability to know and understand ourselves, manage our emotions, meet life’s challenges and cultivate resiliency in order to bounce back in the face of adversity. In addition, the ability to acknowledge and share our feelings as well as experiences and then communicate them in a productive manner contributes to our Mental Wellness.
- Social Wellness is our ability to connect and relate well with others. Establishing and maintaining solid positive relationships with family, friends, colleagues as well as community creating a support system that contributes to our Social Wellness.
- Spiritual Wellness is the ability to create peace and harmony in our lives. It includes our ability to “walk our talk” while being congruent with our values and actions, to realize that humanity is inter-connected and inter-dependant. To know that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves contributes to our Spiritual Wellness.
- Intellectual Wellness is the ability to be open to new ideas and experiences that facilitates our growth and the betterment of communities at-large. It is a state of wonder and curiosity that inspires our desire to learn, improves our skills and to stretch and seek challenges. The pursuit of lifelong learning stimulates our Intellectual Wellness.
- Occupational Wellness is the ability to derive personal fulfillment by creating passion, purpose, place and meaning in our jobs or chosen careers while maintaining balance in our lives. It is the desire to make a difference through our work by positive example, impact and effort within the organizations with which we work and on a more global level that leads us to Occupational Wellness.
- Environmental Wellness is the ability to take responsibility for the physical environment in which we live including the air, water, land, and structures that surround us. Creating a positive impact within our homes, our communities and on the planet contributes to our Environmental Wellness.
“The issues of life present us with invitations to grow; which are wild by their very nature. Wildly arresting or wildly liberating. These moments are inevitable and impossible to avoid; but unequivocally for our edification. Yes, it may be difficult. Difficult, yet doable. Decide to thrive. Trust and transform.”
~LaShaun Middlebrooks Collier
*Adapted from Swarbrick, M. (2006). A Wellness Approach. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 29(4), 311–314.
