Wellness and health are two very different things. In the physiological sense, health is a state of total well-being including regulation of internal organs, maintenance of body temperature, regulation of body functions such as temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, etc., and emotional health takes into account a person’s ability to experience happiness, sadness, optimism, guilt, fear, stress, anxiety, or other states of mind. For the emotional well-being, this involves understanding and managing the full spectrum of our emotions and how to deal with them rather than being controlled by them. Simply put, we need good management skills when dealing with our emotions. Emotionally healthy people know how to deal with their feelings and their emotions in healthy ways so that they can enjoy their relationships and have a good support system to help them with their transitions between these states.
Health and wellness then, is a state of complete well-being. In order to be flourishing and healthy, there must be well-being habits. Habits, which can also be called lifestyle choices, are the way of responding to situations in a way that meets the needs and promotes the well-being. Some of these habits include regulating emotions, setting goals and plans, setting and achieving rewards, maintaining a positive self-image, practicing healthy self-care, maintaining social connections, achieving self-awareness, and improving self-recovery. The more we practice and maintain our well-being habits, the better we will be.
When we talk about well-being, we typically think of three major categories: physiological, psychological, and behavioral. Physiological well-being is comprised of having adequate nutrition, getting enough sleep, getting moderate exercise, maintaining a reasonable weight, using effective healthcare, having reasonable exposure to physical and mental stresses, and having social connections. Psychological well-being is comprised of having open and honest communication with others, managing stress, dealing with anxiety, depression, anger, fear, and worries, maintaining meaningful relationships, and maintaining personal integrity. Behavioral well-being consists of maintaining health and wellness, being assertive, accepting, and encouraging, being able to modify certain behaviors, managing stress, developing, and enhancing strengths, learning new skills, getting involved in activities or hobbies that you enjoy, having a sense of humor, and improving your social connections. The main thing to keep in mind is that well-being is a state of being rather than a personality or character. It is a combination of physiological, psychological, and behavioral components that are brought together to create a healthy balance in one’s life.
There are several definitions for what it means. The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as “a quality of being successful, flourishing, healthy, and orderly”. Wellness is described as “the ability to control oneself in the face of temptation and stressors”. Wellness also includes “the ability to make good decisions and use one’s resources in a productive manner”. Wellness is the ability to regulate your emotional responses and increase your persistence towards goals, responsibilities, and success. You will learn more about this when you finish up studying the definitions for the state of wellness, as this will be a very important concept for you to understand.
What this means is that wellness is a mental, physical, emotional, and behavioral quality that impacts your quality of life. You must have a balance between all three aspects if you are going to maintain a healthy lifestyle and achieve your goals. This is something that you will learn throughout your studies as well as through many experiences that you will have in life. One thing that you must keep in mind is that wellness only becomes a reality when you live it, which is why it is so important that you learn as much as you can about the various facets of this concept as well as how you can use it to lead a better quality of life.
When you study the definition of wellness, you will learn that it includes five elements – physical, mental, emotional, social, and leisure. These five elements are all interrelated, but they are also presented differently, which can cause some problems when trying to understand because it can cause you to have the impression that there are only two elements that make up this concept. Wellness can include both physical and mental wellness, which makes it the best kind of definition for you to use if you want to live a better quality of life. In order to improve your level of wellness, you have to start with your emotions and then work your way towards the other aspects of wellness, which includes the other aspects mentioned in this article as well as some others.