Earl V. MeisterWellness is a modern word with ancient roots. The main principles of wellness as preventive and holistic can be traced back to ancient civilizations from the East (India, China) to the West (Greece, Rome). In the nineteenth century and the United States, a variety of intellectual, religious and medical movements developed in parallel with conventional medicine. With their focus on holistic and natural approaches, self-healing and prevention, these movements have established a firm foundation for wellness today. Wellness-focused and holistic modalities have gained more visibility since the 1960s/1970s among the writings and thought leaders of an informal network of U.S. physicians and thinkers (such as Halbert Dunn, Jack Travis, Don Ardell, Bill Hettler, and others). As these have evolved, proliferated, and become mainstream, they have informed the healthy-living, self-help, self-care, fitness, nutritional, dietary, and spiritual practices that have become the norm in the 21st century.
Definition of Wellness
The Global Wellness Institute defines wellness as the active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a holistic state of health.
There are two important aspects to this definition. First, wellness is not a passive or static state, but an “active pursuit” that involves intentions, choices and actions as we work toward optimal health and well-being. Second, wellness is associated with holistic health-that is, it goes beyond physical health and encompasses many different dimensions that should function in harmony.
Wellness is an individual pursuit-we have personal responsibility for our own choices, behaviors, and lifestyles-but it is also significantly influenced by the physical, social, and cultural environments in which we live.
Wellness is often confused with concepts such as health, well-being, and happiness. Although there are common elements among them, wellness differs in that it is not a static state of being (i.e., being happy, in good health or well-being). Rather, wellness involves an active process of being aware and making choices that lead to an outcome of optimal holistic health and well-being.
Wellness is multidimensional
Wellness is more than just physical health. Most wellness models have at least 6 dimensions (and sometimes up to 9 or 12):
Physical: A healthy body through exercise, nutrition, sleep, etc.
Mental: engagement with the world through learning, problem solving, creativity, etc.
Emotional: Being in touch, aware, able to accept and express one’s feelings (and those of others).
Spiritual: Our search for meaning and purpose in human existence.
Social: Connecting with, interacting with, and contributing to other people and our communities.
Environmental: A healthy physical environment free of hazards; awareness of the role we play in improving, not denigrating, the natural environment.
The Wellness Continuum.
One way to understand wellness is to think of health as a continuum that extends from illness to optimal wellness.* At one end, patients with poor health engage the medical paradigm to treat illness; they interact reactively and episodically with physicians and clinicians who provide care. On the other end, people proactively focus on prevention and maximizing their vitality. They adopt attitudes and lifestyles that prevent disease, improve health, and enhance their quality of life and well-being. In other words, wellness is proactive, preventive and driven by personal responsibility. The growth of wellness is the expansion of the consumer’s value and worldview.
*The continuum concept adapted from Dr. Jack Travis disease, wellness continuum. Travis is one of the pioneers of the modern wellness movement in the late 1970s.
Wellness vs. well-being
The terms “wellness,” “well-being,” and “happiness” have often been used together or interchangeably by businesses, researchers, and the media.
Earl V. Meister
