What is "Wellness"? Where Does it Come From?

Charles B Cordin of Arizona State University said the following about wellness:

“Wellness is a multi-dimensional state of being describing the existence of positive health in an individual as exemplified by quality of life and a sense of well-being.”

Reading through researched articles regarding wellness, it’s clear that wellness cannot be defined but as a multidimensional state of choices. No single ability or event can bring about a total sense of well-being.

The National Wellness Institute uses a six-dimensional model as a tool to weigh and recognise your own well-being.

Occupational Well-being

• Doing work that inspires you and work that interest you, will make work enjoyable
• Work in collaboration with others and being able to work on your own
• Balance your work and personal life
• When you feel satisfied with your input at the end of the day

Physical Well-being

• Eating healthily and sleeping sufficiently (7-8 hour per night)
• Exercising regularly but not to the extent that you burn yourself out
• Pay attention to what your body is telling you
• Go for regular check-ups
• Treat your body with love and respect

Social Well-being

• Equal Access to adequate water, food, shelter and health services
• Equal and continuous access to quality formal and informal education
• Safety of refugees and internally displaced people after violence or conflict
• Peacefully and harmonious co-existence between all

Intellectual Well-being

• Cherishes mental growth and stimulation
• Involvement in intellectual and cultural activities
• Engaging in the exploration of new ideas and understandings

Spiritual Well-being

• A value and belief system that provides a purpose in our lives
• A search for meaning and making sense of life
• Striving, in the process for a state of harmony with oneself and others
• Balancing our personal inner needs with the rest of the world

Emotional Well-being

• Understanding yourself and others
• Live and work independently with the acceptance and appreciation of support and assistance of others
• Form interdependent relationships based on mutual respect, support, commitment and trust
• Taking responsibility for your actions with kindness and self-love
• Allow yourself to experience healthy emotions and be able to control these emotion to an acceptable level
• Make personal choices within the safety of your own value and belief system
• Strive to adapt positive thinking

This model is obviously not the only model to use in order to measure your own well-being; there are others that use a thirteen-dimensional model and others that use a more integrated model, but it is important to remember and acknowledge the fact that life is a journey, not one single event.

In order for us to change our lives, our actions, our thinking and the way we tend to feel, we need to start somewhere. And that somewhere might be the point of awareness. Once we are aware of where we are on the scale of wellness, we have the choice to set goals for ourselves on a conscious level and systematically work towards reaching the desired outcome.

For those out there that feel totally overwhelmed and just cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, my advice would be to think back to an event, a mental shift or maybe a specific type of energy that has done it for you in the past. Obviously different types of personalities would need different things to help them find balance, perspective and a sense of well-being.

Interviewing a couple of people found the following:

“Connectedness and understanding help me finding a starting point to experience a sense of well-being.”

“Naming my fears and putting them in the open helps me to get on with my life. It helps me to shift my energy towards positivity and self-motivation.”

“Seeing and experiencing unconditional love gives me a starting point to a positive belief system.”

“Taking a step back and getting the facts helps me to see things clearly. Once I have a clear picture I know where to use my energy to sort things out and operate in a goal-driven mode."

“I play with children. Children simply force my energy to shift.”

“Watching animals and the unconditional love you receive from them gives me hope and motivates me to believe in a better world.”

“Being able to put my heart and soul into an artistic project and actually complete it takes me to a place of wellness and bliss.”

“Taking on a project where I can help others grows or benefit from, helps me to appreciate my own abilities and motivates me to bring those abilities more often to the world.”

“When my life is in chaos, or I feel emotionally overwhelmed, I systematically write down a list of things that bother me or a list of things that I need to do. I get into action an actually work through this list. It helps me to restore the balance and focus that I know I need in my life to function optimally.”

“I do physical exercise, mostly going for a long walk or run. It helps me to get grounded, and it helps me to organise my thinking and feelings.”

Wellness is something to strive for as it will make the world a better place for everybody.
Plato once said: “The part can never be well unless the whole is well.”

Staff Training presents various workshops which can help you reach a place of wellness, including Emotional Intelligence and the Enneagram. Call (021) 839 3021 for more information or drop us an email.