Health and Wellness

• 2020-08-10

When we hear the word ‘health’, commonly the first thought that strikes is physical health and fitness, right? But is that all the word health attunes to? According to the World Health Organization, WHO defines health as a “state of complete physical, mental, social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” From this definition, we come to realize that health is just an umbrella word for being fit by mind and body, and to have a healthy social life.

Now, what comes in mind, when we hear the word ‘well-being or wellness?’, most people will say it’s just another fancy word for health, or some would link it with happiness and yoga. No doubt feeling happy is a component of well-being, there’s a lot more to it though and includes high life satisfaction, a sense of meaning or purpose and to live according to one’s values are key elements, and the ability to keep your mental health in good shape, focus on spiritual health, and being inclined towards environment positivity.

When we combine these words together -

 Health + Wellness

the result is - an optimal working of you as a whole. Energetic, happy, full potential, sound mind and healthy body, optimistic, visionary, and goal-oriented are certain characteristics that one will pertain if we have good health and wellbeing.

Even though health is more of a state of being, whereas, wellness is all about the striking balance among the six components of health -

Health aims at annihilation of any disease, foreign body, or illness in our body, it is more centered towards the state of immunity. On the contrary, wellness focuses to reanimate sustenance in the body.

Now, imagine it like this, your mind is a seed, to nurture it you need to water it daily, place it in the right soil type, and give it proper attention for it to grow healthy. The bark of the tree is your body, the branches are your emotional health, the fruits illustrates your social relationships and satisfaction of your work life and the flowers that bloom signifies your personality or how you present yourself.

What would happen if we don’t nurture the seed properly? It will grow of course, but the bark will be weak because the roots itself weren’t strong enough from the beginning, this will result in a fragile state of branches, less fruits, and the flowers won’t bloom gloriously. Even when the tree has grown, we still need to take care of it, nurture it, give it the needed nutrients, the bark should be strong enough to carry the weightage of the whole tree, similarly, our physical health should be functioning smoothly; branches of the tree will be stealthy enough to manage the production of flowers, fruits, and leaves, same is with our emotional health being balanced as our behavior and actions depends on it. remove dead leaves ( one’s past); more the number of rich fruits, larger and healthier will be our social circle and work-life satisfaction will be high, above all we’ll be able to function productively; the beautiful blooming flowers are attractive and pleasing to look out, likewise, our personality will attract people towards us and our confidence will be at the peak.

This is how health and wellness work together. Having said that, let’s look into the six components of health and blueprint of wellness:

1. Physical - Basically to be fit and hearty. A balanced diet, daily exercise, abandon toxic habits, skincare routine, etc. This makes me think about the Korean idols and actors, their skin is just so beautiful. (P.S- take tips from them for skincare)

2. Emotional - We experience a range of emotions in split second, and oh, don’t get me started on mood swings. That’s another roller coaster ride, ain’t it? The question comes, what is emotional wellbeing? First off, be aware of your emotions, keep notice of what you are feeling at the moment. Then comes acknowledgment, why are you feeling the way you are. Third, accept, if you are happy, sad, or angry about a certain thing, accept it, that yes this is how I am feeling, then manage it accordingly to handle the latter consequences. Always remember, prevention is better than cure. Lastly, following this chain, comes expressing your emotion in the best way possible.

3. Cognitive/ Intellectual - We all know that our mind works non-stop. Even when sleeping, it’s either dreaming or is in an alert status. The way our mind thinks influences almost everything around us. It influences our behavior, our emotions, our perceptions, our actions. If we put our minds to anything, the result turns out accordingly. For example, if we are determined in becoming athletically fit, that’s how our actions will motivate us to get that goal complete. In brief, think positively, motivate yourselves, engage in stimulating and fun activities, and in particular, don’t overthink.

4. Spiritual - It’s a delight to see people bending towards the virtues, and path of spirituality. Just to notify, spirituality doesn’t owe to just yoga and meditation. It adds up to having a sense of purpose and meaning in life. Spirituality shows us the experience beyond the physical realm and existence and gives insight to the metaphysical world. Do take out time to watch “The Shack,” it might help you to understand the working of spiritual strings.

5. Social - The foremost emphasis is to be comfortable in your own skin, to be able to interact with others efficiently. This dimension is all about your interaction, communication, and relation with others in society. Having a good social/friend circle brings out the best in you. Social live works in both ways, if you foster good vibes, the people around will reciprocate with the same energy, and those who don’t, just be distant.

6. Environmental - Respect nature or face the consequences. Aren’t we facing one already? See, this is why environmental awareness is stressed upon. We are a part of this glorious environment, and it is our duty to nurture and preserve it. The role we play in bettering our environment is directly proportional to our wellbeing. Henceforth, plant more trees, use less hazardous applicants such as plastic, poisonous gases, basically what we all had learned in our environmental science subject, let’s actually put that knowledge to use. Oh and, turn vegan, animals are also a significant part of our ecosystem, and we need to protect these precious creatures.          

By having a thorough understanding of how health and wellness go hand in hand (hum saath, saath hai), one can embrace all aspects of life and live more carefree, happy going life, with proper judgment and management to handle the complexities or in other words, one learns how to make lemonade out of the lemons thrown to us in life.