What is Wellness?
101 Questions People Ask About
Health and Wellness –
and for which You've Gotta Have Answers!
Published by Rickey Nguyen at Smashwords
Copyright 2012 Rickey Nguyen
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
002: What is the meaning of well-being?
003: What is the meaning of ‘quality of life’?
004: Who coined the term ‘wellness’?
005: How is wellness present in history?
006: What are the four major dimensions of wellness?
007: What are the different dimensions of wellness?
008: How is wellness related to alternative medicine?
009: How is wellness related to illness?
010: How is wellness related to prevention?
011: How is wellness related to stress?
012: What is a wellness wheel?
013 What is a Wellness Program?
014: What are the different types of wellness programs?
015: What are the different types of wellness?
016: Is it possible to practice wellness on my own? How?
017: How important is it to set wellness goals?
018: How to create wellness goals?
019: I have created my wellness goals, what’s next?
020: Why shift one’s focus to wellness?
021: What is physical wellness?
024: Are there simple physical activities for time-conscious individuals?
025: Is it important to stretch before and after a work-out/exercise?
026: How can one stick to a fitness program?
028: What are the benefits of eating a balanced meal?
029: Is there an easier way to plan a healthy diet?
030: How many times a day should I eat?
032: Why is smoking cigarette bad for the physical well-being?
033: Why is drinking alcoholic beverages harmful to the body?
034: What are the effects of a sedentary or inactive lifestyle?
036: What are the benefits of sleep?
037: Is lack of sleep harmful to the body?
038: What are some techniques in achieving a quality sleep?
040: Are there ways on how to relieve stress in the body?
042: What can one improve mental wellness?
043: What can be a barrier in achieving mental wellness?
044: What triggers mental illness?
046: What are the types of depression?
048: What are the types of an anxiety disorder?
049: How can one exercise the brain?
050: How can one relax the mind?
052: How to improve one’s emotional wellness?
053: How can one identify an emotionally unwell person?
054: What is an anger management?
057: How can one improve one’s emotional intelligence?
058: What does self-esteem mean?
059: What is a relationship and how is it related to emotional wellness?
060: How to maintain a healthy relationship?
061: What is spiritual wellness?
062: How can one improve one’s spirituality?
063: What are the barriers in improving one’s spirituality?
065: What are the different types of meditation?
066: What are the things one should avoid during meditation?
067: Is it possible to have spiritual life without a specific religion or God?
069: What are the six branches of yoga?
070: What are the misconceptions about yoga?
072: How to improve social wellness?
073: What are the signs of a socially ill person?
075: How to communicate effectively?
076: How to start a relationship?
077: What should one expect from a relationship?
078: What to do when conflicts arise?
079: What is friendship and how important is it in one’s life?
080: Why is it important to join an organization or a club?
081: What is an occupational wellness?
082: How to improve one’s occupational wellness?
083: How to find a career that suits an individual?
084: How to deal with co-workers and superiors well?
085: How to lessen stress at work?
087: How to improve work habits?
088: What is time and task management?
089: What is a workplace wellness program?
090: How to stay motivated inside the office cubicle?
091: What is an environmental wellness?
092: How to improve one’s environmental wellness?
093: What are the simple ways to protect the environment?
096: How to make the home an environmentally-friendly home?
097: How to organize and de-clutter the bedroom?
098: How can wall colors improve one’s environmental wellness?
099: What are the ways to appreciate nature?
100: What is qigong and how does it contribute to one’s environmental wellness?
101: What is the importance if involving one’s self to environmental activities?
INTRODUCTION
Wellness speaks of one’s summary of life. In order for a person to say that he/she is living a full life, means he/she is able to enjoy it without stressors, illnesses and challenges.
But in order to make sure that one lives this so-called full life, he/she must learn what wellness is really about, its dimensions and how it can be applied to everyday life. It is actually one thing to learn wellness but it is another to live a well-balanced life.
In this Wellness e-book, one can learn the meaning of wellness and its dimensions. It is also a place where one can fish out simple tips on how to improve one’s well-being without giving much effort. The idea of this book is to deliver wellness concepts and practices in a simpler way to make it more accessible for everyone. It wouldn’t take much; just a mere sense of interest and drive to live a balanced life. It wouldn’t even be costly as most of the advices that this book will share will be something that is already in one’s life, all it really asks for are little changes in perspective. Remember, change is good as long as it is for the better.
This book is also an easy read; it asks for general questions and answered in two ways: short answers are provided for people who are in hurry and long answers for in-depth learning. Although, such questions are written in a way to catch one’s curiosity and interest; it may be hard to just stick with the short answers and one may end up reading the entire book and asking for more.
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001: What is Wellness?
Short Answer: Wellness simply means the process of seeking for a superior quality of life with a balanced lifestyle.
Long Answer: In reaching this superior quality of life, a balanced lifestyle must have a healthy body, sound mind and a rich spirit, although, these three are considered to be general dimensions of wellness. Other dimensions include social, emotional, environmental and occupational wellness. These dimensions are crucial in achieving a healthy sense of well-being; having a good quality of life. Being healthy, though, in this sense doesn’t mean a life free of illnesses and stress; it simply means a positive sense of living despite all the challenges.
Nevertheless, wellness has been constantly associated with medicine; which is partly sensible since medicine takes care of the physical body, a part of the wellness process. However, wellness also focuses on other components that heal a person like its emotional state and social relations. Wellness also regards prevention of stress and illnesses as a key part of the process.
There are also other definitions of wellness. Some say that wellness pertains to a process of constantly seeking for improvement towards a more successful life. There are also other definition that says wellness is acceptance and satisfaction. These two definitions seem to contradict each other though; one that seems to very active and the other seems too passive.
However, it always boils down to one general fact that wellness is aiming for a sensible and positive existence. Whether the individual seeks to gain and improve or just be happy with the way things are.
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002: What is the meaning of well-being?
Short Answer: Well-being is the state of being well physically, financially, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and socially. It is closely associated with the term, “quality of life”.
Long Answer: Well-being in a broader light is the state of being happy with one’s existence. Happiness that comes from a good physical condition, a sound mind, a pleasant emotional state, a stable financial status, good relationships to a superior being and to other people.
But the definition of well-being really changes based on usage and context. For instance, if well-being is defined as a state of being well, how can one know that a person is living well? If the term is also defined as a state of having a good life, then what comprises a ‘good life’?
These are some of the conflicts of the definition of well-being. It changes based on individual judgment. But usually this term is used in medicine, social context and wellness. However, in the framework of wellness, well-being does not go alone, it is usually accompanied by the word ‘balanced’.
Now, if one speaks of a “balanced well-being” then its definition may change. Since at this point, one is speaking of ‘balance’. A balanced well-being can be measured abstractly based on one’s allocation of time and efforts towards his/her body, mind, spirit, finances, emotions, relationships and other dimensions of existence. There may not be a standard measure on how to gauge the balance of these different dimensions but at least, there is a sense of solidity on the definition of well-being.
The key is to associate the term ‘well-being’ with another term to grasp a more concrete meaning of the word. But on its own, the term well-being is very fluid and may even be confusing if one will not consider reviewing its usage and context.
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003: What is the meaning of ‘quality of life’?
Short Answer: Quality of life is a measure of happiness. In measuring happiness, it is important to check one’s physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual and finances.
Long Answer: Quality of life is subjective and objective in nature. It becomes subjective, when one feels good about one’s situation in general. It becomes objective on the other hand, when one feels good whenever there is something gained; whether it is good health, new friends or wealth.
But frequently, ‘quality of life’ is solely allied with standard of living. But in reality, happiness is not solely based on one’s financial privileges or capacity. Different studies had already been conducted that proves happiness is not solely influenced by finances alone. Happiness is influenced by many other factors, and not just the amount of money that one has.
In the medical field, ‘quality of life’ pertains to one’s ability to live a normal and able life. For instance, a vehicular accident patient that needed an arm surgery may not be able to use his/her arm the way he/she used it prior to the accident. This affects his/her ‘quality of life’. It may be expressed as a decrease in ‘quality of life’ since the patient may not be able to function as normally as he/she would like to.
In the field of wellness, the meaning of ‘quality of life’ becomes more intangible since measuring one’s level of happiness may be affected by more than one aspect of existence which is called the dimensions of wellness.
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004: Who coined the term ‘wellness’?
Short Answer: It is hard to pinpoint who is responsible for the existence of the term ‘wellness’ but based on history, the very first person who publicly used the term was Dr. Halbert L. Dunn in the 1950’s.
Long Answer: Dr. Halbert L. Dunn was a prominent figure in his field. He established the national vital statistics system in the United States of America and considered to be the ‘father of wellness movement’. Dr. Dunn was the first to use the term wellness (high level wellness) in a series of lectures that he designed and created. These lectures were given at the Unitarian Church in Arlington County, Virginia in the late 1950’s.
Soon, the lecture inspired a few individuals that later on turned it into a book called ‘High Level Wellness’ which was published in 1961. Although, the book did not became an instant hit and very few copies were sold at that time. But the few books that were sold eventually landed in the hands of professionals and well-respected individuals. After a few years, in the 1970’s, few inspired individuals made movements that became the foundation of the wellness concept.
Don Ardell is a known wellness advocate, writer and public speaker. He wrote the book entitled, High Level Wellness: An Alternative to Doctors, Drugs and Disease, a best seller at his time and purely inspired by Dr. Dunn’s book.
In 1975, the very first wellness center opened thanks to Dr. John Travis. He was a popular face of the wellness movement developing also the first wellness assessment called Wellness Inventory.
Also during the same decade, Elizabeth Neilson, a famous educator founded Health Values: Achieving High Level Wellness, a journal on wellness wherein she served as its editor-in-chief. The same journal was renamed in 1996 as the American Journal of Health Promotion.
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005: How is wellness present in history?
Short Answer: It is believed that wellness was present in the early times dated back to ancient civilizations. It is present in the popular ancient civilizations like the Egyptian, Chinese and Greeks.
Long Answer: A famous philosopher named Hippocrates in 370 BC spoke of wellness as:
“All parts of the body which have a function, if used in moderation and exercised in labors to which each is accustomed, become healthy and well developed and age slowly. But if unused and left idle, they become liable to disease, defective in growth and age quickly.”
The Egyptian civilization, known for their great healers follows a method as described in an ancient manuscript (1600 BC) which follows observational skills, familiarity with the human anatomy and with a mix of superstition and magic. These are solid evidences that spirituality (through magic and superstition) is able to help heal an injured/ill individual.
The Chinese civilization; however is less mythical but more inclined to harmony or balance, which is also important in wellness. Chinese believed strongly in the relationship of human being with its environment, which is a part of the modern wellness that is known today.
Hebrews and Moslems also practiced wellness concepts of today like proper hygienic rituals and diet as part of their religious beliefs. These are manifestation of today’s wellness: balance of mind, body and spirit.
There are other civilizations like the Romans, Greeks and Indians, all of which have different processes of healing and maintaining long life through methods that involved the physical, mental, spiritual, social, environmental, occupational and emotional dimensions of wellness.
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006: What are the four major dimensions of wellness?
Short Answer: Wellness has four major dimensions: Physical, Mental, Social and Spiritual.
Long Answer: Physical Wellness is the process of achieving a healthy body. It does not necessarily equate to losing weight but a weight that is proportion to the height and a body that is strong enough to match the individual’s daily routine. Physical wellness involves different physical activities, nutritional diet and healthy habits.
Mental Wellness pertains to the active pursuit of gaining new knowledge and skills. With every new skill, new knowledge, new hobby that one develops, its mental wellness improves in the process.
Social Wellness means the individual’s ability to relate to another. How one treats another being is part of social wellness. It is about exploring new relationships and ability to keep it to have a support system when the going gets tough.
Spiritual Wellness is another dimension that is believed to have helped many individuals throughout time. It is the active pursuit to search for the real meaning of existence, whether it is because of a higher power or not. It is searching and believing that one’s existence has a purpose and not pointed aimlessly to nothing.
These four major dimensions must equally be given time and effort to reach a balanced well-being. To deeply understand how a balanced lifestyle means, imagine a tire divided into four major parts, inflating too much of one part will cause the tire to wiggle and lose stability. But an equally inflated tire will be able to move smoothly against any pavement. This model is called the Wellness Wheel.
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007: What are the different dimensions of wellness?
Short Answer: Wellness is made up of different dimensions: Physical, Mental, Social, Spiritual, Emotional, Occupational and Environmental.
Long Answer: Physical Wellness pertains to the process of achieving a healthy state of the body. Proper hygiene, exercises, diet and habits are activities that are most important to achieve optimal physical well-being.
Mental Wellness pertains to the drive of an individual to learn new things, develop skills and explore new hobbies for general improvement. Reading, taking up lessons, listening to lectures, attending seminars and researching are just some of the activities that are inclined to mental wellness.
Social Wellness pertains to relating and communicating to another being and building ties with another. The ability and process of making friends and attending social gatherings are just some of the activities involved with social wellness.
Spiritual Wellness pertains to one’s search for the meaning and real purpose of one’s existence. It may or may not involved religious beliefs or higher power. Spiritual wellness is associated with values that a person believes in like selflessness, non-judgment and discipline.
Emotional Wellness pertains to the process of one’s ability to handle life. Any reaction against stress, problems and changes may be associated with emotional wellness. It is said that this dimension is the heart of wellness since it involves how one feels towards a certain something or a given situation.
Occupational Wellness pertains to the search of an individual for his calling. Generally involves work or profession, but deeply associated with how one fits to a certain work he/she is involved with. It is believed that a person in an unhealthy work environment or is unhappy with what he/she does is less productive compared to his co-workers.
Environmental Wellness pertains to how an individual connects, empathize and show concern towards his/her surroundings. It does not generally mean how one connects with plants, trees or animals but it is more of how one takes care of the environment and his/her possessions like his car or his house.
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008: How is wellness related to alternative medicine?
Short Answer: Wellness is the pursuit of a person to achieve a balanced well-being. And alternative medicine is actually a wellness program that can help achieve this balanced state. But it is only a part of wellness programs; conventional medicine is also a part of it depending on the need of a situation.
Long Answer: Alternative medicine is actually a program inclined to one’s healing of the body. But unlike the conventional healing process that involves synthetic drugs, alternative medicine focuses on natural remedies like herbal medicines, acupuncture, massages, among others.
Alternative medicine is also known as complementary medicine; this is because it is often practiced to complement conventional healing processes. Although, its efficacy is somehow questionable since the alternative medicines are based on cultural or historical beliefs and methods rather than scientific studies and tests.
The orientation of this type of healing is individualized. The healing procedures are based on the individual’s spiritual beliefs, motivation, and it promotes self-care. It is somehow very different from the conventional way, since the latter relies on scientific studies based on majority and it is dependent on drugs, physician’s judgment and laboratory tests which are measurable.
On the other hand, alternative and conventional medicine also has similarities. Both are inclined in promoting fitness regimens, good nutrition and preventive practices.
But despite the lack of scientific evidences to prove the effectiveness of alternative medicine, its fan base is continuously spreading because of individual testimonials.
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009: How is wellness related to illness?
Short Answer: Wellness or more specifically physical wellness pertains to the process of having a healthy body. And illness is one determinant that a body is not physically well.
Long Answer: Going back to the core of physical wellness, it is the process of having a healthy body. To achieve this, different activities like eating balanced diet, exercises, involvement to sports, staying away from smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages, having enough sleep, among others are just some ways to protect the body against illnesses.