What Exactly is Wellness?

What Is Wellness?

In the medical world, we hear a lot about the term “wellness”. Wellness is referenced often in regards to health and fitness, but it often is never fully explained. We at The Pain Relief Center want to give you a better look into what wellness means and why it is important.

While often used in reference with health and fitness, wellness is more than just physical health. Wellness is the overall, dynamic process of becoming aware of, taking responsibility for, and making choices that directly contribute to your personal well being. Wellness is an optimal, lifelong state of living that moves towards maximizing your physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, occupational and environmental well ­being.

Wellness is generally comprised into seven dimensions: occupational, emotional, spiritual, environmental, physical, social, and intellectual. Each dimension of wellness is interrelated and each is equally vital in the pursuit of optimum health. Knowing how to maintain each of the dimensions can help you reach your optimal level of wellness.

Occupational Wellness

Occupational Wellness: Relates to you enjoyment of your occupational endeavors and
the appreciation of your contributions. Encourages personal satisfaction and
enrichment of your life through work.

Emotional Wellness

Emotional Wellness: Refers to the personal understanding of your feelings and your
ability to cope with stress. Gives you the ability to respond to variety of situations with
resilience.

Spiritual Wellness

Spiritual Wellness: Allows you to develop of personal set of values that help you find
meaning and purpose. Can be represented by a personal faith, religion, or other
method of spirituality.

Environmental Wellness

Environmental Wellness: Encourages you to value the balance between the
environment and yourself. Teaches the value for other living things as well as the
physical environment itself.

Physical Wellness

Physical Wellness: Relates to your respect and care of your body. Encourages you to
maintain a healthy body through fitness, diet, self ­care, and appropriate use of health
care systems.

Social Wellness

Social Wellness: Allows for comfortable and effective performance in social roles and
the creation of a support network. Helps you develop encouraging peer and romantic
relationships.

Intellectual Wellness

Intellectual Wellness: Involves the ability to comprehend and accept new ideas and
continue to expand your personal knowledge. Motivates your participation in
scholastic, cultural, and community activities.

Being able to maintain an optimal level of wellness is critical to your ability to live a higher quality life. Since everything we do and every emotion we feel relates to our well- being and
our well­-being affects our actions and emotions, optimal wellness is necessary to our success in life. If you’re looking to boost your overall wellness, contact the Wellness Center to set up a consultation.