Wellness is a term that encompasses so many ideas that sometimes it can be confusing, according to Michael Peterson, director. Even health professionals can't agree on a definition, since all have their own specialized and professional biases toward the subject. With that in mind, here a few ideas about wellness that were presented at this year's National Wellness Conference. Wellness is a mindset, a lifestyle approach to the highest states of health and life satisfaction that one can obtain within reason. It is about personal effectiveness, not about being an advanced mediator, vegetarian or a marathon runner.
Wellness is a holistic concept.
It is looking at the whole person, not just their blood pressure, body fat, exercise behavior or what a person had for lunch. It involves physical, social, emotional, occupational, spiritual and intellectual dimensions. If one imagines each aspect as a spoke on a wheel, Wellness helps a person extend the physical, social, occupational and intellectual aspects out as far as they can be developed and practiced. Therefore, a Wellness mindset seeks to grow in each dimension, not just one, so that the wheel rolls smoothly. Extreme perfectionism is a shame-based process that feeds a negative view, and workaholism, anorexia and other addictive behaviors can be the result.