Wellness 101: Definition, Practices and More
“Wellness” is a health term that we see everywhere now. It’s thrown out as a health trend, about screen time, sleep, nutrition, exercise and just about everything in between. But what exactly is wellness? Why should we care? And what do you do to get it?
The concept of “wellness”
Wellness is a blanket term that incorporates physical, mental and emotional health and everything within these categories. You hear wellness when talking about all different parts of health because it really does apply to all. This use speaks to a bigger change in the field of health: the concept and approach that one aspect of health cannot be improved without addressing the others. They are all connected and all contribute to an overall feeling of wellness.
What is “wellness”?
Wellness, then, is the actioning of daily practices that all contribute to overall wellbeing in all aspects of your health. It’s about balancing everything that contributes to your health and tackling healthy habits from a holistic standpoint.
Under this definition, wellness contains but is not limited to:
Physical health: exercising, eating properly, drinking water and – you guessed it! – sleep.
Emotional health: feeling emotionally balanced, sharing emotional connection to those around us and feeling safe to express our emotions and feelings.
Social health: having interpersonal connections and feeling connected to other people.
Mental health: Living a balanced life without too much stress, able to regulate ourselves and feel capable and able to tackle day to day activities.
Some may include other things in wellness such as environmental wellbeing (connection to the outside world and having a safe, healthy and beautiful space to live in), spiritual wellness (having a sense of purpose and understanding where you bring value to the world), intellectual health (being challenged and continuing to learn in the day to day) or any others.
What you need to understand about wellness
Laughing and spending time with loved ones is just as important to wellness as exercise and eating veggies.
When talking about wellness, the big point to understand is that it is not just one thing. Practicing wellness is about paying attention to all aspects of your health.
Why we love wellness
Too often, being “healthy” is looked at as a targeted practice. But giving up all your social life to go to the gym for hours every day does not lead to a balanced lifestyle that encourages long-term wellness. Neither does being unhappy at work, struggling with mental health or having issues with friends, family and loved ones.
Life and its ups and downs do not happen in vacuums. Expecting you to live a life of wellness without looking at the whole is unrealistic.
The interconnectedness of wellness to life
We talk a lot about how sleep and getting quality sleep depends on all facets of your life: your stress level, your food, your gut health, hydration, mattress type and everything in between. Wellness is the same. You can’t ignore one challenge in life and assume you’re making progress.
Another reason we love wellness is that it makes living a balanced and happy life so actionable. All of the parts of wellness (physical, mental, emotional, social etc) can be changed with small things that make BIG contributions.
Small changes for wellness
If you want to practice wellness and find balance in life, we suggest:
Drinking more water
Reaching out to a loved one an extra time throughout the week
Setting boundaries around work hours
Getting outside in the sunshine and fresh air
Eating an extra fruit or veggie in the day
Moving your body 3X a week (don’t underestimate the value of walking!)
Asking for professional help when needed
Journaling to help with stress
Meditation before bed to reduce anxiety
Looking for sleep tips?
If you need some sleep tips to help you feel energized to practice wellness, we recommend these articles:
Sleep Studies: Are They Worth It? – If you really struggle with sleep, a sleep study can help to identify any sleep disorders you may have. Sleep is the foundation of a healthy body and mind so don’t feel bad asking your doctor to book a sleep study. They’re even covered by OHIP!
5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Sleep – Like we said before, big changes aren’t always best. There are small things you can do every day to improve how you sleep.
Screen Time and Insomnia – Phones and pre-bed screen time get a bad rap… and they do so for a reason. Get to know why screen time really is bad for your sleep.
3 Sleep Routine Examples and Ideas – As humans, we thrive on routine. Have you considered adding routine to your sleep schedule? We’ve got 3 sleep routine ideas for you based on how you normally spend your time before bed.
Wellness 101
Wellness is becoming more popular as people embrace the understanding that we are whole people and different aspects of ourselves all impact each other. The biggest mindset is that you can’t “fix” or “improve” one aspect without addressing all the others. So have patience with yourself, make small changes where you can and practice habits that work for your life.