What is Wellness?

Wellness can be a difficult term to define. What one person considers wellness may differ greatly from another’s definition. Some may think only of physical health, while others may think of a more general and ambiguous feeling of overall well-being.

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Defining wellness is the first step toward finding wellness. It’s important that we find an open definition that provides guidance for working toward wellness while allowing each individual to make their own choices. In reality, there is no cookie-cutter definition of wellness. Instead, there are some ways of thinking about wellness that will help every person find their own path.

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The 7 Aspects of Wellness model is a comprehensive way to define wellness that revolves around all 7 vital life areas and focuses on bringing them into balance. Rather than simply focusing on a single definition of wellness, the 7 Aspects of Wellness model calls attention to the fact that a whole and complete life takes into account a variety of healthy life experiences, supporting more than one area of health.

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The 7 Aspects of Wellness are Emotional, Physical, Intellectual, Social, Spiritual, Environmental, and Occupational. The idea is that bringing these aspects into a state of balance—regularly taking steps to support your well-being through right action in all (not just one or two)—across these 7 Aspects of Wellness will increase your overall satisfaction with life and help you feel better.

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The 7 Aspects of Wellness work together to create how we feel. They also influence each other. Emotional Wellness can be seriously affected by Physical Wellness, and Occupational Wellness can be seriously affected by Intellectual Wellness. As you grow and learn in each individual area, the others will expand as well. Together, these 7 Aspects of Wellness define the feeling of well-being.

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When wellness is defined using this model, individuals are given an amazing amount of freedom to develop their own wellness goals and wellness plan. While it is important for everyone to take action in each of the 7 areas, which actions they take will depend completely on how they themselves define their own feeling of wellness. Within this framework, each person is allowed to develop the life they’ve always wanted and live well in all ways.