Path to health and wellness

What is health? What is wellness? Are they synonymous with each other? The Internet defines Health as the state of being free from illness or injury and the state of mental, emotional, and physical well being of a person. While the Internet also defines Wellness as the act of practicing healthy habits on a daily basis to attain better physical and mental health outcomes, so that instead of just surviving, you're thriving in life.

Wellness is directly linked to the health of the individual. It is a two way street as the health of an individual influences the wellness of the individual and wellness influences the health of the individual.

There are seven main components of wellness which are:

Physical well being

It basically means to eat healthily and exercise appropriately. To make sure that your body remains healthy and you exercise daily and consume the much needed and avoid consuming alcohol and drugs. Not only that, if you do indulge in smoking, but you should also quit smoking as well.

Emotional well being

In simpler terms, it means to identify and accept your feelings and to understand and learn how to forgive yourself and others. Not only that, you should also be able to support others and console them without losing yourself as well.

Intellectual well being

This is where you identify your creative and intellectual capabilities and use it well and share it with others as well. You continuously and regularly stimulate your mind and are always learning and reading about and on new things and subjects.

Social well being

Here, how well do you connect with people? How meaningful are your relationships? You grow through your relationships and contribute to the community and society as well. Not only that but you also tend to develop intimacy with others and learn how to make and communicate meaningful conversations with different people.

Spiritual well being

To fully explore your spirituality and really listen and heed what your heart says. To learn to be calm and meditate regularly as well as maintain your spiritual practices.

Environmental well being

Environmental well being is the habits we harbor daily and how it affects the environment. It basically means your relationship with the environment. You can always improve your environmental well being by recycling, reducing, and reusing the waste you throw out.

Occupational well being

Occupational well being is pretty obvious, it is how we act when we are at work, our outlook regarding our work, how we interact with our colleagues and how it influences our mental well being over all.

So, what is the path to health and wellness?

You must already have a general idea of what the path is from the seven components of wellness.

You have to start eating healthy. Even if you are not in a good place mentally and emotionally, that does not mean that you have to abuse your body with all the junk you are eating or planning to eat. Your body is a goddamn temple, start treating and worshipping it. Not only that, but it is also your body and you definitely do not have a spare. Make peace with that fact at least and start eating more healthy and on time. Missed meals and irregular eating habits are the worst way to abuse your body and honestly, your body did nothing other than providing for you and be there for you.

You have to exercise if not daily, at least regularly. Remember, how I said your body is a temple? Well, extra bricks here and there does not reflect well on your temple, does it? Not only that you will even start feeling healthy and refreshed when you exercise. You find yourself focusing better and even more energized than you usually are.

Sleep properly. Your body and mind need to be well-rested and that is not going to happen if you keep binge-watching and having irregular sleeping patterns and if you are a self confessed workaholic. While you sleep, your brain regroups and it also gives you the energy to get on with your day. Not only that you can also work well, and concentrate better rather than falling asleep or even feel groggy and fatigue.

Connect with more people and gain more connections and inspirations. Human beings were never meant to be alone and we are just wired that way. We are always looking for a partner even if we say we are not. And it does not stop there, we need other human beings for company no matter how reclusive we are. We need that touch, feel and hear the voices of other people. Not only that, we always, always tend to feel better after talking to someone even if it is a stranger, and usually we tend to blurt out our whole life’s story, our misgivings and messes we have made simply because we have no idea who the person is, the person is a complete stranger and talking to a complete stranger means that they cannot really pass their judgements and even if they do, we will probably never meet them and hence, their opinions really does not matter. And we also hit the second bird the same stone when we our burden and secrets lighten our shoulders. We need to cultivate meaningful relationships which help us grow into better people rather than encourage relationships that are toxic and burn us out as well as stop us from growing. We will always be stuck at the same point in life if we do not cut off that person from our lives. Once, we realise the real value of a true relationship that helps you grow as a person and helps you move forward in life, there is no turning back. You finally spread your wings and fly away. And that is when you realise that you are happy, healthy and completely in tune with your spiritual, mental and physical sides of you.