How Are Health & Wellness Different

Your body is your greatest asset. For those of you who are seeking change and growth in your personal and professional life, you must care for yourself both physically and mentally. In order to thrive in today’s busy and competitive world, it is essential to address the needs of your mind, body, and spirit.

Boosting your level of health and wellness will help you overcome life’s daily struggles and achieve your goals. While most people think of health and wellness as being synonymous, they actually have entirely different meanings. So, how are health and wellness different?

What is health?

Health focuses on the physical and mental body being free from illness, injury or disease. Health is a goal you work to achieve. For example, managing chronic conditions such as lowering your blood pressure or controlling diabetes are goals to be reached, as are losing weight or strengthening your heart through cardiovascular exercise.

How you can improve your health:

• Recognize that your choices determine your future, your life can only change by the amount of responsibility that you are willing to take for it. We all have countless opportunities to head down one path or another. Make good use of these opportunities, listen to your intuition, and be aware of the consequences if you don’t.
• Eat a balanced diet, learn the basics of healthy eating. While most eating patterns are formed during childhood, it’s never too late to establish new, healthier behaviors. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and discouraged when you begin to consider lifestyle changes. Don’t allow self-doubt to destroy your dreams.
• Jumpstart your journey to fitness with physical activity. Getting healthy is a slow and steady process. It is not a destination, it is a way of life. Adhering to regularly scheduled workouts will take commitment, determination, and discipline; doing what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, when you don’t want to do it.

Regardless of age or level of fitness, the benefits of a balanced diet and regular exercise are far reaching. While it can be difficult to find time to cook a nutritious meal or incorporate a fitness routine into your already tight schedule, you can’t afford not to. Diet and exercise not only change your body, they change your mind, your attitude, and your mood. Food is the most abused anxiety drug and exercise the most underutilized antidepressant.

What is wellness?

Wellness is more than being free from illness, it is the spirited process of change and growth that lasts for a lifetime. Wellness addresses a broader spectrum of your body; encompassing the overall balance of your physical, mental and spiritual well-being. It speaks to the way you live your everyday life. It is not an end to be achieved, rather it is a lifestyle that you adopt.

How you can improve your wellness:

• Use mindfulness to begin your day. In order to receive the best that life has to offer you, it’s essential that you get off on the right foot every morning. A familiar routine will be your foundation; helping you live a more productive and vibrant life. Because your morning rituals can and will impact your entire day, you must set the stage for how it will unfold.
• Start a yoga practice, integrate your mind, body and spirit. It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of daily life and spend much of your day battling the challenges laid before you. Are you suffering from the fast pace of everyday life? Have little joy? Struggling to focus? Lacking energy? Feeling sluggish? If so, it may be time for you to begin a yoga practice and adopt a yogic lifestyle.
• Learn to love and appreciate your body. Because so many people suffer from a distorted image of themselves, they are in a constant hate-state with their body. Stop criticizing yourself for your imperfections, life is too short to waste a single minute of your time loathing your body. Set your search for inner beauty in motion and start practicing a little self-love; change your outlook and be proud of who you are.

In order to live life to its fullest you must maintain an optimal level of wellness day in and day out. Every emotion you feel will affect your overall well-being. By taking a positive approach to living, you can realize your wellness goals. How you live your life, what you think, what you say, and what you do matters.

Discover and celebrate the best version of you

With obesity rates and stress levels in America at an all-time high, getting the most out of life should be something you aspire to. Empower yourself by setting your personal and professional goals in motion and work toward a life of happiness. The more fit you are physically, emotionally, and spiritually, the more likely you are to reap the benefits of health and wellness.

If you’re saying to yourself that your plate is already full, you’ve got enough going on, and you’re too busy to pay attention to your health and wellness, I would argue that you’ve got too much going on not to! The busier and more hectic your life is, the more important it is to focus on how health and wellness are different.

I am a corporate wellness consultant. As a master yoga instructor, I support in-house wellness programs, seminars, trade shows and executive retreats. I help business leaders build and maintain physical and mental well-being. If you would like to learn more about offering a health and fitness program to your busy management team contact me at [email protected] or 386.871.0582