wellness 10 introduction

7/30/2019 Wellness 10 Introduction

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/wellness-10-introduction 1/24

Wellness 10“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver." (Mohandas

Gandhi)

http://www.quotationreference.com/quotefinder.php?strt=1&subj=Mohandas+Gandhi&byax=1&lr=








What is Wellness… • Wellness is a concept that broadens,extends, and reaches beyond the

traditional ideas of fitness andhealth. It is a way of doing – a way ofbeing – that not only adds years to

our lives but also improves the qualityof our lives.



What are the Dimensions

to Wellness… • There are four dimensions toWellness:– Physical, Psychological, Social

and Spiritual

– These four dimensions areinterconnected,interdependent, and constantlyinteracting with each other.Maintaining or improving one’swellness – one’s quality of life – requires continuous balancingand rebalancing of these fourdimensions in response to theevents in our lives.



Physical Dimension

• deals with the functional operation ofthe body. In general, wellnessfactors related to the physicaldimension can be grouped within the

following categories:• Physical Activity and Fitness• Nutrition• Medical Self Care

• Physical Environment• Other



Psychological Dimension…

• Factors of wellness related to thepsychological dimension can be

grouped into three categories:mental, emotional, and intellectual



Psychological Dimension:

Mental • The mental category of the psychologicaldimension includes:– reacting to difficulties and adversity in an

optimistic manner– viewing difficult situations as challenges and

opportunities for growth– adopting a positive attitude

– accepting our limitations and making the bestof a bad situation




Emotional • The emotional category of psychologicalwellness is the “feeling” part and includes: – handling emotions and controlling, or coping

with, personal feelings– maintaining emotional stability at some mid-range between highs and lows

– laughing and being able to stimulate laughter inothers

– being able to express emotions appropriatelyand comfortably




Intellectual • The intellectual category includes factorsrelated to “thinking”. These include: – learning and using information effectively

– continuously acquiring knowledge throughoutlife

– engaging one’s mind in creative and criticalthinking keeping abreast of current events

– being curious.



Social Dimension• The social dimension of wellness has to dowith “others” – both human and non-human.It extends beyond relationships with

people who are close to us – beyond ourcultural environment of family, friends,and local community. Our social wellness isalso dependent on our relationships andinteractions with all that is not human such

as plants, animals, and minerals that makeup the natural environment.



Social Dimension• Wellness in the social dimension of ourlives also depends on our relationships andinteractions with the buildings, parks,

automobiles, and other elements thatconstitute the built environment. Factorsin our cultural, natural, and builtenvironments influence our behaviour, andin turn, our behaviour has an impact on

these environments. These factors aredescribed in the following sections.



Social Dimension:

Cultural Environment • Given the growth of technology and globalization,we could argue that all of humanity on the planetmakes up our cultural environment. But in termsof the wellness-related decisions that we make, itis factors in our cultural environment of family,friends, and people in our community thatinfluence us the most. These factors consistmainly of our relationships and interactions with

other people. They include:



Social Dimension:

Cultural Environment • relationships with family, friends, and people in our community• the ability to get along with people from diverse backgrounds who

express differing beliefs, values, and perspectives• the ability to resolve conflicts, to negotiate, and to reach consensus• feeling “connected” to a person, group, cause, or even a pet

• a sense of belonging to a large social unit• the ability and willingness to reach out to others and to care for them• the ability and willingness to invest in meaningful causes beyond

ourselves• traditions – one’s own and those of various cultures• socio-economic factors (e.g., race, income, education)

• technology• laws and cultural practices within society.



Social Dimension:Natural Environment

• Factors in our natural environment that can influence our wellnessinclude:

• The weather and climate: Heat, cold, wind, rain, sun, snow, etc. influencethe activities in which we do, the illnesses and injuries we may sufferand the moods we may experience.

• The geography: Lakes, forests, mountains, and rivers influence the

activities in which we participate. Some people enjoy the wide, openspaces of the plains but feel trapped and enclosed in the mountains.Similarly, people who like the mountains and wooded areas may view theprairies as stark and empty.

• Pollution: The quality of the food we eat, of the water we drink, and ofthe air we breathe is affected by a variety of pollutants (i.e., carbonmonoxide in the air due to car exhausts; residues of harmful pesticides

in the air, ground, and water supplies). In addition, the earth’s protectiveozone layer is being eaten away by human-made chemicals resulting inincreasing cases of skin cancer and cataracts, and decreases in humanimmunities.



Social Dimension: Built

Environment • We, who live in modern societies, spend nearly allof our time amidst the built environment thatconsists of buildings, streets, roads, vehicles,machines, furniture, and other objects fabricated

by humans. Not all of these are fashioned out ofinert or dead matter. The built environmentincludes the pets we keep, the domesticatedanimals we rear, and the domesticated crops wegrow. It is made up of anything that has come intoexistence entirely to serve human needs andpurposes.



Social Dimension: Built

Environment • There are numerous factors in our builtenvironment that can influence our wellness. Someof these include:

• the extent to which the built environmentnourishes our soul• the design of our cities, towns, buildings, rooms,

vehicles, furniture, tools, etc. and the materialsout of which they are fabricated

• the resource demands upon the planet thatgenerate massive amounts of waste and pollution



Spiritual Dimension• This is the “depth” dimension of life.

It refers to the values, beliefs, andcommitments at the core of one’sbeing. This set of personal guidelines

acts as a secure anchor whendifficult times arise or when we haveto deal with a crisis.



Spiritual Dimension • Spiritual well-being means different things to

different people. This dimension of wellnessmight include:– a belief in some unifying force that gives purpose

or meaning to life a sense of belonging to a schemeof existence greater than the merely personal

– a sense of purpose– an understanding that true happiness involves more

than the acquisition of material goods– a desire to comfort and help others

– the ability to show gratitude and generosity– a desire to contribute to society– an attempt to reduce conflict and disorder



Wellness Wheel

• The wellness wheel provides a visualrepresentation of the concept of wellnessthat demonstrates the need for “balanced”

or “well-rounded” lives. To attain andmaintain harmony and balance in our lives,we must pay attention to each of the fourdimensions of wellness. To neglect or over-emphasize any of the four dimensions will

result in an out-of-balance (out-of-round)wellness wheel.



Wellness Wheel

• Imagine the wellness wheel as a tire made up offour separate air chambers – each onerepresenting a dimension of wellness. If one ormore of these air chambers is either over-

inflated or under-inflated, the wheel will beunbalanced and the road of life will be a bumpyone. We roll along through life more smoothlywhen our lives are “well-rounded” or balanced.These ideas are represented visually through thethree following graphics:



Rounded Wellness Wheel• This wellness wheel belongsto a person who takesresponsibility for achieving

balance in his/her life. As aresult, this person is rollingalong smoothly through life– for whom everything isgoing “just right”.



Out of Balance Wheel #1• This wheel could represent aperson who is overly concernedwith having fun and socializing

(social dimension), and neglectsthe physical dimension (e.g., hasa low level of physical fitness,and/or is overweight, and/ordoes not have a healthy diet,

etc.).•



Out of Balance Wheel #2

• This wellness wheel is that of aperson who is obsessed with thephysical dimension of wellness. Heor she engages in physical activity

for so many hours each day thatthere is no time for attending toelements of wellness in the otherdimensions (e.g., meaningfulrelationships, reading).



Aboriginal Medicine

Wheel• The Medicine Wheel is an ancient holistic approach

to healing ailments of the mind, body, and spiritthat explains illness as springing from an imbalanceof being. The Medicine Wheel is a complex network

of ideas, symbols, and philosophies depicted withina metaphorical circle. The Wheel is divided intonorth, south, east, and west doors, each associatedwith thoughts, feelings, time periods, and sacredelements

• A holistic approach to life where all things areconnected is central to the Aboriginal world view.

Illness is explained as an imbalance in life andrestoring balance and harmony is achieved byexamining the elements of one’s life represented bythe Medicine Wheel



Illness-Wellness

Continuum

• Wellness is not merely the absence of illness. The Illness-Wellness Continuum illustrates that there are many degreesof wellness, just as there are many degrees of illness.Moving from the centre of the continuum to the left showsa progressively worsening state of health. It depicts awellness wheel that is becoming less balanced (less round).Moving to the right of the centre of the continuumindicates an increasing level of wellness. It shows a wellnesswheel that is becoming more balanced (round).

wellness 10 introduction

Documents