April Welcome – Live Well, Travel Well, and Breathe Hatteras Island

Take action and find balance

Wellness can mean different things to different people. For me, wellness means finding a healthy balance in all that we do, adopting practices to improve general wellbeing, and being aware of our personal values so we can lead more fulfilling lives. Wellness can also be influenced by physical, mental, social factors, belief systems, individual actions, the roles we play within our community and environment.

We live busy lives. If only we had more time!

Moving from one life stage to the next, juggling life-work-family responsibilities, and having only so much time, we often put others first and neglect our own needs. We find ourselves feeling overwhelmed, exhausted and undervalued. It’s never too late to start investing in your personal wellness and make lifestyle changes to reclaim your sense of identity and purpose. Working on improving your wellbeing should also be enjoyable and a rewarding journey.

So what does wellness mean for you?

The Global Wellness Institute defines wellness as:

“Wellness is the active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health. Wellness is an individual pursuit—we have self-responsibility for our own choices, behaviors and lifestyles—but it is also significantly influenced by the physical, social and cultural environments in which we live.

There are two important aspects to this definition. First, wellness is not a passive or static state but rather an “active pursuit” that is associated with intentions, choices and actions as we work toward an optimal state of health and wellbeing. Second, wellness is linked to holistic health—that is, it extends beyond physical health and incorporates many different dimensions that should work in harmony.

Most models of wellness include at least six features that contribute to wellness.

• Physical: Nourishing a healthy body through exercise, nutrition, sleep, etc.
• Mental: Engaging the world through learning, problem-solving, creativity, etc.
• Emotional: Being aware of, accepting and expressing our feelings, and understanding the feelings of others.
• Spiritual: Searching for meaning and higher purpose in human existence.
• Social: Connecting and engaging with others and our communities in meaningful ways.
• Environmental: Fostering positive interrelationships between planetary health and human actions, choices and wellbeing.

Wellness is often confused with terms such as health, wellbeing and happiness. While there are common elements among them, wellness is distinguished by not referring to a static state of being (i.e., being happy, in good health, or a state of wellbeing). Rather, wellness is associated with an active process of being aware and making choices that lead toward an outcome of optimal holistic health and wellbeing.”