Let’s talk about wellness and aging. Wellness is the active pursuit of choices, activities and lifestyles that facilitate a state of holistic health. Wellness, as an umbrella, is a set of various facets that comprise overall health. These include Spiritual, Emotional, Financial, Environmental, Social, Physical, Intellectual, and Occupational components. It is important to maintain a dynamic balance between the various components of wellness and not be overly vested in one or two of them. Graceful Aging results from actions that incorporate practices that promote longevity, coherence and functionality: i. e. wellness.
Many people do not incorporate wellness into their aging journey.
The average person ages in lock-step with the socialized concept. Aging is deterioration. Aging is breaking down. Aging is loss of functionality. Many people become accustomed to the conveniences of modern life. Elevators, Cars, Escalators . . . . . these are good, make no mistake. Yet, especially with cars, they become an extension and a crutch. People are their cars. Their cars are viewed as a reflection of the owner. The car has become woven into the fabric of society. This lends to the indespensibility of the automobile.
Achieving holistic health requires a commitment to wellness
Do we, as a whole, value our overall wellness through our adult years? Society does not promote choices geared toward health. Looking at commercials, promotions and such reveals that less than optimal options are the bulk of what is regularly presented. Yet, people could take control of their own health and mitigate the prevalence of the ill-health situation. The induction of wellness activities into the personal, daily milieu of every individual would be life altering. People would actually take personal responsibility for managing their (own) health
Just as no individual is a monolith, wellness is a dynamic melange of life components.
There is no one way to achieve wellness, per se. Every person, as a person unto themselves, requires a unique path in an approach to their own state of wellness. Everyone is not going to be a worlds class strongman, a high level martial artist, or an elite athlete . . . nor should they be. The daily requirements of life mandate that one be ‘capably functional’. Lifting, turning, bending, reaching are basic physical action. Finding contentment in what one does is a necessity as well. One does not have to like what that entails. Just being cognizant of the temporality a ‘predicament’ can assist in making it less of a stressor. Wellness is the achieving of balanced stability between various components in life.
The sundry aspects of wellness impact the individual on physical, mental and spiritual levels. v
The interplay of body/ mind / spirit is what wellness is entails. The overall harmony within the individual is enhanced when these components are balanced. The body is affected within the dynamics of occupational, financial, physical, and environmental components of wellness. The intellectual, emotional, and social components are effectual in attaining and sustaining mental stability. The spiritual component of wellness is one in which the individual must, for themselves, approach. The human spirit is the most neglected aspect of our selves. Just as exercise conditions the body, a healthy spirit is nurtured by purposeful practice.
Focusing only on one or two parts decreases the effectiveness of the complete
A shifting of the focus towards one or two of the components can upset the balance of overall wellness. For instance, being financially adept and intellectually sound are great qualities to possess. Giving attention only to these two aspects will detract from effectively expressing the other components of wellness. Wellness is the formula, format if you will, for what an individual can exemplify in their day to day routine. The individual can be a whole person, complete within the spectrum of wellness. Yet, this will require that the individual work to establish that balance amongst all of the wellness components.
Encompass lifestyle habits that promote ageless functionality
It is incumbent upon each individual to captain their own vessel. Society, as a whole, relies upon the so called experts to diagnose problems. However, do not each of us know when something is amiss within our bodies?? We do know this, but we choose to ignore those obvious tell-tale signs. We depend on the physician to be our healers. It is within each of us to be our own healers. It is well said ‘physician, heal thyself’. The responsibility lies squarely in one’s own personal court. Medical expertise, notwithstanding, the individual must be and become their own first line of support in the pursuit of wellness
Ab-Sutra Wellness and Fitness 