This article addresses the benefits of physical wellness. Wellness is generally used to mean a state beyond the absence of illness but rather aims to optimize well being. It’s about improving and maintaining every aspect of our lives: physically, environmentally, personally, and financially. Wellness is an active process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a healthy and fulfilling life. Addressing physical wellness is a great place to start.
So, what is the Difference Between Health and Wellness? According to the World Health Organization, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” … Wellness is the action while (good) health is the desired outcome. Essentially, if health is the goal, wellness is the way we might achieve it. The two concepts are not opposites, but rather go hand in hand in one’s quest toward complete well-being.
Wellness programs are good at helping people change to and continue healthy behaviors. This is the optimal benefit of having a wellness program. Healthy behaviors lead to lower health risks, and lower health risks lead to less chronic disease. With less chronic disease the quality of life increases as does life expectancy.
Okay, let’s get specific. What is physical wellness? Physical wellness promotes proper care of our bodies for optimal health and functioning. There are many elements of physical wellness that all must be cared for together. Overall physical wellness encourages the balance of physical activity, nutrition and mental well-being to keep your body in top condition.
It’s no mystery that taking care of your physical well-being is extremely important to your health and happiness. However, because the average American leads a busy stressed out life, health and wellness gets placed way down on the list of priorities. So, how do we attain physical wellness? There are 5 key components to attaining and maintaining physical wellness.
- Sleep
- Nutrition
- Physical exercise
- Relaxation
- Hygiene
Sleep
It’s conventional wisdom that most people need 8 hours of sleep a night to stay healthy and alert. However, many us, especially the young, don’t understand the importance of maintaining a regular sleep cycle. While staying up till 3am and sleeping in till noon might contain enough hours of sleep, it will leave your body unprepared to go to bed at 10pm the next night and wake up for work or school at 6am. Our bodies require a regular routine especially when it comes to sleep. If our sleep cycles are constantly being disrupted, many negative symptoms can arise such as extreme fatigue, sluggishness, memory issues, emotional instability and even an increase in sicknesses resulting in diseases.
Nutrition
Contrary to popular beliefs, eating healthy doesn’t mean feeling hungry all the time or eating rabbit food for the rest of your life. Much like sleep, your body likes consistency when it comes to when and what you eat. Regularly eating healthy foods such as vegetables, fruits, lean meats and whole grains will give you the nutrients that not only support your body’s vital functions but can balance your mental well-being as well. Eating too much when you aren’t hungry or making yourself skip meals can have consequences on your metabolism that can upset your physical and mental health. You must also remember that drinking plenty of water goes hand in hand with eating right.
Exercise
Like eating healthy, exercise can conjure up a overabundance of unpleasant images from extreme personal trainers to dreaded gym class in school. However, not all physical activity has to be a painful endeavor that is endured only for the sake of health. While the long-term benefits of exercise are irrefutable, many struggle to make it a part of their daily life. The key to sticking to an exercise routine is to find an activity that you like and you can grow in. If you find spin class boring or yoga too easy then simply don’t force yourself to do it. There are hundreds of different exercise classes and methodologies that can engage you and inspire you to improve.
Relaxation
Relaxation is commonly thought of as only a mental exercise with only mental benefits. That is simply not true. Tension can build up in muscles causing headaches or back pain and stress hormones can cause a variety of nasty symptoms including adrenal fatigue. These days, everyone packs their schedules full of events and puts pressure on themselves to get ahead. While ambition is commendable, scheduling time to simply relax and enjoy yourself is important to your overall health. Whether it is getting a massage, staying home with a good book or playing your favorite sport, taking time for yourself is good. In fact it’s does everyone around you good!
Hygiene
Hygiene is any action taken to maintain health and prevent disease. This can relate to the everyday practices of showering, washing hands, brushing teeth and flossing. Personal hygiene won’t just keep you healthy but it can even boost your mood which can be especially helpful for those living with a mental health disorder like depression.
Hygiene also includes seeking out preventative medical care such as getting physical exams, going to the dentist and seeing an eye doctor if you have vision issues. Most people are able to brush their teeth and shower regularly but many put off making medical appointments out of inconvenience. Preventing disease or intervening with early treatment is much more convenient in the long run than ignoring your health concerns altogether.
Lastly, Hygiene includes controlling our environment. Specifically our home environment. The products we use and consume in our homes including, the cleaning supplies we clean with and the food we consume have an impact on our environment and affect our wellness. Our everyday cleaners and detergents contain toxic chemicals that over time can cause serious illnesses including respiratory and cancers. Our foods contain carcinogenic preservatives for color and flavor and hormones that can lead to harmful consequences as well. There is a need for us to protect ourselves by using products that are chemical and preservative free. This can be accomplished by purchasing products from a reputable wellness company.
The best health wellness companies will offer products that are free from harmful ingredients that harm your physical wellness. They specialize in keeping your environment safe and your body running efficiently without harmful ingredients. The product line includes nutrition, beauty aids, weight loss, and a host of household cleaning products with no ammonia, phosphates, formaldehyde or other environmental harmful ingredients. For information on one of the best wellness companies in North America, send your request via email to info@universal-health-products.com
Wellness begins at home!
Happy Health!!
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