health & wellness - defined

When I started my Facebook page just a few days ago, I knew that a blog was soon to follow – as in that night. I’ve learned that’s how I operate – kind of a “pedal to the metal” girl. My mom laughed at me as I was disclosing my future plans and concluded with, “I know it sounds like a lot but I’m planning on starting this all over time. It will take a little while. If all goes well, everything should be in place by January, 2013.” That’s me – think, think, think and then BAM! Here we go!

Alright, so let’s define these words of health and wellness. There has certainly been a ton of buzz in just about every market available with some claim to either one or the other – or both. And it’s no secret as to why. I think that we all pretty much know that our health and wellness in the United States is an abomination; or that’s at least how I feel about. Crisis is also a pretty common term for its description too, but to me that lacks a certain sense of anger I feel when thinking about it. There will be more about that in later posts…

Products and services that make claims to improve health and wellness are on the increase as are their sales. (Click here if would like to see some numbers and facts on this.) But yet, if one were asked to define the components of either health or wellness, the general idea may be understood but maybe not the depth of their definitions or importance in our lives.

Let’s start with health. Merriam-Webster defines health as:

1a : the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit; especially : freedom from physical disease or pain

1b : the general condition of the body <in poor health><enjoys good health>

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as:

… a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Both of these definitions have their merits and encompass more than just the standard concept of health as being the, “…general condition of the body.”


Defining wellness takes this a few steps further as it is often referred to as having dimensions – with the number varying based on the study or author of the explanation. The ten most frequently discussed dimensions are:

1.      Social Wellness

2.      Occupational Wellness

3.      Spiritual Wellness

4.      Physical Wellness

5.      Intellectual Wellness

6.      Emotional Wellness

7.      Environmental Wellness

8.      Financial Wellness

9.      Mental Wellness

10.  Medical Wellness

As you may have surmised, these dimensions do not exist individually but rather coexist impacting one another. My job as a wellness coach is to help others balance these dimensions in their lives.
Thank you to Christopher for generating the idea for this particular posting. Sometimes it’s good to take a step back and look at the big picture.
Stay balanced.