Wellness is a term that has been applied in different ways across many ideologies, but the original definition of the word is what we are interested in at Boonsook Fitness. The definition of the noun according to Oxford Languages is, “a state of being in good health, especially as an actively pursued goal.” This description implies the importance of an individual’s purposeful input toward a better state of being. Since each individual has a different mind, body, and life circumstances, the steps toward wellness will be different for each person. Wellness requires a holistic approach — no single change will bring about true wellness in a person’s life. Wellness must be achieved through a variety of changes to your physical and mental lifestyle choices to truly implement balance into your long-term health and well-being.
That being said, there are some general categories that many organizations can agree contribute to the overall wellness and well-being of a person. For example, the Mayo Clinic’s studies on wellness and health attribute wellness to the synergy of nutrition, activity, stress management, and social support. Stanford’s relatively new program, WELL (Wellness Living Laboratory), also has its own take on defining wellness: they aim to identify specific factors that contribute to wellness for different demographics using questionnaires that probe a range of topics. They believe that once wellness can be measured, tools can be implemented to achieve the lifestyle changes required to get scientifically defined wellness.
At Boonsook Fitness, however, we believe that to feel your best each day, it is important to not only exercise, but to improve every aspect of your body’s health. To achieve this you must become aware of your habits and choices that degrade your wellness, and be open to forming new ones. This includes finding movements that maintain your muscle and cardio strength, cultivating activities that develop your mental health, seeking nutritional awareness to keep up healthy digestion, and making time for recovery to maintain your progress. Analyzing your life habits to distinguish where you need work–and then purposefully altering your daily habits to meet those needs–will be the first step in your personal path to wellness. In other words, strengthening your commitment to movement, mental health, nutrition, and recovery will prepare your mind and body to manage the stresses of life while improving mental and physical well-being.
Managing stress is mentally and physically exhausting, and, according to nutritionist Mia Rigden, severely impacts human health. Stress leads to an imbalanced homeostasis, which results in symptoms like fatigue, leaky gut, lack of motivation/energy, memory loss, cravings, and sleep restfulness. When stress becomes chronic, your body loses some of its capabilities to properly return to homeostasis, which can have long-term effects on your circadian rhythm, mental health, and management of normal body function (digestion, reproduction, growth, immune responses).
Managing chronic stress through diet, exercise, sleep, and lifestyle changes can ensure that your body has the right tools to return to homeostatic function as often as possible, increasing the periods of time that you’ll feel physically and mentally balanced. Regular fitness routines that match your lifestyle and wellness needs will not only improve your body’s function and strength, but will also keep your psyche fit. Educated nutritional choices and purposeful planning of activities that will encourage mental healing and physical recovery will also contribute to keeping your mind and body healthy. The global trend toward seeking wellness is only increasing, because people are realizing that these lifestyle changes result in a more balanced and healthy life experience.
While all of this information may seem like an abstract idea that is difficult to put into practice, even the US Department of Health and Human Services has recognized that complementary health practices contribute to better overall wellness, and that wellness consists of both emotional and physical well-being. That being said, the hard work that may be required to forge your path to wellness will ultimately be worth the effort as you approach a more balanced lifestyle and reap the emotional and physical benefits of your work.
Boonsook Fitness aims to facilitate the tools, routines, and accountability you need to implement that hard work into your schedule. Offering personalized wellness plans that target changes in your physical and mental habits, you can begin your wellness journey with Boonsook.