What is Holistic Wellness?
Holistic Wellness is an approach to health and wellness that honours and respects the many different layers of who we are.
Today’s wellness industry, and social media in particular, focus primarily on physical wellness.
Physical wellness is important! But it is by no means the be all and end all of wellness. There are so many other subtle layers of our being that we can learn to nurture if we desire to live holistically fulfilling lives.
Nurturing the incredibly intricate layers of ourselves helps us begin to feel better on a deeper level. And as we heal more deeply there is no doubt that other aspects of ourselves, such as our physical wellbeing, will begin to improve as well!
“Wellness is the active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health.”
Before we can talk about holistic wellness it is important to define what wellness is, in and of itself.
The Global Wellness Institute defines wellness as “the active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health.”
Within this very definition we see that wellness can not be pigeon holed. Wellness is not just being physically active, but rather has a role to play in every activity and choice we make in our daily life.
Holistic health requires us to promote the wellness of not just our bodies, but also our minds, emotions, relationships, environments, and even our spirit or soul.
Another important point to take from this definition is that wellness requires us to make active choices that align with our desire to live a more fulfilling life. We must be willing to make decisions, set boundaries, and prioritize our own wellness. Making wellness a priority is the responsibility of each individual, and we can all make decisions, big or small, that will help us along the path to holistic health.
It is also important to note that the journey to wellness is a life long endeavor. One that frequently requires us to use trial and error to discover the practices and techniques that support our unique wellness needs at specific times in our lives. Knowing too that it is always ok to change our wellness practices when we no longer feel fulfilled or nourished by a certain practice or technique.
The Layers of Holistic Wellness
The layers of wellness that we can learn to nurture in ourselves include, but are not limited to:
Mental Wellness - Nourishing the Mind
Emotional Wellness - Nourishing / honouring the emotions
Physical Wellness - Nourishing the body
Spiritual Wellness - Nourishing the spirit
Social Wellness - Nourishing our relationships
Environmental Wellness - Nourishing / connecting with our environment
As we begin to make active choices to support our own wellness needs we can practice honouring these unique layers of ourselves by finding activities that benefit individual layers or multiple layers simultaneously.
For example: walking in nature honours our physical, mental, and environmental wellness. If done with a friend or community group it also benefits our social wellness. And depending on your spiritual practices it may also benefit your spiritual wellness!
Long story short, there are many different ways that we can, and should, approach wellness. Knowing that we are more than just simply a body, that there are other layers of ourselves that need our attention too, is the first step on the path to finding holistic wellness. Holistic wellness is feeling “well” in all aspects of ourselves AND how we interact with the people and the world around us.
Does this change your view of wellness?
How might you adapt your wellness routine to take into consideration the path of holistic wellness?
Please feel free to share your thoughts below as we continue this conversation in the comments :)
