Download What is Wellness?

Mental
Social
Physical
• Physical Health: the conditions of a person’s body. A proper
diet, exercise, and the right amount of sleep are examples of
keeping the body in good physical condition.
•Mental
Health: the condition of a person’s mind and the ways
that person expresses their feelings. Understanding one’s own
feelings, and being able to express them in healthful ways are
ways to maintain good mental (and emotional) health.
•Social
Health: the condition of a person’s relationships with
family members and others. Expressing yourself, and working
toward positive interactions with people are important for social
health.
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Knowledge: do you have the proper information and understand
it as it relates to your health?
Access: do you have access to the information and/or products
that affect your health? With no access, your health status can be
compromised.
Behavior: do you engage in risk-taking behavior?
Media influences: are you influenced by the explosion of healthy
or harmful health behaviors which saturate the media? (Internet,
TV, music, etc.)
Communication skills: do you the proper communication and/or
resistance skills when it comes to sharing thoughts, feelings, and
information regarding your health? Do you have good conflictresolution skills?
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Heredity: are you aware of any “family” issues that would affect
your health, both in a healthful or harmful way?
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Environment: do you live in an environment that does not
promote healthy behavior?
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It takes more than physical exercise to
maintain good health. Balance is the key to
leading a healthy lifestyle. Wellness is the
dynamic process of becoming aware of,
taking responsibility for, and making choices
that directly contribute to one’s well being
and that of the common good. It is the
integration of body, mind and spirit and the
ongoing development of one’s own meaning
in life.
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Physical Wellness means respecting and
taking care of your body. It is applying your
knowledge, motivation, and skills toward
enhancing personal fitness and health. It is
making healthy and positive choices
regarding a variety of issues including
nutrition, physical activity, sexuality, sleep,
the use of alcohol and other drugs, self-care,
and the appropriate use of health care
systems.
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Intellectual Wellness is having a curiosity and
strong desire to learn. It is a lifelong process of
creating and reflecting upon experience, staying
stimulated with new ideas, and sharing. It is
discovering challenges, overcoming barriers, and
integrating opportunities to grow, make plans,
develop strategies, and solve problems in an
academic community dedicated to leadership and
service to others. It is the ability to engage in
clear thinking and recall, and to think
independently, creatively, and critically.

Emotional Wellness is striving to meet emotional
needs constructively. It is the ability to respond
resiliently to emotional states and the flow of life
events. It is realistically dealing with a variety of
situations and learning how your behaviors,
thoughts, and feelings affect one another and
your decisions. It is taking responsibility for your
own behavior and responding to challenges as
opportunities. An emotionally well person is selfaware and self-accepting while continuing to
develop as a person. Emotional wellness is the
ability to form interdependent relationships
based on mutual commitment, trust, honesty,
and respect.

Social Wellness means contributing to one’s
human and physical environment for the
common welfare of, and social justice within,
one’s community. It includes promoting a healthy
living environment, encouraging effective
communication and mutual respect among
community members, and seeking positive
interdependent relationships with others. It is
being a person for others and allowing others to
care for you. It is also recognizing the need for
leisure and recreation and budgeting time for
those activities.

Occupational or Vocational Wellness is a fit
between who you are called to be and what you
are called to do. It is finding the place where your
deep desires and gifts meet a need in the
community. A “vocationally well” person
expresses his or her values through paid and
volunteer activities that are personally rewarding
and that make a contribution to the well being of
the community. Occupational wellness involves
continually learning new skills and seeking
challenges that lead to personal growth and a
better world. Listening for and following your
vocational calling is a lifelong process.

Spiritual Wellness is the quest for meaning,
value, and purpose resulting in hope, joy,
courage and gratitude. It is the discovery and
incorporation of a personal set of values and
beliefs that defines the person, places the
individual in relation to the larger community,
and engages a faith that promotes justice.
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Global or Environmental Wellness is an
awareness of the precarious state of the earth
and the effects of your daily habits on the
physical environment. It is respect for God’s
creation and the beauty and balance of nature.
Global wellness involves maintaining a way of life
that maximizes harmony with the earth and
minimizes harm to the environment. It includes
being involved in socially responsible activities to
protect the environment.