If you read health articles online, you will come across the term “wellness” a lot. To a certain extent, you can kind of guess what it means just based on the word alone, but that doesn’t paint the full picture. Wellness can mean a lot of very different things depending on where you look. In this article, you are going to see exactly what this means and what all the various definitions of wellness are.

The Official Definition

Several official organizations actually give their own definition of wellness. For example, the World Health Organization defines wellness as being “in a state of physical, mental, and social well-being.” While that is a good definition, it isn’t the only that exists.

Another definition comes from the National Wellness organization, who says that wellness means: “a conscious, self-directed and evolving process of achieving full potential. Wellness is multidimensional and holistic, encompassing lifestyle, mental and spiritual well-being, and the environment. Wellness is positive and affirming.” This is a more comprehensive definition that is more in line with what people mean when they say “wellness.”

What Wellness Really Means

See, wellness doesn’t just mean taking care of yourself when you get sick or when you have some sort of physical ailment. For too long there has been a focus exclusively on physical health to the detriment of other kinds of health, most notably mental health. Nor should taking care of yourself be a reactive thing, you shouldn’t always wait until a health problem manifests itself, which is what many people do.

Wellness means learning to take better care of yourself in all facets of life, whether it be your physical health, your mental health, or your social health as well. It also means taking care of yourself before an issue pops up. You shouldn’t wait until you are grossly overweight or have health issues before you start eating better. You shouldn’t wait until depression or anxiety has completely ruined your mental health before you seek treatment.

Wellness encourages you to do things like make lists of things that you want to improve on when it comes to your health. It also encourages you to find others to talk to about potential health problems, since this can help you to take care of potential health problems before they become too serious.

So, to get back to the original question, wellness is essentially a state of mind. It is a commitment to solving health problems before they cause you trouble, and not after. It is a commitment to focus on all facets of health, not just your physical health.