Healthy Living and WellBeing

HEALTHY LIVING AND WELLBEING

31/1/2018

Healthy Living and Wellbeing – what do these words reflect to us ?

Last month we launched our new Health and Wellbeing page on the Website with some great articles and this month we are adding in new articles to provide you with the chance to discern the concepts of Health and Wellbeing and how they impact on your life.

How can we define Health and Wellbeing? How do we achieve it? What does it look like?

Can we define healthy living as the actions and strategies we put into place to achieve optimal health? Are healthy living and wellbeing two different concepts?

We need to look at how we are living and to be aware of everything that we do and all the choices that we make that will have an effect on our overall wellbeing and health.

This month’s topic of conversation continues with us unravelling what it means to enjoy true wellbeing in a healthy body. The comments posted have already started to delineate the difference between the two concepts, so please join our conversation topic to further develop our understanding.

We invite you to join the Conversation and share your comments.

6 Comments

Gayle

9/2/2018 12:12:29 pm

For me, the two words represent two different aspects of life. Health is more mechanical. My blood pressure is within a healthy range, I've adequate reserves of vitamins and minerals in my body, I'm sleeping well at night, I have enough energy to see me through my busy day, Health can be measured by many modern tests.

Wellbeing, is different but equally important. Wellbeing is not so mechanical and cannot be measured. It is more about how I feel. Do I have a feeling of balance in my life, do I enjoy my time alone, do I enjoy time spent with friends, am I connected to my purpose in life, do I have a sense of being part of the whole of humanity, do I value myself, do I value others. Each one of these questions is important in the scheme of my wellbeing. That's how it seems to me. I look forward to hearing how others define Health & Wellbeing.

ANNE MCRITCHIE

13/2/2018 10:39:03 am

I agree Gayle,Health and Wellbeing do represent two different aspects. Some would say that they are intrinsically linked – that you cannot have Wellbeing without Health. However, that has not been my experience. As I move into my late seventies the Health of my body is slowly deteriorating as measured by the various tests you mention. However at the same time as this is occurring my Wellbeing is increasing as My Wellbeing is a measure of the joy, harmony, stillness and love that I feel in every moment. As I age and connect more deeply to my inner essence - the divine aspect we all carry - my Wellness knows no bounds!

Ruth Anderssen

17/2/2018 04:41:58 pm

Gayle, your blog really got me pondering on Health and Wellbeing as being two different aspects -- Health being more mechanical in that it can be measured, however Wellbeing not so, as there is no ready tool that we can measure wellbeing on a continuum scale. My pondering has taken me to observe several of my friends, whilst they claim to be in 'good' health' they clearly don't present a 'good' sense of wellbeing when I use all your benchmarks you presented as indicators for Wellbeing. It feels to me, particularly as we age, we need to be focusing on the development of our Wellbeing -- good health would naturally flow into their bodies and lives.

Anne's blog certainly reinforced my pondering as she expressed her sense of Wellbeing far outweighed her health status -- one gets the sense that her focus on the joy, harmony, stillness and love that she feels in every moment as she deeply connects with her body, surely helps her to accept and not dwell completely on the health of her body. to the detriment of her overall wellbeing.

Sandra Newland

16/2/2018 10:54:20 am

I've always thought of Health in two different ways: There's the physical health that Gayle was defining and there's the inner Health which is a sense of Wholeness which is akin to what Anne is speaking of and is closer to our intrinsic sense of Wellbeing which is not dependent on whether we are physically well or not. When I've had a high fever or in the grip of a bad flu I have often connected to this inner sense of Health which is a deep knowing that healing is occurring and I just have to allow it to take its course and, if I can surrender to this, it's almost an enjoyable experience because there is such a deep connection to the mighty process of healing. If I resist it or get impatient to get better I can hinder this process and the discomforts seem much more intense.So for me I have learnt to trust this inner Health as a given, and let go of any picture of what that looks like - Health may even mean that we pass over joyfully.

Ruth Anderssen

17/2/2018 04:49:54 pm

Sandra, I like how you have expressed that Wellbeing is the intrinsic feeling of wellness that is not dependent on whether we are physically well or not. When we feel deeply into our inner sense we know that our body is more than the physical aspects we so readily identify with when we don't have 'good' health. This connection with our inner sense is very powerful in the healing process and your example of it being an 'enjoyable experience' is quite breathtakingly refreshing to read.

Anne Hart

24/2/2018 03:18:10 pm

Sandra I relate to the deep sense of wellbeing that can be felt when I surrender to my body's ill-health. The body illness brings to a halt any activity or thought or emotional stress that has been building and the whole focus returns to what is needed right here and now - and so even in the midst of my body healing there is a sense of wellbeing and that 'all's right in the world'.

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