Wellness, an elusive and magical destination? Or a state of being that everyone should strive for? According to the World Health Organization; “Wellness is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
As practitioners in the health and wellness industry, it’s important that we keep up to date with the latest industry research and trends. Currently, it’s the wellness movement, and for a very good reason. But firstly what is wellness? It’s not just about fitness and nutrition but an all-encompassing way of life. From the physical and mental, to your work-life fulfillment and relationships with friends and family. There is one thing you can count on when wellness becomes the topic of conversation. And that is, we can all define wellness in the same way but we will all practice it differently. And that is the beauty of it. Exploring what wellness means to you and what you do to implement more wellness into your life is what’s important. Jackie and Jana share what wellness means to them and how they go about bringing wellness into their lives.
What Wellness means to Jana
Wellness to me means feeling and living well. This includes the physical and mental body but also feeling well in our social environment. It does not necessarily mean to live without niggles and disease but to make the best out of every situation and to make a conscious decision to improve ones wellbeing. It can be as little as going for a conscious walk outside during lunch time or to mindfully enjoy a meal instead of rushing. With conscious lifestyle choices we reduce the feeling of stress and pressure, which has a positive impact on our physical and mental health.
How do I practice Wellness?
Walking my dog
Walking my puppy every morning and evening around the block or taking her to the beach on weekends brings me much joy and therefore improves my wellbeing. I don’t just like watching her being happy and excitedly sniffing all of the smells but I also get to be in the fresh air and move my body.
Yoga
Practicing Yoga at home is a vital part of my life now. Some days very gentle mobilization poses is what my body and mind need and other days a more energetic practice. It is a great way to listen to my body’s needs and to acknowledge it. There is no pressure or feeling of achievement on my mat.
Tea!
My passion is herbal tea. No day goes by that I don’t drink at least one big pot of tea. It gives me the feeling of warmth and comfort.
Massages and Reflexology
Yes, we also do get massages ourselves. It is one hour for myself and nice to just sit back and enjoy downtime. A good massage makes me aware of any imbalances in my body as well. My treat are regular Reflexology treatments. It is great to take time for myself to relax, feel balanced and feel like walking on clouds after.
Cooking
My passion is food, which starts from looking for new recipes, going shopping and preparing dishes. This is my time where I can be creative, relax and most of all eat it after 😉
What Wellness means to Jackie
Wellness to me is living a healthy and fulfilled life. I now understand my circumstances will be ever-changing and what I did a week, month or year ago to bring wellness into my life may be completely different now, tomorrow or next year.
What I have come to realise is that wellness is not one-dimensional. It’s not just about exercise and nutrition. Health and wellness is the culmination of body, mind and spirit. It’s about nurturing every aspect of yourself and being thoughtful of what’s happening around you. It’s about being present and making the conscious decision to choose ‘living’. It’s about accepting what is, is, and choosing your next path. It’s about choosing to be kind to yourself and those around you. It’s about letting guilt go. It’s about choosing love, adventure and whatever sets your soul on fire and it’s about being ok with having a shitty day and crying when everything feels shit. Because that is life. It’s wonderful and surprising and shocking and loving and hurtful and exciting and everything in between. And it’s ours to live the way we feel feels good to us.
How do I practice Wellness
It varies dependant on my time. Currently, I love to read and drink mochas so I try to do those frequently and at the same time 😉 I love cafe hopping and discovering delicious delights too. There are so many great cafes popping up all over Adelaide.
My fave spots are;
St Louis Fine ice-cream and dessert cafe
Handsome and the Duchess
Coffee Barun
Travel:
Practicing Yoga at home is a vital part of my life now. Some days very gentle mobilization poses is what my body and mind need and other days a more energetic practice. It is a great way to listen to my body’s needs and to acknowledge it. There is no pressure or feeling of achievement on my mat.
Movement:
I love to move! Dancing, strength training, yoga or boxing, you name it. I love exploring my strengths and weaknesses. Challenging my body to lift a certain weight or dance my way through a song is really what brings me joy.
Spending time with my family:
Every Sunday I catch up with my family and eat good (generally too much) food or see a movie. It’s always great to wind-down and see everyone.
Learning:
I am a learning junkee! I just love learning in general. I love the continued education I have to do for massage, learning new skills, modalities and the latest research, business skills, languages, anything that challenges me. Right, with Kit Laughlin founder of Stretch Therapy
So how do you bring wellness into your life?
Wellness matters. Wellness matters, because everything we do and every emotion we feel, relates to how we react and the path we choose and ultimately, leads to how joyful and fulfilled we feel in life.
What are you choosing to do to bring joy, curiosity, creativity and adventure? How do you wind down? How do you respond to different situations?
Reflecting on our own behaviours and discovering what brings us joy is a great place to start. Head over to our Facebook page and share what wellness means to you because we’d love to hear from you.
