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well•ness

The word wellness is everywhere. Everyone is talking about wellness. Jillian Michaels of The Biggest Loser launched a wellness cruise. Oprah stayed in port and launched her 8 Pillars of Wellness. Even Russell Brand jumped on the bandwagon and is talking about meditation. Corporations now have “Wellness Coordinators” and there is a thriving “wellness industry”…but at the end of the day, do we really know what wellness means?

Dictionary.com defines wellness as the state or condition of being in good physical and mental health.

The World Health Organization goes much further in its definition: wellness is the optimal state of health of individuals and groups.  There are two focal concerns: the realization of the fullest potential of an individual physically, socially, spiritually, and economically, and the fulfillment of one’s role expectation in family, community, place of worship, workplace, and other settings.

Wait, what?

Full potential?  Social role?  You might be thinking “I thought wellness was eating more vegetables and getting off the couch three times a week.  I thought wellness just meant, you know, being healthy.”

Well, that’s part of it.  Health and wellness do go together, but they are not interchangeable terms. Answers.com does a good job of explaining the difference between health and wellness: Health refers simply to a physical body being free from diseases, but wellness is an overall balance of your physical, social, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, environmental, and occupational well-being.

Think of the relationship between all these factors.  How long will a person stay physically healthy if they are stressed over poor relationships with family, wracked with anxiety over money matters,  or feeling a spiritual void? Similarly, how much fear and emotional trauma is experienced by a person who is diagnosed with a serious disease? Health and wellness are often confused because they are so intimately related. You cannot experience full wellness if you are not healthy, and if you are not experiencing wellness, it can take a toll on your health.

This relationship between health and wellness forms the core of i spa Health Studio.  Our team is comprised of health professionals specializing in unique disciplines that together provide the foundation for wellness in your life. We feature a licensed massage therapist, an acupuncture physician, an Ideal Protein weight loss coach, a skin care expert and a psychologist.

Our blog is dedicated to education and wellness.  One by one, we will explore the different paths to wellness offered at i spa as well as what you can do at home to find your own path to wellness.  Check out our blog updates to learn about our practitioners and how their discipline contributes to overall well-being.  If you just can’t wait another minute to learn more, visit our practitioner’s page and our services page or call us at 727.386.4004.  We are delighted to speak with you and answer any questions you have on achieving balanced health and wellness.