Defining Wellness

In a previous post, I talked about the mission and vision for Empower Acupuncture, and how I want to provide better access to wellness for communities in Merton and Sutton.

But when I talk about wellness, what do I mean?

The Global Wellness Institute has a huge amount of interesting information about wellness across the world, but for now I’ve borrowed some of their definitions of wellness. While we think about health and wellness as mainly a physical attribute, in fact it encompasses a combination of factors across the spectrum of human experience and interaction:

• Physical: Nourishing a healthy body through exercise, nutrition, sleep, etc.

• Mental: Engaging the world through learning, problem-solving, creativity, etc.

• Emotional: Being aware of, accepting and expressing our feelings, and understanding the feelings of others.

• Spiritual: Searching for meaning and higher purpose in human existence.

• Social: Connecting and engaging with others and our communities in meaningful ways.

• Environmental: Fostering positive interrelationships between planetary health and human actions, choices and wellbeing.

Wellness is focused on prevention, healthy lifestyles and the pursuit of optimal wellbeing. Ultimately, a solid foundation for wellness helps us prevent and overcome disease, both at present and in the future.

So what about Wellness from Traditional Chinese or East Asian perspective?

Well, this is where East Asian Medicine really shines, as it takes a holistic approach to health, which means it is looking not just at the physical but also the mental, emotion and spiritual aspects of a person, and sees how we can bring everything back into balance again.

Poor health means things are out of balance, good health means things are all working together as they should be.

Now, I think it’s a lot to assume that we’re just going to be pinnacles of health all the time. I mean, we are human, and things happen, and modern life seems to throw more and more at us these days. So I think it’s more about things we can do to ensure we now how to bring ourselves back into the middle if we need to.

Obviously acupuncture is a great way to do that, but stay tuned as I explore different ways we can keep wellness up to date.

In the meantime, if you want to chat about how acupuncture can help you, I offer a free 30 minute consultation to discuss your health needs. Or if you're ready to take the plunge, you can book an initial constulation and we'll get started on your personalised treatment plan.

Just visit the booking page to pick a date and time that suits you:

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