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What Is The Meaning Of Wellness?

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, wellness is defined as the condition of good physical and mental health, especially when maintained by proper diet, exercise, and habits. When considering the meaning of wellness, a logical next step is to consider the term ?homeostasis.? Stedman?s Medical Dictionary defines homeostasis as the ability or tendency of an organism or a cell to maintain internal equilibrium by adjusting its physiological processes. Both wellness and homeostasis address your body?s amazing power to maintain balance among its various internal systems.

But What Does This Really Have To Do With Your Health And Wellness? Actually, Quite A Bit.

Your body is created with the ability to heal itself. For instance, in the presence of pre-cancerous cells, your body has a built-in immune system function called apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death. In a sense, your body tells the defective cells to commit suicide. This may sound like science fiction, but this process of homeostasis is a scientific reality.

This innate intelligence also keeps the surroundings of your body?s internal organs and cells constant even though your external environment may change. For example, if you walk out of an air-conditioned room into blazing hot summer sunlight, your body automatically makes the necessary adjustments to ensure that your internal organs continue to function properly. Your external temperature has changed, but through homeostasis your internal temperature remains constant.

Health And Wellness In The Workplace

Your job ? your family ? your friends ? these important facets of your life are all intrinsically connected to your physical and emotional health. If your job is extremely stressful, that stress will spill over into your personal life. Similarly, if you are experiencing a personal crisis such as illness, divorce or financial problems, it will likely have an adverse affect upon your job performance. This connection of mind, body and spirit is tied directly to health and wellness in the workplace.

When you become overwhelmed by ongoing stress, job demands, or family issues, the resulting imbalance causes mental and emotional distress as well as physical illness. Some experts call it ?burnout.? But regardless of whatever descriptive words are used, the bottom line is that your health and wellness are in jeopardy.

Worksite Wellness Questionnaire

How do you know if you, a loved one, or a co-worker is suffering from symptoms of workplace or emotional burnout? This worksite wellness questionnaire provides telling some health and wellness insight:

? Do you suffer from chronic fatigue or exhaustion, a sense of being physically run down?
? Do you experience frequent absenteeism due to illness?
? Do you have frequent headaches and gastrointestinal disturbances?
? Have you experienced unexplained weight loss or weight gain?
? Do you suffer from sleeplessness and depression?
? Do you experience shortness of breath?
? Do you battle feelings of helplessness?

If this worksite wellness questionnaire hits close to home with you, your health and wellness may be at serious risk.

Chiropractic And Your Health And Wellness

The principles of chiropractic medicine have actually helped shape what is known today as the wellness revolution. These principles embrace the knowledge that your body is designed to function as a whole, not as a collection of isolated parts. This concept of mind, body and spirit recognizes that any dysfunction in one area of your body, emotional stress for example, can result in seemingly unrelated, yet interconnected, dysfunctions in other areas, such as physical illness or pain.

The cornerstone of chiropractic medicine is an innovative knowledge that health and wellness must focus on the spine and nervous system. The spinal cord is a major component of your nervous system which controls every facet of your body?s functions. Tasting, smelling, seeing, hearing, thinking, dreaming, moving, running, sleeping, laughing, singing, remembering, feeling pain or pleasure, writing or operating a computer ? you would be unable to do any of these things without your nervous system. Every breath you take, every beat of your heart is ruled by your nervous system. This amazing system also regulates your immune system and the way you respond emotionally to times of stress.

Chiropractic practitioners recognize that even subtle alterations in the spine can interfere with nervous system activity. These alterations, called vertebral subluxations, are not exclusively due to physical causes. Chemical and emotional influences also play an important role in the health of your spine, nervous system, and your body in general.

Health and wellness begin with knowledge. So go back to the basics in your quest for improved health and wellness. Improve your diet, be sure to exercise regularly, and learn how chiropractic treatment can significantly improve your health and wellness ? at home and at work.