As a health practitioner, my first question when consulting with prospective clients is “what does health and well-being mean to you?” This has to be clear from the outset and ultimately evolve with time. Of course, there are objective parameters integral to what defines a healthy human. Normal values of blood sugar, cholesterol balance both HDL and LDL, normal blood pressure, resting pulse rate and generally how well our cardiovascular and respiratory systems are functioning. All clear on those and a full bill of health is often summarised.
But, when we think about the meaning behind health and well-being, our brain can often churn out a large variety of ideas and values. These can also change from time to time based upon how we are feeling in that present phase of life and can often develop more deeply over time. But is there a fundamental description of what it means to be healthy?
“A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease" (World Health Organization)
The above definition states three obvious characteristics, physical, mental and social well-being. Again, what do they all mean independently? Let's not dissect the above statement too hastily...
The answer is subjective. How one sees the world and perceives health can bring an array of different areas to discuss. Does health revolve purely around physical well-being, or does it involve mental health? Does a healthy individual integrate well in a diverse society? If you were to illustrate what health means, how would it look to you? When a friend states that you look “well”, why is this comment often received as a sign of gaining weight or looking fuller in the face? Or “don’t lose any more weight, will you?” An interesting thought...
Personally, I see physical health being governed by the word balance. A balanced amount of physical activities that move the body in various planes of movement, working on strength, coordinating motor-skills and flexibility. Complimenting these attributes is a balanced amount of cardiovascular activity. Accessing both lower/moderate HR training zones with lesser amount of higher intensity training included. How to achieve that? That answer is complex and based upon the individual's current health status of course. But think about it, what bouts of exercise require strength, endurance, flexibility and co-ordination? Pretty much any sport... Can you train each physical attribute independently? Absolutely, hence one’s outlook towards the physical component to health being governed by the word balance.
How many of you automatically associate mental health being a large component of well-being? After all, how we perceive physical health is a picture constructed in our brain through information we have absorbed over time that resonates to us as individuals. How we manage emotions such as stress, anxiety, sadness, anger and joy contribute to how healthy we are as an individual. How well is an individual who has conditioned themselves to train every morning of the week? Sometimes twice in the same day. Yet, struggles to sleep at night, and finds they become even more anxious if they do not tick the boxes of training each and every day. But they look amazing naked!? What is going on inside is as much of a contributing factor to wellness as how someone looks on the outside, they have to align in with that magic word of balance. The two factors coexist.
As a social experiment, ask 5 people close to you what their definition of health would be? A loved one, a friend and three work colleagues. The answers will show what I'm getting at here... the independent interpretation of what it means to be healthy.
In my opinion, one aspect of health doesn’t stand out more than the other, they have to interrelate in one large clear perception of what it means to be healthy, to you. Values are an integral part of finding this. The importance of rest and relaxation, managing life’s stressors through mindfulness and meditation and creating time to socialise with love ones and friends. It wasn’t too long ago that the vast majority of the population would primarily focus on training their physical state. As the stigma surrounding mental health is fortunately becoming increasingly reversed, with more publicised science backing how important it is to pay attention to how we treat ourselves on the inside. We are happy to pay an accountant to advise us on our financial health, a personal trainer to advise us on our physical health. Finally, there is more awareness accessibility and education for reaching out for a specialist to strategise and educate us on our mental health. We are now seeing a change in society’s image of what it means to be a healthy human-being.
The purpose of this blog post was not to dissect each element of health and ascertain how each play their part in holistic well-being. Nor was it to preach vast amounts of education and science with how to be healthy. It was to get you thinking, questioning and searching for what health means to you, and where health and well-being places in your order of priorities. You could already be doing you very well! But It is becoming far too common that we only start to really prioritise and commit to our health once we are faced with adversity. Be it an illness, injury or when reminded how precious our mind and body really are through others.
This post kicks-off a series where I will be dissecting the fundamentals of health and tips to maximize the way we are working towards optimal health and well-being, stay tuned...!