What does Healthy mean?
Healthy means having good health. Is the opposite of sick, but also can mean “doing
well” in a general sense. Each of us strive to be healthy.
But many of us have illnesses, chronic disease, auto-immune disorders or just
symptoms that appear out of nowhere and don’t know where they came from. So, you
call your Dr. to evaluate what’s going on and he/she prescribes you medication to treat
the “symptom”. Not considering what is causing the symptom in the first place. And of
course, we all know there are side effects to medications, which in some cases can be
worse than the actual symptom itself.
The Wheel of Life; Wellness 360
Wellness 360 is a Holistic perspective. Each of the tabs on the wheel interconnect
between all parts of ourselves. Each person has unique circumstances and needs.
Creating balance by making small changes – when we make changes in one area of our
life, we often notice it changes other areas….interconnected.
In considering your Core foods (inner layer) and what areas might be out of balance, you
may find that there are many things affecting your imbalance. It can be overwhelming
to look at all the areas where you don’t feel that you are achieving exactly what you want
to or realizing that each area has some percentage of “unfulfillment”.
The Wheel of Life is a way to take a closer look at the whole picture, to really drill
down into what specific things are in or out of balance.
The Inner Wheel
Represents activities and things that affect you DIRECTLY. The food you take in or the
fresh air you breathe.
Water
Sunshine
Air
Food
Movement
Sleep
The Outer Wheel
Consists of indirect things that affect a person’s health and well-being.
Relationships
Careers
Finances
Mindset
Spirituality
Purpose
Let’s take a closer look at the inner layers (CORE) to see how they directly affect us.
Wellness 360 Food
Most conversations about taking good care of your body includes the emphasis on the
food you eat. At YOU Wellness, we know that our nutrition is a significant foundational
part of our wellness practice. Healthy eating is crucial if we want to feel and look the
best we possibly can.
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Talking about the element of Food is important when it comes to wellness for many
reasons. First, of course, is that nutrition is one of the hottest topics when it comes to
being healthy.
What we eat directly impacts how we look, how we feel, and how we do a lot of things.
It’s also one of the most confusing and ever-changing elements. When you use the
Wellness 360-wheel, Food becomes an element that is simpler than you think.
There are several aspects that make up the element of Wellness 360 Food.
These include things like:
The specific types of foods that we put into our mouths.
The amount and quality of the food.
How we eat that food, such as in a hurry or at a peaceful, slow pace.
Noticing whether the food gives us energy or makes us feel tired.
Checking in to see whether the food feels nourishing.
Paying attention to whether the food makes us feel good after eating it.
Healthy Eating Is as Unique as You Are
Every person on the planet has specific biochemistry, environment, and lifestyle. When
combined, we are each quite unique. That means that each diet and nutrition plan out
there isn’t good for every person. It’s not a one diet-fits all. The food you eat needs to be
as unique as you are. Each person has specific individual needs. There are many factors
that influence which foods are best for you as an individual.
Wellness 360 Rest
Generally, it’s hard to improve your physical wellness for life when other parts of your
life might be under stress or unhealthy One of the elements that can support you to gain
perspective on your life and see the connections between all the Wellness 360 elements
is the element of Rest.
The first reason it’s so important is that rest and sleep affect us on so many levels. When
we initially think of rest, we tend to think of sleep. And sleep is one of the biggest health
challenges that people in our culture face today.
Rest as a Wellness 360 element encompasses more than sleep, of course. The overall
American and western attitude toward rest is to try to minimize it as much as possible.
We put value on getting more done, being more productive, and being more efficient.
But we’ve lost our value for rest in our culture. Our quality and quantity of rest has
decreased, causing many problems ranging from minor health issues to major
challenges.
But when we’re talking about rest, we mean more than just sleep. Rest is a bigger idea
than that. It’s all about valuing our self-care practices. Rest also includes our downtime
and the ways that we intentionally slow down. It’s all about taking time to enjoy a
hobby, relaxing entertainment, or restful activities. Rest is about the things we can do to
release stress, calm our bodies, and power down our minds for a while.
Pay Attention to Your Energy Levels
You might be one of the lucky ones who sleep well and then wake up energized and
ready to start your day. Or you might wake up dragging from the first moment your feet
hit the floor. Notice your energy levels at the beginning of the day, but also pay close
attention to how they change throughout the day.
Do you feel exhausted by lunchtime? Are you loading up on caffeine just to get through
the day? Are you dragging all day long and then laying in bed wide awake at night? Keep
a journal to track your energy levels, then compare it to other activities and the food
you’re eating to discover patterns and correlations.
Check in With the Wellness 360 Wheel
Oftentimes, our quality of rest is directly affected by other aspects of our lives. If you’re
struggling through a bad patch with your partner, it might be really hard to sleep at
night. Lots of elements can be making it hard to go to sleep and to stay asleep. They can
also make us feel less motivated to engage in self-care, right during a time when we
might need it most.
Get Better Rest and Sleep
Taking good care of yourself is essential to achieving wellness. This includes focusing on
resting more, giving yourself better self-care, and ensuring that your sleep each nigh is
restful.
Wellness 360 Water
Water is an incredibly important part of your wellness routine and something to
consider when improving your overall health. There are many ways to look at Water and
ways to consider how it impacts our well-being.
Importance of Water for Health
One of the reasons we should talk about water is the fact that over half of the human
body is made of water. It’s an important element in our organs, our blood, and even our
bones. Water’s job in our bodies ranges from insulating our organs to lubricating our
joints, to forming the building blocks of cells.
Water is also an important part of the elimination system, carrying waste and toxins out
of our bodies. Water for health is always important to create a healthier body and a
more balanced wellness practice.
The simplest understanding of water for health is that we take in water through drinking
and eating. When we drink water, we are contributing a crucial element to our body for
its survival. We want to continually replenish the water in our bodies so it can support
our organs, joints and cells.
Without water, we become dehydrated and when that happens, our bodies can’t
function properly. Our cells become sluggish and too dry to perform their functions
optimally. We depend on water to live, way down to the cellular level. The quality of
water we’re drinking also greatly affects us. Dehydration can have a negative impact on
your wellness, so it’s important to balance water for health and well-being.
Here are a few ways you can get started with balancing your water element.
1. Keep track of your water intake.
Write down when you drink water and how much you’re taking in. Pay attention
to when you feel thirsty and make note of it.
2. Pay attention to the other beverages you’re drinking.
If you’re a big coffee drinker, notice what it does to your thirst and bathroom
visits. Caffeine tends to trick the body into eliminating water, which will leave you
dehydrated. Also, keep a close eye on other things you drink, such as sodas, diet sodas, teas,
juices and alcohol. Some of these liquids are hydrating and others are
dehydrating. Some of them will wreak havoc with your water fluid balance. Water
is always the best thing to drink for your health.
Wellness 360 Sun
It’s vitally important to get about 10 minutes of natural midday sunlight every single day
– and it’s crucial in the winter. This is true even if it’s overcast outside. We spend a
whopping 90% of our time indoors – and that’s where everyone else’s germs are
multiplying! Sunlight boosts the immune system by converting cholesterol to vitamin D.
It stimulates the thyroid gland; ensures sound sleep by triggering melatonin production at
night; and boosts the mood. Get outside for a walk and get your vitamin D for the day.
A minimum of 20 minutes per day when the sun is high in the sky is ideal for optimum
vitamin D intake. You’ll also feel more energized once you soak up some sunlight.
Wellness 360 Air
One of the important elements of Wellness 360 is Air. At the most basic level, our body
is alive because of the air we breathe in. It’s literally our life force and the element that
makes it possible for all the cells in our body to thrive.
The air you breathe contains a lot of oxygen, which is an essential element for life. Every
one of your cells needs it in order to carry out their functions and keep you moving.
When you breathe in, air moves into your lungs, then oxygen travels to all the places it
needs to go through the bloodstream.
Understanding the Air Element
The element of Air focuses on the actual air coming into our lungs when we breathe in.
Since air is such a vital part of our life force, it’s important to consider the quality as it
will affect our physical health. Improving our wellness isn’t complete until we’ve
addressed the ways in which we take in air.
Air as Nature and Outdoors
As a Wellness 360 element, Air also represents the air outside and nature. This includes
our environment and how we treat it. That includes how the environment impacts our
air quality, which then affects our health. An environment that is treated poorly and has
become unhealthy will have negative effects on our health. On the flip side, when we
lovingly care for our environments, it can have a hugely positive effect on our mental
and physical health.
When we are exposed to air pollution for any length of time, it can harm our respiratory
system, lungs, and cardiovascular system (our heart). Long exposures to pollution can
lead to serious diseases and health effects that can be devastating.
Air as Indoor Environment
Your indoor environment is also important. The air quality of our homes has a huge
impact on the air we breathe in and our overall physical health. Our homes are our safe
havens, away from the outdoor environments that surround us. The quality of the air we
take in within our homes is an important consideration when balancing wellness and
health.
Air as Breath
While the quality of the air you breathe in is super important, it’s also crucial to consider
how you are doing the physical breathing.
Most people breathe in using just their upper chest, taking in very short and shallow
breaths. For ultimate health, we need to be breathing in deeper ways. Air should move
in your nose, down into your lungs, filling up so fully that your belly rises. It should
then make its way back out, leaving through your nose or mouth fully. Intentional
breathing brings in the most efficient levels of oxygen, bringing vitality and true
oxygenation to every cell in the body.
Learning how to breathe properly impacts our well-being at a deep level. Deep breathing
helps to calm our nervous system, and slower breathing can de-escalate panic and
anxiety.
Wellness 360 Body
Wellness 360 is a holistic philosophy that supports the integration of all areas of our
well-being. But it’s not just one-dimensional. It’s a three-dimensional, layered system
that supports the whole person. Each layer of Wellness 360 can be used to change your
health and life on different levels. Going beyond just our external health, Wellness 360
takes us to the inner layer of ourselves and can help us define and evolve our whole
being.
On the first layer – the physical, external layer, Wellness 360 continues to provide a
holistic framework for balancing our lives in the 12 elements of life we originally created.
On the second layer – the internal, inner layer, Wellness 360 goes to the next level by
integrating both the external and internal. We are not just physical bodies; we have an
internal world that plays a huge role with our health. What’s happening on the inside is
often as important as what is happening on the outside.
And finally, on the third layer – the symbolic, more “energetic” layer or that hidden
layer you can’t see – Wellness 360 provides greater meaning to the areas of our life that
are out of balance and provides a deeper understanding of our individual journeys.
I encourage you to really look at the Wellness 360 wheel and see what areas are out of
balance. Then rate them from 1-10. 1 being the lowest, 10 being the highest. If you rate
any areas at 7 or below then those areas are the main and biggest that need to be focused
on and fixed. As they are interconnected with other areas of your life and is not whole.
Empowering You To Be More Healthy
I am a Master Certified Holistic Health and Wellness Coach, founder of YOU Wellness
and creator of The MS Energy Blueprint. On Facebook, I’m known as The MS Wellness
Coach. I specialize in empowering women with MS to combat fatigue and increase energy
levels naturally so that you can transform from existing to living life with vitality and
abundance.I am also an author of Blue Fingers Brass Knuckles – self-help book for those newly
If you would like to learn how to improve your overall health and manage your MS
symptoms naturally, click HERE to schedule your FREE strategy session with me!