Wellness consciousness is a lifestyle that prioritizes healthy habits. This might include turning down desserts that don’t align with their dietary goals or exercising regularly.
It also includes purchasing products and services that improve mental health, such as brain-boosting nutraceuticals and botanicals. Other wellness dimensions are discussed in the six-dimensional model, which is available to Wellness Alliance Members (click to access)..
1. Physical activity
Physical activity is movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure. Physical activity is an important part of wellness consciousness because it is proven to prevent and treat non-communicable diseases including heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. It also helps maintain a healthy body weight and improves mental health, quality of life and well-being.
Exercise is a subcategory of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive and done to improve or maintain one or more components of physical fitness (Caspersen et al, 1985). Aerobic activities include moderate-to-vigorous activity such as walking, swimming, hand cycling and dancing. Flexibility exercises stretch and lengthen muscles, reducing muscle tightness and enhancing mobility.
Regular exercise releases feel-good chemicals in the brain and can boost your mood. Even just 10 minutes of brisk walking can make you feel more alert and energetic throughout the day.
2. Nutrition
Wellness is a holistic process that helps people achieve their full potential physically, psychologically and socially. It involves several components, including achieving fitness goals and developing healthier eating habits.
Taking into account the health implications of environmental change, wellness-conscious individuals are concerned about what they consume, how much they eat and their overall physical condition. They are also willing to go to lengths to keep themselves healthy, such as buying organic products or vegetarian meat substitutes.
Studies found that health consciousness has a direct positive effect on consumer awareness of, and attitudes toward, purchasing plant-based meat alternatives (PBMA). Moreover, it sequentially mediates the impact of a person’s attitude toward the consumption of PBMA on the willingness to eat them. These findings provide important insights for marketers to better target consumers.
3. Mental health
The ability to recognize and express emotions, cope with challenges, and work productively is a critical aspect of mental health. It also entails psychological stability and an outlook that is positive and hopeful.
A person’s mental wellness also correlates with their confidence, as well as their ability to support the people around them. When mental health is poor, unhealthy coping mechanisms such as alcohol and drugs or aggressive behaviors are often used.
It’s important to remember that mental illness is real and just as serious as diabetes or heart disease. The stigma around it remains at a much higher rate than for other diseases and disabilities, so it is vital to support individuals when they seek treatment. Lifestyle interventions like daily movement and nutritional choices can help to improve mental wellness.
4. Relationships
Having positive relationships helps health-conscious individuals stay on track with their wellness goals. They may turn down a dessert because it doesn’t fit their dietary guidelines or encourage friends to join them on a workout.
They also rely on their relationships as a source of physical affection, which research has shown can reduce stress levels and boost immune system function. Affection can be in the form of hugs or holding hands.
Moreover, health-conscious characters are more likely to use information sources that emphasize the importance of environmental health. They also seek out products that have a low impact on the environment and the human body. This is why they prioritize purchasing eco-friendly food and furniture. They are also more aware of the impact their lifestyle has on climatic changes.
5. Environment
Environmental wellness is your connection to and caring for the natural environment around you. It includes your immediate surroundings – your home, office, and other personal spaces – as well as the community and planet at large. This dimension of wellness involves embracing eco-friendly lifestyle practices such as recycling, using energy efficiently, and minimizing your ecological footprint.
Researchers are increasingly interested in the effects of nature on wellbeing. Studies like “forest bathing” (a Japanese practice involving walking through forests) suggest that exposure to nature can reduce levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. Moreover, some of the chemicals released during forest walks, such as aerosols from cedar trees, may boost activity in natural killer cells, which can fight cancer and infections.
Other pathways through which nature affects health are under investigation, such as the biophilia hypothesis, which suggests that people feel a sense of belonging and attachment to their natural environment.
