What is wellness? The new mental and physical wellness

The theoretical and practical bases of a school in full expansion.

It is well known that a problem cannot be conceived as such until the concepts to define and delimit it have been created. It is for this reason, among others, that our current conception of what well-being should be has been expanding to encompass aspects of human life that decades ago would have been unimportant or even disdained.

Today, however we speak not only of the importance of meeting the basic needs of each of us, but of a realm of potentialities much broader than the possibility of feeling physically well..... This concept has been called wellness.

The wellness is an idea that more and more therapists and psychologists are working with, but also hotel spa organizations and agencies that offer weekend experiences. What is wellness and why is it so popular?

Wellness: a new concept of wellness

What we understand today by wellness is derived from the ideas of Halbert L. Dunnan American statistician who is considered to be the father of the Wellness Movement. In the 1950s, Dunn developed the idea of wellness on the understanding that human wellbeing had to go beyond what had hitherto been encompassed in the field of health. Thus, this concept had to include, in addition to the correct functioning of the organism, the ability to opt for various avenues of self-fulfillment. self-realization.

Thus, the wellness of which Halbert L. Dunn spoke can be understood as the dynamics and lifestyle by which human potential is brought to its fullest in the physical, mental and spiritual spheres.. As the theorization of wellness includes the acceptance of the existence of a mental and spiritual world in addition to the physical one, this concept is used especially in the circles of influence of alternative medicine and non-experimental psychology.

Since the 1950's, and especially with the momentum of the New Age culture in the 1970s, this idea of health has spread to spa centers, spas and wellness hotels, but also to travel programs and experiences offering wellness weekends and long stays dedicated to improving the standard of living.

A long-delayed issue

This new way of understanding wellness was not born in the mid-20th century by chance. There are reasons why today there are a multitude of wellness centers and a century ago this idea was not even considered. This is because changes in social conditions have made it possible for the philosophy of wellness and holistic health to spread..

It is curious that, although human societies in the West have assumed for many centuries the existence of a separation between the body and the soul, all their efforts to improve the quality of life of people (particularly that of the wealthy classes) have focused only on the physical sphere. The spiritual spherewhich is understood as linked to the divine and seems, therefore, much more important than the "simple carcass of flesh and bones", takes center stage in the practice of creating ideal living conditions.

A select few

The nourishment of the soul was something that was reserved for very small elites and their entourage, even if there was always some philosopher who, even if he had problems to survive, was determined to give an answer to this type of questions.

Of course, until not so long ago, it was difficult to try to provide an answer to a repertoire of needs as difficult to define as those corresponding to the spiritual realm, and even less so with the scarce resources and limited technologies available. How could the ancient Romans, for example, who depended on the denial of the human character of their slaves to maintain an acceptable standard of living and use their services with total freedom, have spoken of wellness?

Today, however, wellness is already possible.. And it is, among other things, because we already have the resources and the technology to stop postponing indefinitely the fundamental question: what about the wellness of our mind?

Wellness in the welfare society

It is not surprising, therefore, that this notion of wellness practically coincides with the emergence of the welfare state shortly after the Second World War. World War II. As the basic needs of more and more social strata were being met thanks to the redistribution of wealth, it was easier to extend the scope of all positive human values further..

It is at this time that more and more people began to talk about the freedomIt is at this time that we begin to talk more about freedom, autonomy to be able to choose a lifestyle adapted to one's own way of being and doing things. It is also at this time that the idea that welfare should address issues that had not been addressed so far began to spread. Many psychology professionals are beginning to focus their interventions on the need not only to treat mental problems, but also to help lead patients to happiness and self-realization. The needs of the spirit, reformulated as needs of the mind, become some of the main objectives.

Thus all ideas related to health and fitness have become imbued with the notion of wellness: from plans to lose fat, lose weight and maintain a flat belly, to treatment plans for sick patients or to help with healthy diet plans..

The science speaks for itself

As is always the case with concepts that appeal to a spiritual world that works by different logics than the realm of the physical, wellness in its original definition is not something that is given much consideration in scientific psychology or conventional medicine.. The research and intervention plans from these instances usually focus on the study of subjective experience and the placebo effect. placebo effectbut not on the consideration of wellness domains detached from normal Biological and physiological processes.

It is clear that weight loss plans could work better if the idea of wellness is internalized and assumed by patients, and that hotels can improve their economic results if they include a wellness center in their services, but that doesn't tell us much about an area of human need that is separate from the other areas of physical health..

So while many spas, hotels, travel agencies and alternative medicine organizations may find the idea of wellness useful, it is not a universal truth.

Believing in wellness can open the door to a new way of developing happiness and enjoying life, but not doing so does not make us people far from true wellness.