What is Wellness?
"Let's look at the word 'health'. [It] is derived from the Old English/German root word for 'whole', which implies that all parts are present, properly arranged and properly functioning in a harmonious balance," from chapter 91, Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill, Udo Erasmus PhD. Most people believe in disease, not wellness. If you ask someone what it means to be well, a common answer might be that being well is not being sick.
But as Udo Erasmus says, "Health has to be the presence of something-all parts in proper arrangement, working in harmonious balance-[to make] us whole, hale, holy, and healthy,"
Instead of defining wellness as the absence of sickness, we need to discover and embrace that presence-in order to come into a balance that gives structure and harmony to our entire person: spirit, soul, and body.
I understand that people have different worldviews. As a Christian, I believe that God created us to be whole persons. In Psalm 32:3 David wrestles with his conscience and notes the effect on his body: "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all the day long." When his spirit was out of fellowship with the Spirit of God, his body responded with pain.
Bernie Siegal, in Miracles Happen Every Day, says, "Hope, laughter, and peace of mind are physiological as well. I know of many [sick] people who...set out to live to the fullest until they died, [who] felt so good they didn't die.
"What does peace of mind do? What is the physiology of feelings?
"Within our bodies we have neuropeptides. They are chemical messengers, like endorphins, messenger molecules in the brain, the body, and the immune system.
"In our society, we are trained from childhood to deny our feelings. (How are you? Fine! What's wrong with your life? Nothing!) By hiding our despair, we give our bodies die messages rather than live messages. Express your feelings and help yourself heal."
Western culture compartmentalizes life: physicians in many specialties deal with our bodies, psychiatrists and psychologists try to heal our minds; pastors and theologians nurture our spirits. But wellness as wholeness means balancing work, rest, sunshine, fresh air, pure water, exercise, passion for learning, worship, and serving others.
If health is not the absence of disease, but rather disease is the absence of health, then let's consider a Christian context: the word "Savior" means one who makes whole. We cannot save ourselves but as we are in Christ and he in us, we have a better chance of wholeness than without him.
Gregory the Great wrote, "Our Physician brought from heaven remedies for every moral fault. The medical art cures fevers with cold compresses, and chills by applying heat. Similarly Jesus prescribed qualities contrary to our sins: Self restraint to the undisciplined, generosity to the stingy, gentleness to the irritable, humility to the proud."
Life is a journey. New years are mile-markers. In my personal search for wholeness I have been strengthened by the daily discipline of journaling. If you would like more information on how to journal your prayers, please be in touch.
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