Before taking Wellness, I just thought of health as being without a disease or injury. I used to think it was all about your physical being but now that the wellness class is over, I believe health is an ongoing process of maintaining a balanced mind-body-spirit by promotion, restoration, and prevention. I now see health as a holistic term that takes into account each part of life. In other words, health is trying to find a balance in intellect and emotions, physical body well-being, and a spiritual peace. For example, I fell in love with running because it keeps up my physical health, gives me a spiritual peace by relieving stress, and allows me clear my mind when my emotions are raging in me. Before this semester, it never occurred to me how different wellness, illness, and health are from each other. Wellness I believe is being at your optimal health, meaning successfully reaching the balance of mind-body-spirit and illness I believe is any pain or emotion that may be ailing one's health. In other words, one practices health by running or meditating and they may reach their wellness by achieving a balance or optimal health in mind-body- spirit but if one fails in a certain area then diseases or illnesses may occur like diabetes or depression. .
I used to think that health was the same for everyone but this semester I have come to learn that it is multicultural, like a different language for every culture. Each culture defines and maintains health in a different way according to where they came from and how they were raised. For instance, if I ever get sick, I don't take medication. I was always taught to find other things to help my immune system flush out any bacteria or toxins in my body like drink orange juice in the morning, hot herbal tea at night, and plenty of water throughout the day. Whereas, in other cultures, some people may visit a curandero while others may just sleep it off.
