What is Wellness in Albertville MN?

For the past 10 or so years of my life, I have dedicated my time to understanding health in Albertville MN. My reference to health is not simply the absence of pain or a diagnosable disease. Health is something more. Over these 10 years, I have noticed the word wellness thrown around with different ideas of what it means. This pushed me to explore within myself to find my definition of wellness and apply that to every patient who visits us at Summit Chiropractic and Wellness Center, LLC.

What I have learned in Albertville MN

So, after attending hundreds of hours of classes and lectures and spending more time than I would like to admit reading various articles, books and papers, this is what I have come up with. Wellness cannot be offered in a single service or purchased at a store. Wellness is much more than that. The best definition that I have found is written by The National Wellness Association and they define wellness as “an active process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a more successful existence.” This definition is a great start to defining such a vague, but valuable term. I have come to understand that wellness is a journey towards true health.

The wellness lifestyle does not focus on quick fixes for aches and pains or covering up the symptoms of the flu. The wellness lifestyle is focused on getting the most out of life. While in chiropractic school, I was introduced to the idea of ‘Innate Intelligence.’ The concept is truly quite simple. Our bodies respond to sickness and dis-ease in an intelligent and coordinated way. So, the more I studied wellness, the more I came to understand that it is about staying out of our own way. It is about making decisions today, which allow us to have a better tomorrow. Wellness is about being PRO-ACTIVE rather than RE-ACTIVE. It really is a simple idea.

Imagine being on a continuum. At one end it true health, and at the other end is death. We can imagine that we are on this continuum and the choices we make dictate our position. If we chose a 45 minute jog with our partner, we move towards health. If we decide to sit down to 3 hours of Sit-coms, we move towards death. It is a simple idea that helps to keep our choices in perspective.

So, what is Wellness? Wellness is a lifestyle. Wellness means understanding that our bodies have needs and are perfectly capable of expressing health and vitality beyond our wildest dreams. We just have to be sure to give it the things it needs to express true health and avoid giving it the things that prohibit it from being able to show how incredible we can feel. Wellness is not just about adding years to your life, it is about adding LIFE to your years!