Pursuing Health

In the pursuit of health, we often begin with a focus on one of the domains of health. In our culture, we often begin by focusing on our physical health. We may need to discover or increase our knowledge about the other domains of health in our journey to improve our physical health.

When pursuing health, we can use the focus on physical health as a gateway to begin exploring other domains. The graphic above pictures eight other domains of health beyond the physical. Health is multidimensional. As a person prioritizes her health, s/he discovers many aspects that make up her overall wellness. This can change the health goals she is pursuing.

The official World Health Organization definition of health is as follows: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. The etymology of the word health is the Old English word hælþ, which means “wholeness, a being whole, sound, or well”.

Each of us gets to define health for ourselves. Once we have a clear picture of what we wish our health to be, then we can take constructive action to achieve it.