Congratulations! You have just made a positive step toward improving your health and wellbeing. The Terrapin Health and Fitness Challenge program has been designed to give University of Maryland students, faculty, staff and CRS members a chance to learn more about healthy lifestyle choices. This program is designed to allow you the opportunity to earn points weekly for choosing healthy behaviors in all areas of wellness.

Wellness is the dynamic, ever-changing process of trying to achieve one’s individual potential in each of several interrelated dimensions. These dimensions include:

Definition of Wellness

Wellness is an active process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a more successful existence.

The key words in this first sentence are process, aware, choices and success.

Process means that we never arrive at a point were there is no possibility of improving.

Aware means that we are by our nature continuously seeking more information about how we can improve.

Choices mean that we have considered a variety of options and select those that seem to be in our best interest.

Success is determined by each individual to be their personal collection of accomplishments for their life.

Wellness is multidimensional. A popular model adopted by many university, corporate, and public health programs encompasses 6 dimensions:

Physical

Social

Emotional

Intellectual

Spiritual

Occupational

Physical

The physical dimension encourages cardiovascular flexibility and strength and also encourages regular, physical activity. Physical development encourages knowledge about food and nutrition and discourages the use of tobacco, drugs and excessive alcohol consumption. It encourages consumption and activities, which contribute to high-level wellness, including medical self-care and appropriate use of the medical system.

As you travel the wellness path, you'll strive to spend more time each week building endurance, flexibility and physical strength. Sometimes the path may become narrow and treacherous-you'll become more aware of the hazards around you and you'll begin to take safety precautions so you may travel your path successfully. The physical dimension of wellness entails taking responsibility and care for minor illnesses and also knowing when professional medical attention is needed. By traveling the wellness path, physically, you'll be able to monitor your own vital signs and understand your body's warning signs. You'll understand and appreciate the relationship between sound nutrition and how your body performs. The physical dimension provides almost immediate beneficial results-both physical and psychological. The physical benefits of looking good and feeling terrific most often lead to the psychological benefits of enhanced self-esteem, self-control, determination and a sense of direction.

Social

The social dimension encourages contributing to one's human and physical environment to the common welfare of one's community. It emphasizes the interdependence with others and nature. It includes the pursuit of harmony in one's family.

As you travel a wellness path, societally, you'll become more aware of your importance in society as well as the impact you have on nature and your community. You'll take an active part in improving our world by encouraging a healthy living environment and initiating better communication with those around you. You'll actively seek ways to preserve the beauty and balance of nature along the pathway. As you proceed on your journey, you'll discover many things-you'll discover that you have the power to make willful choices to enhance personal relationships, important friendships, your community, the environment and, ultimately, the world.

Emotional

The emotional dimension emphasizes an awareness and acceptance of one's feelings. Emotional wellness includes the degree to which one feels positive and enthusiastic about oneself and life. It includes the capacity to manage one's feelings and related behaviors including the realistic assessment of one's limitations, development of autonomy, and ability to cope effectively with stress. The emotionally well person maintains satisfying relationships with others.

As an emotionally well person, you'll be aware of and accept a wide range of feelings in yourself and others. You'll be able to express feelings freely and manage feelings effectively. You'll be able to arrive at personal choices and decisions based upon the synthesis of feelings, thoughts, philosophies, and behavior. On the wellness path, you'll live and work independently while realizing the importance of seeking and appreciating the support and assistance of others. You'll be able to form

Interdependent relationships with others based upon a foundation of mutual commitment, trust and respect. You'll take on challenges, take risks, and recognize conflict as being potentially healthy. Managing your life in personally rewarding ways, and taking responsibility for your actions, will help you see life as an exciting, hopeful adventure.

Intellectual

The intellectual dimension encourages creative, stimulating mental activities. An intellectually well person uses the resources available to expand one's knowledge in improved skills along with expanding potential for sharing with others. An intellectually well person uses the intellectual and cultural activities in the classroom and beyond the classroom combined with the human resources and learning resources available within the university community and the larger community.

Traveling a wellness path, intellectually, you'll, explore issues related to problem solving, creativity, and learning. You'll spend more time appreciating and thinking about the scenery along the path-pursuing interests, reading books, magazines, and newspapers, You'll discover a natural interest in keeping abreast of current issues and ideas. As you develop your intellectual curiosity, you'll actively strive to expand and challenge your mind with creative endeavors. On your path, you'll begin to see problems and challenges not as stumbling blocks but stepping-stones.

Spiritual

The spiritual dimension involves seeking meaning and purpose in human existence. It includes the development of a deep appreciation for the depth and expanse of life and natural forces that exist in the universe.

As you begin to develop the spiritual dimension of your life, taking the Wellness path, spiritually, you'll start asking the question, "who am I and what is meaningful in my life?" You'll observe the scenery along the path, the world around you with appreciation and wonderment. You'll ask many questions about the scenery, the world, as well as your everyday experiences, and learn to value that which cannot be completely understood. Growing spiritually, you'll try to find peaceful harmony between internal personal feelings and emotions and the rough and rugged stretches of your path. While traveling the path, you may experience many feelings of doubt, despair, fear, disappointment and dislocation as well as feelings of pleasure, joy, happiness and discovery-these are all-important experiences and components of the terrain, your value system. You'll know you're becoming spiritually well when your actions become more consistent with your beliefs and values. On this excursion, you'll continually think about and integrate your experiences and beliefs with the experiences and beliefs of those around you. With this valuable information, you'll be able to engage in the formulation of YOUR worldview, and YOUR system of values and goals

Occupational

The occupational dimension is involved in preparing for work in which one will gain personal satisfaction and find enrichment in one's life through work. Occupational development is related to one's attitude about one's work.

Traveling a path toward your occupational wellness, you'll contribute your unique gifts; skills and talents to work that are personally meaningful and rewarding. You'll convey your values through your involvement in both paid and unpaid volunteer activities that are gratifying for you. You'll know when you're on the correct path for career wellness, when your work and hobbies become exciting. On your journey you'll begin to value the importance of not only your own personal gratification, but also your contribution to the well being of the community at large. The choice of profession, job satisfaction, career ambitions, and personal performance are all-important components of your path's terrain.

 Source:  http://www.nationalwellness.org/NWA/definitionofwellness.htm

Wellness is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Without wellness we may be subject to disease and disability. Wellness is not something that comes naturally to human beings, it must be pursued continuously to create a truly healthy being. This is not an easy process. However you do have control over these actions and you do have the choice to make healthy decisions.

Over the next four weeks, the Terrapin Health and Fitness Challenge will help to guide you towards a healthier lifestyle. You will have the opportunity during these weeks to watch as your day to day decisions concerning wellness earn you points. Your accumulated points in each dimension of wellness will help you maintain focus as well as enable you to earn prizes!