The Components of Proactive Health and Well Being diagram is a picture to help you think about your whole health. All of the areas in the circle are important and connected. Improving one area can benefit other areas in your life and influence your overall physical, emotional, and mental health and well being. The human body and mind have tremendous capacity to heal, and these innate healing abilities are strengthened or weakened by many factors that we can influence. The inner circle represents you, your values and what really matters to you. The next circle is your self care, the circumstances and choices you make in your day to day life. The professional care ring represents professional care you receive, such as examinations, tests, medications, surgery, and counseling and complementary approaches such as acupuncture and mind body therapies. The outer ring represents your Community and the people and groups to whom you are connected.
Click/swipe through the following screens to learn more about each component.

You are the expert on your life, values, goals, and priorities. Only you can know WHY you want your health. Only you can know what really matters to you. And this needs to be the driver of your health and your healthcare. You are the most important person when it comes to making choices that influence your health and well-being. You are the Captain of the Team, and your medical care team professionals are some of the invited players.

Mindfulness is simply being fully aware, or paying attention. Sometimes, we go through our daily lives on auto-pilot and aren’t fully present in the here and now. We often dwell on the past and plan out events in the future. We don’t spend much time really noticing what is happening right now; just paying attention and noticing, without judging or trying to fix it. Your body and mind send you signals constantly, but if your attention is elsewhere, you don’t notice. Then, the signals that began as whispers become screams. For example, when you miss the whispers of an early discomfort or a sad feeling, you miss the opportunity to make a change before it grows into real pain or depression. Being mindful, or aware, allows you to make conscious proactive choices about every aspect of your health. Mindfulness connects you to each component of your well-being, and to your whole self.

Self-care is often the most important factor in living a healthy life, which in turn allows you to live your life fully, in the ways that matter to you. Self-care includes all the choices you make on a daily basis that affect your physical, mental, and spiritual health. As a matter of fact, how you take care of yourself will have a greater impact on your health and well-being than the medical care you receive. Evidence shows that each of these eight areas of self-care contribute a great deal to your overall health and well-being. They can also impact your chances for developing diseases as well as the course and seriousness of that disease. Consider your values, lifestyle, habits, and motivations in each area. Taking stock of where you are now (your current state) and where you want to be (your desired state) in each of these areas is the first step in living a healthier life.

Working Your Body

Movement and exercise increase your energy and flexibility, and affect the state of your body and your mind and emotions. Studies show that regular exercise reduces risk factors by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, two major contributors to the number one killer, heart disease. Physical activities of all kinds are beneficial and increase strength, flexibility, endurance, and balance. Finding what you enjoy and what works for you is important and may include activities like walking, dancing, gardening, swimming, bicycling, lifting weights, or working out in a gym.

Surroundings

The environment where you spend a lot of time (like at home or work), both inside and outdoors, directly affects you and your health. You may have issues with basic needs such as safety, or things like clutter, noise, smells, chemicals, or poor lighting or water quality that keep you from being your best. Some of these factors you may be able to impact or change and some you may not. It all begins with paying attention to the influences of your environment on your life and health, and improving what you can. It matters to have safe, comfortable, and healthy spaces.

Personal Development

No matter what stage you are at in life, addressing your personal and/or work life is hugely important. This means taking a look at how you spend your time and energy throughout the day, and whether those activities fuel you or drain you. Does the balance of where and how you spend your energy line up with what matters to you? How do you feel about your finances and how are they impacting your life? These factors affect not only your happiness, but also your health.

Food & Drink

What you eat and drink can nourish and strengthen your body and mind. Your decisions about what you eat and drink impact your mood, energy level, and physical health and performance. Developing healthy drinking and eating habits that fit your lifestyle, taking supplements that support your health goals, and limiting substances like alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine keep your body properly fueled.

Recharge

Rest, relaxation, and sleep recharge and refuel you. Sleep is critical for important body and mind functions. Rest, relaxation, and leisure activities create a sense of peace and calm and lower stress. You may also find that physical activity, spending time with family and friends, spending time in nature, completing a significant challenge, or working on a hobby helps you to recharge. Paying attention to the balance between activity and rest is important for optimal health.

Family, Friends & Coworkers

Your social relationships and whether you feel isolated or connected to others are associated with whether or not you get sick, stay sick, and even how likely you are to die prematurely. In good times and challenging times, it helps to have caring and supportive relationships with people with whom you can talk to openly, knowing that they really listen to you. Intimate relationships and sexual health are not always topics people feel comfortable talking about. The negative effects of sexual trauma or feelings of inadequacies can be devastating. Positive and healthy intimate relationships can be a source of strength.

Spirit & Soul

A sense of meaning and purpose in life and a connection to things outside of you are words that describe the core of what is really important to many people. Where do you turn for a sense of strength and comfort in difficult times? Some people turn to faith, religious practice, or time in nature. Some connect with art or music or prefer quiet time alone. You may express this as a guiding principle for living and giving, a regard for others, or a connection with your inner self in ways that fuel you.

Power of the Mind

The mind directly impacts the state of your body, in both positive and negative ways. Think of a lemon and you salivate. Think of something that stresses you and your heart rate and blood pressure jump. Learning to use this connection intentionally for positive effects is easy to do. Mind-body practices strengthen the communication between your body, brain, and mind. Think about highly trained athletes or warriors who use the power of their mind to visualize success, or people who use the power of their mind to lower their blood pressure or control pain. You can learn to optimize your body’s ability to heal and cope better with mental and physical stress, by using mind-body techniques.

The professional care ring represents your relationship with your healthcare team or others who are a part of your team. This includes preventive care (like immunizations, weight control, and not smoking), and early detection of disease (such as blood pressure readings and cancer screenings like PAP smears and colonoscopies). It also includes being evaluated for signs or symptoms of problems, and often involves testing and diagnostics, followed by interventions or treatments for the full range of conditions or diseases. Drawing on the best and most effective treatments or approaches is critical, and includes traditional or conventional services (such as medications, counseling, and surgery), as well as complementary approaches (like acupuncture, supplements, and mind body therapies). The plan to manage or treat disease, as well as to prevent disease, will all include strategies that are rooted in your self-care.

The outer ring represents your community and the people, customs, cultures, groups, organizations, causes, governments, and locations you are connected to. For some people, their community is near-by and local and for others it includes people and things that are far away and far-reaching. Today, with the internet, Skype, and Facebook, people can have connections all around the world. Your community is more than the places where you live, work, and worship, it includes the people and groups you are connected to; upon whom you rely and who rely on you.