Wellness: the quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort.
In the daily grind of life, it can be challenging – between doctors appointments, grocery shopping, meal prepping, upkeeping your home – to prioritize what benefits your wellness and wellbeing. Things like enjoying healthy meals, making the time to go out for a walk, maybe even taking an art class – these activities take deliberate effort, planning and determination to find, coordinate and attend.
And then the Covid 19 pandemic happened and the world transitioned to working from home! And so we added yet another layer of complexity to staying in shape and being mindful about our wellness while stuck at home!
In 2018, a study was conducted by the University of Birmingham to determine if a relationship between the ‘experience’ of your home and wellbeing exist. The full report “Homes and Wellbeing – breaking down stereotypes” suggests that social housing plays a positive role in protecting people from anxiety. Interviewing a mix of social renters compared to owners and owner-occupiers clearly demonstrated that for all types of tenants the one thing that mattered the most was feeling secure and having a degree of control over their living space.
Another interesting finding was that one of the most significant factors of a good home is a sense of security and confidence that your living space is a place to retreat and rest. The sense of getting away from it all.
Consider living in a community that values your wellbeing and provides immersive experiences while living in a quality home surrounded by like-minded folks. Good neighbors, good design and good management are all as important for wellbeing as a person’s tenure or tenancy. This is why it is essential to select a living environment that eases the grind of your day-to-day routine and provides a greater sense of community.
Choose to live in a community that supports your wellness. A community that grants you access to opportunities and resources for a more comfortable and secure life. Make that deliberate choice for your wellness. And that deliberate choice can be making space in your home and daily life for fitness and health.
For the older adults in our world, UpsideHōM is creating housing models to adapt, shape and enhance the delivery of wellbeing for its residents and for society as a whole. For us to create healthy communities means making healthy choices at an individual level while creating lifestyles with those in our immediate circles, as well! Be deliberate in your wellness!
Debbie Bellenger is a skilled presenter, public speaker, TRX Master Trainer and Reebok Master Trainer. Over the past 30 years, Debbie has been developing and delivering medical wellness programs in an integrated continuum of care model with providers using EPIC as a platform of referrals and communications back and forth. She also successfully developed a new service line for CaroMont Regional Medical Center called Employer Wellness services which sold over $500,000 of corporate wellness programs with coordinators to local companies.
Debbie is the 2014 Medical Fitness Association Corporate Wellness Director of the Year – Employee Wellness. She is the 2017 IDEA Program Director of the Year Award recipient, which recognizes a Director who develops and delivers health, fitness and wellness programs for employees, participants and patients that have successfully changed behaviors and demonstrated positive outcomes of improved health.
