What is Physical Wellness?

Physical Wellness is a movement that originated in the United States and aims to achieve a healthy life through several key aspects, including proper stress and rest management, optimal nutrition, maintaining an active lifestyle, good sexual health, and a strong focus on hygiene and disease prevention. Why is Physical Wellness important? It's important because enjoying the best possible physical and mental state is fundamental to achieving peak performance and enjoyment in all aspects of life: academic, professional, family, leisure, etc. At the same time, this philosophy seeks to reduce habits or customs that are not beneficial to our bodies and that can negatively impact our well-being. What are the key aspects of Physical Wellness? Nutrition: Contrary to what many people still think, eating well doesn't mean starving yourself on raw lettuce for the rest of your life. Eating well means being perfectly nourished, ensuring the necessary intake of nutrients for daily life through a varied diet with a predominance of healthy foods, and obtaining nutrients through supplementation that we cannot get through our diet alone. This is not only necessary to have adequate support for daily physical activity, but also for mental activity, allowing us to achieve optimal performance and a proper mind-body balance. Sleep and Rest: It's a widely held belief that we should all sleep eight hours a day. This isn't always the case, as depending on age and other factors, it may be necessary to sleep a little more, or a little less may be sufficient. What is very important, however, is to try to maintain good sleep and rest, with an established routine regarding bedtime and wake-up time. Constantly disrupting our sleep cycle can affect the quality of our rest, our energy levels, and even be related to fatigue, memory problems, mental agility, or emotional balance. Physical activity is very important to understand, but it's not about becoming an Olympic athlete. High-intensity exercise can even be counterproductive, leading to muscle injuries, joint problems, and so on. Not all physical activity has to be strenuous. The key, as in other areas, lies in developing and establishing certain habits that keep us from being sedentary and allow us to stay active every day. Everyone is different, and the key is to find an activity we can dedicate time to each day, one that we enjoy, and that allows us to gradually increase our daily activity level, adapted to our individual abilities, so we can reap the health benefits of physical exercise. Relaxation and Stress Management : Relaxation is often thought of as simply a mental exercise that provides mental benefits. This isn't entirely true, as tension can accumulate in the muscles and cause fatigue, headaches, or back pain. Even at a hormonal level, stress can cause various unpleasant symptoms in our bodies. Currently, many of us have packed schedules and try to attend all or as many events as possible, creating a stressful situation that ultimately proves detrimental. It's essential to schedule time to relax at home, read, get a massage, or simply do nothing, allowing our bodies and minds the much-needed state of disconnection. Hygiene and Disease Prevention: We could define hygiene as the set of activities we perform to maintain our health and prevent illness. Daily personal hygiene not only helps maintain a healthy state but can even contribute to an improved mood, becoming a fundamental habit for people suffering from certain mental health problems, such as depression. In these times of pandemic that we have all been living through, almost all of us have become experts in disease and infection prevention (masks, hand hygiene, social distancing, etc.). To these acquired routines, we can add regular medical checkups or dental visits to help ensure good dental health. Preventing diseases or intervening early is much more effective in the long run than ignoring our health concerns. Other aspects to consider regarding Physical Wellness: - Try to minimize the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and other unhealthy habits. - Avoid, as much as possible, contact with people who are ill with viral infections, both actively (by avoiding leaving home as much as possible if you are the infected person) and passively (by avoiding contact with family members or friends who are going through a viral infection). This is not only about protecting ourselves, but also about protecting others. - Self-diagnosis is not advisable under any circumstances, but periodic self-examination of the breasts (in the case of women) or testicles (in the case of men) can be very beneficial in order to detect any lumps or foreign bodies and make an appointment with a specialist as soon as possible if you detect anything that raises concerns. - It's best to avoid, as much as possible, situations that we know can negatively affect our health: prolonged sun exposure without taking adequate precautions, prolonged exposure to environments with high levels of pollution or poor air quality, or the use of medications without a prescription, especially antibiotics, as this can lead to unwanted resistance. - Staying well-hydrated is essential for good health. - Try to ensure you get the necessary daily intake of vitamins and minerals, using supplements as needed. - Try to maintain good sexual health as a natural and healthy expression of your personality. - Enjoying a restorative nap whenever possible is a great way to rest and relax, as long as its duration doesn't interfere with the quality of your sleep at night.