The terms “wellness” and “fitness” are often interchanged as if they are synonymous. In actuality, you can have “fitness” without “wellness,” but the reverse is not true. “Wellness” is a balance of a person’s emotional, social, physical, spiritual and intellectual bodies, where “fitness” refers only to the physical component.
Many facilities are still stuck in the fitness quagmire, offering satisfaction in only one aspect of their members’ needs, leaving them open to go elsewhere for the balance they seek. The cost of continually replacing those members who leave is far greater than the investment your club can make to implement new programming and maintain your current membership.
A wellness philosophy emphasizes a healthful attitude toward life, an attitude that benefits all aspects of one’s life. Wellness is not a constant, never-changing state of being. It is the constant dance between all aspects of wellness – a merging of all spiritual, emotional, physical, social and intellectual components. All are connected, all are important. If you are not physically well, it is difficult to be emotionally well. There needs to be balance.
THE 5 ELEMENTS OF WELLNESS
Let’s take a detailed look at each component of wellness and how to bring this balance to your participants to better understand where your facility stands with respect to wellness.
1. Physical Wellness is the ability to apply knowledge, motivation, and commitment toward achieving personal fitness and health goals. To help establish good physical wellness, participants must increase everyday activity, start a cardiovascular, flexibility and strength training exercise program, eat a balanced diet, practice proactive medical health care, avoid destructive behaviors such as smoking and excessive alcohol drinking, and finally, never procrastinate on any of the above.
2. Social Wellness refers to the ability to interact with others and establish relationships that add to our quality of life. A person who is socially “well” is involved with others as opposed to lonely. You want your members to view your facility as a major part of their lives; a place that is as important as home and work in their daily routines. The social component is a big part of that experience. Group exercise is a vital
3. Spiritual Wellness refers to integrating beliefs and values with actions. This is perhaps where many facilities miss a component of wellness. Spiritual wellness is about establishing and implementing meaningful lifetime goals. Spiritual wellness doesn’t just happen, especially in our hurried up, “do-moreevery- minute” world. People need to be able to clear their minds to listen to their own thoughts or intuitions.
4. Emotional Wellness is best characterized as the ability to deal with whatever life brings; often that means stress. People need to get adequate sleep, nourish their bodies properly, exercise, take time to enjoy themselves, and have a network of friends in order to have good emotional wellness and the ability to deal with stress in a positive, constructive manner.
5. Intellectual Wellness is characterized as the ability to be able to adapt to situations, to be creative, and especially to have a desire to further one’s knowledge. It’s being open-minded to new ideas and experiences.
The central theme to the issue of wellness is that all aspects are interrelated. You must have a balance of the five elements to be totally well. As an example, if your emotional body is out of balance, you may have difficulty maintaining the motivation to eat right and exercise which causes poor physical wellness. How do you, as an owner or director, create this balance in your programming to assist participants in their quest to achieve these interrelated components? You look for new and creative ways to engage your members’ interest and bring in programs that are based on wellness versus fitness.
Yoga, mat Pilates, indoor cycling and meditation have long been recognized as vehicles that promote the mind/body balance, however it is the responsibility of the instructor to foster that atmosphere. In a “gym” environment, often a yoga class becomes a stretch class, indoor cycling becomes an opportunity to sing and dance on the bike, thus robbing members of one or more of the wellness benefits.
COLORGIZED WELLNESS
The Colorgized wellness program gives instructors the tools in the abovementioned modalities to create the essential blend of all five elements of wellness. The innovative Colorgized program will engage your members in complete wellness by:
• Color Healing: Affects the central nervous system, the endocrine system and the emotions
• Affirmations: Engages the intellectual and mental bodies by giving focus to the mind
• Chakra Focus: Incorporates the spiritual element of wellness while moving energy through the body
• Group Exercise: Includes physical and social body wellness via yoga, mat Pilates, indoor cycling and/or meditation.
By including the Colorgized concept, your members will save time by taking one class that meets all of their needs and you will retain, as well as increase, your membership size by offering a program that is new and exciting.
Christina Leon is the President of Spectral Journeys. She can be contacted at 800.573.5974, or visitwww.spectraljourneys.com. and mental bodies by giving focus to the mind nChakra Focus: Incorporates the spiritual element of wellness while moving energy through the body
