Health is a state of body.  Wellness is a state of being.
J. Standford

I was hard on Travis' model.  There are so many great things about it that I didn't go into.  He was trying to bring the focus back to wellness rather than disease by using  WHO's definition.  I believe his intention for this paradigm was more than honorable and that it just got interpreted in different ways other than intended. My understanding then may different from someone else's.

One thing I particularly like about this model are the arrows.  There are arrows pointing in either direction, indicating a possibility of a change in direction.  We may see ourselves spiralling down the continuum into acute illness, for example, but there is always the opportunity to turn and face the other way .  And no matter where you might be in the area heading toward the red from neutral...the continuum indicates that one can turn around and face high level wellness any time.  We can always strive for wellness.



 

I liken this to the rowing a boat in the flow of life  analogy I wrote about previously.  I believe our natural inclination is to be well.  The flow of life takes us to wellness...naturally, easily and gracefully.  We go towards the red  when we decide to paddle against the current and do what is unnatural for the mind and body.  (Travis does allude to this. )  We need to be aware and educated on what is natural and what isn't; what blocks or interrupts the flow of life energy and what allows it. ( According to this model...what is healthy behaviour and what isn't. ) In my analogy that is determined by our thoughts and beliefs...our willingness to put down the paddle, trust in life and allow it to turn us around so we can head toward wellness where we belong.

My argument was more about making the distinction between mind/body health and wellness. Wellness is our being and being is awareness. This awareness  can occur anywhere along the spectrum of colours...and that the awareness is actually going on all the time beyond our thinking.  The awareness is not necessarily "mental".  It is also not something physicians are responsible for.  They can encourage and support education in the physical and mental health matters but more focus needs to be placed on spiritual matters.  We are not just  body's with brains that think.  We are much, much more than that.  We are that whereby the eye can see...the ear can hear... the mind can think.  It is in that where wellness is.  The education that really needs to take place does not come from lectures and health promotion/disease prevention educational sessions offered by doctors and nurses.  It comes from understanding who we really are and expanding and growing into that possibility.

This that we really are...only knows wellness.  It can not advance down the scale into the greens, yellow, oranges and reds.  Our minds and bodies can go there...but we can't.  My body may be there still but my mind is finding its way back...one change in thought at a time leading to a willingness to put the paddle down...and trust life, rather than other egos, to get me where I need to be.

Does that make sense at all to anyone?  I hope so because I have a feeling this is really, really important stuff for some reason. lol

All is well in my world!