Wellness is a dazzling term: almost everyone has a supposedly clear picture in mind when he (or she) talks about “wellness,” but in fact there is no precisely delineated meaning. Wellness has a wide range of content. The vagueness brings with it a few disadvantages: too quickly and far too easily it can be sailed in the slipstream of the “life-stylish” word – without therefore communicating anything about the quality of the individual aspects. Wellness means many things – or nothing. This becomes particularly clear in the travel sector or in health tourism. Exaggeratedly formulated: Every guesthouse that comes up with an 8-square-meter sauna now boasts of its “wellness area”; every hotel that hides a rowing bench and a treadmill in the basement raves about the “fitness studio for a balanced stay.” The irritating thing: The hotel and guesthouse aren’t even that wrong about it. So the question arises as to what this actually is, “wellness”? What is behind it?
What is wellness?
“Wellness” is defined by the World Health Organization, the WHO, as “physical, mental and social well-being”. In everyday language, this word is used whenever there is talk of methods and applications that increase physical well-being.
Function, effect and goals
“Wellness” is defined by the World Health Organization, WHO, as “physical, psychological and social well-being.” Wellness has changed from a generic term for a physical and mental state to a synonym for content. The great commonality lies in the intention: wellness refers to well-being as well as the way in which it is achieved. The path and the goal are, so to speak, identical. So what are the contents of wellness? The approaches with which wellness is advertised are always the same: wellness is supposed to counterbalance modern life and its potentially harmful excesses. It is supposed to provide balance. The arguments are quickly assembled: we move too little, stress ourselves at work and in our private lives, eat unhealthy food and in unhealthy ways – our bodies, our souls, our minds, in short, do not find any rest. This is where wellness provides a remedy. The concept of body, soul and spirit is nothing new. For thousands of years, mankind has recognized the basis of all well-being in the harmonious interaction of the three components – even if this was not always referred to as “wellness”. And there have always been efforts to serve the three components either individually or to find helpful applications for all three at the same time – then one speaks of “holistic methods”. Among the holistic methods, the teachings originating from the Asian area are especially worth mentioning. Yoga, Tai-Chi, Qigong and other applications link meditation techniques and martial arts with each other, body and mind should find a balance and come to rest through the mastery. This calmness in turn radiates back to the complete person and provides – “wellness”, well-being. The richness of facets of especially the eastern “techniques” is overwhelming. Some are dedicated exclusively to the art of healing (such as Ayurveda or TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine), others put the sporting aspects in the foreground and therefore usually run under the flag “martial arts”. But Taekwondo, Karate, Judo and Jiujitsu are always accompanied by strong spiritual aspects, which are supposed to provide purification and thus – wellness, well-being. We in the West, on the other hand, are more oriented towards the cosmetic, medical and entertainment facets of wellness. (Which is not to say that yoga and co. wouldn’t be fun!) A look at the programs of fitness studios, hotels or even the adult education centers makes this clear. There it concerns skin treatments (for example soap massages, Hot Chocolate) or make-up Tipps, there special Massagen come to the applications (Lomi Lomi for example or Lymphdrainagen, Shiatsu, foot reflex zone massages), or there are simply only well-being offers, which arrange new and relaxing impressions for the body as for instance the Softpack, the completely pressure-free floating on a water cushion. With few exceptions, all “wellness” applications are particularly gentle techniques. They are treatments that do not stress the body (and thus the soul and spirit), because the effects of stress are supposed to be alleviated by the wellness treatments.This is the real goal, the intention associated with wellness: to create balance and a counterbalance to the stresses that come from everyday life and from a perhaps unhealthy lifestyle. To intensify the effect, the wellness treatments usually take place in an emphatically quiet atmosphere. A calming effect emanates from the rooms (Feng Shui sometimes comes into play here), and special music or nature sounds seal off the outside world. This is where thoughts find peace.
Risks, side effects and dangers
From these points of view, everything related to wellness can only be considered positive. The only danger may be an exaggeration or the unfortunate choice of the provider of wellness services. Wellness is always an economic factor, a lot of money is turned over in this area, a lot is earned, the competition is great. And sometimes the charlatans cavort here as everywhere else. Whoever wants to do something good for himself, whoever wants to do something for his health, his well-being, should therefore inform himself thoroughly and keep the following in mind. Wellness has two objectives: It should secure or restore the momentary well-being, and it serves, quite generally, the prevention, the health prophylaxis. It would be a pity if this were at the expense of a shrunken wallet.
