A Journey to Wellness
Most people spend their entire life pursuing happiness. We tend to focus on tasks such as better relationships or finances. While those things are important, there are many other factors that also play a key role in improving our overall quality of life. A lot of these factors cannot be seen, but instead felt. We call this, ‘The Journey,’ and it begins and ends with you.
Most people do not enjoy going on an adventure alone. Life is much more fun with great company to experience unique places or destinations together. Chris Rabanera, a Behavioral Health Specialist at Scheurer is an advocate that “health” is comprised of three parts: physical, mental and social. He helps those along in their journey to wellness.
“Maintaining and managing all three aspects is essential in living a healthy lifestyle,” shared Chris. “We need to understand the connection between behavioral and mental health. Behavioral health has an impact on an individual’s well-being, while mental health is the state of one’s well-being. Together, they have a strong impact on one another.”
In short, to ensure that we are in a good place mentally, our behavioral health also needs to be in a good place.
Focusing on our behavioral health and wellness is not only crucial to living a full and productive life, but one that brings us joy. According to Jaylee Chandonnet, Scheurer’s Community Wellness Manager, “Mental health is one part of wellness that needs to be acknowledged more.” In order to prevent the onset or shorten the duration of illness, we must develop and maintain a set of skills and strategies while promoting recovery and well-being. “We all have stressful times in our lives and being able to accept good coping skills allows us to maintain virtuous mental health. The balance of the two allows us to improve our overall self,” Jaylee explained.
Living in a rural community, people may think it is harder to find things or activities to help improve their overall health and wellness, which is why Scheurer has created a series of resources to help bridge the gap to “Better Health. Better Life.” Jeanne Putman, our fitness instructor offers nearly 20 classes each week between the Pigeon Event Center and the Scheurer Wellness Center – Sandy Shores. Classes vary from walk and tone, step and strike, cardio, strength, kickboxing all the way to water aerobics and much more.
The community can also improve their health and wellness by eating a healthier diet. We realize that this is easier said than done, so that is why we have two registered dietitians here at Scheurer. They are trained in diet and nutrition and can help develop a plan for you that is suitable for your lifestyle.
Aside from the two major “diet and exercise” factors, there are three other areas you can strive for on a daily basis: staying connected socially, getting a good night's sleep, and focusing on your mindfulness.
Social connectedness simply means taking time out of your day to connect with friends and family. Taking even just ten minutes out of your day to reach out and talk with someone can make a huge impact and drastically change our mood, feelings and overall outlook on life. Secondly, making sure that we get enough sleep each day is essential. Sleep allows us to rest and refuel our body for a new day and the challenges it may bring. Placing yourself in a quiet, cool room can help you have a peaceful sleep and perform better the next day. Finally, there is mindfulness, which is considered one of the most important parts of wellness.
Mindfulness is being aware of our thoughts, feelings and emotions. Realizing what is going on inside of our brain can help us understand how we will react in a stressful situation. Staying mindful allows us to focus on ourselves and develop a way to change our thoughts, feelings and emotions when needed.
“Wellness is the act of practicing healthy habits repeatedly. The more we practice our healthy habits, the better we will be at them. When we think of wellness, we must think of our body as a whole, not just our physical activity and nutrition,” stated Jaylee.
