Recover  Living Life After Treatment Health and Wellbeing
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health and wellness as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being – it’s not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. However, each breast cancer survivor’s definition of health and wellness will depend upon how she defines her survivor identity and her “new” normal. It is based on our individual circumstances.
Your health and wellness are a unique state of mind that begins with a conscious decision to shape a healthy lifestyle and adopt it as a priority. It is important to recognize that health and wellness are crucial in optimizing your quality of life.
To help frame your thinking on your own health and wellness, you can review the National Wellness Institute’s six dimensions of wellness or, essentially, life areas that together make up the “whole self”:
While these dimensions focus on what is considered a holistic approach, perhaps a more comprehensive aspect of the “whole self” is based on the Definition of Wellness’ “Ten Dimensions of Wellness,” which are:
Focusing, developing and balancing these dimensions will ensure that your recovery from breast cancer treatment leads you to the creation of a strong, healthy lifestyle. In addition, you can follow the recommendations of the American Cancer Society’s Choose You Program.
Choose You encourages women to put their own health first in the fight against cancer. The movement challenges women to make healthier choices and supports them in their commitment to eat right, get active and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Your health and wellness is a process that never ends. It is a continuous nurturing and development of the “whole self.” Embarking on a wellness journey is a process of searching for the appropriate tools to help make you a stronger, healthier and more vibrant breast cancer survivor.
Start your journey by assessing your current lifestyle, then define your health and wellness goals and develop an action plan. You can use the following tools to create your breast cancer recovery health and wellness plan:
Utilizing these tools will help you map out your health and wellness plan so that you can live a life that is full of vitality, cancer free and without fear and your recovery is a life-enhancing, not life-limiting, event.
The following resources provide more detailed information to help you learn more about breast cancer recovery through health and wellness:
Breast Cancer Wellness Magazine
The Wellness Pyramid for Achieving Optimum Health
The Alliance Institute for Integrative Medicine
National Wellness Institute
Paracelsus Biological Medicine Institute
American Cancer Society Choose You Program
For more information on health and wellness, go to Restore, Reenergize or Resources. You can share your knowledge and experience with other survivors at Survivor Tips or start a discussion in our Partner Forum. |
