August Director’s Blog | Connection

During the past few months, I have had the fantastic opportunity to interact and connect with hundreds of our dedicated Family Wellness members. As I greet people entering the facility, I like to ask the question “What are you working on today?” I get many of the typical answers like, cardio, weights, or swimming, but I also hear the response “I’m just here to work on my overall wellness”. This statement made me think, “what does that actually mean?” After all, the word wellness is a big part of who we are at Family Wellness. It’s in our name.

So, what is “wellness”? The Global Wellness Institute defines wellness as the active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health. Holistic Health? Isn’t diet and exercise the keys to being healthy, so what else is there? What’s missing? The Global Wellness Institute does a great job of breaking it down. First, it’s a constant individual pursuit, an active process of being aware and making choices that lead toward an outcome of overall well-being. Whew! That’s a lot to unpack. So, there must be more than just physical health. Right? There are 5 more models that we often neglect when we are working on ourselves and many times even more than that. Here’s a short list taken from Global Wellness Institute: 

• Physical: Nourishing a healthy body through exercise, nutrition, sleep, etc.
• Mental: Engaging the world through learning, problem-solving, creativity, etc.
• Emotional: Being aware of, accepting and expressing our feelings, and understanding the feelings of others.
• Spiritual: Searching for meaning and higher purpose in human existence.
• Social: Connecting and engaging with others and our communities in meaningful ways.
• Environmental: Fostering positive interrelationships between planetary health and human actions, choices, and wellbeing.

The Family Wellness Mission is to inspire healthy lifestyles by connecting people in a fun environment. We give you all the tools you need to achieve the physical model and we also provide the right environment for success. The piece that bridges the gap is the word connection. Our personable staff does a great job connecting with our members as soon as they walk through the door. I always see our members connecting with each other over coffee and conversations. Having a workout partner helps with motivation and creates community in our facility. It’s awesome when we see people encouraging each other to achieve their goals.

Let’s continue to do all that we can to continue to make people feel welcome in our Family Wellness community. Starting a new program in a new place can be scary and intimidating. Don’t hesitate to offer a helping hand and something as simple as smiling and saying “hello” can go a long way in someone’s day.

Take time to have that conversation. Listen to people tell their story. Ask questions and get to know people. We all went through a scary time of social distancing, and it took a toll on all of us physically and mentally. We need to do all that we can to build back our social togetherness. It’s the small things that matter.

I look forward to researching and developing more ways Family Wellness can assist you in your lifelong pursuit of your own personal Wellness. I can’t wait to see the difference that it will make in all of us.

To your continued success,

Cory Herrmann, Director