← Back to Resources     

  Wellbeing Foundations

​​

Understanding Wellbeing vs. Wellness

In recent years, the term "wellness" has become increasingly popular in our culture. We see it everywhere—in hashtags, product marketing, lifestyle content, and corporate programs. While these wellness initiatives have raised important awareness about health, there's a subtle but meaningful distinction between wellness as commonly presented and a deeper concept of wellbeing.

 

This distinction isn't just semantic—it fundamentally shapes how we approach our health, our choices, and our relationship with ourselves and the world around us.​​​​

​​

Wellness as Commonly Presented

The wellness industry often focuses on external markers and specific practices—picture-perfect meals on Instagram, intense workout routines, or rigorous self-care regimens. While these can certainly be part of a healthy lifestyle for some, the way wellness is typically portrayed often creates several challenges:

​

• Emphasis on perfection rather than progress

• Focus on external metrics over internal experience

• Prescriptive approaches that may not honor individual needs

• Presentation as luxury rather than accessible necessity

• Separation from daily life rather than integration with it

​​

This approach can inadvertently create pressure to achieve specific standards or follow particular routines, leading to what some researchers call "wellness burden"—the stress that comes from trying to fulfill an idealized vision of health.

​​​

​

Wellbeing: A Different Perspective

Wellbeing, by contrast, is about nurturing a state of contentment, balance, and fulfillment unique to you. It's an internal sense of harmony that acknowledges the complexities of life and embraces imperfection as part of the journey. Rather than following prescriptive routines, wellbeing emerges when we recognize and honor our inherent capacity to thrive.

​

Key aspects of wellbeing include:

​​​

• Honoring your unique nature rather than imposing universal standards

• Embracing both challenge and ease as natural parts of life

• Recognizing the connection between personal choices and broader impact

• Valuing internal wisdom alongside external knowledge

• Creating space for evolving as your needs and circumstances change

​​​​​

​

Finding Your Vibrant Middle

The Vibrant Middle approach aligns closely with this concept of wellbeing. It focuses on sustainable practices rather than chasing an idealized version of wellness. It's about finding joy in the process, not just the end result, and creating a lifestyle that feels authentically nourishing to you.

This approach recognizes that true flourishing often happens in that nuanced space between extremes—where we honor both structure and flexibility, both personal needs and commitments to others, both traditional wisdom and innovative approaches.

​​

​

​​​

​​​

​​

What This Looks Like in Practice

This distinction between wellness and wellbeing manifests in many areas of daily life:

​​​

     Movement:

• Wellness Industry Approach:  Following prescribed exercise routines based on what's trending or promises specific results.

• Wellbeing Approach:  Finding forms of movement that genuinely energize you and fit naturally into your life, varying your activities based on what your body needs each day.

​

     Nourishment:

• Wellness Industry Approach:  Adhering to specific diets or "clean eating" standards with rigid rules about "good" and "bad" foods.

• Wellbeing Approach:  Developing a flexible relationship with food that honors both nutritional needs and pleasure, adapting choices to your individual body's responses and your cultural connections.

​​

     Rest:

• Wellness Industry Approach:  Following prescribed sleep schedules and recovery protocols.

• Wellbeing Approach:  Learning to recognize your unique rhythms and creating rest practices that genuinely restore you, which might look different in different seasons of life.

​​

     Mental Health:

• Wellness Industry Approach:  Adding meditation or stress management techniques as another item on your to-do list.

• Wellbeing Approach:  Cultivating ongoing awareness of your mental and emotional needs, developing personalized approaches to support your unique thought patterns and challenges.

​​

​

Shifting Your Perspective

This distinction isn't about rejecting helpful wellness practices, but about approaching them from a different perspective—one that recognizes wellbeing as inherent rather than something to achieve through perfect habits or routines.  When we shift from pursuing wellness as an external goal to nurturing our inherent capacity for wellbeing, several transformations often occur:​

​​

• From obligation to invitation: Self-care shifts from another "should" to a natural expression of self-respect.

• From performance to presence: The focus moves from "doing it right" to being fully engaged with the experience.

• From isolation to connection: Individual practices become connected to broader positive impact.

• From rigidity to adaptability: Fixed routines evolve into flexible approaches that change with life's natural fluctuations.

• From depletion to sustainability: Pushing through is replaced by practices that actually generate more energy than they consume.

​​​​​​

The Multidimensional Nature of Wellbeing

An important distinction between traditional wellness and holistic wellbeing is recognizing that our flourishing extends far beyond physical health practices. While lifestyle elements like movement and nutrition are important, true wellbeing encompasses many dimensions of human experience:

​

• Community and Relationships - Our connections with others

• Purpose and Meaning - Our sense of contribution and values

• Environment - Our physical surroundings and access to nature

• Security - Our feeling of safety and stability

• Learning and Growth - Our intellectual and creative development

• Emotional Landscape - Our awareness and expression of feelings

​

These dimensions don't exist in isolation but form an interconnected ecosystem where each aspect influences the others. This understanding aligns with the concept that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts - a perspective that recognizes how these elements work together to create a rich tapestry of wellbeing.  

​

[Explore the interconnected nature of wellbeing →]

​​

​

Starting Your Wellbeing Journey

If you're interested in exploring this perspective further, here are some reflection questions that might help you begin shifting from a traditional wellness mindset to a more authentic wellbeing approach:

​

• What health practices currently feel nurturing rather than depleting?

• Where in your life do you notice yourself forcing adherence to "should" rather than honoring what genuinely serves you?

• What natural rhythms have you noticed in your own energy, creativity, or emotional patterns?

• How might your approach to health create positive ripples beyond just your personal experience?

​​

Remember, this journey isn't about becoming someone entirely different—it's about becoming a fuller, better version of who you already are.  Through this process of bettering your nature, you naturally create positive ripples that extend far beyond yourself.​

​​​​​​​​

​​