The History of Wellness
Though considered by many a newer concept, the tenets of wellness date back to antiquity. Long before recorded history, human drive for survival and exposure to the ubiquity of physical suffering and death must have elicited a desire to escape or at least defer that inevitability. And with that desire, a search for the means by which do so. This is perhaps the most basic human drive: to live longer, healthier and better.
Wellness as an Ancient Concept
By most accounts, ancient concepts of wellness are attributed to Ayurveda, originating as an oral tradition in approximately 3,000 B.C. Ayurveda was a holistic system which aimed to create harmony between body, mind and spirit and were tailored to individual constitution (their nutritional, exercise, social interaction and hygiene needs) – with the goal of maintaining a balance that prevents illness. Yoga and meditation are critical to this tradition.
Ancient Hebrew concepts of health and wholeness are less clearly defined in texts but also have ancient origins. Hebrew scholars have argued that though there is no Hebrew word for “health,” the whole of Hebrew scripture is about health. The word "nephesh", commonly translated “soul” implies all the functions of man: spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical. According to some Hebrew scholars, health is the first mitzvah of the Jew and of anyone who believes in God and that the Hebrew word Shalom means “complete,” “whole,” mostly with the connotation of health.
Early Christian concepts defined health as a gift of God but emphasized service to one another “in health, sickness and suffering.” An overview of these principles defines life itself as a gift emphasizing stewardship over one’s health, not overindulging in food or drink, seeking spiritual health, being kind to others and praying. Similarly, for Muslims, health is a state of physical, psychological, spiritual, and social well-being and is considered the greatest blessing God has given humankind. Muslims are to receive illness with patience, prayers, and meditation. The ancient cultures of China, India, Greece and Rome had a very sophisticated understanding of how to maintain health, and they tended to emphasize a “whole person” or ”harmonious” approach to staying well.
Ancient Systems of Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine is one of the oldest systems of medicine in the world. Influenced by Taoism and Buddhism, it applies a holistic perspective to achieving health and well being through the cultivation of harmony within one’s life. Therapies that evolve out of traditional Chinese medicine, such as acupuncture and herbal medicine, are notably still in practice and increasingly being integrated into Western medical practices.
The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, considered to be the father of Western medicine, is possibly the first physician to focus on preventing sickness instead of just treating disease. Hippocrates was credited with separating the discipline of medicine from religion, arguing that disease was not punishment by the gods but that illness came from poor lifestyle choices. He argued that disease is a product of lifestyle and environmental factors, diet, and living habits. Ancient Roman medicine emphasizes the prevention of disease over curing disease and it adopted the Greek believe that diseases are a product of diet and lifestyle. They had a highly developed public health system with a system of aqueducts, sewers, and public baths, that helped prevent the spread of germs and maintain the health of the population.
Though the earliest western mention of the term wellness can be found in 1654 in a diary entry by Sir Archibald Johnston, a modern concept of wellness derived from a diverse set of intellectual, religious and medical movements in the 19th century, being refined in the 1950s through 1970s, and coming to the forefront of healthcare consciousness and policy over the last 25 years. Hence, the concept of wellness is not modern at all, but ancient, deriving from the most basic human drive: to live longer, healthier and better.
Let us aim, with the vast resources of our modern society, to achieve a more effective application of known wellness drivers: better nutrition, active lifestyles, stress management and restorative sleep - not only in our own lives, but also teaching and modeling this for our loved ones and those we treat and care for.
