What is health?

How is health defined? Is it not having any aches and pains and simply feeling good? Is it not having a flu or cold? Is it being able to breathe easily without your chest or lungs hurting? Perhaps you should consider that, maybe, health is something more than any or all of those things.

Chiropractors have always considered health to be something much more: it’s more than not being sick, it’s something more than being pain free. As the World Health Organization defines health, it says “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

So, you see, being healthy isn’t just being pain free. It’s about taking care of yourself on three different levels. Our bodies and minds should be functioning well in order to fight off stresses which can affect one’s overall health. This leads to feeling good physically. Mental health means that our needs are being met and that we are relatively happy or satisfied with what is happening in our lives. Social well being refers to the fact that by nature we are social creatures. Correctly functioning minds and bodies leads to better overall health, which in turn, leads to a better ability to function in many different social settings, which leads to “feeling good” on a whole other level.