Move More: A Guide to Winter Activity
Winter is here! The snow and cold is here to stay—but you can still move and be active. Don’t let winter conditions break all your physical activity habits and goals.
Do you hear the terms wellness and well-being in the news, advertisements, worksites, the doctor’s office, and in everyday conversation? Today, it seems like these buzzwords are everywhere. But what are wellness and well-being, and what’s the difference?
We are unique individuals with different experiences, opportunities, genetics, and influences, so most likely we will all have different ideas and opinions on wellness and well-being, too.
The terms wellness and well-being are closely related and often used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings and connotations.
Merriam-Webster defines well-being as the state of being happy, healthy, or prosperous.
“Wellness is a modern word with ancient roots. The key tenets of wellness as both preventive and holistic, can be traced back to ancient civilizations from the East (India, China) to the West (Greece, Rome). In 19th-century Europe and the United States, a variety of intellectual, religious, and medical movements developed in parallel with conventional medicine. With their focus on holistic and natural approaches, self-healing, and preventive care, these movements have provided a firm foundation for wellness today.” Global Wellness Institute, 5/25/2025).
Wellness-focused and holistic modalities have gained more visibility since the 1960s and 1970s under the writings and thought leadership of an informal network of U.S. physicians and thinkers (such as Halbert Dunn, Jack Travis, Don Ardell, Bill Hettler, and others). As these teachings have evolved, proliferated, and gone mainstream, they have informed the healthy-living, self-help, self-care, fitness, nutrition, diet and spiritual practices that have become a flourishing wellness movement in the 21st century (Global Wellness Institute,5/25/2025).
Other key points regarding the wellness wheel, from the UW Wellness Center, include:
Winter is here! The snow and cold is here to stay—but you can still move and be active. Don’t let winter conditions break all your physical activity habits and goals.
Did you know that November is Diabetes Awareness Month? According to the American Diabetic Association, the figures below depict a bleak picture. Diabetes remains a significant public health concern.