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s wellness a reflection of health? A level of physical performance? The absence of disease? When we think about health and wellness, these are the factors that first come to mind. We measure “health” in terms of illnesses, doctor visits, and physical features like weight and muscle tone. More advanced health metrics might look at body mass index, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. But some key people at Bethel are working to change the conversation and expand the scope of health and wellness in the Bethel community.
Seth Paradis, professor of human kinetics and applied health science, understands the importance of physical health indicators better than anyone. He thinks they’re so important that his advocacy and energy have nurtured one of Bethel’s fastest-growing programs. The biokinetics program prepares students to work in a variety of health fields that explore human biological systems and their reaction to stressors on the body. Paradis has also established the Exercise Medicine and Prevention Center,
an advanced lab where biokinetics majors perform health screenings on every Bethel student through a Physical Wellness class. All of this growth has occurred despite the reality of limited space and “We want people in resources. But that reality will change our community to see themselves as whole with the construction of Bethel University’s new persons. We have Wellness Center. The fourth a spiritual side, an level of the facility will emotional side, a social feature 5,500 square feet side.” of new lab space housing state-of-the-art hardware Matt Runion and software to perform full Associate Dean of health assessments. That Campus Ministries space will give biokinetics students opportunities to gain indispensable hands-on clinical experience while providing the Bethel community with a valuable resource for understanding and improving overall health. But Paradis’ work isn’t done. He believes that true wellbeing is bigger than physical health. “When you start looking at a patient,” he explains, “and you do health histories, risk stratifications, body compositions, height, weight, body mass index, all these things, you’re really just looking at symptoms, and not the source.”
What is well-being?
WORDS FOR WELLNESS 1. Our bodies are a blessing. We have a responsibility to take care of them. 2. Start small. Walk a quarter mile every day for a week, then jog a quarter mile the next week. Increase to a half mile and keep going. Apply this concept to other areas of well-being too. 3. Believe. You can achieve your goals. Don’t believe the lie that you can’t. 4. Be accountable. Seek out a trustworthy friend to help you. 5. Keep growing. In all things, be better today than yesterday. Josh Treimer ’14 Biokinetics major
That’s the question Paradis and others—including Director of Counseling Services Jim Koch, Director of Health Services Liz Miller, and Associate Dean of Campus Ministries Matt Runion—have been asking. Their recent conversations are focused on the many different factors that go into true health and wellness, and ways to improve health and wellness on campus. “I actually prefer the term well-being, rather than wellness,” says Koch. “Wellness has been the catchphrase, but well-being has a more holistic connotation. The word ‘being’ has an identity quality, as opposed to just a behavior quality. Wellness is ‘you do these things.’ Well-being incorporates an approach to life and integration. It’s an umbrella concept.” Runion adds, “We want people in our community to see themselves as whole persons. We’re not just physical bodies walking around this earth. We have a spiritual side, an emotional side, a social side. It’s a multi-dimensional idea of who we are as people created in God’s image. Well-being is peaceful, right relationship with God, myself, with others.” Bethel University
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