What is Well-Being?

• 1 min read

Yoga @ MasonIn my role as Senior Scholar at the Center for Consciousness and Transformation at George Mason University, I’m participating in a Well-Being University Learning Community. Our purpose is to “create a blueprint for what well-being looks like in different areas of the university”. I must say, this is an exciting, but difficult task!

While everyone participating in our project has a special interest in well-being, we also have different opinions as to how to define it. Well-being is a subjective evaluation of how satisfied we are with our lives. What I consider to be vital for my well-being may be different from what someone else believes contributes to his or her well-being.

Yet we believe it’s important for our group to have an agreed upon definition that we can use to explain to others what we mean by a well-being university and to evaluate the success of our initiatives. So to start with we are each contributing working definitions that we will then shape into a shared definition of well-being at Mason.

Here is my first stab at it: “In a well-being university students, faculty, and staff learn how to make choices that lead to optimal functioning of mind, body and spirit in order to thrive together.” I think our well-being is the result of small choices we make throughout the day regarding what to eat, whether or not to exercise, what goals to pursue, where to focus our attention, how to respond to others, etc. And since universities are learning institutions, I believe a well-being university should teach people to make choices that will maximize their potential to thrive throughout their lives.

Although what determines well-being is different for each of us, I do believe there are specific things that contribute to everyone’s well-being. Some of these include:

  • Love and connectedness
  • Engagement and mastery
  • Meaning and purpose
  • Mindfulness and self/other awareness
  • Hope and resilience
  • Physical health and safety

What about you? What do you think is important for your well-being? I’d love to know your thoughts!