Emily Tovar

Whenever health comes to mind we usually think about eating right and exercising but in

truth there is more to health than the physical aspect. Being a healthy person does not mean

physically healthy but also emotionally and even spiritually healthy. You can not define health

using just one word there are multiple factors that contribute to a healthy person and to health in

general. In my opinion health can be described using maslow's hierarchy of needs.

In maslow's hierarchy of needs there are five steps for a person to accomplish before they

can be healthy or self actualized. The first step in the hierarchy pyramid is our basic needs such

as water, food, shelter and so on. We need food to have energy for the day because if we do not

have food in our system we can not function to our fullest. Another important need that is

essential for our well being is water, we need to keep our body hydrated at all times especially

when we exercise. To be physically healthy we need to have a good diet that provides us with all

the 5 food groups and water that can maintain our body systems. Then comes the need for safety,

a place where you feel safe and welcome. Safety can mean from trusting the people around you

and feeling protected to having job security. When we do not feel safe around someone or in our

own community we might be less inclined to go outside and socialize or to just go to a park.

Worrying about our own safety can impede us from taking care of our physical health if we are

unable to go outside. Safety can not only have an impact in our physical health but it can also

affect our emotional health. For example, when we are unemployed or not have a secured job the

way that we view ourselves might lower our self esteem.

 In the next step of maslow's hierarchy of needs comes the need of belonging and love.

We all want to be accepted and to belong to something in our lives which can make us feel good

about ourselves.To be emotionally healthy we need the support of people or someone that we can

feel part of and loved. In my opinion the need of belonging and love can correlate with the need

of self esteem. When we feel accepted by people and have someone that we can confide with we

can be emotionally stable and have a better self view of ourselves. In the last step of the

hierarchy of needs we have self actualization. When we think about health we do not always

consider our spiritual wellness but it can also have an impact in the way we live our lives, or to

self actualize. Whenever I say spiritual wellness it does not only have to be religiously but it can

also mean our goals, beliefs and morals. Self actualization it's a way where we can reflect and

find who we are and what we want or want to be. Setting up goals for ourselves can give us

something to look for and have something that we can work for. Having morals and having

something to believe in can help us reassess ourselves to see where we are and if we are happy

where we stand. Self actualization is also an important part for a healthy person because it let us

grow as a person and achieve goals that we could not imagine accomplishing.

My philosophy of health is having a balance of an emotional, physical, and spiritual

health. In my opinion someone might look physically healthy but if we do not have a great view

about ourselves on how we look we can hurt our body just to look a certain way. We are not

physically healthy if we are not emotionally healthy because they both balance each other. The

same thing goes for our spiritual wellness just like in maslow's hierarchy of needs we first need

to accomplish our physical and emotional well being before we can actually start growing as a

person and becoming who we want to be.