The true value of wellness

As a partner in Filipinos’ wellbeing journey, AXA Philippines, one of the country’s leading insurance providers, empowers everyone to “Keep Wellness Going” in a new campaign that encourages you to do what you love while protecting you and your family. This campaign promotes enjoying a long, productive, and fruitful life by caring for one’s health and wellbeing.

These days, health and wellbeing have become more than just the prevention of illnesses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wellbeing is also the presence of positive mood and emotions, fulfillment, and satisfaction with one’s life. When one’s wellbeing is challenged, this can lead to physical and mental health concerns such as disturbed sleep, random aches and pains, anxiety, and reduced concentration, which may prevent us from coping with our daily lives and enjoying the good life.

That’s why proactively caring for your health and wellbeing is essential to achieving your life goals – whether that’s protecting your future, making sure your family is taken care of, or even both.

Apart from making sure that you are physically well, mental health is equally as important. According to the AXA Study on Mind Health and Wellbeing 2022, the pandemic brought greater awareness about the value of mental health. Mind health is the second most common thing most people around the globe think the pandemic will have a lasting impact on, with the first being the economy.

The study also showed that mental health conditions such as stress, anxiety, and depression are common among people in Asia. Yet while these conditions are generally detrimental to happiness, people who managed them well were almost as likely to be happy as those without the conditions.

To help achieve overall wellness, AXA shares some tips to proactively care for your health:

Make better choices when it comes to food. Part of attaining holistic wellness is a well-balanced diet. According to a New England Journal of Medicine study, eating healthy may help one live longer as this lowers the risk of heart diseases, diabetes, and some cancers. It also helps boost immunity and improves overall mood. Eating more healthy fats such as nuts, omega-3, and vegetable oils, as well as reducing sugar intake, may help prevent depression. However, this also doesn’t mean that you need to stop eating your favorite treats entirely. Taking that extra step to learn about the nutritional content of your favorite snacks and indulgent food will help you understand how to enjoy them in moderation, which can be beneficial in the long run.

Do more of what you love. Whether it’s creating art, writing, teaching, or other passions, it’s important to do more of what you love. In doing so, you can feel more fulfilled and more motivated. However, do not feel pressured to always be productive. Taking a break amid the busyness of everyday life can also help you mentally and restore your motivation, especially for long-term goals.

Celebrating small wins is a form of self-care. An underrated form of self-care is when you celebrate small victories in life. These small wins are usually a result of setting short-term and achievable goals related to things we enjoy doing. Whether it be a simple fitness goal, a saving goal for a new gadget, a mission to sleep longer or wake up earlier, taking screen breaks more often, or ending work on time each day, achieving and celebrating these small wins improve our quality of life and mental health exponentially.

Caring for others is caring for yourself. According to the Mental Health Foundation UK, studies have found that acts of kindness such as volunteering for a cause or taking care of a loved one are linked to increased feelings of wellbeing. This can also be true when you look after yourself and your family by ensuring that you have a secure home, enough resources to secure everyone’s wellbeing, and the means to take care of them when health emergencies happen.

One of the most effective ways to promote wellness in everyday life and protect our family’s wellbeing is to provide them with health and medical coverage.

AXA offers strong support for individuals and families through AXA Health Care Access, a comprehensive and affordable health care plan for individuals aged 15 days old to 75 years old and their families for up to P5 million.

Apart from health insurance, getting critical illness coverage can also effectively contribute to our overall wellness and provide peace of mind and protection for the future. AXA Health Max, which offers critical illness coverage for at least 56 major and 18 minor conditions until the age of 100, is also worth considering. Additionally, Health Max offers a lump sum benefit for your family in case of your untimely demise.

Your overall wellbeing is dependent on not just being physically healthy, but being mentally and emotionally healthy as well. Both products now offer access to mental health counseling services, to help ensure mind health as well.

With AXA’s Health Care Access and Health Max, you can have peace of mind knowing that you and your family are protected and supported through challenges, so you can keep enjoying your life.

To know more about Health Care Access, visit https://www.axa.com.ph/health-protection/health-care-access and https://www.axa.com.ph/health-protection/health-max for Health Max.

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Editor’s Note: This article was provided by AXA Philippines.