The 12 Pillars of Wellness (PoWs)

The 12 Pillars of Wellness are intrinsically linked and may be both the cause, or the means of prevention, of ill health:

  • The first 6 pillars can be a direct cause of disease or wellness, depending on how they are applied (causative);

  • The last 6 pillars may be a direct result of problems in the first 6. They operate in a feedback mechanism to further impair all the PoWs (including themselves), thereby exacerbating illness (exacerbative).

Removing problems in these pillars can lead to wellness.

Causative pillars

1. Nutrition and bodily ingestion - the foods and drinks we ingest (including non-foods, additives and chemicals, medications and drugs), chemicals we put on our skin and the particles that we breathe;

2. Physical activity - fitness and movement;

3. Sleep;

4. Rest;

5. Psychology (including mental and spiritual health);

6. Genetics;

Exacerbating pillars

7. Physiology (biological mechanisms);

8. Microbiome;

9. Endocrinology (hormones);

10. Toxicity;

11. Inflammation;

12. Oxidative Stress.

It is this principal, of cause and effect, and applying the 12 PoWs, that underpins the ethos of Wholistic Wellness Centre and sets it apart from western medicine. This is why we are able to help when western medicine has let you down (*).

The complex interplay between these pillars is highlighted on the Institute for Functional Medicine’s website:

Credit: Institute of Functional Medicine

As the graphic illustrates, a diagnosis, or condition, can be the result of more than one cause. For example, depression can be caused by many different factors, including inflammation. Likewise, a cause such as inflammation may lead to a number of different diagnoses, including depression. The precise manifestation of each cause depends on the individual’s genes, environment, and lifestyle, and only treatments that address the right cause will have lasting benefit beyond symptom suppression.

Next: Pillar of Wellness 1 - Nutrition and bodily ingestion

* scientific understanding of the human body is still evolving. As a result, Wholistic Wellness Centre cannot guarantee a cure, however where we are unable to fully remediate, we believe our practices of optimisation, education and support will always improve a condition, where the client is willing and able to put into practice the guidance given.