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Core Principles
- Health is dynamic. It changes from year to year, month to month, and day to day, but it is also a reflection of the dynamic processes within our bodies: how well we respond to a stressor or a challenge, and how our bodies succeed in making constant micro-adjustments to remain in good working order.
- Health is an integrated property of the person. It doesn’t reside only in the brain, or only in cells: it reflects the complex interplay across multiple levels of complexity ranging from molecular up through the whole organism, and across the many compartments, cells, and function of the organism. In particular, it integrates brain and body, and reflects how well the ensemble functions in harmony.
- Health is shaped by the environment. Basic biological aspects of health are shaped by multiple determinants of health – genetics to some extent, but also the physical, chemical, social, and cultural environments, by our lifestyles, our friends, and our purpose in life. Beyond this, how we experience this basic biology is also filtered through our values, perceptions, experiences, culture, affordances, and built environment.
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