Foundations of Wellness

Life is crammed with busyness, screen time, and an abundance of shallow experiences. If you don’t mindfully change your way of thinking and behaving, that’s all your life will ever be.

Foundations of Wellness can help you live a satisfying life—one full of rich and deep experiences. You’ll understand your identity and inner strengths and resources as well as set and move toward meaningful personal goals.

With Foundations of Wellness, you will explore physical, mental, emotional, social, environmental, and spiritual realms of wellness using an evidence-based approach to health and wellness that will help you explore ways to live your life to the fullest. You will examine the seven attitudinal foundations of mindfulness to daily living, delve into wellness resources and dietary needs, discover health check strategies, and learn the keys to making healthy behavioral changes.

Foundations of Wellness is written in a conversational style and divided into three parts. Part I establishes basic wellness problems and introduces tools to discovering wellness and inner peace. Part II addresses physical dimensions of wellness, including physical activity, nutrition, sleep, and body maintenance. In part III you’ll discover the strategies that will propel you to a higher level of living—one that can affect not only your life but also the lives of others for generations to come.

Each chapter explores key concepts and topics that affect your wellness. The chapters begin with objectives and a vignette that illustrates a challenge related to the content and use stories to illustrate teaching points. The text also incorporates activity sidebars that empower you to make the behavioral changes that will lead to a more satisfying and meaningful life.

You will learn how to incorporate mindfulness—a practice that helps you live with greater awareness—and positive psychology as you embark on your wellness journey. In Foundations of Wellness, you will also learn the seven attitudinal foundations of mindfulness practices and explore the spiritual truths that are at the core of wellness.

Bill Reger-Nash, EdD, is emeritus professor in the School of Public Health at West Virginia University. He has been a wellness professional for more than 30 years and has served as research coordinator for the Cardiac and Wellness Center of Wheeling Hospital; director of the Bayer Wellness Program in Wellsburg, West Virginia; director of wellness for the Ohio Valley Medical Center; and founding director of wellness for West Virginia University.

Reger-Nash has more than 10 first-author peer-reviewed publications and has presented his work in health promotion throughout the world. He has received numerous awards and distinctions, including being named among the 100 best minds by US News & World Report in 2004, the 2006 Ethel and Gerry Heebink Award for Distinguished State Service, and the 1996 Health Advocate of the Year Award presented by the State Health Education Council of West Virginia.

Gregory Juckett, MD, MPH, is a professor of family medicine at West Virginia University, Morgantown, where he provides clinical services for the WVU Health Service and also directs the University’s International Travel Clinic. He received his medical degree from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine at Hershey and a master’s degree in public health from West Virginia University. He completed his family medicine residency at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston. Dr. Juckett’s interests include tropical and travel medicine, dermatology, and cross-cultural health care. In addition, Dr. Juckett has extensive international experience in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific.

Meredith Smith Ludden, MS, MA, has master’s degrees in sport and exercise psychology and community counseling from West Virginia University. She has worked as a family and marriage therapist as well as a drug and alcohol counselor. She works for the State of New Mexico as a health educator to decrease the burden of chronic disease in the state. She and her husband, Sean, also own and operate a small farm that emphasizes sustainable and organic practices. In addition, Meredith is a certified yoga teacher. Her emphasis has been on whole-body wellness and helping her clients achieve this in the capacity that works for them.