Wellness and the Thermodynamics of a Healthy Lifestyle

Abstract

Wellness has recently emerged as an industry sector and a multidimensional academic discipline that includes psychological, physiological, social, demographic and ecological dimensions. Wellness enhances resilience and is therefore a survival imperative that is fundamental to life, yet current Western definitions of wellness do not refer to fundamental a priori principles. Eastern medicine on the other hand does refer to universal principles and suggests that bliss is a natural homeostatic set-point and that wellness can be achieved by living according to the Tao. Congruence between Eastern concepts and thermodynamics further suggests that Qi is related to information and flow, and that wellness arises from maximal flow and minimum entropy production. These principles, which can be represented by an Illness-Wellness Vortex, suggest that the healthiest lifestyle provides maximal enjoyment with minimal waste. Thus, conscious consumption and cultivation of psychological flow can provide the means for achieving wellness through aligning internal and external states.