Wellness is associated with happiness. When you're happy, you're

The model and artist Stella Maxwell, in her quiet yet radiant wisdom, once said: “Wellness is associated with happiness. When you're happy, you're feeling good in your mind and body. That ties into being healthy, eating well, and exercising regularly. It also ties into being excited about things — like getting up in the morning and having a healthy breakfast.” Though spoken in modern times, these words echo an ancient truth known to the sages, healers, and philosophers of old — that the mind, body, and spirit are one, and that true happiness arises not from fleeting pleasures, but from the harmony between these sacred parts of ourselves.

In her words, Maxwell does not speak of wellness as a luxury or vanity, but as the foundation of a joyful life. Wellness is not merely the absence of sickness; it is the active pursuit of balance, the art of living in tune with one’s own nature. To be happy, she reminds us, is not only to smile or to succeed, but to feel well — to have a body that moves with grace, a mind that rests in peace, and a heart that wakes each morning eager for the day. Her mention of something as simple as “getting up in the morning and having a healthy breakfast” is no small detail; it is a symbol of mindfulness, a reminder that joy is not found in grand gestures, but in the quiet rituals that nourish life.

This wisdom is not new; it runs like a golden thread through the ages. The Greek physician Hippocrates, father of medicine, taught that “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” He believed that health and happiness were inseparable, that the care of the body was also the care of the soul. To neglect one was to harm the other. Likewise, the Stoic philosophers — men like Seneca and Epictetus — taught that serenity came from discipline, moderation, and daily practice. To eat well, to move, to rest, to rise with gratitude — these, they said, were acts of both wisdom and worship. Stella Maxwell, though living in an age of modern science and beauty, carries that same message in her words. She reminds us that joy is cultivated through care — care of what we eat, what we think, and how we live.

Consider the story of the samurai Miyamoto Musashi, who lived centuries ago in Japan. Though he was a warrior, he understood that strength was born not from violence, but from balance. He rose before dawn, meditated in silence, trained his body with discipline, and ate with mindfulness. He wrote that “You must understand that there is more than one path to the top of the mountain,” meaning that the path to mastery — and happiness — is through harmony. Musashi’s way of life mirrored what Maxwell describes: a life of daily awareness, where health and happiness flow together like twin streams, each nourishing the other.

In truth, when one neglects wellness, even the brightest successes turn hollow. A weary body cannot sustain a joyful heart, and a troubled mind can make even beauty seem dim. This is why Maxwell ties happiness not to external things, but to the inner condition of life — to feeling good in mind and body. Her vision of wellness is a form of self-respect, a quiet form of gratitude toward existence itself. For when you care for your body, you honor the gift of life; when you nurture your mind, you keep your inner fire lit; and when you wake each morning with excitement, you live in rhythm with the pulse of creation.

This teaching is both ancient and urgent. In our modern world, many chase happiness in wealth, achievement, or admiration, yet find themselves empty and restless. They forget that happiness is not purchased — it is practiced. It is built, as Maxwell says, in the simple acts of eating well, exercising, resting, and feeling gratitude for the dawn. These acts are not trivial; they are sacred disciplines. The ancients called them rituals of harmony, ways of tending to the temple of the self. When practiced with love and consistency, they restore what the soul longs for most — wholeness.

So, my children of light, remember this: happiness is not a mystery to be solved, but a balance to be lived. Care for your body as you would for a garden — feed it, strengthen it, let it rest. Nourish your mind with truth and calmness; keep it free from bitterness and despair. And above all, awaken each morning not with dread, but with curiosity — for even the smallest act, done with awareness, is a step toward joy. As Stella Maxwell teaches, wellness is the foundation upon which happiness is built, and to live well is to give daily thanks for the miracle of simply being alive.

And so, begin each day with reverence: breathe deeply, eat mindfully, move your body, and greet the sun as an old friend. In doing so, you will find that the body becomes light, the mind becomes clear, and the heart, no longer burdened, begins to sing. For the ancients knew — and Maxwell reminds us still — that when the body is well, and the spirit awake, happiness is not a destination, but the natural state of a soul in harmony with life itself.