What is Wellness?
Wellness is defined as, “the state of being in good health”. This can look different for everyone; it doesn’t necessarily have to have a medical connotation to it. Wellness is the practice of healthy habits that improve your overall health and wellness, including mental and physical health.
A great way to dive deeper into Wellness is to look at the dimensions of Wellness. There are 8 total, though some only observe 6. Wellness in an all-encompassing term covering many different aspects of one’s life. I personally, enjoy the term Wellness because it represents one as a whole. A whole person, with many different aspects to their health and well-being.
Let’s look at the Dimensions of Wellness
Emotional Wellness allows you to adapt to life’s changes and handle stress in a healthy manner. Ways to improve Emotional Wellness are by exercising regularly (or finding a healthy coping mechanism), getting enough sleep, (8 hours being ideal), having a healthy support system, and setting some time in your day to rest and recharge.
Healthy coping mechanisms can look like
Journaling
Exercise
Art (Drawing, Painting, Doodling etc.)
Deep Breathing
Meditating
Self-Care (A Relaxing Bath, Skincare, Massage, Time Alone etc.)
Environmental Wellness encompasses your physical safety, connection, and comfort with your surroundings. This can mean having a safe and stable place to live. Or spending time in nature, going to a farmers’ market, having sustainable practices, and loving the area in which you love while connecting to nature.
Financial Wellness is to have a healthy financial life, while adhering to goals set. This can be improved in many ways, living within your means, creating, and adhering to a budget and preparing for short- and long-term needs can improve your financial wellness. Having a healthy financial life can also reduce stress and improve your emotional and intellectual wellbeing.
Intellectual Wellness is the ability to expand your knowledge and skills. Improving your Intellectual Wellness can look like reading, journaling, taking courses, learning a new language, reducing stress, or playing games/ brain stimulating games.
Occupational Wellness encompasses the ability to have a healthy work-life balance. Creating a healthy work-life balance looks like creating healthy connections with coworkers, find work that interests you, having a healthy diet, and not overworking yourself. It’s important to take time for yourself and your family when working.
Physical Wellness Is the ability to maintain a healthy quality life. Physical Wellness is important because you can play with your kids, and even your grandkids. You can enjoy a run or a hike, travel, play with your dog and so much more. Working on your Physical Wellness can carry your quality of life through aging. Ways to improve your Physical Wellness can look like proper hydration, eating a balances diet, getting enough sleep, limiting alcohol, avoiding tobacco, and exercising regularly. Exercise can look different on everyone, and it can seem like a chore. Find movement that feels nourishing to your body and does not cause stress or strain on your life.
Social Wellness encompasses having healthy relationships with others. This can include coworkers, family, friends, and personal relationships. As humans we thrive off healthy relationships, they truly shape us as individuals and play a major role in our mental health. To improve your Social Wellness, you can create connections in your community, build & maintain healthy relationships, be open and honest with others, make spending time with friends and family a priority in your life.
Spiritual Wellness is having personal values and beliefs that you adhere to. Having something to believe in whether it is religion, or another form allows us to have structure. It can even connect us with others who have similar beliefs. Working towards Spiritual Wellness can look like journaling, meditating, joining a church/community group, and spending time in nature.
With life things eb and flow. Some points in our life we are more focused on the financial and occupational than our emotional or spiritual dimensions. Being aware of our Wellness allows us to know what areas we may need to tend to and what areas we are thriving in. Life can also give us many trials and tribulations. Having a support system, community and a good foundation of Wellness can make a huge difference in how we handle life’s stresses.
