The 8 Dimensions of Wellness
What is wellness and what does it mean to you? By definition, wellness is the state of being in good health, especially as a pursued goal. When we think of health and wellness, most only consider their physical and mental well-being. However, life isn’t just black and white, there are many colors. The same goes for your health. Wellness isn’t just about the mind and body. There are several things to consider, which in the end all relate and connect. One thing very few people know is there are 8 Dimensions of Wellness: emotional, spiritual, intellectual, physical, environmental, financial, occupational, and social. Each plays a very important role in our everyday lives. Properly addressing each dimension allows us to build a healthy overall sense of wellness that contributes to individual and community fulfillment. As you read each description, please do not get discouraged if you feel some of these aspects aren’t being met in your everyday life. Use it to gain perspective, open your horizons, and inspire you to grow.
1. EMOTIONAL
Emotional Wellness involves having awareness, understanding, and acceptance of your thoughts and emotions, whether they are positive or negative. With this comes the ability to cope effectively with life, as well as build and maintain healthy relationships. Those with emotional wellness feel confident in themselves, enthusiastic about their life, and in control of their feelings and behaviors, while also appreciating the feelings of others. Life constantly provides us with challenges, but working through them allows us to grow and build resiliency as we learn to overcome these obstacles. Possible benefits of fostering this dimension include a clearer mind, better mood, enhanced self-esteem, and better communication skills.
Ways to maintain or improve Emotional Wellness:
Take time to quiet the mind and reflect - meditate, practice breathwork, write in a journal, talk out loud to yourself, take a calming bath.
Identify the important questions - How did I feel overall today? What habits did I achieve this week? How can I improve and grow?
Take care of your body! Your emotional and physical health are interconnected. Eat well, drink enough water (at least 64oz a day), sleep 7-9 hours a night, and participate in light exercise regularly.
Dedicate time to your hobbies and favorite activities! Do things that make you happy and your life more enjoyable! - listen to music, dance, read, play games.
Spend time in nature - go for a walk or hike, go to the beach or a park, have a picnic outside, watch the sun rise or set.
Maintain a balanced diet to boost your natural energy and improve your mood
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2. SPIRITUAL
Spiritual wellness involves your beliefs, faith, values, ethics, and/or moral principles. This dimension helps you find purpose, value, and meaning in your life, with or without organized religion. Those with spiritual wellness experience resilience, a sense of clarity in their values, self-confidence, and a feeling of inner peace. Maintaining a curious, playful attitude can help you find experiences that offer hope, purpose, and meaning.
Ways to maintain and improve Spiritual Wellness:
Volunteer or give back to your community
Attend religious or spiritual services
Keep a journal or personal diary
Spend time in nature
Mediate
Practice deep listening - What is deep listening?
3. INTELLECTUAL
Intellectual Wellness involves the ability to seek out ways to use your knowledge and skills, as well as recognize your unique talents to be creative. This consists of critical thinking, problem solving, and stimulating curiosity. Intellectual health goes beyond just school or work, but instead requires lifelong maintenance and development. Participating in activities that cultivate mental growth and challenging yourself to learn a new skill help build intellectual health Those who foster this dimension often experience open-mindedness, clearer thinking, improved memory, better concentration, and better critical thinking skills.
Ways to maintain and improve Intellectual Wellness:
Read
Do a challenging puzzle - Sudoku, crosswords, riddles, chess, Hitori
Debate (respectfully) with others who have opposing viewpoints
Try a new hobby
Learn a new language or instrument
Teach and tutor others
Attend a play, museum, or poetry reading
Attend a seminar or conference on something that interests you
4. PHYSICAL
Physical Wellness involves caring for your body to stay healthy now and in the future. Physical health is affected by exercise, nutrition, sleep, sexual health, substance use, and even your mentality. This dimension is crucial! Your physical health is an essential component of overall well-being that directly affects you long term. Fostering your physical wellness not only benefits your physical well-being, but it also helps improve your emotional, intellectual, and relational health. A large number of people who use tobacco products, use them as a coping tool. Unfortunately, this can lead to many physical health problems, such as heart disease and cancer, and can increase the chances of premature death. SAMHSA states that smoking-related illnesses are related to half of all deaths for people diagnosed with a behavioral health condition, and smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable death.
Ways to maintain and improve Physical Wellness:
Exercise regularly. At least 3-4 times a week.
Commit to a healthy diet
Sleep 7-9 hours a night
Drink plenty of water! At 64oz a day. Add fruit for taste and added nutrients! I have 10 awesome recipes for you to try! Check it out!
Limit alcohol use
Avoid tobacco products
Manage stress
Create healthy coping mechanisms
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5. ENVIRONMENTAL
Environmental Wellness connects your overall well-being to the health of your surroundings and can greatly impact how you feel. This dimension involves your social, natural, and built surroundings (ourselves, the environment, and the community). It can be difficult to feel good and productive if you are constantly surrounded by clutter and disorganization, or feel unsafe. It is very important that we are aware of the unstable state of the Earth and how our everyday habits and actions affect it. There are many, many simple things you can do everyday to reduce your carbon footprint. You have 3 homes: your body and mind, where you live, and Planet Earth. Take proper care of each.
Ways to maintain and improve Environmental Wellness:
Routinely clean and organize your personal spaces
Create or join a neighborhood watch or program
Recycle
Do not litter
Walk or bike when you can
Use reusable water bottles, bags, and straws
Avoid single use plastic
Purchase products with minimal packaging
Conserve energy - turn off lights, electronics, and water when not in use
Donate unwanted clothes
Plant a personal or community garden
6. FINANCIAL
Financial Wellness involves being mindful of your financial decisions and managing your resources to live within your means. Those with financial health set realistic goals, make informed decisions and investments, and prepare for emergencies, short-term, and long-term needs. Finances are a common stressor for people, so being able to minimize worry about this aspect of your life can boost your overall wellness. With financial wellness comes the feeling of satisfaction about your financial situation. Try tracking your spending for a month to see where your money is going and set goals based on what you find. There are many little things you can start doing today that will add up over time!
Ways to maintain and improve Financial Wellness:
Create a household budget
Start a savings account and add part of your paycheck every month
Limit unnecessary expenses - Ask yourself “Do I really need this?”
Brew your own coffee instead of buying it
Cook at home instead of eating out
Cancel unused subscriptions
Price match your purchases
Avoid credit card debt
Utilize the library and internet for free books, moves, and tv shows
Walk, bike, or carpool to save on gas (and reduce your carbon footprint!)
7. OCCUPATIONAL
Occupational Wellness involves feeling happy and satisfied with your choice of work. With this comes a sense of alignment with your occupation, skills, and values, balance between work and leisure time, healthy relationships with coworkers, and managing workplace stress. A goal one might set for occupational wellness is finding a job that is meaningful and financially rewarding. Notice how you feel at the end of a long work day! We spend a good chunk of our lives working so it’s important to do what feels right. Do you feel satisfied or unfulfilled? Does your job fit with your values, skills, and interests? Do you feel a lack of support or acknowledgment? If so, then it might be time to start seeking something that makes your soul happier. Those who foster their occupational health experience feelings of worth and value, build new skills and interests, and feel a sense of satisfaction and stimulation.
Ways to maintain and improve Occupational Wellness:
Reflect and reassess often
Balance work and play time
Make time for yourself and unwind
Set healthy boundaries
Keep an open mind
Utilize career service resources
8. Social
Social Wellness involves establishing and maintaining relationships of value with yourself and others. With this comes a sense of belonging and feeling connected. Those with social wellness enjoy being with others, are grounded in healthy relationships, support and receive support in times of need, have the ability to create feelings of joy and security, and contribute to the community. There are many benefits to thriving in this dimension of wellness, such as feelings of belonging, increased communication skills, and conflict management.
Ways to maintain and improve Social Wellness:
Take the time to get to know yourself
Join a club, organization, or study group
Volunteer
Make an effort to stay in touch with loved ones
Ask a colleague or acquaintance to lunch or coffee
Set healthy boundaries
Use effective communication skills
Be honest, genuine, and authentic with others and yourself!
Treat others and yourself with respect
What would life be like if you cultivate all 8 dimensions? What dimensions do you feel are your strongest? What would you like to work on? Setting goals for yourself in each area can help optimize your health and feel your very best!