Wellness

WHAT IS WELLNESS AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

 

Creating balance in our lives is an important part of wellness. Overall, a balanced life can mean many things, depending on culture, circumstances, resources, and other factors. Balance means making sure we have time to do the things that make us feel happy and fulfilled. This includes working (paid or unpaid), having fun, spending time with family and friends, participating in the community, being physically active - including sexually - praying, and relaxing and sleeping.

 

Wellness is primarily being in good physical and mental health. Because mental health and physical health are so closely linked, problems in one area can impact the other. At the same time, improving your physical health can also benefit your mental health and other life domains, and vice versa. It is important to be aware that wellness is an intentional, ongoing, and holistic approach to making healthy choices Culturally, Emotionally, Environmentally, Financially, Intellectually, Occupationally, Physically, Socially, and Spiritually; the nine major wellness areas of our life:

 

CULTURAL WELLNESS. Cultural Wellness is the ability to develop a healthy cultural understanding of ourselves and others. It implies understanding, awareness and intrinsic respect for aspects of diversity. A culturally well person acknowledges and accepts the impact of these aspects of diversity on sexual orientation, religion, gender, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and age groups. Some aspects of cultural wellness include participating in the enrichment of one’s community, country, and world.  Benefits of cultural wellness include inner and outer self-confidence, effective trust and respectful collaboration built with others who are different than we are. 

 

Seek various perspectives, facts, stories, experiences. Interact with peers that are different, and be curious about your own personal culture, family rituals, and traditions, all which research shows, improves wellness. Maybe this would be a good time to consider attending culturally related conversations. Taking time to reflect on our internal biases that we act on based on stereotypes of ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation is a simple but significant strategy in our pursuit of wellness in this area.     

 

EMOTIONAL WELLNESS. Emotional wellness is defined as an acceptance of our emotions and feelings as valuable, and realistically being able to evaluate out limitations, working through problems in our relationships with others and ourselves and setting goals for emotional growth and development. Examples of emotional wellness practice are engaging in supportive professional counseling, holistic self-care such as relaxation or meditation, managing stress and practicing effective emotional boundaries with who we are and others.

 

Paradoxically, our stress is helping us cope, bond together from a physical distance as best we can, and slow the spread of the virus. While uncomfortable, it can be a source of resilience, especially if managed well. At the same time, it’s important to stay informed, but prevent inner or outer panic contagion and create periods when we can be screen-free and calm, engaging our attention in present-moment activities.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL WELLNESS. Environmental Wellness is having the inspiration to live a lifestyle in harmony with the values we have about the earth, understanding the impact of our interaction with nature and our personal environment and taking action, and being accountable for our daily habits and their effects on others. The environmental wellness domain involves being able to be safe and feel safe. This can include:

 

• Accessing clean air, food, and water;

• Preserving the areas where we live, learn, and work;

• Occupying pleasant, stimulating environments that support our well-being; and

• Promoting learning, contemplation, and relaxation in natural places and spaces.

 

FINANCIAL WELLNESS. Financial wellness is using the money that you have in a way that lets you take care of yourself. As you get older, you need to know how to keep track of your money, save money for emergencies, and know where to go for help with money problems. Financial wellness is important because the choices you make about money can affect your emotional, social, and physical health.

 

Practicing financial wellness means learning how to build a budget, use debt, save enough, invest properly and use insurance. It means incorporating these skills in your day-to-day life so you can meet their present and future goals. Employing the skills of financial literacy isn’t a question of simply going by the book. Rather, the goal is to know how you want to implement these principles to provide yourself and your family with the life you want to live.

 

With this in mind, the points at which an individual should focus to help them achieve financial wellness are:

 

• Creating a budget.

• Building an emergency fund.

• Protecting their assets.

• Reducing or eliminating debt.

• Saving and investing.

• Planning for retirement and other long-term goals.

 

INTELLECTUAL WELLNESS. Intellectual Wellness is engaging in creative and mentally stimulating activities, learning, and skills building around expanding and sharing knowledge with others. Not feeling intellectually stimulated can affect the production of chemicals in the brain that can cause us to feel happiness and excitement to engage in learning. 

 

These activities should consistently expand your knowledge and skills and increase your ability to share this with others. Intellectual wellness encourages learning, inspires exploration, and stimulates curiosity. For example:

 

• Routes to intellectual wellness

• Open-mindedness

• Active listening

• Picking a hobby that increases your skill set

• Travel

• Expression of oneself

 

OCCUPATIONAL WELLNESS. Occupational wellness is defined as the inspiration and recognition to prepare and feel prepared for work in which we will gain personal enrichment and satisfaction. It is recognizing and accessing personal satisfaction and enrichment in one’s life through work. Without being in healthy, productive spaces, occupational wellness is compromised. Without the reassurance of collective socially responsible behavior, clear action, and communication, morale and trust erode. 

 

Developing occupational wellness will allow you to communicate your values through involvement in occupational activities that are gratifying for you. It is also important to identify workplace stress to practice conflict management. Conflict management is key to achieving an optimal level of occupational wellness. Choosing what your career will be is a very important life choice. Working takes up much of your time during the week, so the way you feel about your work contributes to your overall well-being.

 

• Are you occupationally well?  Ask yourself…

• Am I doing what I need to do to enhance existing skills and acquire others?

• Am I taking advantage of the opportunities offered by my classes and school?

• Are my volunteer experiences fulfilling and beneficial in the short and long term?

 

PHYSICAL WELLNESS. Physical wellness promotes proper care of our bodies for optimal health and functioning. There are many elements of physical wellness that all must be cared for together. Overall physical wellness encourages the balance of physical activity, nutrition, and mental well-being to keep your body in top condition. Obtaining an optimal level of physical wellness allows you to nurture personal responsibility for your own health. As you become conscious of your physical health, you can identify elements you are successful in as well as elements you would like to improve.

 

Understanding the relationship between your body’s physical health and mental health is crucial to develop balanced physical wellness. When you take the route to physical wellness you will learn to understand how your body performs physically and be able to connect it to how you feel mentally. Physical wellness encourages principles of good health and knowledge, which affect behavior patterns that lead to a healthy lifestyle. 

 

Below are a few suggestions for you to practice to maintain an optimal level of physical wellness.

 

• Engage in physical activity every day for 30 minutes. You may break up your daily 30 minutes into 10 minutes bouts.

• Use stairs instead of the elevator or escalator and walk whenever possible.

• Learn to recognize warning signs when your body begins feeling ill.

• Eat a variety of healthy foods and control your meal portions.

• Maintain a regular sleep schedule and get between 7-9 hours of sleep each night.

• Practice safe sex. 

 

SOCIAL WELLNESS. Social wellness refers to the relationships we have and how we interact with others. Our relationships can offer support during difficult times. Social wellness involves building healthy, nurturing, and supportive relationships as well as fostering a genuine connection with those around you. Conscious actions are important in learning how to balance your social life with your academic and professional lives. Social wellness also includes balancing the unique needs of romantic relationships with other parts of your life.

 

Maintaining an optimal level of social wellness allows you to build healthy relationships with others. Having a supportive social network allows you to develop assertive skills and become comfortable with who you are in social situations. Surrounding yourself with a positive social network increases your self-esteem. Social wellness enables you to create boundaries that encourage communication, trust, and conflict management. Having good social wellness is critical to building emotional resilience. There are many ways you can begin your journey on the route to social wellness. Below are some suggestions on how to enhance your social wellness. Having good social wellness is critical to building emotional resilience.

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There are many ways you can begin your journey on the route to social wellness. Below are some suggestions on how to enhance your social wellness.

 

• Reflect on yourself and your social needs. What aspects of your social life do you enjoy? 

• Make an effort to keep in touch with supportive friends and family.

• Practice appropriate self-disclosure.

• Participate in group discussions and practice active listening.

• Join a club or organization.

 

SPIRITUAL WELLNESS. Spiritual wellness is more than being of a certain religion. It is a personal involvement with values and beliefs that provide a purpose and meaning to our lives. It may involve prayer, meditation, yoga, living by certain principles, morals, and faith. Spiritual wellness not only allows you to seek meaning and purpose in human existence, but it also allows you to appreciate your life experiences for what they are. When you find meaning in your life experiences, you will be able to develop a harmony with your inner self and the outside world. In simpler terms, spiritual wellness grants you balance.

 

The route to spiritual wellness is something you must learn to master on your own. Spiritual wellness strongly emphasizes the importance of building inner resources and inner thoughts in order to give meaning to experience. It is also important to know that spiritual wellness does not mandate you to pick up a religious practice. However, religion may be one route you may take to boost your spiritual wellness. Below are some recommendations for you to practice in order to maintain an optimal level of spiritual wellness.

 

• Explore your inner self. Take time to think about who you are by exploring your spiritual wellness in counseling.

• If you experience a life-changing event, take a few minutes to think about what series of events led to this.

• Spend time meditating or practicing mindful relaxation.

• Practice acceptance.

• Be curious. If something happens that makes you even the slightest bit curious, take a moment to explore the experience a little deeper.

• Look for a religious faith that you agree with.

 

Sometimes change takes a long time. Sometimes it requires repeated experiments and failures. But for ongoing betterment, the attempts are unquestionably worthwhile, and one success often leads to another. When thinking about habits, wellness, and the health, well-being, and quality of life to which you aspire, consider the following: “Are you going to accept yourself or expect more from yourself?” “Are you going to embrace the present or consider the future?” and “Are you going to care about yourself or overlook yourself?”

 

Wellness is a dynamic, ever-changing, fluctuating process. It is a lifestyle, a personalized approach to living life in a way that allows you to become the best kind of person that your potentials, circumstances, and fate will allow. The past is history; the present and future lie in the choices you make today. Don’t worry about getting it perfect; just get it going, and “become the best kind of person you can be.”

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