Wellness is not just about relaxation and promoting well-being. The term itself covers a wide range of dimensions, including emotional, spiritual, environmental, financial, social, intellectual, physical, and occupational. These 8 dimensions of wellness determine an individual’s overall health and self-care practices. Many experts believe that wellness should be inclusive and holistic in general. This includes physical and emotional health. For instance, smiling frequently is a great indicator that a person is mentally healthy. See what this clinic in Melbourne offers to keep your eyesight maintained as well.
What is Wellness
Wellness is a combination of physical and mental health. It’s not just about personal satisfaction about your fitness or calmness. It takes a holistic approach to determine if a person’s wellness is achieved. Moreover, wellness is just about not having diseases or being in a happy state. The term refers to all aspects of your life, including your contribution to the community, relationships, happiness, and self-love.
8 Dimensions of Wellness
As mentioned, there are eight wellness dimensions. Let us discuss them one by one to see how you can make improvements in certain areas.
First on our wellness dimensions is…
Emotional Wellness
Emotional wellness refers to your capability to cope with the difficulties of life. As much as we hate to admit it, life has ups and downs, and we cannot control that. However, we can control how we deal with things and how well we manage to bounce back without stressing ourselves out. Included in emotional wellness are your relationships with your family and friends. A person with a healthy mental state will also have a healthy relationship with his loved ones. Despite the misunderstandings, you still manage to forgive and forget and move on with your life.
Your personal satisfaction with your emotional wellness can be attained by:
- keeping a positive attitude
- being sensitive about others’ feelings
- coping with stress positively
- having realistic expectations
- being able to seek help
- learning your strengths and weaknesses
- continually making self-improvements
Spiritual Wellness
Spiritual wellness pertains to how meaningful your life is for you. It is about having your life purposes and how your personal beliefs affect your life. Spiritual wellness can be achieved through meditation, yoga, self-actualization, prayers, and being one with nature. Through these activities, a person may get personal satisfaction and peace of mind.
To achieve spiritual wellness, a person must consider:
- being close to nature
- integrating his values, morals, and beliefs in daily life
- attending activist that will enhance your connection with your inner self
- helping others in need
- being involved in communities with the same purpose
- spending time alone to self reflect
- searching for personal life meaning
- embracing peace, solitude, and silence
Intellectual Wellness
Intellectual wellness does not necessarily mean that you need to be a genius. It means using your brain to improve your critical thinking skills. This includes the will to learn new things and expanding your knowledge through education and experience. Searching for intellectual wellness will help you improve your memory and attentiveness. You can enhance mentally by:
- engaging yourself in educational tools such as books and interesting articles
- exploring your community
- thinking things thoroughly, especially if you are making important decisions
- committing yourself to learn for the rest of your life
- enhancing your apparent skills and trying to do things better
- attending classes and workshops of your interest
- participating in research groups
Physical Wellness
Physical wellness is all about being physically healthy and promoting a healthy lifestyle. It involves different dimensions including nutritious diet, regular exercise, and preventing yourself from getting diseases and illnesses. Being physically unhealthy can cause many health problems and can have a significant impact on other wellness dimensions. For example, you got diagnosed with a severe disease, this could take a toll on your mental health, and your frustrations could lead you to have poor relationships with your loved ones.
To promote physical health, you may opt to:
- exercise regularly
- be proud and happy about your body
- visit your doctor regularly
- eat healthy meals
- rest well and get enough sleep
- be aware of your health status
- develop healthy lifestyle
- avoid unhealthy habits such as excessive alcohol consumption and cigarettes
- take your prescribed medications diligently
Environmental Wellness
Environmental wellness refers to the dimensions of the environment you are in and everything that surrounds you daily. It also involves being respectful to your environment, habitually cleaning, and removing trash. In addition, environmental wellness includes doing your part to make the world a better place. This will give you a sense of personal satisfaction as this will promote self-love and love for the environment as well.
You can help make the environment better by:
- decluttering your home
- spending quality time outdoor
- being eco friendly in all aspects
- recycling instead of throwing away
- thinking of ways to lessen the pollution
- environmental awareness
Financial Wellness
Financial wellness is one of the important dimensions to consider. This is not about being wealthy per se. Instead, it’s about managing your finances wisely and not being drowned with debts. This only means that you are capable of being free from financial burdens and that you can live off with your resources. A poor financial situation can put you in a very bad state, affecting your relationship with your family and friends. Staying financially literate will help you improve your quality of life and guarantees a comfortable life in the future. This wellness dimension involves:
- monitoring your finances
- finding ways to save money
- being financially literate and responsible
- paying your bills and mortgages on time
- searching for professional help, if needed.
Occupational Wellness
Occupational wellness is being involved in a fulfilling career that provides you personal satisfaction. This can either be about educational achievements or occupational attainments. One of the most common reasons for stress for many people is the pressure they get from their jobs and occupation. Engaging yourself in a balanced lifestyle is one of the best ways to promote occupational wellness. Take some time to enjoy your hobbies and the things you want to learn. Occupational health can be achieved by:
- spending a day or two for leisure once a while
- finding good work habits
- achieving career goals
- learning from mistakes and correcting them
- challenging yourself
Social Wellness
Social wellness is about having a supportive set of people around you. This is having a sense of belonging and not feeling alone in life. This is one of the most crucial wellness dimensions as it targets your mental health directly. Having goods friends and a loving family can help you stay positive in life. You can improve your social wellness through:
- joining social groups
- being conscious about your contribution to the community
- knowing your boundaries
- staying connected with people
- keeping healthy relationships
References:
8 DIMENSIONS OF WELLNESS (https://jflowershealth.com/8-dimensions-of-wellness/)
The Eight Dimensions of Wellness (https://www.wm.edu/offices/wellness/about/eight-dimensions/index.php)
