When you hear the word “wellness,” what comes to mind? Most people might think of their physical health, but wellness includes mind, body, and soul. Wellness is a lifestyle that helps you reach your full potential.

8 Dimensions of Wellness

Within each of the categories of mind, body, and spirit, are subcategories that may be affecting your overall wellbeing or mental health. When each of these pieces are working in harmony we experience contentment, satisfaction, and peace of mind, but if you are experiencing trouble in one or more of these areas you may encounter a stress response.

1. Physical—taking care of your body to stay healthy. This includes proper nutrition, exercise, and sleep.
2. Intellectual—creating opportunities to learn and expand current knowledge.
3. Emotional—being aware of, understanding, and appropriately expressing feelings, opinions and values; having empathy towards others, creating satisfying relationships, and coping with stress effectively.
4. Social—developing healthy friendships, having a support system, experiencing belonging and connection with others, contributing to the larger community
5. Spiritual—defining your beliefs and values while engaging in activities that align with those beliefs, finding a sense of meaning, value and purpose in life.
6. Vocational—finding satisfaction in work while contributing in a meaningful way by sharing your skills/talents/gifts
7. Financial—living within your means, setting attainable goals, preparing for emergencies and being content with your current financial situation
8. Environmental—having an understanding of how the world around you affects your wellbeing, environmental preservation and taking care of the world around you.

Making Changes

While it sounds like common sense to make good choices regarding your health and wellbeing, it’s not always easy. Change is hard. We may know what’s good for us, but we don’t always follow that up with our behavior or choices. There are several factors that play into the success of making positive changes in each of these areas:

1. Cultivating Self-Awareness—the first step is becoming aware of what needs to change. If we aren’t aware that something is a problem, we aren’t going to change it. Change becomes easier if you begin to identify your strengths, patterns and routines.
2. Creating Healthy Habits—change takes intentionality, curiosity and even failure. the dictionary defines a habit as “a settled or regular tendency or practice.” Change takes time and practice. Repeating new routines or behaviors over time will help them develop into habits. Keep your wellness goals attainable and write them down.
3. Self-Regulation—self regulation is the ability to control our behavior and impulses. Assess your priorities and values and then ask yourself, “are my behaviors/choices aligning with my values & priorities?”
4. SMART Goals & Strategies—assess your goals. Are they: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-Bound? If not, it’s time to redefine those goals!

Take time today to assess the various components of wellness in your own life and how they may be affecting you. Remember that wellness is a lifestyle, it is a process that helps you become the best version of you. If you’re having a difficult time adjusting to life changes, Graceful Balance can help you determine which area of wellness might be impacting your mental health, and help you develop a plan of action to get to where you want to be. Reach out today!