Wellness Dimensions Wheel
Wellness is a holistic way to approach our health and wellbeing. Mental Health and wellness is impacted by different areas of our lives that interact and influence each other. Everyone’s ideal wellness will focus on different wellness dimensions based on many individual factors such as family history, education, health, income, relationships, personality and so on. As we make our way through life, different dimensions will come in and out of focus. We can explore the different areas of wellness in our lives and determine what dimensions may need more energy to bring us greater wellbeing.
What is Career & Academic Wellness?
Career and Academic Wellness is about increasing knowledge, creating networks, and continually seeking mental stimulation. It means searching for resources to help make decisions; challenging yourself to new life experiences; having a well-developed sense of self, and meeting academic and career goals in a healthy way.
What is Emotional Wellness?
Emotional wellness is a journey toward increased awareness, expression and acceptance. When your emotional well-being is developed, you will be more open to a wide range of thoughts and feelings in yourself and in others. Emotional wellness helps you achieve positive self-esteem, satisfying relationships, and resilience to meet life’s challenges.
What is Environmental Wellness?
Environmental wellness is about being part of a safe and sustainable community that allows you to have a comfortable and well-cared for home, a sense of safety and security, and awareness and understanding of risks associated with the places where one travels. It includes understanding the impact of one’s choices on others and taking responsibility for one’s own actions. It may involve work in the community to make improvements and to create a sense of community and well being.
What is Financial Wellness?
Financial wellness is having an understanding of your financial situation and taking care of it in such a way that you are prepared for financial changes. Maintaining that balance consists of being comfortable with where your money comes from and where it is going.
What is Physical Wellness?
Physical wellness is developed through the combination of positive physical activity / exercise, healthy eating habits, and avoiding harmful substances. Components of physical wellness include building muscular strength and endurance, cardiovascular strength and endurance and flexibility. Physical wellness is also concerned with developing personal responsibility for your own health care, such as caring for illnesses and knowing when professional medical attention is needed. Developing physical wellness empowers you to be able to monitor your own vital signs and understand your body’s warning signs. You’ll understand and appreciate the relationship between good nutrition and how your body performs.
What is Spiritual Wellness?
Spiritual Wellness is a personal matter involving values and beliefs that provide a purpose in our lives. While different individuals may have different views of what spiritualism is, it is generally considered to be the search for meaning and purpose in human existence, leading one to strive for a state of harmony with oneself and others while working to balance inner needs with the rest of the world.
What is Social & Cultural Wellness?
Social and Cultural Wellness refers to one’s ability to interact with people around them. It involves using good communications skills, having meaningful relationships, respecting yourself and others, and creating a support system that includes family members and friends.
Cultural Wellness may be defined as the actions, values and beliefs shared by a group of people, such as an ethnic, racial, geographical, religious, gender, class or age group. Everyone belongs to multiple cultural groups, so each individual is a blend of many influences. Culture includes or influences fashion, language, arts and music, religion, customs, food, laws, social standards, and beliefs. It plays an important role in how people of different backgrounds express themselves, seek help, cope with stress and develop social supports.