What is Wellness, and Why is it Important?

The first time I really thought about wellness was in my sophomore year physical education class. The class was split into two sections: one of them being inside the gym, playing games, and the other one being in a classroom, learning about wellness. 

We were taught to think about wellness in different dimensions. Eight dimensions to be exact. These include: 

In this blog post, I'm going to touch on occupational wellness, spiritual wellness, physical wellness, and intellectual wellness.  

Occupational wellness 

This refers to your feelings around your career/work. It focuses on your attitude towards the work you're doing—does it provide meaning and purpose to your life? Occupational wellness within itself also focuses on work-life balance, building relationships with your co-workers, and addressing stress in the workplace. 

There are many ways to improve occupational wellness. You can write out your career goals and create a plan, do what you enjoy, continue working to advancing your skills/knowledge, and find the pros of your current job. It's all about making sure your happy in the career you are in/pursuing, as it will ultimately increase your occupational wellness. 

Spiritual wellness

This refers to your personal beliefs and values, ensuring inner peace and balance. Reflecting on yourself and your life is good practice; it helps you deeply contemplate your decisions and values and can help you deal with stress in the long term. 

You can do many things to relieve tension and improve your spiritual wellness. This could include trying yoga, traveling, journaling, meditating, and overall, trying to think more positively. 

Physical wellness 

This refers to healthy habits surrounding nutrition and exercise and making sure your body is properly taken care of. Physical wellness promotes care for our bodies so it functions well. This ultimately ties to your mind, as a healthy lifestyle creates a strong mind. 

Simple habits such as drinking more water and getting more sleep would increase your physical wellness. Additionally, eating enough food throughout the day, and trying to eat whole, healthy foods are great things to incorporate into your lifestyle. But remember, everything is good in moderation—it's all about finding that balance! 

Intellectual wellness 

This refers to stimulating your mind with engaging and creative activities to ultimately expand your knowledge and skills. This is all about learning. Are you doing this in your life that are opening your mind to new ideas and experiences? 

To improve intellectual wellness, it's crucial to try new things. Pick up a book and read something interesting. Go explore a museum, market, or go on a nature walk. Anything that is furthering your educational experience will increase your intellectual wellness. 

All in all, achieving wellness requires a balance of all the dimensions. And, it's up to you to dictate how much you want to focus on one dimension. Remember: YOU are the one that creates healthy balance in your life! 

Souce: https://wellness.totalaccessmedical.com/blog/what-is-wellness 

By Allie Jiang