Happy New Year, girls!
With the new year comes a lot of thoughts and emphasis on self-improvement, fitness, and making changes for a better life. I think around the new year; however, too much of that self-improvement and resolution is rooted in physical health, such as diet and exercise. The 75 hard, fad diets and other fitness-oriented resolutions take center stage when wellness is indeed so much more. There are ways we can improve ourselves and make our lives better that don’t involve physical health and fitness. Of course, your physical health, such as what you eat, how much sleep you get, and if you exercise, are exceptionally important—but not the whole picture.
What are the dimensions of wellness?
There are six main dimensions of wellness that impact how we feel and function on a daily basis. These dimensions of wellness are physical, emotional, spiritual, occupational, intellectual, and social. These dimensions are all intertwined and relate to and affect one another in direct and indirect ways. So, once again, it’s important to place adequate attention on all aspects of health to improve overall well-being.
When it comes to the dimensions of wellness, I’m a bit of a geek, weirdo, nerd, so I’ve done a decent amount of research on it in my free time, and today, I want to share some of my insights with you all. I’m going to give a brief rundown on each dimension of wellness, several tips to improve or build habits in these areas, and then some personal insights about the approaches I take to feel my best. Or as “well” as possible.
Physical Wellbeing:
So, first and foremost, we have physical health. This includes things like nutrition, exercise, sleep, immune function, illness and disease, and also the habits you engage in, such as smoking and drinking. Preventative measures such as mammograms, colonoscopies, and other doctor visits also relate to the physical dimension of wellness. In a nutshell, physical health encompasses anything that involves taking care of your physical body.
How can I improve my physical wellbeing?
Some things you can do to improve this area of wellness include:
Making physical activity a habit. Choose something you love to do so you look forward to it. I get that we’re all busy, but when we look forward to movement, prioritizing it is much easier. Run, bike, dance, lift, walk, garden, Pilates, yoga, swimming, whatever it is you like, just make the time for it most days.
Eating intuitively. Honor your hunger and health. Approach food and eating in a way that isn’t restrictive but rather focuses on connecting to and listening to your body. Learn to listen to your hunger and satiety cues to not eat past fullness or when you’re not truly hungry. Eat what you like and like what you eat. If you’re curious about what intuitive eating is, what it entails, and the research and evidence in its favor, I recommend reading Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch.
Know the foods that are health enhancing and especially good for your body and work these into meals or snacks. Certain foods happen to be more nutrient-dense than others. Sometimes referred to as “superfoods,” things like avocado, blueberries, salmon, walnuts, figs, kale, coffee, sweet potato, and chia seeds have incredible nutritional benefits. They contain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, thus offering much value to our bodies. These foods help with immune function, inflammation, decreasing free radicals, and much more. Knowing what foods are especially good for you is helpful because you can then be intentional about adding them to your diet in ways that work for you. Make healthy foods fun, such as making sweet potato fries and chia pudding, or add kale or blueberries to a smoothie. Health-enhancing foods don’t have to be disgusting. You just have to work with them in fun ways. Because let’s be real, nobody is eating raw fucking kale.
Going to sleep at a time early enough to get a solid 7-9 hours. Sleep is so fundamental to our health and daily functioning. I think a lot of people overlook the beauty found in a great night’s sleep. Sleep affects so many parts of our physical and mental health, such as recovery, mood, emotional regulation, gut health, immune function, memory, chronic disease prevention, and so much more. Because sleep influences practically every single aspect of health, improving our habits in this one area can optimize our overall well-being.
Visit a doctor once a year for checkups, and if you’re at the age where it’s recommended to get some preventative exams, I would consider that, too, especially if your family has a history of certain kinds of illness or disease. Once a year isn’t a lot to ask. It’s simple and important just to make sure everything’s okay. Also, be aware of your family history so you know what to keep in mind when going in for checkups or preventative exams.
Take inventory of your habits. Seriously consider whether your drinking is excessive, if you’re smoking a pack a day, or partaking in any other habit that can be damaging to your physical health. Be honest with yourself and know the difference between silly girl drinking and sloppy, ugly, excessive girl drinking. The prior is much more fun and can actually be heath-enhancing when considering the social dimension of wellness. Also, quitting a bad habit can be just as good as adding a healthy one. Start where you can.
If all this advice seems overwhelming or unrealistic, just pick one thing and work on it. Just the very simple action of deciding to go for a long walk a few days a week or shutting off the TV an hour earlier to go to bed can significantly improve your overall health and well-being.
My go-to physical wellness habits:
Scanning my products in Yuka or the EWG app. What goes on your body is just as important as the things that go in your body. I like to use clean and environmentally friendly products free of toxins, carcinogens, and endocrine disrupters. This is one simple thing I’ve been doing for about a year now to look after my physical health.
Go to bed early. I love sleep. It’s also so rewarding to get a high sleep score on Fitbit. Not because I care about the numbers but because it’s a little validation that I’m doing at least one thing right.
Workout. To take care of my body, I have a little bit of a hot girl workout routine. It changes throughout the year based on what my goals are and the weather. For example, when it’s cold, I walk and hike less but lift more. I run more and lift less if I have a race coming up and when it’s warmer. Occasionally, I’ll do boxing too. Currently, I’m lifting 4 days a week with two lower-body days and two upper-body days, and the other two days, I’ll just do whatever my little heart desires. Maybe boxing, maybe the stair master, a HIIT workout, or possibly a little podcast walk.
Recover from my workouts. Yes, I love the days I get to workout, but physical rest is extremely important for our bodies. I take at least one rest day a week. This is important so our bodies can fully recover and replenish. Without taking rest days, our bodies are more prone to injury and burnout. Rest also helps to restore our energy, repair muscles, and improve performance. Another recovery habit I’ve recently adopted is using my Theragun. My sister got me one for Christmas, and it’s amazing for muscle recovery. So thank you, K Bear.
Intuitive eating and trying to eat more produce. The thing about me is that I could go days without eating a single fruit or vegetable. I know that’s not a great habit, so I’m trying to be more intentional about adding produce to my meals while maintaining an intuitive approach to my eating.
Read nutrition labels. This is a habit I picked up in college. I used to not know how to read nutrition labels or what anything meant. I think reading the ingredients is important because it’s valuable to know what goes into your body. Of course, we can’t read the ingredients or labels for everything we consume, nor should we. This shouldn’t be an obsessive thing but just a simple habit to allow yourself to be an informed consumer.
Drink lots of water. I am always sipping a beverage, and you should be, too. The body needs enough water to function at its best, and having a cute water bottle, like I do, definitely helps.
Stretch. I stretch practically every day as a way to recover my muscles and improve flexibility. Sometimes, it can be painful, but I never regret it. This is also a good habit to have because it helps prevent injuries, increases blood flow, decreases stress, enhances athletic performance, and relieves muscle tension. It can be super easy to add in as a habit if you sit on the floor and stretch while watching TV or scrolling TikTok or Pinterest.
Now that we have explored the basics of physical wellness and ways to improve it, including some of my own habits, let’s discuss emotional wellness.
Emotional Wellbeing:
Emotional wellness is how well you can manage, process, and regulate your emotions. It involves resilience in the face of difficulty, self-compassion, and stress management. Lastly, it includes our ability to adapt to and cope with life changes and challenges in a healthy way.
How can I improve my emotional wellbeing?
Some things you can do to improve this area of wellness include:
Journaling. This is such a helpful and practical tool to improve emotional health. Some of the benefits of journaling include increased memory and self-confidence, boosted mood and creativity, deepened self-awareness, and reduced anxiety.
Reaching out to supportive people. Know who the people are in your life that you can reach out to no matter what. When you’re facing a difficult situation, it helps to get things off your chest. Being vulnerable with others also deepens social connections and relationships while simultaneously improving emotional health.
Therapy. Not everyone is blessed with a strong support system or people they can open up to. If this is the case, or you just feel you need more help than family and friends can offer, therapy is the next step. Therapy has lots of benefits for emotional health, including increased self-awareness, improved mood, and fewer negative thoughts. Unfortunately, therapy can be extremely expensive and isn’t affordable to everyone. Just another issue I have with this country’s healthcare system. I wish I could make therapy free or affordable for everyone, but unfortunately, I can’t shit Skittles.
Practicing self-care and relaxation. Read a book on the couch, do a face mask, watch TV in bed with a sweet treat, go for a walk, lay out in the sun, meditate, cook your favorite meal. Whatever it is that relaxes you and allows you to take better care of yourself, do it more often. This is fundamental for increasing happiness and self-esteem and managing stress.
My go-to emotional wellness habits:
Listening to music I can relate to. This helps me process what I’m feeling. I made a playlist on Spotify with only music that has lyrics and messages I resonate with. It’s up to 100 songs now, and it’s such a key component to my emotional health. Also good for long runs when I need time to think about my life.
Talking to people. When something plagues my mind, I have to open up about it. Keeping my emotions in physically pains me, and I know I can be extremely emotional and dramatic, but suppressing is much worse than being vulnerable with what I’m going through. I always feel much better after I talk to someone about a problem.
Taking time for myself. Call me selfish, but I disagree. I can’t be my best for others if I don’t feel my best. No matter what, every day, I do something for me and only me. Whether this be reading before bed, working out, tidying up, or watching an episode of my favorite show, I take the time for it. It’s relaxing and definitely makes me happier.
Journaling. I mentioned this one on the last list, but it’s a habit I practice occasionally, too. I find it helpful. A good brain dump on a blank page in a cute notebook is sometimes exactly what I need.
Spiritual Wellbeing:
Now, let’s move on to spiritual wellness. This dimension of wellness is having a sense of purpose in life and knowing there’s a deeper meaning. It is grounded in values such as compassion, kindness, and love for yourself and others. It involves following your moral code of ethics and values. Staying true to yourself, so to speak. Spiritual well-being doesn’t necessarily have to relate to religious beliefs or practices, yet it can.
How can I improve my spiritual wellbeing?
Spending time alone in self-reflection. It’s important to take the time to think about life and its deeper meaning. To think about our contributions and influence on the world. Maybe not an everyday practice, but try to ponder the topic every once in a while. Reflect also on your actions and experiences to see ways in which you can be better or make sense of certain situations.
Religious practices such as prayer, mass, meditation, adoration, etc. This can be beneficial for spiritual health by providing a moral framework and sense of community, developing a sense of purpose and meaning, and helping us cope with difficult life situations.
Be intentional about living aligned with your values, and be kind and compassionate towards others. It doesn’t feel great being an asshole. Take this from someone who gets called an asshole at least once a day.
Devote yourself to a cause. This can provide us with the sense of purpose and fulfillment we need to achieve optimal spiritual wellness.
Allow yourself time to slow down. Practices such as yoga and meditation are powerful tools for improving spiritual health and offer various benefits such as increased empathy, interoceptive awareness, focus, and improved breathing, concentration, and stress management.
My go-to spiritual wellness habits:
Self-reflective journaling. This habit is one of my favorites. Super healing.
Considering my purpose and life’s meaning. Either means I have too much free time, I’m on a run, or I’m on the brink of a meltdown.
Starting each morning slowly. This is super important for me. Slowing down first thing in the morning to just be, think, or pray has been very valuable to my spiritual health and overall well-being.
Practicing my faith. I’m a practicing Catholic, and taking time to pray, go to mass, and partake in other sacraments has been super beneficial for me. I think being intentional about it has helped me become a kinder and more considerate person. At times, I do struggle to be kind; Lord knows I’m not perfect. I do my best, though.
Know my values in life so I can act in alignment with them. I’ve taken a lot of time to consider what I value and find important in life. Because I know what I value and what things mean the most to me, I can slow down and be reminded of these before making any decisions or reacting to any difficult situations.
Intellectual Wellbeing:
Let’s move on to intellectual health. Intellectual wellness involves lifelong learning, open-mindedness, curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, and finding ways to challenge and stimulate your brain.
How can I improve my intellectual wellbeing?
Learning new skills, hobbies, or languages. Opening our minds in this way offers many benefits, such as improved cognitive capacity, mood, and confidence. Further, it can open us up to new opportunities for growth.
Painting, coloring, making collages, drawing, pottery, and other creative hobbies. Artistic expression is incredibly valuable for intellectual health and development. A bonus is improved fine motor skills, stress reduction, and creative development.
Reading. In all seriousness, reading is how we know most of what we know. Therefore it’s a given that to expand your knowledge and intellect, reading is beneficial.
Brain games and puzzles. It’s one of the more fun suggestions for intellectual health, in my opinion. Not only are brain games fun, but they can also improve memory, attention, problem-solving, hand-eye coordination, and brain speed.
Taking classes for school or just for fun. We can increase our motivation and love of learning while also setting ourselves up for success on our life paths.
Going to museums, concerts, musicals, or other art events. This is a fun twist on intellectual well-being and can improve cognitive development, reduce stress, and increase positive emotions.
Consider and hear other perspectives. This can improve your intellectual health by expanding your thinking, enhancing creativity, and improving conflict resolution skills.
My go-to intellectual wellness habits:
Reading for fun. A favorite hobby of mine. And it has also helped me learn and grow as a person.
Doing the NYT Games. This is an everyday staple. The connections can piss me off from time to time, though.
Traveling. I love going to a new place and seeing how others live differently than me. We all have different daily routines, jobs, regular restaurants we go to, and so on. Traveling is such an amazing thing because it’s a great way to open your mind to new perspectives and cultures while also appreciating the beauty of this earth.
Writing and researching for my blog. Very intellectually stimulating, and honestly, it’s a highlight of my week.
Going to concerts and museums. As we know, the arts are very important for intellectual health. Concerts are always an amazing and inviting experience, and as a bonus, I get to dance. Also, walking around a museum just to look at and learn new things is one of my favorite activities.
Scrapbooking. This has been one of my favorite hobbies recently, and not only is it intellectually and creatively stimulating, but it also helps me be grateful for all of life’s beautiful moments and blessings.
Occupational Wellbeing:
Alright, next up, we have occupational health. This dimension of wellness relates to fulfillment in your career or other life roles—such as motherhood or being a college student. Maintaining a good work-life balance is important to being in good occupational health. It’s also essential that one feels like their contributions matter, they like what they do, feel they make a difference and are overall happy in their role. Lastly, building solid work relationships and growing skills relevant to your position are fundamental for good occupational health.
How can I improve my occupational wellbeing?
Evaluate your current situation. Be honest with yourself. Are you fulfilled in your current role? Do you feel satisfied with your job? Are you living up to your potential and putting efforts towards your passions? If not, decide what needs to change and make plans to follow through with that. I know this is much easier said than done, but for the sake of our well-being, it must be done. I worked a job for about 5 months that I was pretty unhappy with. It took a toll on my mental and emotional health, and I knew I needed to make a change. It wasn’t the easiest thing to quit and make a bit of a career adjustment, but I knew it was what I had to do.
Create solid work-life boundaries. This is important because it allows us to make time for the many other areas of life that we find important. Creating this solid boundary also helps increase productivity while at work, reduces absenteeism, and improves both personal and work relationships.
Invest in workplace relationships. With solid co-worker relationships, work isn’t a drag. It makes going to work exciting and rewarding. We can be more productive when we have healthy relationships with those we work with closely. It also helps us avoid burnout, boredom, and stress in our work lives.
Keep up with news related to your field. Being informed in your area of work and expertise is never a bad thing.
Brush up on old skills and learn new ones. Whatever helps you perform your best at work, it’s worth investing in.
Reflect on your gifts, talents, and strengths. Acknowledge that you bring something unique to this world, no matter your current role or position. Lean into the things you do well and use them to your advantage.
My go-to occupational wellness habits:
Reading What You’re Really Meant to Do by Robert Steven Kaplan. It’s one of the most helpful resources I’ve come across in my life. If you feel lost about your future and need help or direction on your path, give it a read.
Having a good work-life balance and making sufficient time for leisure and hobbies. I am a leisure princess. Sometimes, I am referred to as selfish, privileged, and inconsiderate for that. I don’t think any of this is true. For the most part. I take my leisure time seriously, though, because I understand the consequences if I don’t. I know what burnout feels like. I know what apathy, boredom, stress, and depression feel like. We all do. But I also know how to avoid that. It involves taking time for me and finding that sweet spot of work-life balance. Taking time for leisure but also working hard and having grit.
Furthering my education. I’m very passionate about public health and policies relating to this field of work. I want to learn more about it and deepen my knowledge in this subject. At some point in the future, I hope to have a career in public health. Getting my Master’s degree is a concrete step I can take on the path of optimal occupational well-being.
Honest self-reflection. I know what I’m good at, what my strengths are, and the talents I possess. I know my weaknesses, too. Because I’m honest and realistic about these things, I can better evaluate where these skills are needed and how they can be best put to use.
Being open to learning new skills and subjects. I know that there’s always going to be something I don’t know and skills I have not developed. Knowing and acknowledging this allows me to open up to the skills and subjects that I want to learn more about and develop further in my work. When you know what you don’t know, you can be intentional about learning the necessary skills for you to do the job to the best of your ability.
Social Wellbeing:
Lastly, we have the social dimension of wellness. Social wellness includes your relationships in life, how deep and genuine your connections are, how supported you feel by different social circles, and your sense of belonging. Being socially healthy is important for optimal well-being because it increases happiness, self-esteem, and even longevity.
How can I improve my social wellbeing?
Setting up regular hangouts with your friends and family. Make social plans with the people in your life you want to keep and deepen connections with.
Get involved in your community. This is a way to meet new people, foster new relationships, increase a sense of belonging and purpose, and improve mental health.
Be present in your interactions and conversations. When you’re taking the time to be social, be fully invested and fully present. Take this time to really connect and appreciate whoever’s company you’re in.
Practice active listening. When others are speaking, really listen to what they have to say. It means a lot to others, allows us opportunities to be empathetic and compassionate, and strengthens the bonds we have with our friends and family.
Be open to new relationships. When we’re open to meeting new people and pursuing those relationships, we can widen our social circles and increase the amount of interaction we get.
My go-to social wellness habits:
Family board games or hangouts. This can either be incredibly fun or incredibly toxic. But the times it’s fun, it’s a great way to improve social well-being. Recently we’ve been playing Smart Ass, which I recommend. Other times, Clue and Uno are in. Either way, it can be a great bonding experience.
Getting together as much as possible with my friends. I just love hanging out, conversing, drinking, thrifting, dancing, cooking, and laughing with good people. It means the world to me.
Getting out of the house. Sometimes you just have to. Whether it be running errands with family for an hour or a whole day drinking event in Soulard, it can be good for you.
Closing:
So. That’s that. The six dimensions of wellness, some simple tips and tricks to improve those areas of your life, and some of the practices that I turn to. As you can see, these dimensions of wellness do not exist in a vacuum. They heavily relate to and influence one another in many complex ways. Health includes so many different factors, and none of them mustn’t go unnoticed. Don’t neglect social well-being to optimize physical well-being, and don’t neglect emotional well-being for occupational well-being. Whatever area of wellness you’re considering, don’t let one take from the other. Of course, perfect balance doesn’t exist, but do what you can to fill your cup in each of these areas. Just start where you can and do your best. Because that’s all we really can do.
Holy shit. I actually feel like my brain has stopped working. This was so much writing and thinking. That’s enough intellectual stimulation for the week. Don’t worry, though; you’ll hear from me again soon. Lots of love to my readers.