It’s important to understand health and wellness are not interchangeable terms. Health is a term describing the state of your physical body. If you’re sick then you are unhealthy. A doctor diagnoses the area of your physical body malfunctioning and helps you restore it back to a functional state. People go to a hospital so they can be healthy, not so that they can be well. Wellness, on the other hand, is a multifaceted term that includes 6 key dimensions:
- 1Emotional
- 2Physical
- 3Occupational
- 4Intellectual
- 5Spiritual
- 6Social
Photo from the National Wellness Institute
One of the key aspects of wellness is an intentional, self-directed process in which an individual chooses to push themselves to their full potential. A lifestyle of wellness is positive and affirming, and it accounts for the various aspects of self care needing tending. You cannot be the happiest, most productive version of yourself if you choose to ignore your general wellness.
However, life is busy and looking at that list often feels overwhelming. Here are are few simple ways to tend to your daily wellness without devoting huge amounts of time to the process.
- Prioritize Your Sleep: Sleep is a key component of both health and wellness. You will not think clearly about any aspect of your life if you don’t allow your brain and body the necessary time to rest. Ideally you should go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
- Plan Your Morning: Set your morning wake up time a full hour before you need to leave and set at least fifteen minutes of that time aside to be quietly by yourself without outside noise or distraction. Use this time for your spiritual health. Connect to your personal values and ethics. If you are religious then read or pray. It is impossible to be content with yourself if you are living life outside of your own beliefs. Examine your lifestyle honestly and plan your day to be in tune with your spiritual needs.
- Set Personal Goals: Use a daily planner or journal (a sticky note works too) to set personal goals for your week and month. What do you want to accomplish at work this week? What do you want to accomplish in your physical health?
- Tend to Your Relationships: Don’t allow friendships and marriage to fall by the wayside. Studies have shown that adults with strong social connections have increased happiness, reduced stress, improved self confidence and are more likely to care for their general wellness. This doesn’t have to be complicated; a simple text to a friend or a call to your significant other can go far. A little extra care goes a long way toward maintaining quality, life-long relationships.
Caring for your wellness is essential to living a satisfying life, but it doesn’t have to be all encompassing. Take some time to think over the six dimensions of wellness and find ways that you can easily fit them into your schedule. I would love to hear what you come up with! Reach out to us on social media and share some of your easy tricks for daily wellness.
