Holistic Approach towards Seven Dimensions of Wellness

To truly experience health from a holistic perspective, you must incorporate seven dimensions of wellness into your life.

What is Wellness?

Wellness is a conscious and self-directed process with the goal of achieving your full potential.

The World Health Organisation defines wellness as “an optimal state of health,” concerning an individual’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual state of being.

It’s a concept that changes how we think about and approach health.

Embracing wellness means shifting your mindset to prevention and employing proactive strategies to thrive, rather than just survive.

There are several models of wellness which contains following dimensions.

All of the dimensions are interwoven and interconnected and wellness is a balance of these dimensions in your life. I believe that looking after each of these will help us stay young, healthy and happy.

What are the seven dimensions of wellness?

Familiarizing yourself with each dimension and working to bring them all together will empower you to live your life to the fullest.

The 7 Dimensions of Wellness are:

• Physical Wellness

• Intellectual Wellness

• Emotional Wellness

• Spiritual Wellness

• Environmental Wellness

• Occupational Wellness

• Social Wellness

Physical Wellness :-

Physical wellness refers to the body’s ability to function well and participate in a variety of activities without becoming too fatigued.

Physical wellness is one of the easiest to grasp and find resources for.

These three elements form the core of physical wellness:

Exercise :- Exercise is known to increase energy levels, maintain brain health and keep your heart in top shape. Move every day in a way that you enjoy. Engaging in physical activity that you like will keep you coming back again and again.

Nutrition :- For your body to function at its full potential, you need to feed it a balanced diet. Consuming adequate amounts of protein, fiber and vitamins is essential to keeping your body and mind healthy.

Sleep :- Sleep is often the most elusive element of physical wellness. More than a third of adults don’t get enough sleep, and it translates to issues like heart disease, diabetes and mental health problems. Your body needs adequate sleep to perform well.

Integrating healthy habits into your everyday life can take significant motivation. If you try to implement many physical wellness strategies all at once, you’re more likely to give up. Promoting your own physical wellness means consistently adding healthy habits to your life.

Intellectual Wellness :-

Intellectual wellness is pursuing the cultivation of your mental and cognitive resources. In other words, being intellectually well means feeding your mind and sense of creativity.

Here are three things you can do to support your intellectual health:

Read :- Reading is one of the easiest ways to keep mentally fit. Your brain works much like a muscle, and reading helps to train it. Picking up a good story or non-fiction book can even reduce your stress by around 68 percent.

Explore :- Our minds crave a change of scenery quite frequently. Interacting with the world around you can stimulate your mind and improve your sense of curiosity

Create :- Even people who insist they’re not creative usually have some instinct to create. Creativity can expand your intellectual horizons by a significant margin.

Maintaining Intellectual wellness just requires a little effort and willingness to build a love of learning over time. If you ever get stuck in a mental rut, picking up a new hobby can re-start your intellectual engine.

Emotional Wellness :-

Emotional wellness is the ability to be aware of and manage your emotions. It also means you have a realistic view of yourself and your circumstances.

An emotionally strong individual is equipped and confident to deal with the unpredictability and stressors in life without feeling overwhelmed or helpless.

Here are three tips for maintaining your emotional wellness:

Practice optimism :- This doesn’t mean forcing yourself to put on a happy face — It just means shifting your view and perspective of your circumstances.

Try daily or weekly journaling as a way to express your thoughts and feelings.

Practice mindfulness :- Mindfulness helps you zero in on what’s happening right now rather than worrying about the future or getting absorbed by the past.

Practice reframing :- Powerful negative emotions are often influenced by your perspective. If you’re feeling socially anxious about interacting with a bunch of new people at a party, you might instead pivot to thinking about how you’ll see your best friend there and get to eat some killer appetizers.

Spiritual Wellness :-

Spiritual wellness is closely related to emotional wellness. It involves aligning the mind and body with your purpose in life. Any activity that promotes alignment and brings your purpose into clearer focus will help develop your spiritual wellness. 

Here are some of the most common ways people address their spiritual wellness:

• Meditation

• Mindfulness

• Connection with nature

• Yoga

Set aside time each day for your spiritual wellness, whether that’s through meditation, prayer, chanting, journaling, solitary walks, or deep thought and reflection.

Environmental Wellness :-

It is an understanding that everything we do as humans impacts the quality of our surroundings and the health of our planet. Environmental wellness empowers you to make decisions that have a positive impact on the world around you.

Environmental wellness is bringing yourself into better alignment with the needs of the environment, and it’s a crucial part of overall well-being.

Some of the hallmarks of environmental wellness are :-

• Awareness of Earth’s limited natural resources

• Conservation of energy

• Recycling where possible

• Enjoying and appreciating time spent outdoors

• Take a daily walk in nature or step outside at least once a day for fresh air.

Educating yourself and taking small steps to reduce your environmental impact helps you develop a sense of your place in the world

Occupational Wellness :-

Occupational wellness is doing what you can to make your job more fulfilling and less stressful. It can be tough to take the initiative and change how you think about certain aspects of your job, but the payoff is worth it.

Signs of occupational wellness include :-

• More consistent engagement and motivation

• Better work-life balance

• Improved relationships with coworkers

There are specific actions and attitudes anyone can adopt to improve their occupational wellness:

Create connections :- Building rapport with coworkers enhances your sense of belonging at work, which is critical to occupational wellness.

Build your skills :- Reframing your focus to building skills rather than gaining recognition helps develop a sense of pride in your work.

Engage your learning style :- Take the time to investigate what learning methods are most effective for you, and see how you can implement them into learning experiences at work.

Social Wellness :-

Humans are by nature a social species. Our social needs are just as essential as biological needs from a wellness perspective.

When we participate in and feel we belong to a social system, we become more resilient.

Social wellness is the ability to do these three things within a community.

Communicate :- A strong social community shares information, thoughts and feelings to build support for all its members.

Communication is key to social wellness.

Contribute :- Social systems offer the chance to contribute to a community, and the ability to recognize the contributions of other members. This give-and-take relationship strengthens bonds and solidifies your sense of support.

Connect :- Perhaps the most important element of social wellness is the ability to forge strong connections with others based on shared experiences and goals.

Keeping your social wellness in focus often means setting aside time to check in with friends and family, and maximizing the quality time you spend with them.

Research shows that having strong social relationships can result in more happiness, better health, and even a longer life.