“Health is a state of body. Wellness is a state of being.” – J. Stanford

wellness: noun / the state of being in good health, especially as an actively pursued goal.

When I set out on the adventure of writing this post, I had no idea there were seven parts to wellness. I thought I would write about working out, getting sleep, healthy eating, creating a routine, etc. I quickly learned that while it is important to focus on what I just mentioned, in order to achieve complete overall wellness, there has to be a balance across the seven areas.

I wrote this keeping our current situation in mind – working from home, kids out of school, sickness, death, businesses closed, etc. and shared ways to work on the areas of wellness in our current state. So, without further ado, here we go……

Social

I started with social because it is the one that I feel is affecting me the most. In order to achieve social wellness, one must interact with others, communicate, create networks of family and friends. It is hard to achieve social wellness when stuck at home, but there are ways to work towards this:

• Call your family and friends
• Schedule Zoom/Skype/FaceTime calls
• Take work breaks throughout the day and plan coffee/snack dates with the kids
• Show respect to everyone in your household, even the animals 🙂
• Find a way to give back/contribute to those in need
• Eat dinner as a family
• Bond with your kids by offering praise for good behavior, give them meaningful jobs to do around the house, set rules for mobile devices/screen time
• Volunteer at a Food Bank

Emotional

We are all going through something that is having an impact on every single person worldwide. People are losing their jobs, getting sick, not having money to pay bills or buy food, and even death, this is truly an unprecedented time. Emotional wellness is often referred to as mental wellness and in times like these, it is so important to understand what that means. Your emotional wellness is the ability to recognize the emotions you are feeling – anger, excitement, love, fear, sadness, anxiety, frustration, etc. and how to cope with these feelings. It is also important to understand why you are feeling the way you feel and checking in with yourself to make sure you are ok. Some ways to achieve emotional wellness include:

• Stay positive! I know this seems like a blanket answer, but every single morning you have a choice: be thankful to be alive and have the family, friends, job, home, etc. that you have or give in to the feelings of despair and focus on all of the negative things. This will challenge you, but it will be worth it.
• Smile
• Remember your good deeds
• Create a Gratitude Journal
• Be accepting of yourself and others
• Find social media accounts that truly inspire you (not the ones that make you feel like crap because you don’t think you are living up to their standard)
• In regards to the second half of the previous bullet point, unfollow the accounts that make you feel that way. End of story. You do not need to explain, just do it.
• Try one of these apps: Headspace, Insight Timer, Talkspace, 10 Percent Happier
• Forgive yourself
• Know that you are doing the best you can

Spiritual

Spiritual wellness is the ability to find peace and harmony within your own life by aligning your values with your actions. You live your life by a set of guiding principles that have meaning and give purpose to your life. Here are some ways to work on your spiritual wellness:

• Many churches across a multitude of denominations are streaming services right now – watch one
• Do yoga or meditate or anything that will help you find some quiet time
• Give back – donate your time, money, food, clothes, etc.
• Make a list of what gives your life meaning and purpose and reflect on that
• Practice listening first, speaking second, and judging none
• Take a walk through nature and truly make yourself present to appreciate all of the beauty around you

Environmental

Environmental wellness is exactly what you think it is – being aware of your surroundings – out in nature and your immediate surroundings. Your home is considered part of environmental wellness, especially right now because we are spending so much time in our homes. Ways to work on your environmental wellness include:

• Change your air filters
• Use an air purifier
• Drink filtered water
• Natural light
• House plants
• Recycle
• Create an outdoor space at your home where you can sit and enjoy your coffee, listen to the birds, watch the kids play, and relax

Occupational

While this definitely includes having a safe space to work in, it is also inclusive of how fulfilled you feel at work. Working adults spend 40 + hours a week at work, and if you are not fulfilled in your work, not being challenged, and not happy, it can have a serious negative affect on your life. It is also important to have a healthy work-life balance and learn how to deal with work place stress. Many of my coworkers I have been talking to over the last several weeks have said it was very difficult in the beginning of working from home to separate work from personal life. Here are ways to work on occupational wellness:

• Take continuing education classes
• Work as a team as opposed to individuals
• Participate in positive health related activities at work including gym memberships, biometric screenings, receiving flu shots
• Encourage your team to move throughout the day (make sure to do this at home as well)
• Challenge yourself with a new project
• Designate an “office space” at home to have a clear representation of what is “work” and what is “life”
• Work your normal office hours (obviously exceptions occur, but just because you are a room over from your work computer doesn’t mean you HAVE to respond to the e-mail that isn’t due until tomorrow)

Intellectual

Intellectual wellness means you are engaging in creative and stimulating mental activities. This results in a positive experience in both our personal and professional lives. Ways to achieve intellectual wellness include:

• Learn a new skill (language, computer program, etc.)
• Pick up a new hobby
• Know what resources are available to you
• Read
• Journal
• Attend a Lunch and Learn with a different group within your company – I’ve always found it fascinating how little different groups know about each other in the same company
• Do a crossword puzzle or sudoku
• *for the future – travel!

Physical

I think Physical wellness is the most obvious area and receives the most attention – taking care of our physical bodies, through activity and nutrition. There has been a lot of research that proves that a sedentary lifestyle is very devastating for our bodies and some even equate it to smoking. We’ve all heard the saying, “You are what you eat,” and I think about that all the time. Do I want to be the bright and colorful fruits and veggies, or the greasy and soggy McDonald’s french fries? It’s a lot more complex than this, but something to think about. Ways to work on your physical wellness include:

• Go on walks throughout the day – hit the 10k mark for steps
• Track your food intake
• Find a work out plan that works for you: my top three are FitnessCarli on youtube, BBG via Sweat app, Tone It Up via Tone It Up app (I really like this one, especially now, because they do a lot of the work outs on the beach, and it makes me a) think about wearing a bathing suit and b) really want to go to a beach 🙂
• Eat plenty of veggies and fruit and lean protein
• Drink plenty of water, avoid too much caffeine, alcohol, and high calorie/sugar drinks
• Get sleep – 7 – 8 hours every night

In closing, it is so important to work on all of these, as they are intertwined and go hand in hand. After reading this, take some time tonight to sit down with a pen and paper, and take note of the areas where you feel as if you are lacking. Don’t think of this as finding all the areas where you are doing “bad” in your life, but instead, think of it as areas of opportunities to work on yourself. Then, challenge yourself over the next week to really focus on where you can improve.

Don’t forget to subscribe (it looks like the snippit below) so you never miss a post and give me a follow on Instagram 🙂

Check out my last post, The March Review here!

Cheers – MP