The Dimensions of Wellness: How Can We Use Them to Positively Impact Our Lives

Whether you are a student, recent graduate, parent, full time worker, or a combination of these previously listed, you might often find it difficult to maintain a balanced lifestyle due to the various roles you play in your life. With countless things to do and roles to maintain, it’s easy to get caught up in the busyness and stress of it all. That being said, it is common to disregard many important dimensions of our life that could very easily positively or negatively impact the quality of our life as a whole. It is extremely important to not only focus on our physical health, but other aspects of our life that may also affect us. Understanding the Dimensions of Wellness offers a simple way to analyze and evaluate aspects of our life that we may often neglect. These include our intellectual, emotional, environmental, spiritual, social, occupational, and physical health (University of Maryland, 2018).

1. Intellectual

Intellectual health has to do with our mental capabilities and our ability to think critically and creatively. Just as physical exercise is important, it is necessary for our minds to be stimulated and exercised in order to continuously learn and promote memory retention. While attending school or taking courses that may peak your interest in a certain subject are always a great option, there are many other options that will allow you to incorporate mentally stimulating activities in your life.

Some examples include:

• Reading

• Completing crossword puzzles

• Playing Board games

• Learning an instrument or foreign language

2. Emotional

Emotional wellness has to do with feelings. Positive or negative emotions can have an extreme impact on one’s emotional wellness and can therefore impact our lives. These emotions can be towards oneself or a person’s life as a whole. While many of the dimensions may depend on other dimensions as well, emotional wellness is one that tends to fluctuate highly depending on the other dimensions. By having good emotional health, we are able to create healthy relationships other people as well as feel good about ourselves.

Some examples include:

Being optimistic

Providing support to others and seeking it when needed

Positive affirmations

Understanding your own feelings and emotions

Mindfulness techniques: meditation, breathing exercises

3. Environmental

Being aware of environmental surroundings and understanding the impact we have personally and as a society on our environment makes up our environmental wellness. To promote this dimension of wellness it is important to choose to live life in a way that does not hurt our environment. In this way we choose to be socially responsible, helping not only other individuals in our society, but our environment as well.

Some examples include:

Recycling

Taking shorter showers

Riding a bike or walking instead of driving

Becoming more environmentally aware by staying informed on environmental issues

4. Spiritual

Spiritual wellness does not necessarily have to do with being part of a certain religion. It more so involves finding purpose and meaning for your own life. This dimension places emphasis on one’s beliefs, values, and morals and encourages the individual to use these when making decisions in order to promote ethical and just actions.

Some examples include:

Praying

Spending time alone

Sticking up for your beliefs

Meditating

5. Social

Interacting in social situations and creating relationships are extremely important parts of one’s everyday life. The social dimension has to do with our ability to create relationships with other people, interacting with those around us, and having a general sense of comfort around other people. Incorporating social wellness activities in one’s daily life can help to prevent social anxiety and the sense of feeling secluded or disconnected.

Some examples include:

Going out with friends

Becoming involved in the community

Joining a club, organization, or sports team

Sharing your interests with those around you

6. Occupational

Occupational wellness involves developing interests, talents, and skills and using them to find a job or career that best suits them. Occupational wellness does not always have to do with the amount of money a person makes. It deals with the feeling a person gets from working at a certain job. The job that a person chooses should be one that provides them with a sense of purpose and satisfaction from the work they are doing. It should help develop a sense of happiness in their life rather than animosity toward the employer, co-workers, or job itself.

Some examples include:

Researching many career opportunities

Brainstorming what your talents and skills are

Taking a personality or career test to evaluate what job may suit you best

Setting realistic and attainable professional goals

7. Physical

Lastly physical wellness emphasizes the importance of healthy behaviors and maintaining a physically active lifestyle. Consuming a nutritious diet and getting regular checkups are also important aspects of this dimension of wellness. By being physically well, many of the other dimensions of wellness will be positively impacted.

Some examples include:

Exercising

Being informed about nutrition, common illnesses, and diseases

Quitting smoking

Drinking in moderation

If you are interested in taking a wellness assessment check out:

https://umatter.princeton.edu/action-matters/caring-yourself/wellness-wheel-assessment

Sources:

Grand Rapids Community College. (2018 January 28). Seven Dimensions of Wellness. Retrieved from

http://www.grcc.edu/humanresources/wellness/sevendimensionsofwellness

University of Maryland. (2018, January 28). 8 Dimensions of Wellness. Retrieved from

http://health.umd.edu/dimensions

William & Mary. (2018, January 28). The 8 Dimensions of Wellness. Retrieved from

http://www.wm.edu/offices/wellness/eight-dimensions/index.php