What is Wellness? I’m glad you asked.

Many people look at wellness from the singular point of health, but it is much more than that. To really grasp the concept of total wellness you have to look at it from a holistic standpoint.  Wellness from a holistic standpoint, touches every area of your life and reaches into the very essence of your happiness. Once you reach that understanding and awareness of wellness you will be guided towards a more complete life that is well balanced and fulfilling.

“Wellness is a conscious, deliberate process that requires being aware of and making choices for a more satisfying lifestyle”

Source: CSPNJ

Unfortunately, most of society fail to reach the point of total wellness for many reasons, mainly it will be from the choices we make and the negative habits or people that we allow to consume our lives.

But there is good news, we do have a choice!

The blue pill would allow him to remain blissfully ignorant and confined to a machine-generated dream world.

Neo chose the red pill.

When it comes to your wellness, you have a choice. You can take the blue pill of your current reality or take the red pill of change. The choice is yours.

 Let’s start by looking at all the areas that affect your well-being.  These are also called the “Dimensions of Wellness” and go beyond just physical and emotional wellness.  Here at The Unlimited Well, we will focus on the 8 main dimensions of wellness: Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Vocational/occupational, Intellectual, Environmental, Financial, Social.

True wellness is reached when you are able to find balance between these eight dimensions.  Because of our unique circumstances, the journey to true wellness will look different for each person. We at Unlimited Well are here to help you identify the habits and behaviors that are preventing you from reaching your true potential, and give you tools to make the changes necessary to achieve your desired quality of life.

1. Emotional Wellness

Your emotional wellness depends on our ability to cope with the Ups and downs of life. Once you develop your emotional wellness you will have the confidence to handle all of the challenges in life. When we reach a point of emotional wellness, we are able to build satisfying relationships and is more confident at controlling our feelings and behaviors. Having an active life that includes leisure and recreational activities that involved using all of your senses (smell, taste, touch, sight and sound).

To be alive!

2. Financial Wellness

Who hasn’t felt overwhelmed and stressed about their financial situation? After all, money does not grow on trees. Your financial situation may be one of the hardest dimensions of wellness to get under control, but it can’ be done.  The goal is to find a balance between wants and needs. The path to financial wellness starts with an honest financial self- assessment, to understand where you are and where you want to go.

3. Social Wellness

 Our social wellness points to how we connect to those around us and our sense of belonging (aka our support network). Many times, we will rely on our social network during our journey to total wellness, and for that reason it is important to surround yourself with positive people who will add value to your life. Finding an accountability partner to help keep you on track, can also be helpful on your journey.

4. Spiritual Wellness

Spiritual Wellness is based on your value and belief systems. Your purpose in life and inner peace is rooted in your spirituality. Activities that support your spiritual wellness can be anything ranging from self-reflection, meditation, prayer, or how you interact with nature.  Being able to separate yourself from the rat race of life and find a place of solitude that you can experience and ponder your purpose and meaning.

Spiritual wellness helps you to live in gratitude.

“ A grateful mind is a great mind which eventually attracts to itself great things” Plato

5. Occupational Wellness

Finding an occupation that is in line with your values, interests and skills can be challenging, but not impossible. This is an area where you have to find balance between work and life. Having supervisors and coworkers that are supportive of you and can help you reach your professional goals is important. Our goal is to find a profession that is rewarding and provides balance in our lives, with the other dimensions of wellness.

6. Physical Wellness

When we think of wellness, we usually look at it from the perspective of health and fitness. Physical wellness gets the most attention, because it is the most connected to health problems, disease and our physical well-being.

COVID-19, there I said it!

Early analysis seems to point to majority of the deaths connected to COVID-19 is because of underlying health issues, especially those health issues that are common in minorities.

Most health conditions can be improved or managed by modifying our nutritional habit and introducing some form of physical activity into your daily routine. By making progressive changes in your physical wellness, you will also start to see improvements in the other dimensions of wellness such as less money for doctor and medical services and more money for other activities that brings pleasure and joy to your life.

7. Intellectual Wellness

Intellectual wellness can be based on your ability to grow, develop and use your knowledge and skills. Intellectual wellness is a process of learning new things that will help you grow mentally. It helps to open your mind to new things and possibilities. As you increase your intellectual wellness things such as concentration, memory and critical thinking skills will improve.

Think of intellectual wellness as learning to do the little things that you always wanted to do, but never had the time to because your life was unbalanced.

8. Environmental Wellness

Good Therapy says that environmental wellness is related to the surroundings you occupy. This dimension of wellness connects your overall well-being to the health of your environment. Your environment, both your social and natural surroundings, can greatly impact how you feel. It can be hard to feel good if you are surrounded by clutter and disorganization, or if you feel unsafe in your environment.

Pollution, violence, garbage buildup, and conserving natural resources are some of the factors affecting environmental wellness. Ways to manage environmental wellness include creating neighborhood watches, recycling, planting a personal or community garden, purchasing products with minimal packaging, avoiding littering, and conserving energy and water by turning off lights and water when not in use.

There are many resources to assist you along your journey. The Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey (CSPNJ)  produced a booklet that can assist with getting started on your journey to wellness. Share it with family, co-workers and friends so that they can make the journey together and you all can live your best life.

So how do you create wellness between the eight dimensions? Habit and change!

By taking your current life and weeding out those bad habits and negative forces then molding positive habits into your daily practices.

 It won’t happen overnight. Your wellness has to be looked at as a process. Life, after all is a marathon not a sprint.  When you find your sweet spot and achieve balance you will reap the rewards of Wellness.

Be Unlimited, Be Well