What is Wellness?

Wellness is a holistic approach to living an optimally healthy lifestyle. This is accomplished through balancing multiple dimensions of wellness that effect one's overall quality of life. A "well" person strives to advance themselves in each dimension.

7 Dimensions of Wellness:

Social- How we contribute and interact with our community and environment. Social wellness is creating and maintaining positive relationships and enjoying being with others. It is how we communicate our needs and feelings with others: having support networks, participating and contributing to the community, developing healthy relationships and being able to communicate effectively.

Physical- Striving for optimal cardiovascular, flexibility, strength and regular physical activity. Physical wellness encourages knowledge
about food and nutrition as well as activities that contribute to high level of wellness, including medical self-care and the appropriate use of medical system

Intellectual- Having a healthy mind is crucial to overall wellness. Intellectual wellness encourages the mind to be creative and critically think as well as motivate oneself to master new skills

Psychological/Emotional- Emphasizes the awareness and acceptance of one's feelings. Emotional wellness is how well one is able to recognize and express our emotions. This includes the degree to which one feels positive about life as well as the ability to effectively cope with stress.

Financial- The financially well person has an understanding of their financial situation. This involves being able to control and maintain a balance of income and expenditures. It is important to make financial decisions that allow one to save, invest and plan for the future.

Spiritual- The spiritually well person explores spiritual concepts of themselves and others to discover the meaning and purpose in human existence. This involves using personal beliefs and values to choose actions and interpret how they view the world.

Environmental- Environmental wellness is about appreciating and respecting our external environment. An environmentally well person is aware of the limits of the earth's natural resources and understands that all human activity impacts the environment.