March

Theme of the Month: Health and Wellness

Health

Health, as defined in the dictionary, is considered to be:

1 a: the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit

She is the picture of health.

especially : freedom from physical disease or pain

nursed them back to health

b: the general condition of the body

Well-Being

Well-Being is often attached to health in that well-being is:

1: a condition in which someone or something is thriving or doing well : WELL-BEING

defending the health of the beloved oceans

b: general condition or state

poor economic health

8 Dimensions of Wellness

When we consider poor health, most people jump to physical or mental health as to the type of health concerns they may have. However, there are 8 Dimensions of Wellness which combine to complete our circle of well-being. Each different dimension supports the other seven dimensions; the stronger or "healthier" the dimension for the person, the better it can help to combat poor health in a different dimension(s).

8 Dimensions of Wellness

Physical
Intellectual
Spiritual
Emotional
Environmental
Financial
Social
Occupational

At any given time, these dimensions are strengthening or weakening. Seeking and sustaining personal health and wellness is a life-long journey. Each day is a new opportunity to take the steps we can to experience as much health and wellness that we can.

How To Begin Your Journey

No matter your age, it is never too late to create to commit to seeking and supporting your best health. The first step on your health and wellness journey is to simply acknowledge you want to change/improve/commit/ envision a healthier you. We cannot start any journey without wanting to begin, to have the reason/motivation to move forward toward better health and away from poor health and wellness.

The second step is short and sweet: do something each day to boost health and wellness. This can be small-taking a walk instead of watching t.v., drinking enough water, packing lunch instead of buying or waking up 30 minutes earlier if you always tend to run late. Pretty soon, all the small steps lead to giant leaps of progress and combine to create the best version of you.

Of course, the third step is to create a plan and set goals. What we can envision is beautiful but we have to create a plan on how to make it to our goal; to achieve success and be able to define what success means related to health and wellness.

Fourth step: gather information and support. Research ways to become healthier. Find out how to be aware of when you are feeling depleted in some areas and feeling great in other dimensions. Have people you trust be supports to encourage you on your journey. Encouraging friends and family members to join in seeking their own health and wellness will help improve social wellness and emotional wellness.

Final advice is this-Never give in to the voice that says "quit", "you can't do this", "it's too hard", "I'm a failure"...Negative self-talk will only decrease emotional health which in turn negatively affects other areas of wellness. As long as you treat each new day as a new day, you can have the opportunity to choose to make each day count, disregarding the negative stressors vying for your attention.

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