Hello Everyone!

This week on the blog we are talking all about basic principles of wellness. On a basic level, per Webster-Mariam dictionary, wellness is the practice, quality, or state of good health as an actively sought goal. Good health from a holistic point of view is good spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, relational, and financial health. As described in the most recent IG post, wellness is defined differently from one person to another. While there may be some overlaps between your wellness and someone else’s, a well life is not a monolithic experience. With that being said, when living a well life, you have to do three basic things: 1. Define/Understand Wellness for yourself. 2. Identify when you are not well. 3. Put systems in place to obtain, maintain, and exercise wellness.

Defining and Understanding Wellness for yourself.

While there are many resources available on wellness, no one can tell you what makes you well. Wellness is an internal conversation. However, to help, I have compiled a list of questions that should help with understanding yourself, and to spark internal dialogue to lead to your understanding of wellness.

Are you aware of your emotions, thoughts, and how your body feels? What does a good day look like for you? What does a bad day look like for you? How does a good day make you feel? How does a bad day make you feel? When you feel good, what kind of thoughts do you have? When you are feeling bad, what kind of thoughts do you have? When you are feeling bad, do you neglect to go to work or handle responsibilities you have? How often do you have good days in relation to bad days? Does physical activity increase your mood? How often do you engage in thirty minutes or more of physical activity/ sunlight exposure? Do you have hope? Where do you garner your hope from? What positive qualities do you like in your relationships? Do your finances cause you anxiety/ sleepless nights? Do conversations about your finances influence your mood?

Now, take all of these answers into account. To define your wellness not as the feelings that you have on a good day, but the feelings, actions, and responses you have on an average day that are lacking on a bad day. How would you define wellness for yourself?

2. Identifying when you are not well.

Once defining wellness for yourself. It’s equally as important to know when you are not well. Similarly, asking yourself the following questions can help to understand when you are not well:

Am I being self aware: Am I being true to myself? Am I living for myself or for other’s validation?
Are my spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, relational, and financial wellness aligned?
Do my actions reflect my beliefs?
Am I clear in thought? Am I struggling to make decisions?
Am I being true to my emotions? Are my emotions on a roller coaster?
Am I getting enough sleep? Am I eating too much or not enough? Am I constipated? Am I taking my medication correctly? Have I seen my doctor to review my health? Does my doctor say I’m in good health? Am I practicing good hygiene?
Are my relationships pushing me to make decisions that differ from my wellness? Are my relationships self serving? Am I giving too much to my relationships? Am I strong enough to walk away from my relationships or am I codependent on my relationships?
Are my financial decisions justified? Can I afford what I’m buying? Am I impulse buying?

3. Putting systems in place to obtain, maintain, and exercise wellness.

If you are not well in one or more areas or want to maintain your wellness, you can put together a wellness plan, which details your definition of wellness, your definitions of not being well, and guided choices to navigate you to staying well.

Stay tuned on Saturday for a video on how to build your wellness plan.