Eight Dimensions of Wellness

August is Wellness Month! To create and maintain a high quality of life, it’s important to incorporate healthy everyday habits. Wellness is multifaceted. There are eight dimensions of wellness and each dimension is equally vital in the pursuit of optimal health.

Here are some tips on how to improve overall wellness with each dimension.

Physical Health.

Exercise, eat healthy by including foods of every color palette into your meals, don’t skip meals and get enough sleep! The old saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” has some truth to it. A study of 20,000 adults found that consuming higher amounts of white-fleshed fruits and vegetables, including apples, was linked to a lower risk of stroke.

Emotional Health.

A person who practices a healthy emotional lifestyle will be better able to handle any situation. To help identify your emotions, create a daily tracker of your emotions, discover your personal stress reliever and confide in someone you trust to share your feelings. Happy people are more likely to work toward goals, find the resources they need and attract others with their energy and optimism. Use your daily hassles to practice responses to allow emotional health to flourish. To further better your emotional health, use this emotional wellness toolkit as a start point.

Mental Health.

Create a positive mindset by changing your unhealthy habits, become self-aware (you will discover some things you like and some you won’t, but that’s the point) and take time for yourself every day – even if it’s only 5 minutes! You will start to notice that you make time for those 5 minutes every day because it makes that much of a difference. Taking time for yourself will also help create a positive mindset and change your unhealthy habits. The Mental Health America provides the ten tools to help you feel stronger and hopeful.

Social Health.

Unfortunately, this pandemic has made it difficult to socialize, but get creative! Get involved, find a hobby or do something that you can share with others to connect, balance your life and surround yourself with good people. Create new traditions for connecting regularly with friends and family. For example, install an app to video chat with your friends and family, call, text, email and/or send a letter in the mail! Also, use this time to learn more about yourself as well. To get started on improving your social health, use this social health toolkit.

Spiritual Health.

The spiritual dimension of wellness can be the most personal piece of the puzzle when trying to place all eight dimensions of wellness together. Generally, people like to live a life with meaning and purpose. When these goals are met, it puts harmony in one’s life and others around that person. Find a quiet place and spend time there every day, spend time outdoors and take in your natural surroundings, travel, meditate and do breathing exercises. Oxygen revitalizes you, resets your mind, body and spirit, and allows you to feel better. Filling up with air as we do when we deep breathe puts pressure on the Vagus nerve. This nerve is the longest cranial nerve that runs from the brain stem to part of the colon and connects directly to the heart and many other organs. When we massage the Vagus nerve with deep breathing, we actively slow our hearts and switch into a more relaxed and open state of mind. If you don’t know any breathing exercises, these different breathing techniques will help you discover which one works best for you!

Environmental Health.

This dimension is focused on the natural and built environments for the benefit of human health. According to the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, climate change over the coming decades is likely to increase rates of allergies, asthma, heart disease and cancer, among other illnesses. Also, it is quite likely that, as global temperature rises, diseases that were previously found only in warmer areas of the world may appear increasingly in other, previously cooler areas, where people have not yet developed natural defenses against them. To improve your environment experts encourage others to recycle, conserve energy, use sustainable products and volunteer with environmental organizations.

Financial Health.

In a 2019 study, 59% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. To improve your financial health, create a weekly or monthly budget by tracking your spending and set goals based on what you find, try to cut back or limit expenses, or find a financial advisor for help. It’s never too late to start working toward your financial goals! If you want to evaluate your financial health, use this NerdWallet’s financial health calculator to check your financial health score and discover what you can do to improve it.

Vocational Health.

Vocational wellness is subjective – it’s based on your feelings and opinions. It is about your perception, attitude, outlook and reaction to the work you take part in. Explore your talents and interests, and assess your strengths and weaknesses. Having a satisfying work-life, engaging in professional development, working collaboratively and achieving personal satisfaction improves each of the dimensions listed above. For help on dealing with work-related stress, use this checklist as a starting point.

CASTO believes in creating a healthy work environment where associates can flourish both professionally and personally. The company advocates for every associate’s wellbeing and wellness. In our benefits package, we provide associates with resources for all eight dimensions of wellness including a companywide wellness program, financial wellness educational seminars, professional development opportunities and connect associates with mental health counselors. At CASTO, our people are our greatest asset. If this type of work environment interests you, visit our career and culture page to learn more and apply for a position at CASTO.

“Nurturing yourself is not selfish — it’s essential to your survival and your well-being.” — Renee Peterson Trudeau