What is a Wellness Wheel?
Over time, the wheel has grown to include seven categories. Today, the dimensions on the wellness wheel include: physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, environmental, social, and occupational wellness. These are all separate yet interconnected categories that contribute to reaching a balanced life.
You can use the wellness wheel periodically to reflect on your progress over time, and it can help you understand what lifestyle changes you may want to start making. By honing in on each area, you will be able to improve the overall quality of your life, better your health, and work towards your full potential. Read on to learn more about each category of the wellness wheel.
- Physical WellnessThe physical dimension of the wellness wheel refers to the physical health of your body. It involves all types of physical activities, nutrition and balanced diets, sleep, strength, and tending to your health with medical care when necessary.Staying on top of your yearly checkups, exercising regularly, and eating balanced meals are also part of your physical wellness.Talkspace therapistElizabeth Keohan, LCSW-C, LICSW, LCSWhas some helpful tips for working on your physical wellness:Write down your goals— Planning for movement is just as important as planning that oil change. It’s easier to follow through when we have visual reminders.Find a workout buddy— Not only will it encourage you to exercise, but you’ll catch up with a friend as an added bonus.Find an incentive—Having a goal can eliminate ambivalence and help increase motivation. These can be fluid and don’t have to be expensive. Sometimes, even just a fancy latte can help ignite a new routine!Start small— Remind yourself that a mile in any form is still one mile! Cumulative effort is more sustainable and impactful for long term commitment.Diversify—Too much of anything influences us to lose steam but changing things up keeps things fun and light.
1. Physical Wellness
The physical dimension of the wellness wheel refers to the physical health of your body. It involves all types of physical activities, nutrition and balanced diets, sleep, strength, and tending to your health with medical care when necessary.
Staying on top of your yearly checkups, exercising regularly, and eating balanced meals are also part of your physical wellness.
Talkspace therapistElizabeth Keohan, LCSW-C, LICSW, LCSWhas some helpful tips for working on your physical wellness:
2. Emotional Wellness
Emotional Wellness refers to your feelings and emotions. What are your emotional reactions like? Are you in tune with your feelings so that you can understand and express them? With a strong foundation inemotional health, you leave yourself better equipped to adapt to any of life’s changes and cope with stress.
Talkspace therapistReshawna Chapple, PhD, LCSWhas some helpful tips for working on your emotional wellness:
3. Intellectual Wellness
The intellectual wellness dimension focuses on lifelong learning, broadening your knowledge, and building skills. It encourages you to stay curious, learn, and take part in creative activities to ensure your mind stays healthy and active.
Reading for pleasure, staying updated on social and political issues, or mentoring individuals are all things that would fall under intellectual wellness.
Talkspace therapistAshley Ertel, LCSW, BCD (She/Her/Hers)has some helpful tips for prioritizing your intellectual wellness:
4. Spiritual Wellness
Talkspace therapistMeaghan Rice, PsyD, LPCprovides five helpful tips for prioritizing your spiritual wellness:
5. Environmental Wellness
The environmental wellness dimension refers to the role of your surroundings in your overall well being. From a micro level within your own home environment to a global scale, ourphysical environment impacts our mental health. It has a massive impact on our mood and how we live our lives. Environmental wellness is concerned with the way you interact with your environment such as your home, school, or workspace.
Talkspace therapistAshley Ertel, LCSW, BCD(She/Her/Hers)provides five helpful tips for prioritizing your environmental wellness:
- Social WellnessThe social wellness dimension of the wellness wheel refers to the quality of your relationships with others. Keeping a strong network of people that you feel connected to is key to your social wellness and can help fend off feelings of stress, isolation, loneliness, or even depression.Participating in group activities alongside family or friends, joining organizations, being open to new connections, and respecting and nourishing meaningful relationships is key to healthy social wellness.Talkspace therapistReshawna Chapple, PhD, LCSWprovides five helpful tips for prioritizing your social wellness:Set Boundaries— We live in a fast-paced world with many societal pressures. Sometimes we act based on the way we think others will perceive us and do things we might not actually want to do. Setting boundaries creates trust and builds healthy relationships. It also improves self-esteem.Try to limit your consumption of news and social media— Too much news and social media can be overwhelming and have an impact on our stress levels. Consider removing notifications on your apps and muting or blocking anyone who causes you undo stress.Process your own feelings— Allow yourself to be vulnerable and resist the urge to minimize your feelings. Even if your friends don’t understand what you’re going through, set time aside to reflect on your thoughts. Speak with a therapist, spiritual advisor or emotionally safe support systems.Plan ahead —Schedule activities that you can look forward to. Set aside specific days for cooking, shopping, baking, chores, and connecting with friends and other activities.Engage in activities that increase joy and reduce stress —Examples include: playing games, doing puzzles, watching movies, gardening, art, reading, exercising, or even taking a nap.
6. Social Wellness
The social wellness dimension of the wellness wheel refers to the quality of your relationships with others. Keeping a strong network of people that you feel connected to is key to your social wellness and can help fend off feelings of stress, isolation, loneliness, or even depression.
Participating in group activities alongside family or friends, joining organizations, being open to new connections, and respecting and nourishing meaningful relationships is key to healthy social wellness.
Talkspace therapistReshawna Chapple, PhD, LCSWprovides five helpful tips for prioritizing your social wellness:
7. Occupational Wellness
Occupational wellness, also known as financial wellness, is the dimension that refers to the fulfillment you find in your work and how financial stability works itself into your life. By considering your job satisfaction, finances, and career ambitions, you can evaluate your occupational wellness in this dimension. Budgeting, keeping financial health in mind, and finding the right job for you all fall under occupational wellness.
Talkspace therapistMeaghan Rice, PsyD, LPCprovides five helpful tips for prioritizing your occupational wellness:
How to Set Wellness Goals & Create a PlanIf you’re serious about setting wellness goals, go back and consider all seven dimensions of wellness and reflect on how you relate to each in your life. What, if anything, could you be doing better in each respective section? Is there a certain area you’re struggling with more than others? A good question to ask yourself is why. Why do you feel a certain imbalance in your wellness wheel? This practice will help you gain more clarity into the wellness aspects that you’ve prioritized and others that you might have overlooked.Once you’ve asked and answered your “why,” you will be better set to form an action plan and choose the practices you want to introduce into your daily routine. It’s best not to try to accomplish everything all at once; that can be too overwhelming. Start small and begin to make little adjustments in each category. Create a realistic plan that you can stick to in order to find balance in each area and boost your wellbeing.
How to Set Wellness Goals & Create a Plan
If you’re serious about setting wellness goals, go back and consider all seven dimensions of wellness and reflect on how you relate to each in your life. What, if anything, could you be doing better in each respective section? Is there a certain area you’re struggling with more than others? A good question to ask yourself is why. Why do you feel a certain imbalance in your wellness wheel? This practice will help you gain more clarity into the wellness aspects that you’ve prioritized and others that you might have overlooked.
Once you’ve asked and answered your “why,” you will be better set to form an action plan and choose the practices you want to introduce into your daily routine. It’s best not to try to accomplish everything all at once; that can be too overwhelming. Start small and begin to make little adjustments in each category. Create a realistic plan that you can stick to in order to find balance in each area and boost your wellbeing.
When to Seek Professional GuidanceThe goal of the wellness wheel is to check in with yourself, evaluate how you are doing, and highlight any imbalances that might be preventing you from living a happy and healthy life. The wellness wheel prompts introspection, self-reflection, and should lead to goal-setting. This work is hard and it can be beneficial to work alongside a counselor, life coach, or therapist to help you unpack any feelings that come up.Working with a therapist or counselor can help you with life adjustments, goal setting, and taking the necessary steps to accomplish any lifestyle changes you set out to achieve. A therapist can also help you process emotions and patterns that might be stopping you from reaching your full potential. Working with a professional to gain additional guidance is a huge benefit when it comes to our personal wellness journey.
When to Seek Professional Guidance
The goal of the wellness wheel is to check in with yourself, evaluate how you are doing, and highlight any imbalances that might be preventing you from living a happy and healthy life. The wellness wheel prompts introspection, self-reflection, and should lead to goal-setting. This work is hard and it can be beneficial to work alongside a counselor, life coach, or therapist to help you unpack any feelings that come up.
Working with a therapist or counselor can help you with life adjustments, goal setting, and taking the necessary steps to accomplish any lifestyle changes you set out to achieve. A therapist can also help you process emotions and patterns that might be stopping you from reaching your full potential. Working with a professional to gain additional guidance is a huge benefit when it comes to our personal wellness journey.
Wellness Wheel FAQs
What are the 7 Dimensions of Wellness?
The seven dimensions of wellness are:
Why the Wellness Wheel?
The wellness wheel is a self exploration tool constructed to support individuals in their wellness journey. It provides a visual representation of seven dimensions of wellness so that you can consider how you’re doing in each category.
How can I use a Wellness Wheel?
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