Wellness Wednesday

Hello and welcome to our first Wellness Wednesday post! We're excited to introduce this recurring themed post to the blog. Today, however, we'll just be sharing some general thoughts on wellness. Future Wellness Wednesday posts will cover most things in our life that are non-food related. Some of the ones I have drafted include what classes we're trying at the gym, how we accomplish meeting physical activity recommendations, keeping our house organized, starting a dinner club, utilizing the library, and other stuff. These will be more lifestyle related and will touch on how they improve our wellness. In my opinion your lifestyle choices determine your wellness.

The National Institute of Wellness suggests a wellness model that includes six interdependent dimensions of wellness. They are physical, occupational, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and social.

Here's an excerpt from their informational PDF for applying the Six Dimensions of Wellness Model:
"By applying the model, a person becomes aware of the interconnectedness of each dimension and how they contribute to healthy living. This holistic model explains:
• how a person contributes to his or her environment and community, and how to build better living spaces and social networks [social wellness];
• the enrichment of life through work, and its interconnectedness to living and playing [occupational wellness];
• the development of belief systems, values, and creating a world-view [spiritual wellness];
• the benefits of regular physical activity, healthy eating habits, strength and vitality, as well as personal responsibility, self-care and when to seek medical attention [phsyical wellness];
• self-esteem, self-control, and determination as a sense of direction [emotional wellness];
• creative and stimulating mental activities, and sharing your gifts with others [intellectual wellness]."

Optimal wellness can be achieved when all the different wellness dimensions are fulfilled. That's a lot of wellness!

We are approaching optimal wellness through the lens of our lifestyle. Wellness is something Patrick and I have been focusing on the past few months. We are volunteering more, being more mindful of our physical activity, and attempting to be more social among other wellness efforts. Wellness Wednesday posts will chronicle our journey to optimal wellness and what lifestyle changes we are making to better accommodate optimal wellness in our daily lives.