Does the pandemic have you in a bit (or A LOT) of a funk? We get it. That’s why we decided to launch our new video series on YouTube called Wellness Wednesdays!
Wellness Wednesday is the time of the week to get inspiration on how to live well. Topics discussed on Wellness Wednesdays by our health experts will focus on how to have a healthy mind and body. One can not exist without the other. Due to the current situation, we’re in, it’s difficult to get motivated to do much of anything, let alone try to improve yourself. It’s a massive achievement to wake up and take care of yourself every day. The point of Wellness Wednesday isn’t to provide you with useless inspiration, but to give you practical skills and advice to live a better, healthier life. Our Wellness Wednesday content aims to serve as a resource for tools and skills you can utilize in your day-to-day life.
How Do You Define “Wellness”?
Wellness is not just eating well and exercising (although that is part of it). Wellness comes in many different forms including physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, social, environmental, cultural, occupational, and financial. All of these are important to maintain a balanced lifestyle, ideally. All-encompassing wellness is not easy to achieve, no doubt about that. It takes effort to build a life that works for you and caters to your needs as an individual.
Physical Wellness
Physical has to do with, well, everything regarding your physical; how it functions, how it moves, etc. Physical wellness is how often you’re active, what you do to stay active, and how to maintain your health. It’s what you eat and what you don’t eat. It’s consuming unhealthy foods in moderation but still enjoying life. It’s staying on top of your check-ups with your physician and going to the dreaded dentist. All these things contribute to your physical wellness. It’s important to take care of the vessel that carries you through life.
Emotional Wellness
Emotional wellness is how you care for yourself emotionally. What self-care practices have you put in place? What healthy coping mechanisms are you using? Your social wellness depends on your emotional wellness as it is a reflection of your self-awareness, ability to empathize, and how you make decisions. Your physical wellness also depends on your emotional wellness. If you’re too depressed to get out of bed, it’s unlikely that you’ll find the energy to go to the gym. Emotion regulation is one of the many effective tools used to cope with mental health issues.
Spiritual Wellness
Spirituality comes in many different forms. Being spiritually healthy is practicing mindfulness. It’s finding meaning or purpose through your religion, morals, ethics, or values. You can grow spiritually by practicing mediation or just going on a mindful walk. You don’t have to have some epic spiritual epiphany to be spiritually healthy. Just do things that nourish your soul.
Intellectual Wellness
Intellectual wellness is stimulating your mind. It could be learning something new, practicing to improve a skill, or engaging in a creative project. Formal education isn’t everything; never stop being a student of life.
Social Wellness
Social wellness is maintaining your interpersonal relationships. As humans, we crave genuine connection with others and we can’t be well without it. Grow your social wellness by being self-aware in how you interact with others. Being your best social self means reaching out to people you wish to be close to or do business with and participating in group activities. This can be done digitally, and hopefully soon, in person. Social wellness is lifting others up and being a supportive person in their life. It’s being kind. It’s having empathy.
Environmental Wellness
Environmental wellness is trying to put yourself in a safe, comfortable environment which will contribute to emotional and physical wellness. It’s also being aware of the state of the word in general. How are you contributing to the health of our environment?
Cultural Wellness
Cultural wellness is how connected you are to your community. It’s important to accept yourself and where you come from. Helping out in your community, engaging in traditional activities, and learning about the history of your culture can all be things that contribute to your cultural wellness.
Occupational Wellness
Occupational Wellness is all about how happy you are in your current job and what you aspire to do. Occupational wellness goes hand-in-hand with emotional wellness as it is important to maintain balance to prevent burnout. If you’re overworked, it’s going to stress you out, and stress can lead to all sorts of issues. The state of your occupation contributes to social wellness, as it’s important to also maintain positive relationships with co-workers. Take on challenges to grow professionally and be nice to your co-workers (even if they’re not the greatest people).
Financial Wellness
Financial wellness is budgeting and being mindful of what money is coming in and going out at all times. This is also setting savings goals and putting money away for the future. Finances can be the bane of one’s existence. If you take the time to keep track of your dinero, a least you won’t have to worry about where your money is going- just about making enough to get the bills paid. Financial wellness is living within your means and letting yourself indulge in things sometimes.
Connecting with Wellness Wednesday Topics
In our Wellness Wednesday videos, providers, and staff at Sage Neuroscience Center will discuss various topics regarding all the elements of wellness that contribute to a healthy lifestyle. The first few topics that will be discussed in the upcoming weeks will be “It’s Okay to Not be Okay”, How to Have Fun During COVID-19” (yes, it’s possible), “How to Overcome Mental Blocks”, and “How to Reduce Stress.”
These topics are super relevant in the stressful times we are in right now. COVID-19 has pretty much-ruined everything. However, you don’t have to let it completely crush your spirit! There are ways to regulate emotion and find the motivation to keep going and succeed in whatever you’re trying to accomplish. Our goal with this video series is to provide valuable information about how to live a healthy life for those who need it.
If you have suggestions on topics our providers should discuss on Wellness Wednesdays, feel free to leave comments on our YouTube, Instagram or Facebook posts! We’d love to include your suggestions in future Wellness Wednesday videos.