Holistic Wellness and Ways to Promote It

Physical wellness involves moving our body, eating well balanced meals and staying hydrated, getting enough sleep, managing stress, and receiving preventative medical and dental care. 

Ways to promote physical wellness:

• Write down your goals – writing down your goals helps you to remember them, and also serves as a visual reminder.
• Partner with a workout buddy – having a buddy has many benefits such as increased support, accountability, and socialization.
• Start with small, sustainable steps – big changes may be exciting, but cumulative efforts are more sustainable and impactful for a long-term commitment.
• Diversify your activities – keep things fun and interesting by exploring new ways to stay active and new recipes to try.

Social wellness involves having a strong social network. This can include family members, close friends, neighbours, colleagues, etc. Having a strong social network can provide us with support and guidance when we are stressed or need to talk through difficult situations, and it can help us feel connected and avoid feelings of isolation, loneliness, or even depression.

Ways to promote social wellness:

• Plan ahead – scheduling activities ahead of time can help you meet with more people in your social network consistently, and will give you something to look forward to!
• Plan activities that bring joy and relieve stress – this may look different for everyone. Some examples may include playing games, watching a movie, exercising, baking, or even taking a nap.
• Set aside time to decompress and process your feelings after socializing – needing a period of time to yourself after interacting with others is normal.

Spiritual wellness is a process of understanding your own beliefs, values, and ethics that guide your life. Taking time to explore and reflect on your spiritual wellbeing can be an important part of your overall wellbeing, and can even help some people discover their sense of purpose.

Ways to promote spiritual wellness:

• Practice mindfulness
• Practice gratitude
• Build awareness through journaling
• Meditate and/or pray
• Spend time in nature
• Reflect on your values, morals, and ethics

Emotional wellness is to understand, recognize, share, experience, and manage our full range of feelings (e.g., sadness, joy, fear, happiness, anger, love, etc.); and express these emotions in a constructive way. It is also the ability to manage stress and cope with the emotional challenges of life.

Ways to promote emotional wellness:

• Practice self-awareness and reflection – take time to look inwards to understand and be aware of your thoughts and feelings.
• Be aware of your environment – notice what in your life is causing you to feel sad, anxious, frustrated or angry. Ask yourself if there are ways to address or change those things.
• Practice emotional regulation – be aware of your emotions and feel them, but don’t be consumed by them.
• Take responsibility for your decisions without self-critical thoughts, and learn from your experiences.
• Express feelings in a helpful way – harboring feelings inside can cause stress and put strain on a relationship. It is okay to share if something is bothering you. Remain calm, and consider writing down what you would like to say first to capture all of your thoughts.
• Pause, think, and reflect before you act – allow yourself time to process situations and think before making decisions or acting.
• Be optimistic – optimism is a component of healthy perspective-taking. Being optimistic means knowing that bad situations and feelings exist, but they aren’t permanent.
• Find the humor – find ways to incorporate humor and laughter into your life.

Intellectual wellness encourages us to engage in creative and mentally stimulating activities. The activities should expand our knowledge and skills, and allow us to share our knowledge and skills with others. Intellectual wellness can be developed through academics, cultural involvement, community involvement, and personal hobbies.

Ways to promote intellectual wellness:

• Have an open mind
• Practice active listening
• Pick up a hobby
• Travel and learn about new cultures
• Express your creative side
• Read for fun
• Do crossword puzzles or games like sudoku or wordle
• Play a musical instrument

Occupational wellness is having meaningful work (paid or unpaid) or academic pursuit, and contributing to knowledge and skills, while maintaining a work-life balance. Occupational wellness represents an enriched professional life from which we derive purpose, satisfaction and fulfillment. The work allows us to fulfill our creativity, while continuing to expand our knowledge and strengths. Regardless of the ‘type’ of job we do, we are able to balance that with other dimensions of wellness.

Ways to promote occupational wellness:

• Set professional goals – your goals are unique to you and can be broad or specific. Writing down your professional goals can help remind you of what you are working towards.
• Seek out mentors – connecting with a mentor can provide you with professional guidance and career advice, and learning from their experiences might help you overcome hurdles in your career.
• Commit to maintaining a work-life balance – take time to be present and turn off your notifications outside of work.
• Maintaining healthy relationships with colleagues.
• Aim to have a manageable workload – it’s okay to share when your workload is too heavy.
• Access tools and resources to manage stress in the workplace – various resources are available to you and can be found throughout this website.
• Accept criticism and constructive feedback, and understand that you are not being judged.

Environmental wellness means recognizing the interactions between ourselves and our environment (natural and social); responsibly using available resources, and fostering a safer and healthier environment for others. Environmental wellness inspires us to live a lifestyle that is respectful of our surroundings.

Ways to promote environmental wellness:

• Practice environmentally conscious behaviour such as:
  • recycling;
  • decluttering your home or office;
  • conserving energy by turning off lights when not in use or needed;
  • limiting the use of your printer;
  • carpooling when possible or riding your bike to work.
• Spend time outdoors – connecting with nature and enjoying the beautiful views of our Province can provide many health benefits (such as physical fitness and increased vitamin D) while also strengthening our connection to the planet.
• Practice self-awareness and take note of your actions and their impact on our environment.