Over the past weeks I shared thoughts on eight Wellness Pillars, in general and with a twist as an expatriate. After all it’s so much more than “just” exercise and nutrition. Wellness is how we take care about our body and mind. Yes, it might be an overused and at times misunderstood word. But don’t brush it off, it’s important. It’s about finding – or keeping – your balance in life, in all aspect of your life.
For easier reference I end this Wellness outlook with a summary of all 8 points. I hope you enjoyed this “wellness journey”.
The Eight Wellness Pillars in Overview
Social Wellness
A social connection plays a vital part on how settled and at ease, we feel! Sometimes it is easy to connect, we meet the right people right from the start. At other times it’s not so easy. We experience moments where we do not seem to click or feel connected at all. Then there are the moments when we feel overwhelmed and exhausted by trying to even make connections.
Physical Wellness
Is Physical Wellness just exercise? No, there’s more to it. It’s an overall package of keeping active, making sure to get sufficient sleep and maintaining healthy eating habits. A weak(er) physical wellness can affect all areas of our overall well-being. But keeping it balanced isn’t always easy and it takes effort; too often we get off track, especially during moving times.
Emotional Wellness
Emotional Wellness is a tough one as we often run away from our own emotions. When they are uncomfortable or when life takes over. When it’s hectic or we feel stressed. In such moments we do not take time to reflect on us and on what is really going on. We keep going. Perhaps too afraid of admitting how we really do feel – and being in the need of ‘simply’ having to function.
Intellectual Wellness
When we refer to the Intellectual Wellness it means to participate in scholastic, cultural, and community activities. It’s about finding something that is of interest to you, that sparks something inside of you. And to look for people around you to share, to get stimulated and inspired. And if you look at it from that angle, there is a lot of Intellectual Wellness happening right around us, daily, sometimes even too much.
Spiritual Wellness
The Spiritual Wellness invites us to be curious, playful, supportive, forgiving, quiet and reflective. To connect to our emotions and feelings, the positive and the negative. It’s about tuning in and getting a sense that we have found our place in life that is meaningful to us. It’s not always easy to be able to express yourself in some countries and/or communities.
Environmental Wellness
Environmental Wellness – it plays such a big role nowadays. After all, it has an impact on how we interact with the nature around us and how we can protect the world. But as well on how the environment influences our personal well being.
And are we respectful of what is around us?
Financial Wellness
The Financial Wellness involves the process of learning how to successfully manage financial expenses. And I believe we all agree that having financial security and financial freedom, in the present and in the future, does have an impact on our overall well-being. Taking care about finances is hard enough as it is, but when you are an Expat and move frequently this topic often adds an additional layer of stress.
Occupational Wellness
Do you feel connected to colleagues and are you comfortable with the overall work environment you find yourself in? The Worklife takes up a big chunk of our time, and a work environment does have a huge impact on our overall wellbeing – in a good and bad way. I don’t see this as “purely work” related though, meaning only work that pays. To me, this pillar looks into the parts that occupy most of our time.
Did you come across an area that needs a bit more attention these day?
Have a good and balanced week ahead,
AK