The Wellness Wheel - Rolling in the Right Direction

Mindful Digest has done a previous blog on the Life Balance Wheel. This is great tool to help with reflection and creating goals and new habits in different parts of your life. If you are interested in this blog post follow the link here: Tools for Effective Prioritizing

Since the month of February is about love, I want to draw attention away from the external love that we give to others and focus on the love, attention, compassion, and worth that we give to ourselves. The Wellness Wheel allows us to step back and look at the different aspects of our lives and see if we are in complete wholeness. 

This is the Wellness Wheel for anyone who hasn’t seen it before:

The use of the Wellness Wheel is to work with each part of wheel to create wholeness with each “part of the pie” and it will ultimately create more wellness in your life.

I want to use this wheel for your self-care and self-love. I want to take each of these aspects and focus on different parts of your self-care that encompasses each part of the wheel to ultimately create wellness in YOU. 

First, we have to define each part of the wheel so you can understand how this pertains to your self-care and self-love. 

Physical:

Physical love looks like doing something active with your body or doing something physical to yourself. Here are some suggestions:

1. Working out

2. Going to the gym

3. Doing a workout program

4. Eating choices

5. Putting makeup on

6. Putting lotion on

7. Taking baths/showers

8. Washing your face

9. Taking care of your hair

10. Styling your hair

11. Dying your hair

12. Going to the doctor

13. Accessorizing your outfits

14. Getting a manicure or pedicure

15. Getting a massage

Anything that has to do physically with your body is what this part of the wellness wheel is focusing on. I want you to take a hard look at your physical wellness. With the idea of the Life Balance Wheel in mind, what would you rate your physical wellness right now from 1-10 (1 worst and 10 best)? If you are lower than a 6, what kind of habit/routine/structure do you need to focus on your physical self-care? If you are between a 6-8, what do you need to maintain in order to keep up your progress? If you are an 8 or above, is there a way to challenge this part of your wellness to progress to the next level for you? 

Social: 

This applies to connection. We will immediately think that connection is external but I want you to look inward. What connection socially do you have with yourself? Example, if you are going out to lunch with your friends, how do you connect with yourself? Do you make sure that your needs are met? Do you make sure that you are given time to update and talk about your life? Do you act like yourself and being authentically you while you are socializing? Are struggling to manage anxiety when you are out which causes you to be disconnected? Would you rather be somewhere else than where you are?

Here are some ideas to work on connection with the self during socializing:

1. Picking a place that makes you feel comfortable and safe

2. Setting boundaries about topics that you feel comfortable speaking about

3. Not feeling pressured to share information that you don’t want to share

4. Wearing an outfit/clothes that express your individual style

5. Talking about things that are interesting to you

6. Learning about others and how you relate to them

7. Doing common interests together make you feel confident

8. Planning social time with your friends and no one makes you feel guilty for spending time with them

9. Being present and mindful during the the time you are with them (not on your phone and texting others)

10. Someone teaching you or learning something new

11. Stepping outside your comfort zone when you want to and not when you feel pressured

12. Buying something because you want to and not because it is pressured

13. People around you make you feel like you belong

14. Feeling as though you are part of something outside of yourself

15. Feeling refreshed and renewed when leaving the socialization

If you would rate the social aspect of your self-care low, take a look at what you are feeling and what is causing you apprehension. Is it the people? Is it the environment? Are you doing something because you want to? What goals would you make to progress in this part of your wellness wheel?

Intellectual:

Think of mental stimulation, what causes you to become curious, and want to know more. This could be in a logical or critical way or in a creative and eccentric way. Self-care is setting time for you to broaden your mind and explore different topics and activities that expand you intellectually. 

Here are some ideas to promote your intellectual self-care:

1. Read and/or listen to audiobooks

2. Watch and/or read the news

3. Explore activities that require you to step outside of your comfort zone

4. Explore creative activities that inspire you

5. Create conversations with others who are interested in the same things

6. Create conversations with others who have different viewpoints

7. Take a seminar

8. Take a class

9. Participate in a Facebook group that inspires you mentally

10. Learn about something new

11. Learn a new language

12. Explore different aspects of a topic that is already interesting but haven’t had the time for

13. Write about something that is inspiring

14. Journal

15. Teach something new to someone

With this particular part of your self-care, it is important to intentionally block time for it. It is easy to get swept up into life and put this one off to the side. But, just like I’m sure everyone else has experienced, you end up with unread books on the bedside table, projects not completed, and things we “wish” we had time for. Make this is a priority and if it is, you’ll make time for it. Check out Mindful Digest’s post on scheduling priorities by following the link: Tools For Effective Prioritizing

Emotional:

When was the last time you actually sat with your emotions and gave them permission and space for you to feel and reflect on them? This is what emotional self-care is. Providing yourself the space and time to feel, validate, and process your emotions. Easier said than done. This is not always a pretty process and sometimes it is painful. But emotions will bubble their way to the surface eventually, wouldn’t you like to have control over when that happens? If you give yourself the space to do that, you will. 

Here are some strategies to address your emotional self-care:

1. Journal

2. Emotional workbooks

3. Read a book on trauma and emotions

4. Meditate

5. Guided visualizations

6. Write a timeline of your past

7. Journal with journal prompts

8. Talk to a friend about something that has been bothering you

9. Make a gratitude journal

10. Try a therapy session

11. Practice affirmations

12. Challenge negative thinking with compassion

13. Read a book on emotional intelligence

14. Learn to validate your emotions

15. Practice using the feelings wheel to identify emotions

Emotions are complex and this is a skill. The more you practice identifying, regulating, and processing the easier the task. Be patient with yourself and know that this isn’t something that comes naturally to those who haven’t been taught how to do it. 

Occupational:

Thinking about your job and/or career and self-care could be addressed in many different ways. I’d suggest looking at all these different faucets when evaluating your occupational self-care:

1. Does your environment support your mental and emotional well-being?

2. Are you given adequate space for yourself in your work environment?

3. Are you checking in with yourself when you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed?

4. Does the job give you time for mental breaks?

5. Are you given adequate time to complete your job?

6. What does the culture of the work environment show you is a priority?

7. When you are given breaks, do you take them by removing yourself from your work environment?

8. Are there distinguishable boundaries of when work begins and ends?

9. Are you forming connections with your coworkers and superiors and are these relationships healthy?

10. How do you feel before you enter work and after you leave?

11. Is the company and/or job allowing you to utilize your strengths?

12. Do you feel like you belong to something outside of yourself?

13. What kind of reward do you feel you get while working this position?

14. Are you giving yourself adequate time to nourish your body with food and water throughout the day?

15. Does your place of work make you feel respected and valued?

Ponder and/or journal these questions to evaluate your current level of your self-care in your position. If there are some parts of these questions that you don’t like the answers to or wish you could change, what can you control and/or change? Even if it is nothing, what can you do about your mindset towards these things?

Environmental:

Your environment heavily influences your thoughts, emotions, moods, and mindset. Self-care and your environment could mean several things but here are some ideas to consider:

1. With your habits/routines, does your environment support these things?

2. Does your environment have clutter?

3. Is your environment clean?

4. Does your environment inspire you?

5. What emotion do you feel when you enter this particular environment? What about when you leave?

6. Does your environment support your interests and hobbies?

7. Is there multiple things going on in your environment and does this contribute towards your productivity?

8. Are you distracted regularly in your environment?

9. Is the temperature of your environment suited for what you want to accomplish?

10. Is your environment comfortable?

11. Do you need more organization in your environment?

12. If you needed to find something in your environment, is there a system in place to locate this item?

13. What does your environment smell like and how does this smell make you feel?

14. If you are trying to accomplish something in your environment, is everything accessible or are you going to different areas to complete one task?

15. Does your space visually inspire you?

When evaluating your environment through these questions, think about how decluttering and organization can completely reinvent your space and allow you to approach the appropriateness of the space more effectively. Follow Mindful Counseling and Supervision on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest as we are working on decluttering our minds and spaces for our intentions in 2022!

Financial:

Financial self-care may look and feel a lot different than we think. With this part of our wellness wheel, we may need to make habits/goals that at the moment don’t feel as good as the other parts of our wheel but we end up with the rewards in the long term. 

Here are some suggestions on financial self-care:

1. Budgeting

2. Opening or creating a savings account

3. Depositing money into our savings account automatically on pay-days

4. Making financial goals

5. Read books to educate you on your relationship with money

6. Read books to educate you on budgeting, saving, or investing

7. Track your income and expenses

8. Snowball technique for paying off debt

9. Creating an emergency fund

10. Learn the difference between a need and a want

11. Develop a side hustle

12. Budget for expensive things

13. Coupon

14. Meet with a financial planner

15. Make and/or sell your items for extra cash

Just like with setting up a morning or nightly routine, making a financial routine/habit is just as important when it comes to regulating your financial self-care. 

Spiritual: 

This can mean so many different things to people. I always fall back on the spirit/soul being within you and how do you foster or empower this. 

Here are some examples of spiritual self-care:

1. Learn how to do different breathing techniques

2. Mindfulness meditation

3. Guided visualizations

4. Praying

5. Taking a mindful walk

6. Attending church

7. Spending alone time with yourself and giving yourself space to reflect and focus

8. Community services/volunteering

9. Learning to sit in silence

10. Practice Yoga or Tai Chi

11. Evaluate your goals, values, and beliefs

12. Repeat mantras

13. Be open to new experiences and lean into the discomfort of trying something new

14. Paint, dance, or connect with music

15. Detox from social media

While doing this self-care as long as you are connecting with yourself and you feel rejuvenated then it is for you. 

Self-care may cause you to feel guilty because you are choosing to spend time on yourself. Just remember that in order for us to be present, more grounded, and more peaceful with others, we have to do this with ourselves first.