Wellness for the Whole Self

When we think about wellness, we tend to separate it into sections and focus on just one at a time. Yet we need to maintain the health of all of those sections for the health of our whole self, which is a difficult task. The start of a new year is a good time to get in the habit of making positive changes for the betterment of ourselves, but a lot of times we make the goals so large that they are too daunting for us to accomplish.

The three forms of wellness that I'm working to improve this year are physical, mental, and financial.

I believe that the key to wellness is making small positive changes over a long period of time. When we make habits out of small changes, it becomes easier to accomplish our larger goals. They stop seeming impossible because we've broken them down into manageable pieces.

Physical wellness is probably the first thought that comes to mind when we think about general wellness. How many of us have made New Year's resolutions to lose weight? Or to start working out? Or to eat better?

Physical wellness can be improved with small steps, so this year I will drink more water. This is something that I've been struggling with a lot, so I've gotten a bunch of things like Crystal Light packets and similar items to put in my water. It makes it easier to drink more, and fruit punch is always a solid flavor.

I also got a stationary bike to help with physical wellness. Not a fancy one, but even just being able to do something physical is rewarding because I know that I've done an activity that's good for my body.

Exercise can also be good for mental wellness, which gives me another reason to try and bike each day. Mental and physical wellness are so connected that actions and habits that benefit one often benefit the other as well.

For my mental wellness this year, I'm going to work on drinking more tea, doing breathing exercises, and working on mindfulness. I need to find and work on ways to keep stress on bay and not let it control my life or negatively affect my health.

I also think that there are good things to be said about aromatherapy for mental health and wellness. Smells are also great at bringing up memories, which could be soothing if those scents are available as oils or candles or what-have-you for use in aromatherapy.

For me, the smell of peppermint is soothing. So when I smell peppermint, I find that I'm calmer. Since this year I'm working on my wellness in all aspects, I am going to use these techniques to stay calm and give myself moments to disconnect from the stress and worries of life. Stress is not helpfully in any way for wellness. I think that everyone would agree with me on that one.

The last form of wellness that I will be working on in 2021 is financial wellness. To me, financial wellness means taking steps towards financial security. It means working towards lowering debts, raising savings, and putting money towards retirement.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to be in a place where we can work towards each of those tasks simultaneously.

But like I said earlier, small steps towards progress make the task as a whole less intimidating. So for this year, I'm going to be working on lowering my debt that has accrued from dreaded university costs that feel like they'll never be paid off, which is a feeling I'm sure many people can relate to. The payments aren't due yet, but starting them as early as possible will help lower the amount of interest that I'll have to pay in the end.

Wellness is an interesting concept because it can mean many different things depending on who you ask, and ways to improve wellness will bring up an even bigger variety of advice and tricks that people have found work for them.

Will my tricks work for everyone? No, probably not.

Is it worth trying new things in a search for what helps us find balance? Absolutely. As long as the advice doesn't harm yourself or others (like putting a specific scent of essential oil in a diffuser for aromatherapy), then why not try something new?

I wish you all wellness in this new year.