Inspiration This Week: Self-Care Month

It's a common practice that people go into January trying to cleanse their system of bad habits and replace it with new habits. You might have heard of a dry January to detox from the holidays. So I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon and talk about some ways you can be more mindful of your own self-care!

Wellness Wheel

The link above will take you to UNH's page on the Wheel of Wellness picture and explanation of each component, as well as challenge calendars to keep you on track with your self-care. It is geared towards their student population, but of course you can generalize this to all aspects of life. So let's dive into the components below...

Theme This Week: Wheel of Wellness

Self-care is more than just massages and bubble baths. It's important we take all domains of wellness into account when finding balance in our life. So consider these following domains below when assessing your self-care.

Emotional Wellness- Are you taking care of yourself emotionally? This includes showing self-compassion, setting boundaries, and allowing and managing the full range of emotions we all experience. Are you giving yourself an outlet for your emotions such as journaling, gratitude, therapy, support network? Are you learning and implementing coping skills to navigate stressors?

Environmental Wellness- What does your space around you (work, personal, social) look like? Is it motivating you to reach your goals? Do you feel emotionally and physically safe? Do you have a good sanctuary to go and recharge in? Make sure that you are evaluating your space and adjusting things so it builds your energy rather than draining it.

Financial Wellness- Are you financially stable? Are you living within your means? What are you doing to increase your financial worth or build your savings? Do you have a budget? Are you knocking out debt or saving towards something worthwhile? Take a moment to see if you have a game plan for your financial future and see if you're on track with those milestones.

Intellectual Wellness- This is a place where we expand on our openness to new ideas, creativity, and critical thinking. What are you doing to challenge yourself intellectually? Reading? Education? Networking? This is a great area to find a new skill you want to learn or build upon. Also a great time to evaluate your ability to solve problems and time management.

Occupational Wellness- This is about having a career or lifestyle that is meaningful to you and those you care about. What are you building? Is your job fulfilling or a step towards your dream job? Is your job affording you a life outside of work? Are you working on your education? Are you a full-time parent or taking some needed time away from work? Is it time to switch jobs or ask for a raise/promotion? Take a moment and assess if your current occupation (employment, student, parent, etc) is serving you best.

Physical Wellness- This is about listening and responding to your body in a way that promotes optimum functioning and health. How is your sleep? Diet? Exercise? Are you going to the doctor for any ailments? Is there something that you could be doing to better improve your day to day functioning and energy levels?

Social Wellness- This is about having a positive support system, which can be family, friends, coaches, therapists, mentors, organizations, etc. Who do you surround yourself with and are they building you up or draining you? Is it time to shed a couple negative influences? Or time to expand your network? Are you also giving yourself enough personal time? Any connections needing some TLC?Take a moment to see if you have a sense of community and belonging withing the social connections in your life.

Spiritual Wellness- This is not just religion-based. It is about taking some time to be still, just be, and reflect. Yes it can involve faith. Or simply having some form of ritual or belief system that helps you build meaning, purpose, hope and development a set of values. So what is your practice? Church? Meditation? And if nothing, maybe it's time to add in some sort of practice!

Challenge This Week: Wellness Calendar

Wellness Calendars

This is a link to some wellness calendars that UNH uploaded for 2021. I'm sure they will upload one for 2022. But feel free to use an old calendar. Each day has a challenge to help you stay on track with all 8 domains. I believe Calm App has some great wellness calendars to follow as well, so feel free to research or create your own!