The dimensions of Wellness

Hi, I’m Dana – YW Calgary’s Community Engagement Coordinator and top wellness enthusiast! I am passionate about leading an active lifestyle and encouraging others to do the same. I am an avid rock climber, and I love spending time outdoors climbing, biking, or just relaxing in the sun.

While I do oversee the Fitness Centre at YW Calgary, I know that exercise and working out aren’t the only things that contribute to one’s health, or overall wellness. Wellness is multi-dimensional and each component of it can potentially impact the others.

My favorite tool for a quick assessment of how I’m doing is the Wellness Wheel. Depending on your source, the Wellness Wheel typically highlights 6-8 dimensions of wellness, as seen below. Each dimension impacts our health and wellness.

I self-assess how I am doing in each dimension. I will think and reflect, make some notes, and give myself a score out of 5 for each dimension. You can even draw or print off a blank wellness wheel, break it into sections, and colour in a section for each point you give yourself. From there, it is easy to see what areas need work – you can make note and try to improve the things that are in your power.

You want to think about each dimension holistically:

Physical health isn’t just getting in your workout every day—it includes sleep habits, nutrition, presence or absence of illness, and substance use.

Spiritual wellness includes participating in a religious or growth-oriented practice, feeling a sense of purpose, and practicing trust and forgiveness.

Occupational wellness refers to the sense of fulfillment that you get from your job, your work-life balance, and how connected you feel to coworkers.

Emotional wellness refers to your ability to understand your and express your feelings and express appropriately, to have fun, and to manage stress and adapt to change.

Intellectual wellness relates to feeling engaged, learning and growing. Your job, school, and home life can all contribute to your intellectual growth.

Environmental wellness refers to the physical environments in which you spend most of your time. This could be your home, office, a friend’s apartment. You want to ask yourself if these spaces bring you comfort and peace.

Financial wellness is how comfortable you feel with your income and expenses, your budgeting, and your financial literacy.

Social wellness is how connected you feel to the people in your life. This includes having trusting relationships, people you can rely on, and people you can talk to.

This we know to be true: Physical and mental health are interconnected and feed off each other. When we look at wellness holistically, we see how the different parts of our lives play off each other and affect us overall.

For your convenience, I’ve added a Wellness Wheel print-out that you can use for your assessment. If you notice it looks unbalanced once you fill it in, think about actions and ways you can grow and improve in the areas that need it.  The exercise is a great way to check in with yourself occasionally, just like you would a good friend.

Ready to spring back into shape?