Wellness and Self Care (4 Key Dimensions of Wellbeing)

Why are wellness and self care THE buzzwords in the realm of personal development these days? Could it be because of the current rate of burnout, anxiety and stress plaguing the collective? 

In a survey of over 1000 respondents by Deloitte, 77% say they have experienced burnout at their current job. 91% say that unmanageable stress or frustration impacts the quality of their work, and 83% say burnout can negatively impact personal relationships.*

And these are just work-related statistics. 

Consider the day-to-day worldly pressures of each of us coping with a pandemic, staggering inflation, worldwide conflict, on top of the personal pressures of maintaining healthy relationships, safe homes and vibrant bodies and it’s no surprise that we are all suffering in one way or another. 

And this loops us back to why wellness and self care are hot topics.

According to the World Economic Forum, 2021’s biggest search terms in google gives us some insight:*

• 2021’s most-searched included themes of reflection, healing and pulling together.
• Global searches for mental health reached the highest level ever.
• How to cure burnout was a breakout US search, meaning it increased at least 5,000% compared with the prior time period.
• Several mental health-related queries reached record levels.

In the simplest terms: People are suffering. And people want to stop suffering. 

And whether we consciously decide this or are unconsciously motivated, we all seek a sense of well-being. 

Let’s define the terminology further, and with the help of the good old Oxford Dictionary: 

What is wellness? Oxford says it’s “the state of being in good health, especially as an actively pursued goal.” One can also gather that wellness extends beyond merely surviving to positively thriving. 

What is self care? Oxford says it’s “the practice of taking an active role in protecting one’s own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress.” We see via the aforementioned statistics that this current period is proving to be most stressful and therefore many are in personal protection or self-preservation mode. 

In action, self care involves focusing on yourself and taking time to rest, reflect, replenish, and renew. This includes taking stock of your own needs, goals, health, and accomplishments + taking time to nourish and nurture all that you are, for greater wellbeing.

And what is wellbeing vs. suffering? Simply put, Oxford defines them as “the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy,” vs. “the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship.” 

Clearly what we need, what we are all seeking, is a cultural shift; a movement that shifts us from buzzword to basic needs. A movement that then shifts the language and practices from basic needs to birthright. 

Birthright? Heck yeah.

It is the birthright of all beings to have comfort, good health and happiness. It is the birthright of all beings to take an active role in protecting one’s own wellbeing. It is the birthright of all beings to break communal cycles of pain, distress and hardship for one another. 

Perhaps then we can work collectively to attain a comprehensive awareness of the autonomy of individual needs within the scope of self care and by doing so create greater outcomes for healing.

For the sake of expanding awareness and identifying opportunities to integrate selfcare into a daily living experience, Tribe takes the concept of wellbeing into 4 key dimensions: mind/ body/ spirit/ heart.* 

While these dimensions are intertwined, overlapping and relative, consider the ways in which we experience suffering within these unique dimensions and how we might enhance wellbeing through the same lens. 

The well-being dimension of MIND/ PSYCHE

This refers to your psychological wellbeing and places where you have the opportunity to enhance how you learn, reflect and grow. 

3 ways to integrate mind/psyche self-care:

1. Learn a new hobby, skill or trade.
2. Create a daily journaling/ morning pages routine.
3. Develop a consistent meditation practice.

The wellbeing dimension of BODY/ PHYSICAL

This refers to your physical wellbeing and places where you have the opportunity to enhance how you live, move and breathe. 

3 ways to integrate body/ physical self-care:

1. Regularly declutter and organize your home.
2. Explore nature and the outdoors (with exercise being the by-product, not the aim).
3. Learn breathing techniques that promote self-regulation.

The wellbeing dimension of SPIRIT/SOUL

This refers to your spiritual wellbeing and places where you have the opportunity to connect with your essence, purpose and meaning. 

3 ways to integrate spiritual/soulful self-care:

1. Find time to play in and explore the world through the eyes of a child.
2. Volunteer time, energy or money to a cause that is important to you.
3. Attend sacred communal events (art exhibit, concert, yoga, church) with no phone, no camera, no stimulants.

The wellbeing dimension of HEART/EMOTION

This refers to your emotional wellbeing and places where you have the opportunity to enhance love, care and relationship with self and others. 

3 ways to integrate heart/emotional self-care:

1. Practice self-friendliness (Talk to yourself the way a loving friend would).
2. Do something kind for a neighbor, friend, family member or colleague in need.
3. Explore emotional co-regulation with a loved one (intentional time and monitoring one’s state while being present with another).

It is important to highlight that exploring wellness, wellbeing and self-care is not intended as a comprehensive healthcare solution to fix, heal or cure an individual. Rather these are integrative approaches that are useful for reducing suffering and improving wellbeing, and the strategies and outcomes are fluid and transitional, relative to the state of health and wellbeing of an individual at any given time.

As stated, self care is a means of taking an active role in protecting one’s own well-being and happiness, AND it must also be noted that this is not to the exclusion of supportive healthcare professionals, whose role is to help you navigate, implement and measure outcomes of these means.

So, how can you turn wellness and self-care from buzzwords to basic needs to birthright? 

Choose one suggestion above from each category and begin or stretch your practice as a daily occurrence. 

Become a self care subscriber with Tribe to gain access to an entire community of support specifically integrating all 4 dimensions of wellbeing. 

Visit our practitioner directory and cultivate an empowering relationship with a holistic practitioner whose purpose is to support your health and wellness goals so that you thrive.

As the world turns, we must accept that suffering is inevitable. How we relate and respond to suffering is an opportunity to find comfort, health and happiness. 

Wellbeing is your birthright.

Written by Cari Rogers, co-owner of Tribe and founder of HealThySelf.

Cari loves to partner with people who believe that the body has an incredible capacity to heal under the right circumstances and with the right support.

*Resources:

https://ca.ctrinstitute.com/blog/4-key-dimensions-self-care/

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/12/google-searches-covid-lifestyle-mental-health/

https://www.apollotechnical.com/remote-work-burnout-statistics/