Keeping Up With The Wellness Dimensions: Intellectual Wellness
When looking up the definition of wellness, well-being or whole-person wellness, you will find many different answers. Wellness is not just about the physical or emotional aspect of one’s life. In order to remain actively engaged to the mind, body and spirit, and to say you are reducing the risk of disease, you must incorporate all of the dimensions of wellness into your life. The six dimensions of wellness included in many programs are emotional, physical, intellectual, social, spiritual and vocational. In the following months, we will be focusing on several of these wellness dimensions, so stay tuned!
In today’s society, there is a lot of talk about staying brain healthy. The mind, or the intellectual dimension of wellness, plays a role in all parts of whole-person well-being. One way to help keep your mind healthy is to remain involved in the social aspect of your life. Although many turn to crossword puzzles and computer programming, it is vital to keep engagement with others. Computers and puzzle activities do not engage the social dimension; rather, a majority of those programs are isolating. By participating in a social based group, such as an exercise class or total brain health class, you are keeping more elements of wellness in your life. The mind will feel a sense of belonging when engaged with others around you.
Loneliness and isolation in older adults is common. An online article stated that isolated elders had a 59 percent greater risk of mental and physical decline than their more social counterparts. To keep the mind happy and healthy, join a social club, exercise class or become involved with a local group. By engaging the mind, you are also creating a lifestyle of whole-person wellness through the other dimensions of wellness.
Contributed By: Liz Flattery (Wellness Coordinator)