Communal Wellness
This is the tenth and final area of focus in my Total Wellness program. Although I’m eager to get back to writing more spontaneously about the fascinating people and experiences I run across on a daily basis, I certainly appreciate the folks—both blog followers and wellness clients—who encouraged me to commit these last ten months […]
Environmental Wellness
Environmental Wellness was the last of the 10 areas of wellness that I added. The environment we operate within, from our personal space to the planet we live on, has a profound impact upon our wellness. Unfortunately, “the environment” has become highly politicized. Some people shut down at just hearing the word! My goal as […]
Funal Wellness
This eighth area of wellness—“funal” wellness—has generated more questions and strange looks with coaching clients and participants in Total Wellness workshops and presentations than any other. Funal wasn’t an area of focus in my original Total Wellness structure. I discovered its critical importance while doing intake and symptom assessments for clients requesting counseling. I began […]
Financial Wellness
This seventh area of Total Wellness, financial wellness, is one of the most misunderstood. This post won’t have tips for spending less, saving more, budgeting better, or investing smarter. Because financial wellness isn’t about how much money you have or even if you have “enough,” it’s about your relationship with and attitude toward money. I […]
Vocational Wellness
For our sixth area of Total Wellness we will take a look at vocational wellness. “Vocational” is a word choice I made deliberately over “career” or “occupational” wellness. Although a job can be a vocation, not all jobs are vocations and not all vocations are jobs. A vocation doesn’t have to be paid; parenting and […]
Relational Wellness
This is the fifth stop on our total wellness journey: relational wellness. Relationships—in all their forms—have been a gift and a blessing since I first arrived on the planet over 75 years ago! My longest-lasting non-family relationship goes back to November of 1947 when our closest neighbors had their second child, a feisty little girl […]
Physical Wellness
When clients begin their Total Wellness program with me, I always have them choose which area they want to begin with. Of the 10 areas, physical wellness is the hands-down favorite starting place. They are often surprised by—and ironically resistant to—my explanation that we are probably going to need to significantly adjust and expand their […]
Mental Wellness
I didn’t plan mental wellness as the topic for my December post, but Christmastime certainly seems appropriate given it’s potential to be a transformational gift to oneself! This area is for me one of the most interesting aspects of my wellness model for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that it concerns […]
Emotional Wellness
In my experience, emotional wellness is among the least chosen starting points when people begin a total wellness program. However, along with spiritual wellness, it is one of the most fundamental areas and a very effective starting place. No matter what other area of wellness you point to, I can almost always show how functioning […]