Posts – Page 5 – Deepening Our Journey

Environmental Wellness

May 29, 2023

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 a wellness coach is not to push any kind of political agenda but to stay focused on the overall wellbeing of the client. What about their environment—however they choose to define that—is getting in the

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Funal Wellness

May 8, 2023

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 asking the question, “What do you do for fun?” A common comeback was, “What do you mean?” That response alone was a strong indication of depression. Some folks couldn’t ever remember having fun, others describe

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Financial Wellness

April 6, 2023

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 trust you have heard the saying, “money is the root of all evil.” But that’s actually taken out of context. The full Bible verse (1 Timothy 6:10) reads, “the love of money is the root

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Vocational Wellness

March 4, 2023

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 caregiving, while also relational, can also be vocational. Art, music, activism, coaching, environmental conservation, and service work are other common vocations that may or not make money. So what makes a job into a vocation?

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Relational Wellness

February 5, 2023

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 they named Elaine. I was two months old when we first met which I don’t remember all that well! Elaine and I have kept in touch across the years, using phone, texting, and email, but

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Physical Wellness

December 30, 2022

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 understanding of physical wellness. This new understanding frequently runs counter to all of the messages and marketing bombarding them every day. Sometimes it may even mean being less focused on the physical—or some aspect of

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Mental Wellness

December 4, 2022

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 one of the most complex and fascinating parts of the human body: our brain! The brain can be likened to a muscle that needs to be stretched, massaged, exercised, and challenged on a regular basis

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Emotional Wellness

November 6, 2022

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 there impacts your emotional well-being and vice versa. When working on improving emotional wellness, I often use the concept of emotional intelligence, which was popularized in Daniel Goleman’s excellent book, Emotional Intelligence. He describes emotional

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Spiritual Wellness

October 1, 2022

If you read last month’s post, you might remember I referred to spirituality as the first element of my Total Wellness model. Over the course of teaching and practicing the model for many years, I eventually came to understand it as foundational and the “Godly glue” that binds our wellness journey together. If you don’t feel the same, that’s perfectly okay. In fact, some people might not connect to the word “spirituality” at all. One of the most amazing gifts this blog has held for me is the diversity of

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