Mindful Modern Living

on the path to wellness

What Is A Wellness Wheel & How Can It Change Your Life?

STORY BY LIESEL SCHMIDT

Wellness.

It’s something we’ve heard a lot about, something that we strive to attain. And in these times of constant bombardment and technology overload, we struggle even more to disconnect, to re-center, to achieve balance and find that ever-elusive thing that is “wellness.”

So what exactly is wellness and why is it so important? “Wellness goes beyond the physical,” says Jessica Kirschner, owner and creator of Mindful Modern Living. “Wellness combines and interconnects with the mind and spirit ... All individuals make lifestyle choices that bring them towards a state of equanimity and inner peace or take them away from such states. Each individual is capable of achieving the optimum state of health and well-being. Taking this time to examine where you are right now and what you truly need is a huge step in creating change, joy and peace within yourself. Understanding the multidimensional aspects of wellness and the interconnectedness of all dimensions empowers a deep level of self-trust, higher knowing and life balance. By adopting a healthier lifestyle, we receive blessings of vitality, energy and lasting health.” While it may sound like an abstract concept, Kirschner has a very concrete plan for getting to that place of “equanimity and inner peace” known as wellness. “The Wellness Wheel is a tool for organizing and developing a personal plan to explain, promote and achieve greater individual wellness,” she explains. “It was first modeled from the theory of individual psychology. Following extensive research across disciplines, researchers found characteristics that they saw had a connection to healthy living, quality of life and longevity.” Consisting of seven distinct characteristics, the Wellness Wheel addresses all the pieces that, together, create the various aspects of our lives and contribute to our total wellbeing. INTELLECTUAL: Allowing yourself time to be curious, participate in the creation of art, read and learn in a spontaneous and uncensored way can provide insight, transformation and healing. PHYSICAL: Physical health is one characteristic that correlates positively with healthy living, quality of life and longevity. Understanding how your body works and being aware of how exercise, sleep, food and stress can affect you is a major contributor to optimal health and well-being. SOCIAL: Family and friends affect who you are, how you act and what you expect from others. They not only affect your overall well-being, but also how you navigate the world. ENVIRONMENTAL: Having a sense of safety, comfort and connection with your own physical surroundings is important to your mental, emotional and physical health. Environmental wellness also includes respecting the environment and understanding how personal actions impact the health of the ecosystem. FINANCIAL: Financial wellness means having the ability to fulfill current and future financial obligations and feel secure in your future financial planning. SPIRITUAL: Spiritual wellness is a process of understanding beliefs, values and ethics that help guide your life. Knowing your core values and boundaries is a powerful step in creating change, joy and peace within yourself. It's important to identify barriers in your life that restrict or limit you from tasting, hearing, seeing, smelling, feeling or experiencing. EMOTIONAL: It takes practice to let go of ego and acknowledge emotions and feelings. Learning healthy coping techniques can allow you to step outside of your emotional self and evaluate the situation.

For anyone hoping to achieve personal wellness, following the Wellness Wheel helps identify and focus on areas that need the most attention. “You have the power to become more aware of the interconnectedness of each dimension within your life and will learn how they contribute to the greater goal of optimal health and well-being,” says Kirschner. “Becoming more aware of the interconnectedness of all the characteristics that contribute to traveling [along] your wellness path successfully will provide you the power to monitor your own vital signs, understand your body's warning signs and learn healthy coping techniques.” For Kirschner, helping clients travel the path to wellness is the core mission behind her work at Mindful Modern Living. “We believe that optimal health and wellbeing begins with understanding your beliefs, values and ethics,” she says. “Understanding what your core values and boundaries are and how to use them, along with your intuition as a guide to help you navigate daily life choices, is the foundation of implementing growth and change in any area of your life. Our method provides the tools, structure, accountability and clarity to help individuals envision, articulate, create and bring to life their unique, authentic vision. We strive to create a community of unique voices, each bringing a different perspective to a socially-conscious audience. Connecting with others can improve your overall health, and our community is a beautiful space to learn, develop, build and maintain stronger, longer-lasting, relationships—which is an invaluable skill. We aim to create thought-provoking, interactive conversation through our classes, workshops, retreats and socializing events. We encourage our community to pursue a lifestyle-oriented toward optimal health and well-being of the mind, body and spirit.”

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