Wellness Wheel

What does being holistic really mean? Holistic is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts”.

Take a look at this wellness wheel. It epitomizes our end game goal. Our wellness is contingent on addressing all of the following factors: Emotional, Spiritual, Intellectual, Physical, Environmental, Financial, Occupational and Social. It looks like a juggler’s dream of perfection and yet how attainable is any of this?

It’s clear that our wholeness, our totality of being, our wellness is something that is in constant motion. At times, we feel we are on top and keeping all of our balls up in the air. Neglect one area and the whole becomes balls bouncing down the street and around the bend.

So when we take a look at ourselves and our overall well being, it is clear that taking care of only one piece of ourselves is at the detriment to all other aspects. Reverse that and take care of all areas, except just one and you’re still out of balance.

The key is to drop all expectations of perfection. Maybe it’s better to look at this wheel more like a kaleidoscope. Constant motion, ever changing. But don’t lose sight of the total image, step back and take it all in from time to time. It’s all beautiful, isn’t it?