Celebrating the Senses

Self-care at its most simplistic definition includes behaviors, activities, and skills used to take care of oneself. Within every individual, there are many different dimensions: physical, emotional, mental/cognitive, social, and spiritual aspects, to highlight a few. Each of these dimensions within a person requires care, attention, and intentional behaviors to optimize overall health and well-being.

Well-being encompasses a broad definition used to assess happiness, health, stability, purpose, and meaning in one’s life. We want you to visualize a circle. And within the circle are slices, much like a pie, and each slice represents one aspect of well-being: physical, emotional, mental/cognitive, social, and spiritual well-being. And the health of each slice of the pie influences, impacts, and contributes to overall well-being.

So, if a person is out of balance in physical health, this will take away from a person’s overall well-being. And if a person is not caring for themselves in one or two other dimensions – for example, spiritual and emotional well-being – then the result will be a reduction in overall well-being. We know, you may be thinking, it sounds so simple and makes sense, taking care of yourself leads to well-being. But for many people, a commitment to self-care (actions/behaviors which improve well-being) is often overlooked.

The foundation of well-being starts with physical self-care. Our physical health is the foundation upon which all else is built. How we treat and care for our body directly correlates to well-being and will impact our ability to cope with the stresses and demands of everyday life.

We also encourage clients to commit to emotional self-care. Our emotions or feelings can be complex and change throughout the day. Many researchers have spent time debating and studying the impact of emotions on behavior. Do our emotions guide our behaviors or do our behaviors guide our emotions? In other words, what comes first? There is no one easy answer, and it’s an interaction of both. Our behaviors influence our feelings and our feelings affect our behaviors. What we do know: emotions guide us and help us interact and respond to ourselves, others, and our environment. When we pay attention to our feelings, we can determine what we need to do to improve or manage our emotional state.

The third dimension of well-being within a person is mental or cognitive well-being. At the most simplistic level, mental or cognitive functioning is all about our thinking brain. This component includes the thoughts we have and the statements we make to our self, as well as our values, morals, and principles. Our thinking brain also includes core intelligence but encompasses so much more.

A person’s mental/cognitive functioning includes how a person thinks about oneself, others, the world, and the future. And mental functioning also includes what we think about, the activities we engage in that foster thinking, the process of learning, our judgment, reasoning, and impulse control to name a few.

And here is the big take away between our mind (thoughts), emotions, and behaviors: our thoughts impact and influence our feelings, which then affects our behaviors, and vice versa. All three will influence each other. Our mental, emotional, and physical dimensions affect every part of our lives, within ourselves, in our relationships with family, friends, co-workers, and the larger world.

The fourth dimension of well-being is social support. Social relationships are critical for well-being. Social support is a term used to describe the people in your life that you count on in times of stress, celebration, and day-to-day living. A social support network can include family, spouse or partner, friends, co-workers, members of a social group, organization, or congregation.

And it is important to understand with social support: it’s less about the number of people in your social network and more about the quality of those relationships. If you are on social media we are sure you understand that you can have hundreds of followers and friends, which is much different than the number of people who are there for you in a crisis or stressful situation.

Not every person has the same needs regarding social support. Some people may only need one good friend and rely on the support of family, while others have ten close friends. There is no judgment or comparison when it comes to social support, and the key is in knowing your needs and preferences and measuring this in relation to your actual social support.

And finally, the fifth dimension is spiritual well-being. Spirituality is a general term referring to the non-physical part of our being. Often described as our soul or spirit, it is a part within us that makes us unique. Many people hear the word ‘spirituality’ and immediately think of religion. Spirituality is a broader concept. It can be defined as the connection we feel to other people, nature, all living beings, and the world.

Spiritual connection includes having a sense of gratitude, compassion, empathy, and happiness towards people, nature, and the world. If a person is religious and participating in religious services and traditions, then spirituality can be experienced through one’s connection with their religion, via prayer, the study of scripture, and the fellowship formed with other worshipers. But it’s important to know that a person can be spiritual without ever being religious.

When we see suffering, whether within our home, neighborhood, or in the world, and we want to help, that is an example of the spiritual connection. Spirituality includes finding meaning in life and having a sense of purpose for our life.

Taking care of your body, matters.
Taking care of your feelings, matters.
Taking care of your thoughts, matters.
Taking care of your relationships, matters.
Taking care of your spirituality, matters.
All of these dimensions within you, matter.
You matter tremendously, take care of yourself.

Aquarius Wellness, true to its Wellness Mission of being “…in service to a happier, healthier, more peaceful planet, one person…and tree at a time!”, has recently chosen to partner with the St Louis Area FoodBank, which provides free meals to the hungry in the St Louis Metropolitan Area, and ReSurge International, which provides direct surgical care to the poor in low and middle-income countries, as well as training to local medical staff in these same countries, helping to make them more self-sufficient in the provision of medical care to their own populations. These are in addition to our ongoing partnership with One Tree Planted, which plants one tree in designated, habitat critical areas around the globe for each dollar donated!

Small contributions from all of us to these noble charities, supported through our clients’ commitment to their own Wellness, can have very large impacts on the lives of many who are tragically afflicted by chronic hunger and medical conditions that are eminently correctable but for the lack of access to quality medical care, and on the planet, in the midst of a climate crisis for which tree planting has been identified as perhaps the single greatest solution! Our clients at Aquarius can take great satisfaction in the knowledge that for each and every product or service they purchase from us, $1 will be donated and divided among these worthy causes, and they can rest assured that in committing to their own Wellness, they are committing to a greater Wellness for those people, and a planet, in desperate need of it… “Shop Locally, Act Globally!”, and together let us collectively contribute to the Dawn of a New Age…the Age of Conscious Capitalism…the Age of Aquarius!