Wellness Dimensions
The following dimensions represent some of the categories represented in the wellness literature. The dimensions are meant to be intertwined. These dimensions are areas you will need to focus upon to ensure the enhancement and maintenance of your personal wellness. Remember that personal responsibility and effective choices are the core of these dimensions.
DIMENSIONS OF WELLNESS (Ardell, 1988; O’Donnell 1992; Robbins, Powers, & Burgess 1997).
 | SOCIAL |
| INTELLECTUAL |
| SPIRITUAL |
| PHYSICAL |
| EMOTIONAL/MENTAL |
Schafer (1996) added two further dimensions to wellness beyond the five listed above.
| ENVIRONMENTAL
| TIME | |
The following descriptions are based on Walt Schafer's (1996) writings on the dimensions of wellness and some of the habits a person should attain to develop a wellness lifestyle. It should be clear to you as you view these brief descriptions that each dimension will intertwine with the others.
This dimension features the caring connections that a person makes with others. This can include group memberships, sharing intimacy and friendships, being open to another person's care, and practicing empathy and active listening.
This dimension is about the ability to think clearly, independently and critically. It also includes reasoning skills and being open to new ideas; clear thinking and recollection with little impediment from emotional baggage.
This dimension of wellness is about purpose and meaning. This is the sense of where a person "fits- in". These areas may not be clear, but a person should be aware of the importance and always striving to seek clarity of personal values.
This dimension speaks to wellness habits that impact the physical being. Sleep, exercise, nutrition, and personal safety are key areas within this dimension.
The awareness of personal emotions and the ability to maintain or control a relatively even emotional state. Emotional wellness is also about seeking positive over negative experiences.
This is a person's awareness of personal effects on the physical environment both locally and globally. This also includes habits that seek to take responsibility for minimizing the impact to our environment.
A dimension that deals with pace of life by establishing habits that deal with best use of time. Finding moderation between being too busy and boredom. "Balancing activity and rest, work and play, solitude and relationships." (Schafer, 1996, p. 38)
Other wellness dimensions offered in the literature include these refinements within the social dimension (click on the links for more information):
| ORGANIZATIONAL/OCCUPATIONAL |
| COMMUNITY WELLNESS |
Enjoying the work that you do by exploring your strengths and interests. Avoiding drudgery and boredom by finding an occupation that is interesting, rewarding, enjoyable, and meaningful.
Johnson's Dimensions of Body, Self, and Environment and Culture
To expand on the simple definition of "wellness as a context for living", Johnson (1986) offered that
Johnson (1986) wrote of three interrelated dimensions within the evolving and continuous process of wellness. The dimensions included the body, the self, and environment and culture. These three dimensions were chosen rather than the more popularized dimensions of other authors to impart a greater personalization to the meanings of wellness and thus increase awareness. With increased individual awareness, Johnson believed that a person is more likely to "engage in behaviors that are supportive of health" (p. 16). Johnson’s body dimension encompasses factors such as "nutrition, fitness, rest and sleep". The self as a dimension of wellness included factors such as "emotions, personal identity, and the transcendent/spiritual self". Johnson’s dimension of environment and culture of wellness shapes one’s "attitudes about health, health care, and environmental and social conditions that affect individual health and health care" (pp. 13-14).as context, wellness is ‘a place from which to come or a state of being’ that provides the background or environment for all of one’s actions and behaviors. Actions and behaviors can be described as content. Context is ‘the whole situation, background, or environment relevant to some happening…to weave together,’ whereas content is ‘all that is contained within’ (p. 109).