The Seven Dimensions of Health
How often do you consider all of the dimensions that work together to form your own perception of health and fitness?
For most of us, it’s not often enough.
Did you know that there are 7 dimensions of health that we should consider when following a health and fitness journey?
The 7 most common dimensions of health.
1) Physical Health is affected by moving your body (exercise), eating well-balanced meals (nutrition), adequate sleep, managing stress and receiving preventative dental and medical care.
Maintaining physical health has many benefits:
Weight management
Maintenance of good blood pressure and cholesterol levels
Reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes
Stronger bones, joints and a lower risk of osteoporosis
Lower your risk of heart attacks
Overall feeling better – increased energy, better moods, and better
Sleep quality
It’s easy to improve your physical health. Follow some of these simple steps:
Get at least 150 minutes of physical activity a week, that’s only 35 minutes per day
Sit less, move more
Everyday activities are a great way to be active
Eat a healthy diet – more vegetables, more fruit and drink plenty of water
Get enough sleep
Track your progress!
2) Social Health involves having a strong social network that can give support and guidance when you are stressed or need stress relief. As we age, staying social has numerous health benefits.
Research shows that social interaction is increasingly important as it helps to maintain mental and physical health and can boost the immune system. Studies have even shown that older adults who have long-term friendships live longer!
3) Environmental Health means taking care of what’s around you – your global environment and your personal space.
De-cluttering our lives of unwanted or unused things, recycling, composting and recognizing our ability to make a positive impact on the quality of the air, the water and the land that surrounds us.
4) Occupational Health is the ability to get personal fulfillment out of our chosen career path.
For optimal occupational health ensure you have explore a variety of options, create a real vision of your future, find a path that suits your personality, interests and talents, learn new skills; and be open to change.
5) Spiritual Health will enable you to establish peace and harmony in your life.
Spiritually healthy people seek harmony between beliefs, values and ethics that help guide your life.
Spend some time alone to meditate, be fully present in everything that you do, listen with your heart and live by your principles, allow yourself and those around you the freedom to be who they are and see the opportunity for growth in all of the challenges that life brings you.
6) Emotional Health gives us the understanding to cope with the challenges life can bring. The ability to acknowledge and share feelings of anger, fear, sadness, hope, love, joy and happiness in a productive manner.
Some simple ways to stay emotionally healthy are to mange your stress, seek and provide support, learn time management, tune into your thoughts and feelings and most importantly – accept and forgive yourself.
7) Intellectual Health means staying curious and engaged in learning new things, opening our minds to new ideas and experiences that can be applied to personal decisions, social engagements and community.
Allow yourself the opportunity to be creative, expand your knowledge through a variety of resources and cultural activities.
By no means is this an exhaustive list. Every one of us has different dimensions, different pillars of health. By finding what matters most, what pillars hold us up on this journey, what dimension we aspire to be in, we then find we are going in the right direction.
I challenge you to find your own pillars and dimensions; I think you’ll find a wonderful path.
Yours always in health,
Susan