Nature & Mindfulness: Health Benefits

What is wellness?

 

Wellness is described as the active process of becoming aware and making choices toward a healthy and fulfilling life. It’s about more than just being free from illness, it’s an ever changing process of growth and development that deals with every aspect of your life, which is why it’s so important. Wellness is often broken down into six different areas and sometimes as many as 12. We’ll cover 8 areas of wellness in this article to give you a well rounded view of what it is and how you can work towards it.

1. Physical

Physical wellness relates to all aspects of our physical health. This includes maintaining a healthy body through eating nutritious food, getting enough sleep and exercising. The exercise you do can even be light, like if you go for a walk every day to take in the nature and landscape. Physical wellness also includes listening to your body and taking care of it when it shows signs of illness or fatigue.

2. Mental

Mental wellness involves engaging with the world through learning, problem solving and creativity. You can do this in many ways, from learning new things on the internet, studying a new degree, reading a book, doing crafts, going to the theatre or learning more about the world around you when you take a healthy walk.

3. Emotional

Emotional wellness is all about understanding your feelings, feeling free to express them and being able to effectively cope with stress. Mindfulness is a very useful tool for helping with this. There are many mindfulness exercises you can try to see which works best for you. A few of these include yoga, tai-chi or meditation. You can even practice mindfulness in the shower. Here’s how:

• Don’t take any of your electronic devices into the bathroom with you
• Prepare your towel and all the other items you’ll need, treating each item with care
• As you undress, name each item of clothing, then carefully and mindfully lay them down
• Think deeply about how you’re about to shower and cleanse for the good of your body and mind
• Feel the water as it hits your body, being grateful that you have hot running water
• Take care to watch your thoughts as they may turn to the past or future events
• Wash your body in a different routine from usual
• Breathe deeply to allow the scent of your shower gel fill your body
• Dry yourself after your shower and leave your bathroom in a good condition - ready for your next shower

You will be able to find many ‘mindfulness for beginners’ guides on the internet to help you get started in your quest to live mindfully.

4. Spiritual

Spiritual wellness is all about discovering and developing a set of values to help you find meaning and purpose. Some people may do this through religious practices, whereas others may find meaning in other ways. Many people find mindfulness exercises useful to help find and develop their spiritual meaning.

5. Social

Social wellness deals with your interaction and relationships with other people. It’s about making connections and contributing to communities and other people’s lives. This is a crucial way to build and nurture a trusted support network of family, friends and romantic partners. 

6. Environmental

Environmental wellness inspires us to live a lifestyle that’s respectful of our surroundings and natural environment. Nature and landscape are key in this form of wellness. To be in and appreciate nature can be a form of mindfulness. It can make you feel calmer, less stressed and more connected to both yourself and the world. Try to go for a walk alone or to go for a walk in the forest and actively appreciate the sounds, sights and scents of nature. Take time to smell the air and flowers, be quiet and listen to birds and rustling of trees. You’ll soon feel better and more connected. You can also get the benefit of nature in your home through gardening, having plants inside and even using products that have natural ingredients. Palmolive has a wide range of skincare products that have been infused with essential oils and parts of nature, such as Palmolive Wellness Massage gently exfoliating shower scrub with sea salt, aloe & essential oil. Close your eyes and breathe in the subtle fragrance of nature.

7. Financial

Financial wellness deals with learning how to successfully manage your financial expenses. This is necessary as money plays a critical role in our lives and not having enough of it can impact our overall health. Learning how to work with money and budget effectively will help to alleviate unnecessary stress.

8. Work

Work wellness centres around your work life. Part of it includes being useful and contributing to the greater whole, as well as being recognised for it. Work can be a major stress factor for many of us, so it’s important to spend some focus on this to ensure your working environment works for you.