Mental Wellness
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What Is Mental Health and Wellness?
Brainstorming Activity
To open, ask people to jot down what they think of when they think of mental health and wellness. (If online, ask people to add one or two thoughts into chat.) Ask people to briefly share.
The Public Health Agency of Canada defines mental health as “the capacity of every individual to feel, think, and act in ways that enhance their ability to enjoy life and deal with challenges. It is a positive sense of emotional and spiritual well-being that respects the importance of culture, equity, social justice, interconnections, and personal dignity.”[1]
Mental health is essential to overall health and influenced by the many different factors. We can all work to restore our mental health and wellness.
Wellness Wheel
The Wellness Wheel aligns with Indigenous traditional practices that view individuals holistically, recognizing that wellness means being in a state of balance with the physical, emotional, academic/career, social, creative, spiritual, environmental, financial, and intellectual aspects of your life.
The Wellness Wheel is not a static concept, but a way of viewing the many dimensions that support wellness. There are things we can all do as individuals to improve our own mental health and well-being, and how we manage our wellness is an ongoing reflective practice.
The Wellness Wheel helps us to see what aspects might be falling in and out of balance in our lives. We can try our best to be flexible and respond to aspects of well-being that may need additional care or attention. Using the concepts in the Wellness Wheel can help us visualize our journey and assist in not only mitigating stressful circumstances, but also in recognizing areas of our lives in which we are thriving.
Dimensions of the Wellness Wheel
The following dimensions make up this Wellness Wheel:
Physical wellness: Taking care of your body through physical activity, nutrition, sleep, and mental well-being. For example:
- Engage in some form of physical activity every day for at least 30 minutes
- Eat a variety of healthy foods
- Get an adequate amount of sleep every night (7–9 hours)
Emotional wellness: Making time to relax, reduce stress, and take care of yourself. Paying attention to both positive and negative feelings and understanding how to handle these emotions. For example:
- Practice mindfulness
- Start a gratitude journal
- Pay attention to self-talk and shift toward positive self-talk
- Track emotions daily to look for patterns and possible triggers
Academic/career wellness: Expanding your knowledge and creating strategies to support continued learning. For example:
- Set up academic goals
- Create a study schedule and plan ahead
- Connect with a mentor to further your understanding of career ideas
- Review your short- and long-term career goals regula