8 Dimensions of Wellness

[Explorer7]

The list of supplements for the Tutti Frutti Book of Wellbeing is now showing as:

1. Negative emotions, wellbeing, and acceptance
2. Book reviews of "Awaken the Giant Within"
3. The need for instant gratification as a barrier to wellbeing
4. Mental health and wellbeing
5. Wellbeing in retirement

[Shaz51]

Very interesting @Explorer7 😊

[Explorer7]

Nice to hear from you @Shaz51

[Shaz51]

How are you going today @Explorer7 

I am interested in number 5 on the well-being and retirement 😀 

[Explorer7]

Thanks very much @Shaz 

Today worked out quite well.

On retirement, are you intending to retire or have you already retired? I could briefly share my experiences of both, if you feel that may be helpful. There are possibly other SANE members who could be interested.

Research on depression in retirement varies. Findings at one extreme are that retirement reduces the risk of depression by about 20% whereas at the other extreme the risk of depression was found to increase by about 40% in medium and longer-term retirees.

As an aside, there are quite a few financial planners on the web who refer to wellbeing in retirement, but nothing structured that I've seen.

[Explorer7]

A curious, and timely news item from the ABC News: How stargazing and looking to the night sky boosts mental health and wellbeing. 

Seemingly, "The higher the connection that someone had to the natural environment at night, they felt happier and had a more positive outlook and a more positive wellbeing."

Conversely, there seems to be link between how connected someone felt to the night sky and the level of light pollution in their area.

Who would've thought? Not me.

[Explorer7]

Here's a short article about how Grace Tame, author, speaker and activist, looks after her physical and mental health. I hadn't appreciated that Tame was autistic. Here are some extracts:

The first is running. Not just running – ultra marathons. Long-distance, outdoor trail runs.

“I’ll be damned if I have to run on a treadmill,” she told Women’s Agenda recently.

“It takes a lot of dedication, but also consistent training. You can’t train like that forever though… you have to sacrifice a lot of other things in your daily life to allow for time to do it. You have to make compromises in your social life and your professional life.”

The second – putting on her favourite music and dancing around her living room.

“I love to listen to good old classic rock and roll,” Tame says. “Generally any music from the 60s, 70s and 80s tends to be my jam.”

The third is simple: spending time with friends. Every Saturday night, Tame sees her best friend Dom. The pair – who are both autistic – have been friends since they were seven years old.

“We can sit with each other for days, weeks on end, and not say a word to each other at all,” Grace says. 

“But we are speaking the same language. We can have a conversation without words.”

The kinds of wellbeing that Grace is in tune with appear relatively easy to discern:

Running outdoor trail runs: (1) environmental, (8) physical, (5) emotional, (7) spiritual

Listening to music and dancing: (5) emotional, (8) physical

Sitting with Dom: (2) social, (5) emotional

Author, speaker, activitist: (4) vocational, (6) intellectual, (7) spiritual

Sacrificing things in daily life, making compromises: (8) Behavioual

Go Grace!