It may just be me but when someone says the word ‘wellness’ my immediate thought is “what physical activity do you have in mind now?” While physical health is very important there are other aspects to consider when you think about your overall wellness. Intellectual wellness is a sometimes over looked car on the wellness train but taking the time to find ways to stretch and build on your own intellectual wellness will do you a world of good.
While in school we are continually challenged to stretch our minds, think outside the box, be open to new ideas and continue to grow our set of learning skills. Then we become adults and too often we stop challenging ourselves to think creatively and others cease pushing us to grow in that way. When we talk about our total wellness we have to include our intellectual measures. Which can cover a wide variety of topics and areas but they all relate back to us valuing the mentally stimulating activities that can help us to rediscover long put away interests or come across new avenues of expression.
Taking care of your intellectual wellness can be in the form of a number of things. Try your hand at picking up a new hobby such as painting or crafting. You can join a book discussion in a book club or online forum. Spend some time learning about local politics. Stretch your horizons by challenging yourself to learn a new language or take up blogging, which I hear can be very rewarding. How about strengthening your funny bone by writing some jokes to share with friends and family or hone your artists’ eye by capturing your world photography. You could also add to your circle of interest by trying out a Broadway show, music festival, museum or gallery. Growing intellectually doesn’t have to be overthought or something we do only while being challenged in grade school. I’m sure there are plenty of activities you’ve always wanted to try or once loved and haven’t picked back up in a while. The next time someone mentions to you what you’re doing for your wellness you could reply back with ‘Working on a few new words in Italian’.
Arrivederci Amici 🙂
