At Paradise Isle Holidays we are committed to promoting wellness. In the lead up to World Wellness Weekend 2020, we have published a series of social media posts on the 8 dimensions of wellness that contribute to our overall health and quality of life.
Emotional Wellness
Emotional wellness is about…
🤗 Feeling positive and enthusiastic about life
😁 Managing emotions in a constructive way
😌 Understanding and respecting your own feelings, values, and attitudes
💐 Appreciating the feelings of others
People who are emotionally well, have fewer negative emotions and are able to bounce back from difficulties faster.
Tips for improving your emotional health
🥗 Eat healthy, exercise regularly and get enough sleep
🧘🏾♂️ practice mindfulness, meditation, yoga, or tai chi
🚴🏾♀️ take a class to learn something new or pursue a favourite hobby
🧑🏽⚕️ Seek help by talking to a health professional if you need support
Spiritual Wellness
Travelling to a new destination allows us to refresh and renew our sense of wonder and is another way to practice spirituality.
There are many sites which are considered to be sacred, with thousands of years of history and significance attached to them.
These spiritually-significant sites welcome people of all beliefs who are respectful and committed to a deeper understanding.
Our destination specialist recommends Adam’s Peak in Sri Lanka as one of the places you need to visit on your journey to a more enlightened self.
Spiritual wellness is about being connected to something greater than yourself and having a set of values, principles, morals and beliefs that provide a sense of purpose and meaning to life.
Tips for improving your spiritual wellness:
– Enjoy the little pleasures in life
– Set aside some time for daily relaxation
– Find a quiet place to pray or meditate
– Take regular nature walks
– Visit a museum or art gallery
Intellectual Wellness
Travel can be used to broaden our knowledge of art, culture and history. Go on an intellectually stimulating holiday with an itinerary filled with museums and art galleries as well as opportunities to explore astounding architecture and experience another culture.
There are destinations all over the world which can cater to the scholar inside all of us, contributing to our intellectual wellness. The world is full of lessons, and travelling is one way to learn them.
Our destination specialist recommends Amsterdam.
Amsterdam has an atmosphere all on its own, and one of the best ways of seeing it is from the water, as it is a canal city.
Home to world-renowned art museums, Amsterdam presents not just the opportunity to see paintings by the Dutch masters; Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh but also to visit the home of Anne Frank for history enthusiasts.
Intellectual wellness is about recognising one’s creative abilities and finding ways to expand knowledge and skills.
Tips for improving your intellectual wellness:
– Do a daily puzzle
– Learn something new
– Learn a second language
– Make meditation a habit
– Go travelling
Physical Wellness
Travelling on an adventure holiday can offer time off which can be as exciting as it is relaxing. This is a thrilling way to broaden your horizons with activities such as rock climbing and trekking. As well as adventure holidays there are also wellness retreats that offer a great all-round fitness holiday combining workouts with spa treatments and other activities.
Explore the wilder side of our world with an adventure holiday. Our destination specialist recommends Thailand.
Thailand has a vibrant adventure scene with a variety of adventure sports on offer from white water rafting, trekking, kayaking, mountain biking and rock climbing to name just a few. A leading wellness tourism destination, Thailand is also home to fitness retreats that offer amazing activity programmes.
Physical wellness is about caring for your body so that you stay healthy now and in the future. Positive physical health habits can help decrease your stress, lower your risk of disease, and increase your energy.
Tips for improving your physical wellness:
– Try and maintain a healthy weight
– Eat a well-balanced diet and drink plenty of water
– Get regular exercise by taking the stairs, going for a brisk walk, riding a bike or doing some gardening
– Get at least seven hours of sleep per night
– Avoid harmful behaviours, such as smoking and excessive drinking
– Book yourself on an adventure holiday or a fitness break
Environmental Wellness
Travelling is one of life’s great pleasures, but as we become more conscious of the impact our travel has on the environment, we are looking for more ways to travel responsibly.
Across the world countries are working to protect the environment, their local communities and the animal population. Many destinations practice responsible tourism by promoting sustainability and implementing environment-friendly practices.
The airline industry continues its focus on scaling back on emissions and making greater contributions to carbon offsets to minimise its environmental impact.
For the environmentally conscious traveller, our destination specialist recommends Copenhagen. Considered to be one of the world’s greenest cities, Denmark’s capital Copenhagen has sustainability at its heart with its commitment to renewable energy, eco-friendly hotels and organic food.
Copenhagen has an extensive bike network and is one of the top cities in the world for cycling, although you can get around on foot or by using the metro system.
Environmental wellness is about understanding how your social, natural, and built environments affect your health and well-being. It is important not just to live in an environment that cultivates our personal wellbeing, but also to understand the effects of our habits on the environment.
Tips for improving your environmental wellness:
🚴🏾♀️ Ride your bike, walk or take public transport instead of driving wherever possible
♻️ Recycle and compost
🌲 Plant and tend a garden
🧤 Use natural or homemade cleaning products
☯️ Remove clutter from your home or office
📴 Avoid wastage by turning things off when you’re not using it
🏕 Book an eco-friendly holiday
Social Wellness
Travel offers opportunities to meet new people that we otherwise may have not had the chance to connect with. It allows us to open our eyes to the world and learn more about local cultures. Getting out of your comfort zone and immersing yourself in a different culture can help to strengthen your personal identity and increase your confidence.
Our destination expert recommends Bali. Bali is gloriously scenic, from the sheer natural beauty of its volcanic peaks and legendary white sands to its lush paddy fields that exude peace and serenity.
Bali has a peace-loving spirit and provides the opportunity to immerse yourself in its vibrant local culture to get an insight into life on the island.
Social wellness is about developing friendships and maintaining healthy relationships. Social wellness and travel are intertwined and travelling with a group of friends, your sibling or partner can shape new memories that you can reflect upon and cherish forever and improve your social wellness.
Tips for improving your social wellness
– Connect with old friends or find the time to call a friend you haven’t seen in a while and rekindle relationships
– Become a volunteer; volunteering helps to make the world a better place and gives you the opportunity to meet others
– Start a hobby to get the chance to meet others who enjoy the same things as you do
– Join a gym; by becoming a member of a gym you have access to a network of people though classes and other fitness events
– Consider having a pet – studies show that owning a pet can help lower stress and boost self-esteem
Financial Wellness
Financial wellness is about maintaining a lifestyle which allows you to live within your means and involves learning how to successfully manage financial expenses.
Tips for improving your financial wellness:
– Create a budget and stick to it so that you spend less than you earn
– Reduce the urge to splurge
– Sell unused items in a garage sale
– Get yourself into a habit of saving for future spending
– Only borrow what you can afford
Finances are a common stress point, so being able to minimise worry about your finances can enhance your overall wellness.
Occupational Wellness
Occupational wellness is about understanding how to balance your work with leisure time whilst engaging in motivating and interesting work.
Tips for improving occupational wellness:
– Take short five-minute breaks to help strengthen mental focus and clarity
– Create to-do lists to help you prioritise your day
– Organise your workspace to make it easier to keep track of what is going on
– Take a class to improve existing skills or learn new ones
– Manage work-related stress
– Eat lunch away from your desk to help you reset
– Strive for a work-life balance
Occupational wellness encourages fulfilment in the workplace whilst balancing other life responsibilities.