Attaining Wellness in All Aspects of Life

By Marisa Geitner

March was National Nutrition Month, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive for wellness in all areas of our life throughout the year.

HealthyYOU pools a variety of resources and advice for how to stay well throughout the year, offering tools for both staff and the people we support. They also hold special events and challenges to keep people engaged in their own personal wellness. Last month HealthyYOU hosted a seven day vegetarian challenge, recognizing the many wellness benefits of such a diet, from the reduced risk of developing a chronic disease to its positive effects on the environment.

Through our partnership with NextGenEAP, we are also happy to offer our staff members free access to wellness coaches. These highly trained professionals can help people assess their current dietary habits, and develop a personalized plan that will allow them to meet their personal health goals.

A healthy existence can start with our physical well-being, but it’s important to recognize that wellness extends into multiple aspects of our lives. For example, emotional wellbeing relates to how we deal with different emotions. Spiritual wellbeing examines what gives our lives meaning and purpose. Intellectual wellbeing is attained when we have opportunities to challenges ourselves and expand our thinking. Financial wellbeing relates to how we plan and budget our personal income.

Thankfully, our agency has resources to meet these wellness needs and many more. In addition to wellness coaches that focus on nutrition, NextGenEAP also provides access to counseling services. With the recent tragedy in Nashville, and with the many challenges western New York has faced in the past year still fresh on our minds, it’s important that people have a safe place where they can share their feelings and process their emotions.

In addition, I am always happy to remind staff members of our success coaches, who come to us from the Employer Resource Network. In addition to linking people with the same kinds of resources listed above, success coaches are available to help remove barriers to successful employment and financial stability.

Our mission at Heritage Christian Services is to ensure that our staff members and the people they support are healthy and happy in all aspects of their lives; we hope to be a resource for personal success!