Intellectual wellness is allowing your brain both stimulation and rest for critical thinking, curiosity, and creativity.

Signs of Intellectual Wellness:

• Development of time management
• Ability to challenge yourself to see all sides of an issue
• Becoming a critical thinker
• Development of your own ideas, views, and opinions
• Exposing yourself to new ideas, people, and beliefs that are different from your own
• Become aware of who you are and what you value

Check in With Your Intellectual Wellness:

• Have you read a good book or listened to music you enjoyed lately?
• Do you believe that your intellectual growth comes from what you learn in and outside the classroom or school?
• How comfortable do you think you will feel asking your administrators for help?

Explore Intellectual Wellness:

Improve Time Management:

• Make a "To-Do" list that allows you to cross off completed tasks as you go.
• Prioritize tasks in order of importance and tackle the most important first
• Learn to say no to social activities sometimes - remember what is important to get done
• Multi-task within your limits

Remove Objectivity:

• Learn there is more than one way to do something
• There isn't always a "right" answer, but sometimes multiple
• Stay open-minded to new ideas, insights, thoughts, expressions, and values
• Expose yourself to different cultures, viewpoints, people, activities

Improve Critical Thinking:

• Ask questions to yourself or others as you reflect
• Find patterns and connections to examples that relate to your life
• Keep your brain active, thinking, and questioning.

Resources:

Brain Teasers

Financial wellness is the ability to meet basic needs and manage money for the short- and long-term.

Signs of Financial Wellness:

• Learning how to manage your money and establishing a personal budget
• Learning about debt and how to manage it
• Building good credit
• Thinking long term, e.g., setting up a savings account, setting up investments, and/or an additional retirement account
• Learning not to let money be the driving force of your life or an indication of your self-worth
• Donating some of your money, if possible, to a cause you believe in

Check-in With Your Financial Wellness:

• How does money impact your emotional wellness?
• Do you know how to manage your money so you know what you have and don't have?

Occupational wellness is pursuing a career path(s) that supports your goals, professional growth, and success.

Signs of Occupational Wellness:

• Doing work that you find motivating and interesting
• Understanding how to balance leisure with work
• Communicating and collaborating with others
• Working independently and with others
• Feeling inspired and challenged
• Feeling good at the end of the day about the work you accomplished

Check in With Your Occupational Wellness:

• What's your balance between work and relaxation?

Explore Occupational Wellness:

• Don't settle, keep motivated to work towards what you want
• Increase your skills and knowledge to advance your occupational wellness goals
• Find the benefits and positives in your current job
• Create connections with your co-workers
• Avoid over working yourself, find a work/life balance
• Enjoy what you do, do what you enjoy
• Write out your occupational goals and create a plan to reach them - then start working the plan

Resources:

Article - AI for Teachers: Defeating Burnout and Boosting Productivity

Environmental wellness is contributing to and engaging with spaces that are safe, accessible, and sustainable.

Signs of Environmental Wellness:

• Being aware of the limits of the earth's natural resources
• Conserving energy (i.e. shutting off unused lights)
• Recycling paper, cans, and glass as much as possible
• Enjoying and appreciating time outside in natural settings
• Not polluting the air, water or earth
• Creating home and work environments that are supportive and nurturing

Check in with your environmental wellness:

• Is your room a place that you feel comfortable, safe and at ease in?
• Do you have mementos of things that are important to you?
• Do you find time to explore nature?

Explore Environmental Wellness:

Four Natural Wonders of Connecticut

Things to do in Fairfield County

Nature and Outdoors in Connecticut

Spiritual wellness is connecting to your inner and outer worlds to support you in living your values and purpose. Spiritual wellness allows educators to find their purpose and passion within the profession, enabling them to serve students equitably. Spiritual wellness is unique to each individual in how he or she will cultivate the understanding to support this dimension. Educators can create the space for deepening their spiritual wellness by examining individual aspirations, looking for deeper meanings, and analyzing recurring patterns through reflective journaling, meditation, self-help book studies, and introspective mindfulness time.

Signs of Spiritual Wellness:

• Developing a purpose in life
• Having the ability to spend reflective time alone
• Taking time to reflect on the meaning of events in life
• Having the ability to explain why you believe what you believe while also respecting others’ beliefs
• Caring and acting for the welfare of others and the environment
• Being able to practice forgiveness and compassion in life

Check in with Your Spiritual Wellness:

• Do you allow yourself time alone?
• Do you think about the meaning of life?
• Do you take walks in nature? Appreciate the transformation of each season?
• Do you pause to remind yourself that life isn’t all about you?
• Do you put down your phone to just be?
• Do you practice activities that allow you to slow down?

Social wellness is building and engaging in trusting, respectful, and authentic relationships.

Signs of Social Wellness:

• Development of assertiveness skills not passive or aggressive ones.
• Balancing social and personal time.
• The ability to be who you are in all situations.
• Becoming engaged with other people in your community.
• Valuing diversity and treat others with respect.
• Continually being able to maintain and develop friendships and social networks.
• The ability to create boundaries within relationship boundaries that encourage communication, trust and conflict management.
• Remembering to have fun.
• Having supportive network of family and friends.

Check in With Your Social Wellness:

• How are you at asking for help?
• Do you surround yourself with people who you can trust and you know care about you?
• Are you able to communicate clearly when dealing with conflict?
• Do you have at least one good friend you can count on?
• Are you okay being alone?

Explore Your Social Wellness: Communication

Becoming a clear communicator means effectively conveying your thoughts, ideas, needs and wants. Communicating clearly helps you manage your time and your life, to feel good about yourself, and to build trustworthy relationships with others.

Physical wellness is knowing your body and giving it what it needs for health, healing, and energy.

Check in With Your Physical Wellness:

• Do you eat foods that you enjoy, stay hydrated through the day, and listen to your hunger ques?
• Are you able to keep a consistent sleep schedule and get 7 hours of sleep/night?
• Do you move your body on a daily basis?
• Are you making alcohol, nicotine, other drugs choices that align with your values?
• Do you have a habit of regularly washing your hands to prevent colds and flu?

Resources:

• Anthem Wellness Programs, Resources & Discounts
• Care-Compass Weight Loss Management