Pillars of Self-Care and Resilience

There are eight pillars, or dimensions, of self-care and resilience. Self-care is how you take care of yourself to stay healthy and resilience is how you 'adapt in the face of tragedy, trauma, adversity, hardship, and ongoing significant life stressors' (Strategies for Self-Care and Resilience).  Your overall health and wellness is sustained by these eight pillars; physical, occupational, emotional, social, spiritual, intellectual, financial, and environmental. 

First, the physical pillar includes how you maintain a healthy physique and body for your body type. This pillar includes how you exercise, the amount of sleep you get, the meals you eat, and paying attention to your body for signs of illness or anything unusual to seek help and answers when needed.

The occupational pillar is how you keep a healthy work-life balance, enjoying what you do and appreciating what you contribute. Being able to work a certain amount of hours and have enough hours to rest includes students. Occupational wellness encourages you to find satisfaction in life through your work. 

Next, the emotional pillar is about staying aware of your emotions and feelings, as well as how you respond to stress. Being able to understand your own weaknesses, when to get help, how to relax and take time for yourself are all important ways to contribute to your emotional wellness. The emotional pillar resources can help you learn and grow from experiences.

The social pillar is how you maintain your social lifestyle. An example is being around those who are healthy themselves and those who care and support you as you care and support them would contribute a healthy social lifestyle. Being in a group can help people form interpersonal relationship skills.

Then, the spiritual pillar is about how you think of the purpose of being here, the meaning of life, and what your role is while your alive. Self-care techniques can include using religion or spiritual resources, meditation, and practicing gratitude. Being spiritually well means you know what resources to use to help you cope with stress and issues in your life.

Next, the intellectual pillar is about being able to be open to ideas and opinions to continue to learn from others. This can include doing mental exercises to strengthen your cognitive skills which can strengthen your problem-solving skills and your long-term memory. This can help reduce the risk of developing a mental illness.

The financial pillar is how you live to stay within your means and keeping a plan for your future. Financial troubles are one of the top stressors as money is an important part of our lives. Controlling spending and saving money can impact your health in a good way.

Lastly, the environment pillar is about taking care of the natural environment as living in a healthy environment contributes to living a hazard-free lifestyle. This pillar includes taking action to protect the nature around you, such as recycling correctly.

Each of these pillars are connected, as being physically or socially unwell can affect your mental health, which may affect your financial pillar and occupational pillar. Overall, the goal of these eight pillars are to pursue your optimal health and each pillar is equally important to accomplish this.

My resources used were:

Strategies for Self-Care and Resilience. US Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/2021-02/strategies-self-care-resilience.pdf

8 dimensions of Wellness. Life of Wellness Institute. (2022, July 19). Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://www.lifeofwellness.ca/8-dimensions-of-wellness/#:~:text=There%20are%20eight%20Dimensions%20of,the%20pursuit%20of%20optimum%20health.