https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/fwfays/wellbeing_elements/
https://cheleyntema.com/biopsychosocial-model-of-holistic-wellbeing/
In deconstructing the Wheel of Wellness (Figure 1 – WoW!), to begin it is crucial to identify the imperative nature of relationship. Humans are inherently relational creatures, born from relationship and into relationship (Siegel, 2012); therefore the WoW is encircled in the milieu of the social self (Sweeney & Myers, 2008). Meaning, within the macro and micro systems that govern our reality that are dependent on place and time, for an individual to obtain or reestablish the self-regulating skills required for integration, compassionate connections of trust and authenticity are crucial (Sweeney & Myers, 2008; Sweeney, 2009; Siegel, 2010, 2012).
Furthermore, in analyzing the WoW, although there are the inherently obvious factors of body, mind, and spirit, as described below, three further domains (Sweeney & Myers, 2008) directly influence the self-organizational and regulatory process’ (Siegel, 2012) that promote integration. The proposed concepts of “the coping self” (Sweeney & Myers, 2008; Sweeney, 2009), “self-efficacy” (Maddux & Gosselin, 2014), and “motivation” (Pyszczynski, Greenberg, & Ardt, 2014), more clearly articulated below, are the intrinsic combinations of mind to spirit, spirit to body, body to mind, that have the capacity to either impede or promote integration.
Relationship – The Social Self
As identified by Myers & Sweeney (2008) the social self is “Social support through connections with others in friendships and intimate relationships, including family ties” and includes friendship and love (p.485). To build on this, Siegel (2012) identifies relationship as “The patterns of interaction between two or more people that involve the sharing of energy and information flow” (p. AI-68).
– Influenced by Place / Time Context
As identified by Myers & Sweeney (2008) context includes local, institutional, global, and chronometrical (p.485). Again to build upon this notion, Siegel (2017) states, “Time, as we know it, may not exist. Time as something that flows, something we can run out of, something that we’re pressured to hold onto, is a mental construction, a self-created stress, an illusion of the mind. All we have, from these scientific and spiritual views, careful quantitative research, and contemplative investigating reflection, is now. And if now shapes not only when we are, but also where we are, and how we are, then what is now really made of?” (p.212)
Body – The Physical Self
Though this may seem to be the most basic element, paradoxically it is the most complex and interwoven element within the WoW. As identified by Myers & Sweeny (2008) “The [body is the] biological and physiological processes that compose the physical aspects of a person’s development and functioning” (p.485). The body as an interrelated and dependent element of optimal holistic wellbeing and as such and expanded view of the physical self includes an “implicit memory based on the habitual structure of the lived body, which connects us to the world through its operative intentionality. The memory of the body appears in different forms, which are classified as procedural, situational, intercorporeal, incorporative, pain, and traumatic memory. The life-long plasticity of body memory enables us to adapt to the natural and social environment, in particular, to become entrenched and to feel at home in social and cultural space.” (Fuchs, 2012, p.9).
Mind – The Creative Self
As identified by Myers & Sweeny (2008) the creative self is “The combination of attributes that each of us forms to make a unique place among others in our social interactions and to positively interpret our world”, this includes thinking, emotions, control, work, and positive humor (p.485). This notion of mind is further expanded by Siegel (2012) as “personal subjective experience, consciousness with a sense of knowing and that which is known, and a regulatory function… [a regulator of] the flow of energy and information” (p. AI-51).
Spirit – The Essential Self
As identified by Myers & Sweeney (2008) the essential self is “Essential meaning-making processes in relation to life, self, and others” and includes spirituality, identity, and self-care (p.485). To further enhance this definition, spirit can be seen as ones identity based in character traits: the propensities created over the lifespan and that pertain to non-matter beliefs. Spirit is also the inherent knowing of the un-worded energy within and between, and is the domain of responsibility for self and other wellbeing (Siegel, 2017).