Intellectual wellness is the dimension of wellness that relates to continuous learning during one’s life. You engage in lifelong learning and seek knowledge & activities that develop your critical thinking. An intellectually well person reflects on experiences, challenges their own views, and commits to learning new skills that they can apply to their life (1). The intellectually well person realizes that learning comes from experience just as much as it comes from a book. So sign up for that pottery class, go check out a new museum, or take a spontaneous trip to a place you have never been. There is no downside to learning new things, and you never know when the information you’ve learned will come in handy.

1. University of California, Riverside. (n.d.). Retrieved June 15, 2017, from http://wellness.ucr.edu/intellectual_wellness.html

When you think of improving your health, do you think about taking steps to improve your physical wellness? While physical wellness is extremely important, it is only a small fraction of your overall health and wellness. In fact, it is only 1 of 9 areas that contribute to your overall well-being. The 9 dimensions of wellness are: career, cultural, emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, physical, social, and spiritual (1). All of these areas contribute to how we feel overall, but are often overlooked when we work on strategies that are designed to help us feel better. Whether you’re a grad student, graduating senior, first-year student, or anywhere in between, it’s never too late to start focusing on your overall health. Over the next few weeks Healthy Penn State will be providing more detail about each dimension of wellness, so stay tuned!

1. https://swc.osu.edu/about-us/9-dimensions-of-wellness/