By Ron Wiggins
August is National Wellness Month, a time to care for yourself, reduce stress, and live healthier. This August, thousands of people nationwide take a pledge to prioritize small daily acts of self-care. The creators of this month-long celebration offer a number of free resources to help you incorporate wellness into your daily life, including a free 21-day W.E.L.L. 21-Day Challenge toolkit.
At John Knox Village of Central Florida, every month is wellness month, thanks to our high-level commitment to the seven dimensions of wellness. Dr. William Hettler, co-founder of the National Wellness Institute, developed six dimensions in 1976 (the seventh dimension came later) to serve as a road map for a holistic approach to wellness. Going beyond the boundaries of traditional wellness, Dr. Hettler believed that it’s a complex interaction of many factors that leads to a better quality of life.
The fact is, achieving wellness may require you to delve into each of its seven dimensions. John Knox Village is poised to help you do just that by offering a wellness program that addresses all seven dimensions—physical, intellectual, emotional, social, occupational, spiritual and environmental wellness. You can do it all in one beautiful place, with each dimension personalized to meet your needs.
The overriding philosophy at John Knox Village is “Feel good. Live long.” It’s more than words or a motto—it’s symbolic of a community-wide effort to ensure that every single resident here has access to the equipment, people, places and training to help them stay well longer.
Let’s Get Physical
Physical wellness is probably your touchstone dimension of wellness as it is for most people. At John Knox Village, we embrace it by emphasizing mobility, balance, activity and a healthy, balanced diet. You’ll see it in our well-equipped pools, tennis courts, pickleball courts and fitness rooms. More importantly, you’ll see it in the faces of the vigorous and healthy neighbors you’ll meet each day as a resident here.
Our physical wellness regimen includes trying various exercise options, eating good nutritious (and very tasty) food, abstaining from harmful habits like drug use and smoking, and moderating alcohol consumption. It also includes listening to your body and watching for changes in your strength and balance. And we emphasize scheduling regular medical checkups.
At John Knox Village, you can choose activities that range from more strenuous, trainer-guided exercise to low-impact Tai Chi under the watchful eyes of a master instructor. Add to these the fun aqua aerobics, water games and the convenient walking paths that wind through our tree-lined neighborhoods, and you’ll soon see how genuinely devoted we are to physical wellness.
Socially Speaking
John Knox Village is an ideal place to engage in a multitude of social activities, from the contemplative to the active. You can play cards or dominoes with friends, join a lifelong learning class, learn to line dance or simply enjoy a daily morning coffee with a group of friends: The possibilities are literally endless.
Beyond the daily routines of your social circle, you’ll find a diverse palette of organized events that includes concerts, lectures, day trips and more. Each offers an additional opportunity to meet and spend time with companions who may become friends.
Emotions Make You Human
Emotional wellness frequently interacts with your other six dimensions of wellness. An emotionally healthy person feels human emotions like happiness, sadness and anger, constructively expresses them and learns to love, be loved and achieve a sense of fulfillment in life. At John Knox Village, you’ll find a community of caring neighbors who often become confidants who can tune into your thoughts and feelings. They can be there when you need them for a quiet conversation or to lift you up or console you when you’re down.
Thinking About Intellect
The human mind needs to be continually inspired and exercised, and living at John Knox Village provides countless ways to do both. We offer clubs for many intellectual pursuits and a robust schedule of theater performances and concerts, events, trips and lectures. You can even take classes and participate in workshops in our continuing education program. No matter what kind of event or activity you choose, it’s easy to seek out people who challenge you intellectually at John Knox Village.
Seven Dimensions, One Community
When you visit John Knox Village, ask about the seven dimensions of wellness. We’re just as focused on improving occupational, spiritual and environmental wellness as we are on the other four dimensions discussed briefly here. And you’ll find spaces, programs and people devoted to improving them and making them a part of everyday life.
As our senior wellness checklist says, “Wellness is a complete integration of every aspect of your ‘self,’ and living well, with complete balance, requires we attend to all aspects.”
Let’s Talk Wellness!
As people who counsel seniors every day, we believe that overall wellness is a goal worth pursuing and achieving—we’ve seen firsthand the difference it makes! So come let us answer your questions and show you all the ways your wellness can come to life here at John Knox Village of Central Florida. Call us at (386) 775-0788 today and let’s start the conversation.