Hope you are keeping healthy and energized as we breeze through the first month of a new year!

January is known as Fitness Month. But, you know, that doesn’t just mean physical.

As we have been discussing, there are 4 Pillars of Wellness.

• Mental
• Emotional
• Physical
• Energetic

Last week, we talked about the pillar of mental wellness, how to stay positive, and keeping the mind active & strong.

We are following up this week with the pillar of emotional wellness which really does go hand-in-hand with mental wellness.

Emotional wellness is defined as “an awareness, understanding, and acceptance of our feelings, and our ability to manage effectively through challenges and change.”

People who are emotionally healthy are in the process of learning to be in control of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Now that doesn’t automatically happen without some time to process, work through, and deal with some of those hard emotions!

It means we find ways to cope with the challenges and stressors that life throws our way. We learn to keep problems in perspective and how to bounce back from setbacks.

Daily habits for emotional wellness

Emotional health can be influenced by so many different things – environmental factors, relationships, physical health, self-awareness, and stress. It is important to try to maintain a healthy balance of work & play, of activity & rest.

There are some things you can try to do each day to support your emotional wellness and have a happier you. Some of these habits might take some getting used to but they will all have a great impact on your emotional health.

• Focus on the good things in your life.
• Take note of how different situations make you feel.
• Express your feelings in the right way.
• Give yourself time to think and be calm before acting.
• Forgive yourself and others for mistakes that are made.

Quick workout to uplift emotional wellness

All those same feel-good hormones (serotonin, oxytocin, & dopamine) that our brain releases when we exercise that contribute to our mental wellness also play a part in our emotional health. They are feel-good hormones, after all!

The following 10-minute workout is a perfect morning wake-up routine. It will help to get our bodies moving, and our blood & oxygen circulating. We are warming up our muscles, opening our joints, firing up our brain, and increasing our energy flow.

Make sure you have a glass of water nearby and let’s get moving to put ourselves in a good mood!

Starting your day with a stretch routine like the one above will not only loosen up your muscles, but will get your blood flowing and boost your mood, getting your day off on the right foot.

This routine can simply be done on its own or as a warm-up to your regular exercise routine. You can even throw in a couple of stretches in the middle of a long day. The point is to wake up your body & your brain and to get you in a positive headspace to tackle whatever is ahead!

Regular practice to maintain your emotional wellness

Just like with mental wellness, the most important part of caring for our emotional wellness is doing it consistently! It is also important that you are happy and having fun!

We have some great weekly classes that support emotional wellness, such as:

• Yoga for Daily Life Movement
• Meditation & Mindfulness
• Energy Up Adaptive Fitness
• Movin’ & Groovin’ Through the Ages
• Latin Dance Fusion

If you haven’t tried a class before, feel free to use our code freebie to try your first class for free on us!

What will you try this month to uplift your emotional wellness? Let us know in the comments!