Environmental Wellness

This picture is from my favorite place - Westcliffe, CO. This was a hiking trail in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

If we’re going to do this wellness thing together, I’m going to need you to know what I mean when I say WELLNESS.

Wellness, as I understand it right now, can be broken down into nine sections, or areas, of your personhood. I’m going to take you through them one at a time to unpack what it is and what you can do to improve it.

Let’s talk about Environmental Wellness - and I don’t mean climate change. That’s a whole different issue. Your environment is the physical place you’re in. The University of Lynchburg defines environmental wellness as “the livability of your surroundings.” This could be anything from letting dishes pile up at home to a hostile work environment. What is it about your physical environment that is stealing your Peace? 

The pandemic has given us more time than we wanted at home. If that isn’t a good place to be, how can you be expected to thrive there? Think about the type of space that allows you to be the version of yourself that you want to be. What is different about THAT environment from the one you’re living in? What are some actionable steps you can take to make reality look like your vision of what could be? I know that I need an uncluttered environment to feel peace. Bad news for the sentimental bit of me that wants to keep all the things as mementos. 

Some suggestions: take digital photos or scans of kids art work. (Then encourage them to give them to their grandparents! ::sinister laugh::) When the kids were small, I would save all their projects and art for the year. At the end of the year, they got a manilla folder to keep their favorites and then we digitized the rest and passed them on as gifts! They loved being able to actually gift something they’d worked hard on to each family member. If you aren’t buried under with kid projects, you can apply this to all the paperwork we have everywhere - digitize it! There are scan apps for smartphones that are free. You just take a picture of the document and it saves it as a PDF scan. My iPhone scan app puts out high quality scans.

Showing off some of my plants!

I thrive in a beautiful environment that inspires awe and creativity. How can I scale this feeling and bring it into my home? I’m glad you asked! I learned how to keep a houseplant alive. Turns out that hobby is addicting. I didn’t even know it was a hobby until I was already 20 plants in, living in a tiny indoor forest. Now they are something that brings me the most joy. Living plants bring an energy to a space that is awe inspiring.

If you feel like you wouldn’t be able to keep a plant alive, I’m going to suggest you try it again. Here are some suggestions for some easy plants for beginners. Save your “black-thumb” critiques of yourselves because I believe in you.

Pothos - (I say it like Poe-thos) These plants can handle very little light and are super forgiving when you forget what your watering schedule was supposed to be. If you have a corner of your house that doesn’t have great window space available, this guy could be your jam. 

Bamboo - This plant actually doesn’t need any natural light at all. It will grow in your cubicle without a window. It will grow in your bathroom. All you have to do is not let it dry out. Just keep it in a vase with some water and you’re set. Look at you being a successful plant parent. (I will say - I let one of these dry out so bad it was half brown and the roots were bone dry. Oof. I put her in some water and she bounced back like a champ. Phew!)

Air plant - You don’t need dirt. You don’t need a pot. These little miracles just grow like magic. Once every 2 weeks or so, you need to water them. You do this by booping it (the technical term, obviously) upside-down into a cup of water for about 20 minutes and then letting it dry all the way before you put it back into whatever container you had it in. If you put it back before it dries out all the way, it will get moldy and kill it. (Who has two thumbs and is speaking from experience? It’s this girl.) Fun fact, these things get flowers on them and bloom. It’s gorgeous.

My husband’s air plant blooming!

You can do this. Imagine what COULD be. This post was slanted toward the home since so many of us are still working remotely, but I invite you to apply it to your office space as well! 2022 is going to go by whether you use it to change your life or not. At the end of this year, you’ll be another year older. Would you like to be another year older and feeling like you do now? Or would you like to be a full year into your wellness journey?! Time to take back your Peace!