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Wellness is multidimensional. In this episode I share the 9 dimensions and guide you through a process to see where you rank in each.
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Episode 221 – The 9 Dimensions of Wellness with Sahara Rose
By Sahara Rose
Namaste. It’s Sahara Rose and welcome back to the “Highest Self” podcast, a place where we discuss what makes you your soul’s highest evolvement. This weekend I had the most incredible experience co-facilitating my goddess dance activation and five elements shamanic dance with my very own teacher, Malaika, who’s been on this podcast before. Who really transformed my life when I moved to Bali when I was 23, and didn’t know what was my purpose was, if I even had one, if I had the courage to own up to having one, and healing all the stories, traumas, limiting beliefs through going into the body.
And we joined forces together to create a really beautiful workshop where I taught goddess dance activation, so connecting me to the goddesses through dance, belly dance, twerk, all sorts of different sensual and empowering modalities, and she taught her five elements. And it was just such a beautiful experience to meet so many of you guys in person and to connect in a way without words, but really tapping into our bodies and it was just such a beautiful reminder to me that this is so much more of the work that I really want to do, it’s the work that changes my life.
For me, dance, ecstatic dance, healing dance, somatic healing are the ways that have transformed my life more than anything else, and it’s something that I really want to do more of and facilitate because I think in our society we have so much focusing on the mind, but we don’t focus on other areas of our lives. And that’s why I created Rose Gold Goddesses because we’re so hyper-focused on career, or on fitness, or on whatever else, and we forget about community, and how community really is an important goal that’s worthy of putting time and effort towards.
Because after all, your community is going to shape who you are, and your community are actually the people who are going to get you to the goals that you have. Whether it’s, you know, maybe they introduce you to someone that ends up becoming your future business partner, or partner in love, or anything else, your workout buddy. And we oftentimes take our relationships for granted, and then we suffer because we haven’t cultivated them.
So I created Rose Gold Goddesses as an insanely beautiful network of women who are likeminded, women who want the best for each other, women who genuinely are there to support and uplift one another in their journeys of becoming their highest selves. So we have our very own app, which is such a good app. Like, bye, Instagram, this app has incredible forums where we discuss everything from Ayurveda, to entrepreneurship, shamanism, reiki, crystals.
You can facilitate your own events, and meet-ups, and post them there and connect to the hundreds of other women that are there all around the world. From Philadelphia, to Denver, to London, to India, everywhere in between, and there’s monthly goddess circles virtually that I will be facilitating for everyone in the group so you’ll be connecting to a new goddess archetype each month. Saraswati, Durga, Lakshmi, as well as goddesses from other traditions—Isis, we’re gonna be working with magic, we’re gonna be working with our strength through Athena, we’re gonna be working with the oceans, with the Yemaya, the list goes on.
We have expert workshops from many of the guests who have been on “Highest Self” podcast, so we’re definitely gonna have Laura Plumb doing a Vedic astrology workshop, we already have Heather who did one about embracing the shadows and stepping into the darker goddess energies like Kali, et cetera. So much good stuff in there already, there are so many women meeting up in person, there are so many incredible just initiatives to support each other, so many people discussing things that they’ve never been able to discuss with their closest friends.
And it’s just been such an honor to be able to the person who can help bring you guys together so you guys can see each other magic because, really, each of you has just so much to offer. And I, myself, this weekend also had a beautiful sister weekend with three of my closest friends. We just, you know, had a sleepover, and talked about all the things, and a friend of theirs came over and he brought up this topic of the nine dimensions of wellness.
And I really loved these dimensions, I hear a lot about like for IIN they have the wheel of well-being, et cetera, but I really like these nine dimensions of wellness. So I’ve been looking into them, and it was something that I wanted to talk about on the podcast because it’s really on the topic of stepping into your goddess is stepping into the different sides of yourself. It’s not just mental well-being, or physical well-being, or spiritual well-being, it’s actually all of it.
And that’s really what Ayurveda is about too, the mind, the body, the spirit, the koshas, the layers of the body, the doshas, the aspects inside ourselves, and really, if there’s one thing I’m passionate about it’s about integrative wellness, wellness that transcends from just one area of your life, but rather has patterns in all areas. Because, you know, we’re not just eating these foods to get A-pluses from the plant gods, we’re eating them so we can show up as the best version of ourselves and fulfill out dharmas. That’s really what it’s all for, that’s what health is for, so you can show up as your highest self.
So these nine dimensions of wellness to me made a lot of sense, and I actually went through them this weekend myself, with my husband as well, to see where we are in each of these dimensions. And I want to do a podcast to help you see where you are as well. So these nine dimensions originated from Ohio State University, vedas—no, Ohio State University, and they actually created initially to work with college students to see, you know, where they were when they’re transitioning into college. But they’re actually pretty deep, and I don’t think most college students have them all down, so let’s dive into these nine dimensions.
I recommend if you have your phone, or a piece of paper, to write these down because you may just, you know, get some insights, or listen to this podcast episode again. We have the transcriptions for all the episodes in Rose Gold Goddesses, so when you join, you’re going to get the transcriptions in there. But if you, for some reason, are not going to join, then just take notes. So they’re nine dimensions, it’s really good to write them down and write down what comes for you.
Now these nine dimensions I’m gonna list them all off, and then we’re gonna go through each one. They’re physical, emotional, creative, environmental, financial, occupational, intellectual, social, and spiritual. So these nine dimensions create your overall health—physical, mental, spiritual health. And some of us have easier times with certain dimensions, and others of us it’s always a difficulty. And for the thing is, they’re not all our priorities. So when you’re going through these, you may say, “Oh,” like for example my husband, I was like, “What’s your physical goal?” He’s like, “To look like Brad Pitt in ‘Fight Club.’”
I’m like, “Okay. So what do you need to change in your life to do that?” He’s like, “Nothing?” I’m like well that’s not gonna happen. So maybe, you know, stop eating white bread, and fried food. He’s like, “No, no, no, I’m not going to do that.” I’m like, “Okay, then that goal’s not important to you.” He’s like, “Yeah, it’s not important to me.” I’m like, “Okay,” so at least you’re aware, you’re not beating yourself up of why don’t I look like Brad Pitt from “Fight Club” when I’m not willing to stop eating French fries? You just know that it’s not going to happen for you.
So not every dimension needs to be your biggest goal, and in certain times of your life, certain dimensions, maybe bigger goals. But it’s just important for you to be honest with yourself about what actually matters to you, what do you actually want? Because then you’ll see am I progressing in this or not as you’re putting effort into it. And if you’re not putting effort into it, you’re not gonna expect to progress, if that makes sense.
So without further ado, let’s get into it. So the first dimension, physical, what would be your dream for physical health? That could look like your fitness, that could look like just your overall health in terms of disease, in terms of digestive issues, whatever it is, what would be your dream? So write this down, think about it, and you can come back to it.
So, for example, your physical dream could be like to just not have pain so I can get through my day without any pain. Or it could be to lose 20 pounds so I could be at a healthy weight and just feel my best. Or it could be to break through my candida, or it could be a combination of all these things. But just be clear with yourself what that goal, what that dream would look like in that category, and then what do you have to do to make that happen? What shifts need to be done?
So maybe it’s, you know, giving up sugar if it’s the candida issue or the weight loss issue. Maybe it’s, you know, resting more if it’s an autoimmune disease, maybe it’s having more green juice, or taking more ashwagandha, looking into herbs. Write down what it is that you need to change. It doesn’t need to be a bazillion things, just like three things that could be good, simple changes that you could make this week to bring up your physical health. Go to Pilates class, not eat candy late at night, mine is not eat as much chocolate, but it’s not that important to me. No, I’m kidding. It’s sugar-free chocolate, so it’s okay. But to be honest with yourself, like what are the things that you’re doing?
So now let’s get into emotional health. What would your dream look like for emotional well-being? So how do you want to feel? You know, you wake up in the morning, what is that feeling that you are waking up with? You’re walking through your day with. Like what is your baseline emotional state?
So, for me, it’s to feel more ease, that’s really the thing that I’m really working with because I could wake up in the morning sometimes and be like, “Oh my God, I have so many things to do, this went wrong, that went wrong. Oh, I need to like look over these emails,” and it could really bring me out of ease. And I really want to live my life from a state of kriya, flow, ease. So for me, it’s to just bring that energy in more in my life, not get so stressed up, so worked up over things, but to just, you know, kind of let it happen while taking action and making the things that I want in my life happen.
So taking action while still finding the ease is, to me, that’s what my emotional goal looks like. What does it look like for you? Maybe it’s more passion, more motivation, you know, actually doing the things that you say you want to do. Maybe it’s feeling more love, feeling more connection, maybe it’s feeling more freedom. Maybe it’s feeling more joy, tapping into your happiness. So just know what it is that your emotional goal is, and what do you need to change to get there?
Maybe it’s, you know, hang out with some friends, or find some friends at Rose Gold Goddesses that I an really connect to. Maybe it’s go to activities that I love like sound baths, and you know, reiki, and other things that bring me joy. Maybe it’s not getting on my phone first thing in the morning, not checking my emails, not stressing about the day, maybe it’s a meditation practice. So what are the things that you can do to bring forth emotional health?
So the next topic is creative. What would be your creative goal? How would you be creating, so that could be art, books, music, poetry, gardening, jewelry. We all have a creative side in us, we all have the Saraswati, the goddess of creativity who is actually our goddess of the month in October for Rose Gold Goddesses. We’re going to be really stepping into our inner creative geniuses and figuring out what makes us creatively blocked and overcoming it.
So it’s going to be like workshop like this, but even deeper in Rose Gold Goddesses, and creativity is such an important thing that so many of us we deem ourselves as not the creative type because as kids someone told us that we weren’t creative. So we think, oh, certain people are just creative and I’m just not one of them. But the thing is we actually are all creative.
So what is your creative goal? Maybe it is to write poetry, to knit scarves, to make crystal grids, to decorate my house. What’s that creative goal? What would your dream creative life look like? And what do you need to change to get there? So for me to become my most creative self I need to carve out time once a week to just paint, or get back on my piano, or go to the dance class, or just start writing. What do you need to do to get creative?
And the next topic we’re gonna drive into is environmental. So environmental, when I told my husband, I’m like, “What’s your environmental dream?” He’s like windmills, no carbon dioxide. I’m like I’m talking about your personal environment, but I like the focus on the global environment. But this is more about your environment, your home, your community. Maybe it’s your physical home, but also your city, the people you’re tapped into. So what would be your environmental dream? What would that home look like? You know, maybe it’s having more cleanliness in your home, redecorating your home, getting a new couch finally, getting some plants, you know, putting up some artwork that you really like.
Maybe it’s moving, moving somewhere that’s more inspiring, somewhere that has a big window you can look out. Maybe it’s actually moving to another city, or another state. Maybe you want to go by the beach, maybe you want to go in the forest, maybe you want to go in a cabin. What is your environmental dream?
Now what do you need to change to get there? So again, it could be a baby step. I’m gonna order a plant and bring it home. I’m going to move around my furniture. I’m going to finally clean that extra bedroom and make it really beautiful, make it into my office. I’m going to move around, you know, my furniture, and get a new goddess statue or get some crystals. Maybe I’m actually going to look into other apartments or a house and finally move. Maybe I’m going to really honor my dream of moving to that place, that dream cabin, city, et cetera. So being honest with yourself, what needs to change for you to have that environmental dream of yours because it is possible.
So the next thing is financial, which is Lakshmi, another goddess we’ll be working with in Rose Gold Goddesses that we’ll definitely be tapping into our inner abundance. But what is your financial dream? And that could be a certain amount of income, or it could be a certain, you know, set of things that you just know are taken care of. So maybe your financial dream is to just be able to pay all your bills and not stress about it. Like that would just be so amazing.
Or maybe it would be to have savings. Or maybe it’s to pay off all your student loan debt. Maybe it’s to have a six-figure, seven-figure, eight-figure business. It’s gonna be different for all of us. And I know we can all be like, “I want $5, $10 billion,” like it doesn’t have to just be what’s the most absurd amount of money I could possibly get, it’s what is your actual dream in terms of finances?
And I think a lot of us we feel bad thinking too big, and a lot of us also think too small. We have both ends of the spectrum, so some of us are like, “Oh well, I’m never going to be a millionaire, not in this lifetime.” Even though you actually could if you saw yourself worthy of it, so you’re like, “Oh, my goal is just to, you know, not work a minimum wage job anymore.” And that’s a really good goal if you’re working a minimum age job at the beginning to set, but that doesn’t mean it’s your overall dream.
Your dream can be to be abundant, your dream can be to have money in the bank, and that’s nothing wrong with that dream. If you don’t declare it, it’s not going to happen. So even if you’re super far away from your dream, it can still be very, very valid. So it doesn’t really matter where you are, it’s just what do you really want? Some people want to have a lot of wealth, that’s really important to them. And some people actually don’t, some people just want to have a simple life where their needs are met, they have a beautiful home, beautiful food, but they don’t actually really care about the other things. So be honest with yourself, what is your financial dream?
And now, the harder part, what do you need to change to get there? And this is where a lot of the fears and limiting beliefs come in. I’ve done, you know, my abundance mindset master class and abundance mindset program on this. We’re going to be diving into the Lakshmi month, but this is when the I’m not worthy, I can never have the money that I need, the scarcity poverty mindset comes up.
So being honest with yourself, what are three things right now that you can change to go towards your financial goal? Doesn’t mean you’re going to instantly accumulate all the money this week, but what are three steps you could take to bring you closer there to get that sailboat just shifting gears a little bit towards your financial dreams?
So that could be selling the leftover clothes that I’ve had for years in my closet that I never wear on eBay, and getting some money back to put that money towards my business. You know, flipping as Gary V says, is an awesome way to make money. It could be in my spare time I’m going to, you know, take this other job to create more income for myself so then I can have that income to pay for school or whatever else is you want to do. Maybe it’s asking for a raise at that job I’ve been at for a really long time that I really bust my balls at and I feel like I deserve.
Maybe it’s shifting my job and maybe right now it’s actually going to be making less money in the immediate for a long term more money. You know, sometimes you have to step away from the job that pays you a lot to move towards the thing that it is that you want to be doing, and that’s not stepping away from your financial dreams because you can actually create equal or even more abundance doing that thing that you want to do. But a lot of us think, “Oh, I’m only going to be making money doing what I’m doing right now because I’m doing it, I went to school for it, and I’m not, you know, accomplished enough for that thing that I want to be doing so I’m never going to be able to make money in it, and it’s not just true, it’s fear-based thinking.
I used to think that the only way for me to make money was to like become a real estate agent, and I would have never made money writing books on Ayurveda, and that’s not true. So what are three things you could shift this week to bring you towards your financial Lakshmi goals?
Now occupational. So this is related, and I actually like to call this more dharma because I think occupation is so like this 9:00 to 5:00 that you just do for money and for me, it’s dharma, it’s your life’s purpose, it’s your soul’s reason of incarnation, and that can translate into a career, but it’s so much more than just that. So I’m going to look at this as the dharma dimension.
What is your dream in terms of dharma, in terms of how you spend your time during the day? What is it that you would love to be doing? And now what are three things that you could change this week to bring you towards that dharmic dream? So maybe it’s sending out a couple emails to people. Maybe it’s looking for an internship. Maybe it’s signing up for life coaching, or health coaching, or Ayurveda school, yoga teacher training. Maybe it’s reading more books, maybe it’s listening to more podcasts, maybe it’s finally quitting that job that I had to do the thing that I want to do. Maybe it’s launching my website and just putting my best work out there. Maybe it’s going to a trade show and learning about different products. Think super realistic, what are three things you could do right now?
And now intellectual. What would be your intellectual dream? So this could be in terms of the books and the podcasts that you’re engaging with, as well as the conversations. You know, maybe you’re surrounded by people who are not having intellectually stimulating conversations and you really want more of that. Or maybe you’ve just been listening to a lot of music and you’d really like to listen to more podcasts, and audiobooks, and things that uplift you.
So what is your intellectual dream? Now what are three things that you could change this week to bring you towards your intellectual dream? So this one’s a kind of easy one because we can always just start now. Start reading a book on my commute to work if I’m sitting on a train or before bed. Maybe listen to an audiobook when I take my afternoon walk, or while the kids’ sleeping, or while I’m breastfeeding. Or maybe it’s, you know, reaching out to people—again, Rose Gold Goddesses—you know, and having these intellectually stimulating conversations
Maybe it’s having some adult time if I’m always with other—with my kids or other moms and just having some like real like adult time with something that isn’t related to motherhood. Maybe it’s signing up for a course, or a program, or a workshop that really intellectually stimulates me. So what are three things you can do this week?
So now let’s get into social. So social is the one that we are actually really the most depleted of in our society. Though we have social media, we think that commenting on our friends’ posts is the same as meeting up with them in person and we’re spending less and less time with people in person, and more and more time with screens on social media. Which is, again, why I so encourage you guys in Rose Gold Goddesses to meet up in person and create your own events and post about them because we need more real time with friends.
So what would your dream look like for your social life? How often would you see friends? How often would you go to events? What would your social group even look like? If there’s someone that’s coming to mind that you’re like, “Well, they would not be in it,” then you know that that’s a message from source. So what would your dream look like?
Now what are three things that you could change this week to bring you towards your social dreams? So maybe it’s meeting up with a friend once a week for a tea date. Maybe it’s connecting with someone over a walk. Maybe it’s, you know, next time I’m in a yoga class I’m not going to just like walk in and walk out. I’m going to make eye contact with people and start up a conversation even though it feels really weird and awkward.
Maybe it’s I’m going to go out to an event that I don’t know anyone and I’m going to meet new people. Or maybe it’s you’re going to join Rose Gold Goddesses and have it all happen right there for you with the most high vibrational woman out there who want to connect with you, who are dying to have high level conversations like the ones that you’re dying to have. I hope it’s that one.
And the good thing about the social one is it’s really fun. It’s not like a hassle you have to go do, it’s like, oh my God, when you hang out with a friend after so long, you’re like, “Wait, why did I deprive myself from this for so long? Like what did I think I could do that was better worth my time than being actual other humans?” And, I mean, I’m an introvert too, like I get it, but hanging out with people who really get you that you could just have soul-to-soul like really deep conversations with there’s nothing more healing an therapeutic than that.
And the last category—I know this has been fun—is spiritual, my favorite. Now what are your spiritual goals? Spiritual goals meaning, you know, maybe I would meditate, or I would connect to my spirit guides, or I would learn about shamanism, reiki, past lives, or I would just be more connected to the truth of who I am, I would experience more oneness, I would experience more non-duality. I would connect more to the goddess, I want to work more with these archetypes with my own divine feminine energy. You know, what does that spiritual goal look like for you?
And what are three things you can change this week to bring you towards your spiritual goal? So could be meditating, you know, maybe you want to do guided meditations on an app, like Insight Timer. Maybe you want to do transcendental meditation with a mantra or Vedic meditation, which is the same thing. Maybe you want to spend more time outside, you want to work with the goddess, crystals, shamanism, medicine journeys, whatever it looks like for you. What are three things you could change this week to bring you towards your spiritual goals?
Now I recommend going through these goals quarterly. And this is something we’re going to do in Rose Gold Goddesses because it’s so important for us to constantly check in with ourselves and see how are we doing, you know. I’m not saying that we can always be in perfect balance in all areas of our lives. Sometimes certain dimensions do require more of our time to get to a certain place, but I do believe that overall, long term, we can’t have it all. It’s not a compromise, and I think a lot of times in our society they made it feel like, “Oh, well, you can either be a career woman, or be in love, or have a good body, but you can’t have it all, or be a mom.” And it’s like, well, you can, it’s just gonna require putting your energy into different things at different times.
So what’s that most pressing important goal for you right now? Is it your physical, emotional, creative, environmental, financial, occupational, intellectual, social, or spiritual well-being? You know, maybe you’re moving right now, it’s all that environmental. Maybe you’re working on your abundance, all about financial. Maybe you’re discovering your dharma, it’s all about occupational. Maybe you’re trying to learn something new, intellectual, or expand your social circle, and it’s social, or connect to your highest self, it’s spiritual, or overcome a disease and it’s physical, or overcoming anxiety, and depression, and it’s emotional, or write a book, or create an important work of art and it’s creative—those are all of them.
But what is really your focus right now? And it could be, you know, several different categories. I don’t think they could be all our primary focus at the same time because that’s just a lot to deal with, but maybe it’s like, you know, right now I’m really focused on my physical health, or my physical and social, or right now I’m focused on my spiritual and environmental, or financial and occupational.
So be honest with yourself of what is important to you right now, what are the things that when you’re like, “Okay, these are the changes I need to make,” that you were like, “Mm-hm, I know I need to do this.” And sometimes they’re not the things that you want to do, maybe they’re the things you least want to do, but they’re the things that you know it’s like you’ve been overlooking this, it keeps coming up, okay, I got to look at this. And these things do come in cycles. Eventually you’re going to have to work on all of them. So it’s a matter of where do you want to start? What’s the most pressing thing at this time? And the good thing is when you start with one it naturally melds into the next, into the next, and into the next and you become part of this beautiful spiral.
So I hope this was helpful for you. If you want to dive deeper into, you know, more workshop stuff like this, and connecting with other women who, you know, live and breathe personal and spiritual development who are there for you to support you, who you know, maybe you could find an accountability partner in Rose Gold Goddesses and say, you know, let’s check in on our nine dimensions of wellness together, and you know, every quarter see how we’re doing, this is the place to do it.
So we’re only open right now, like at the end of the week we close doors. So head over to rosegoldgoddesses.com. Rosegoldgoddesses—plural– .com, and you’ll be able to sign up right there. It’s super affordable, $19 a month when you sign up annual, and it is literally the most incredible community of seriously spiritual soul sisters that I have ever seen all coming together in one place off of distracting, marketing, overwhelming social media, and somewhere that’s just really heart-based, really authentic that you could just pour your love into the people there, and you know that they’re gonna pour it right back into you.
I feel so nourished every time I am part of our app, we have our very own app, and it’s the opposite of what social media does to me that just like depletes me, it actually really fills up my cup. So if you want to work further with your dimensions with the support of a tribe of women who are here to uplift you and make this path easier for you, head over to rosegoldgoddesses.com and I’ll see you on the next episode.
Episode 221 – The 9 Dimensions of Wellness with Sahara Rose