What is Wellbeing?

This section explores how Mental Nutrition contributes to our wellbeing.

Using our heads for greater wellbeing

The links between mind and body are well established. Our wellbeing (or if you prefer, work/life balance), is dependent on feeding our minds in ways that foster useful thinking practices that build resilience and enable us to respond resourcefully to what happens.

Some people use the term subjective life satisfaction for wellbeing, in contrast to quantifiable measures such as life expectancy and infant mortality. Much research is being done to determine what makes us happy, what contributes to life satisfaction, and why in western countries, people's objective lifestyle has improved yet we have not increased in happiness at the same rate.

As a wellbeing advocate I encourage people to build the thinking skills that give clarity and useful resources for demanding times, particularly in the workplace. My Work/Life Wellbeing program focuses on thinking, feeling and speaking skills that build resilience.

Forums at which I have advocated paying more attention to our thinking skills include:

• Australian Health Promotion Association, National Conference, March 2005, Building better thinking skills to foster wellbeing
• More Strong Stuff, A Canberra Resilience Symposium, September 2004, Strong Mind, Strong Mouth: Thoughts and words that foster bounce back
• Rotary - Using our heads for greater wellbeing
• Junior Heads of School Association - Exploring our wellbeing
• Australian National Network of Counsellors, AGM

You can explore wellbeing issues in these resources:

Richard Eckersley, Well & Good, how we feel & why it matters,
Text Publishing, Melbourne Australia 2004

Positive Psychology (USA)
www.authentichappiness.com
This web site includes 18 free tools for measuring aspects of happiness and life satisfaction.

New Economics Foundation (UK)
www.nef.org.au - see publications for several articles on wellbeing