From the time we were born to the person we have become today, our relationships with others have significantly impacted how we walk through life. Our relationships with our parents, siblings, and friends have unintentionally molded our personalities. This is why social wellness is vital. Whether we notice it or not, the way we interact with ourselves and others has been molded by our closest relationships. Positive social interactions pave the way for significant success in other areas of our lives. If you find yourself searching to improve social wellness, you have come to the right place.
What Is Social Wellness?
Social wellness refers to the way we build relationships and interact with others. Developing a support system and a feeling of belonging is essential to our social wellness. When life begins to throw you for a loop, a well-established social circle is often the thing that will help you get through.
Improving your social wellness involves communicating with others, offering a listening ear, and providing support when needed. For a person to have healthy social wellness, the mentioned factors must work both ways.
Relationships are not one-sided. Therefore, maintaining healthy relationships with friends, family, and other members of your social circle requires constant effort from all parties. Like everything else, failing to work on social wellness can cause it to suffer.
Why Is Social Wellness Important?
Social wellness dives into relationship dynamics. It aims to build healthy relationships in every role you play in life. Every person wears multiple hats in their lives when it comes to their relationships. We are parents, spouses, friends, daughters, and sons.
It can be difficult to navigate all these relationships while focusing on yourself. This is where social wellness comes in. The reason social wellness is so essential is that we need others. Strong social wellness has been linked to numerous positive advantages, including stress management and a healthier lifestyle. Here is a deeper look at the benefits associated with social wellness.
Building Healthy Relationships
Social wellness eliminates feelings of isolation and loneliness. Healthy relationships with the people around you can make you feel loved, supported, and accomplished. Your relationships help you face life by allowing space for you to create memories and receive love. They also give you support and encouragement during challenging times.
Without healthy relationships, you may feel lonely and isolated. Those feelings can contribute to anxiety, depression, and even health conditions like heart disease. No one should have to go through this world alone. While the daily stress of adulthood can take over, it is vital that you find the time to show yourself and your loved ones some attention.
Improving Overall Health
Social wellness benefits every factor of our health. People with less social support tend to have less favorable outcomes in healthcare settings. This is why hospitals and other healthcare facilities encourage family involvement in patient treatment.
Social wellness is also helpful in preventive care. Healthy relationships offer encouragement and accountability when engaging in healthy habits. New friends can come from healthy hobbies such as exercise and finding new healthy recipes together. In these scenarios, both parties have someone to have a good time with and to keep them accountable.
In the same way that social wellness benefits physical health, it does the same for mental and emotional health. Having groups of people with the same interests as you gives a sense of community and safety. It also helps to foster a healthy mind and healthy habits.
When we are lonely for too long, negative emotions do not take much time to fester. Without a secure relationship with ourselves and with others, feelings of anxiety and depression can surface. Having a trusted source to speak with can help change these thoughts and feelings. Whether it is a therapist, close friend, or partner, communicating your feelings and needs is necessary for healing.
How to Improve Social Wellness
Your social wellness should not be neglected if you want to live an overall healthy life. Social wellness impacts more than we can imagine. Adjustments to improve your social wellness can include some of the following ideas.
Get Comfortable Being Alone
Although we are on the topic of the importance of your relationships with others, you must first examine your relationship with yourself. The first step of being alone is learning to become more aware of your qualities. Being comfortable with your company rather than getting lost in a big group can create undeniable self-confidence and self-awareness.
Getting comfortable with being alone is just as important as developing strong relationships with others. After all, the most substantial relationship you should have is the one with yourself. You can only offer quality relationships in how they are deserved once you have a quality relationship with yourself.
This article by Forbes Magazine details the following reasons you should spend more time alone:
- Alone time increases empathy.
- Alone time increases productivity.
- Solitude sparks creativity.
- Being alone can help you build mental strength.
- Solitude can reduce behavior problems in kids.
- Being alone gives you an opportunity to plan your life.
- Solitude helps you get to know yourself.
While it can be uncomfortable initially, the more time you spend getting to know yourself will pay off in the long run.
Master the Art of Conflict Resolution
To build healthy relationships with others, you must learn how to resolve conflict without things becoming hostile. Proper communication and conflict resolution can save and repair a lot of relationships. Understanding how to navigate conversations, listening and understanding others, and controlling responses are critical components in conflict resolution.
Many falling-outs result from miscommunication, misunderstanding, and poor conflict resolution. It is common to be stressed when faced with conflict. However, explosive and thoughtless behaviors can lead to resentment and even more conflict in the future.
Learning how to resolve disputes is necessary to build healthy relationships and improve social wellness. If conflict is handled in a calm, respectful, and positive manner, it creates an opportunity for growth and encourages communication and trust in the future.
Here are some tips for improving conflict management skills for social wellness:
- Do not ignore conflict: Turning a blind eye to conflict can only make it worse. Instead, accept that conflict happens at some point in every relationship and can only be resolved once it has been addressed.
- Separate the person and the problem: Rather than placing blame on another person, view the problem as a specific behavior or circumstance. This will make it easier to work together against the problem instead of each other.
- Maintain confidentiality: If there is an issue with another person, do not invite others into the situation. Attempting to vent frustrations with friends and family will only create gossip and feelings of frustration from both parties.
Learn to Listen
Listening is a valuable skill when it comes to building healthy relationships. Good listeners make great friends. This is because active listening will help you remember important information and resolve conflict if needed.
Listening to others is more challenging than it may seem. At times, information just seems to go in one ear and out the other. It is also common that when you think you are listening, you are planning what you will say next. While you may not do this on purpose, you must actively attempt to listen and understand the information that others are sharing.
Listening is a way to strengthen bonds, show respect, and build trust. Making decisions for others will be easier because you took the time to listen and understand what the other person would like.
All of these things make listening a valuable skill for improving social wellness and building strong relationships.
Take Care of Yourself as Well as Others
To pour into our relationships with others, we must first take care of ourselves. Saying no to your friends or family once in a while does not make you a selfish person. Making an effort to take care of yourself will make you a better form of support from others. After all, you cannot pour from an empty glass.
Taking care of yourself overlaps with the above-mentioned: getting comfortable with being alone. Self-care tasks can involve taking the time to do things by yourself and for yourself. These tasks can include the following:
- Enjoying your hobbies or finding new ones
- Exercising
- Finding time to rest
- Taking yourself on dates
When you are mindful of your needs, you are better equipped to take care of those around you. It takes a lot to help, encourage, and support others constantly. Taking a step back can help you realign and recharge, both of which are needed for your social wellness.
Make Meaningful Connections
Meaningful connections can occur in every avenue of your life. From relationships with your spouse and children to extended family, friends, and even neighbors, the connections you make will influence your social wellness.
Making meaningful connections is essential to make life a more enjoyable experience. There are various benefits to creating meaningful connections. First, your social circle provides a safe place to exchange support. Having people to talk to and enjoy activities and laugh with improves your sense of community. It is essential for us, as humans, to feel like we belong.
Next, meaningful connections tender knowledge and growth. You would be surprised to find out how much you can learn from friends who have different experiences. You are never too old to learn new things.
Your social circle does not have to be large. It is more important that the people you associate with offer the quality of relationship you deserve.
Finding New Hobbies
Making friendships in adulthood can be challenging. However, it is not impossible. A creative way to improve social wellness is to find new hobbies. Hobbies do not have to be expensive or extravagant. But, finding something you enjoy doing can improve your relationship with yourself and find new friends who enjoy the same things.
Your new hobby can be as simple as walking around your neighborhood in the morning or visiting parks. These simple activities can introduce you to people who do the same thing. Almost every hobby also has online groups.
For example, if you enjoy gardening, you can find groups of people online who share your interest. These groups allow you to share your progress and knowledge with others who care, and you can learn from them too.
Be More Active in Your Community
Whether with your family or neighbors, being more active in your community is a sure way to make new connections and improve your social wellness. Having an environment where you feel safe can make or break your living situation. If you take the time to work on your relationships in your home and with your neighbors, your quality of life will improve drastically.
Community engagement allows you to take pride in what you have created and will keep you involved in social events near you.
Improve Your Social Wellness With Help From Wellavi
Are you wondering how to start your journey to social wellness? If you find yourself feeling lonely or isolated, visit our website today. Let us help you take control of your life. The experts at Wellavi understand how difficult it can be to build and maintain quality relationships in adulthood.
If you are having trouble maintaining your social wellness, sign up for Wellavi! Good social wellness contributes to overall health and quality of life. At Wellavi, we know that everyone needs a community. That is why we offer a top-tier personal coaching and wellness program. We want to provide a safe space for people like you to thrive and learn how to improve social wellness. Visit our website today to get in touch with one of our expert coaches and begin building a better future.
