About Wellness House

Student in position ready to start a race. Text reads, "Wellness House."
Heze (Class of 2022, Former Resident of Tingelstad - Wellness House) “Within the wellness community we believe in growth for the body, spirit and the mind.”

A Community for Well Beings.

The Wellness House (in Tingelstad) is a community of students who are interested in engaging in conversations and activities that promote and sustain healthy lifestyles. The House uses a holistic definition of Wellness centered on a Wellness Wheel with 6 dimensions: Emotional, Financial, Intellectual, Physical, Social, Spiritual (see below for definitions and end of page for references). With these 6 dimensions in mind, students collaborate to practice and think about wellness individually and as a community. This includes transitioning to college in a way that develops healthy habits around mindfulness, exercise, substance use, healthy eating, building community,  time management, and mental health. The Wellness House fosters an environment of holistic wellness,  encourages students to learn more about wellness, and supports students in achieving their wellness goals. 

  • Emotional Wellness: the ability to recognize feelings in self and others, to express and manage feelings in healthy ways, to demonstrate vulnerability and seek help from others when necessary
  • Financial Wellness: the ability to save and manage finances so as to live a desired lifestyle and achieve realistic budgetary goals within one’s means.
  • Intellectual Wellness: the ability to stay curious, critically think, expand understandings, morally reason, and engage in lifelong learning, furthering your own and others educational pursuits
  • Physical Wellness: the ability to eat a balanced and nutritious diet, engage in regular physical activity, get an adequate amount of sleep, practice safe and healthy sexual relations, and feel positively about your own body
  • Social Wellness: the ability to cultivate a social network of folks that is rooted in mutual trust, respect, and accountability for each other, developed sensitivity and awareness towards others’ feelings, and a recognition that good intentions do not always have positive impacts
  • Spiritual Wellness: the ability to explore human purpose & meaning and nurture connection to something, someone, or someplace beyond the human

Great For Students Who ...

  • enjoy health and fitness
  • want to learn more about healthy lifestyle(s) of a college student
  • are considering a career in a health/fitness related field
  • want to learn more about holistic wellness and thriving
  • are willing to commit time to participating in community health and wellness activities

Program + Learning Outcomes

By participating in the Wellness House, students will:

  • engage in health and wellness activities that support their own reflection and positive habit development
  • use tools like the wellness wheel to explore what holistic wellness means to them personally and to their community (i.e. physical, mental, spiritual, financial wellness etc).
  • build skills in bringing balance to their wellness wheel in order to create sustainable healthy habits
  • be able to navigate resources on campus and in the surrounding community to support their own holistic wellness

Linked Residence Hall(s)

Tingelstad Hall (one house, 4 wings)

Linked Course for First Year Residents

Connected course(s): First-year Wellness House residents will be enrolled in a linked PLUS 100: Transitions to PLU course connected with the Wellness House.

Example Programs

Below are a few examples of Learning Community programs that have occurred on the topic of wellness in the past! If you have an idea for a program, contact your Resident Assistant or Community Advocate to see about planning it!

  • Friday faculty lunches on topics related to holistic wellness, including physical wellness, nutrition, fitness, stress management and mental health, mindfulness, and more!
  • Mount Rainier hike
  • Participation in campus events such as Jingle 5K, Relay for Life, Color Run
  • Attending Group X classes together
  • Healthy Eating in the Kitchen Cooking Series
  • Service Projects (such as Emergency Food Network and L’Arche Farms volunteering)

Contact

For more information about this Learning Community option contact:

Mickie Gonwick, Associate Director for Campus Life, Temporarily overseeing Tingelstad Hall | gonwickm@plu.edu

Wellness House References

Gerdts, K. (2019, February 25). Finding balance when you’re “going through it”: I put my life into perspective with this one simple exercise. Thrive Global [Web site]. https://thriveglobal.com/stories/finding-balance-going-through-it/

Height, A. (2018, December 3). What a wellness wheel can tell you about health. The Warm Up [Web site]. https://classpass.com/blog/2018/12/03/how-to-create-a-wellness-wheel/

NASPA. (2004). Leadership for a healthy campus: An ecological approach for student success. https://www.naspa.org/images/uploads/kcs/WHPL_Canon_Le_Leadership_for_a_Healthy_Campus-36.pdf

Ohio State University. (2020). Student WellnessCenter: Nine dimensions of wellness [Web site]. https://swc.osu.edu/about-us/nine-dimensions-of-wellness/