Harvesting What You’ve Learned This Year: A Wellness Wheel Reflection

September often feels like a time of shifting: the air begins to cool, days shorten, and changes in nature remind us that another season is turning. It’s a time that invites reflection. September, and Autumn as a whole, is a chance to slow down, notice what has been growing in our lives, and consider what we want to carry forward. Just as a harvest is not about planting but about gathering, September can be about collecting our lessons, honoring our efforts, and acknowledging the ways we’ve evolved since the year began.

Keeping in the spirit of the wheel of the year turning and “harvesting” our wins, we’ll be talking about reflection using prompts and using our dear friend the Wellness Wheel to do so!

If you’ve been a long-time reader of our blogs (hi, and thanks!), you may remember our series on the Wellness Wheel way back in 2022. As a reminder, the Wellness Wheel is a common way to assess our holistic health. It incorporates 8 different aspects of health, which are:

• Emotional: how well do we know our emotions? What coping skills do we use?

• Environmental: what are our surroundings like?

• Financial: what is our financial situation like?

• Intellectual: what have we done to stimulate our minds recently?

• Occupational: what is our vocation, job, or career like?

• Physical: how do we connect with our bodies?

• Social: what is our social life like - our friends, family, and community?

• Spiritual: what are our spiritual beliefs and practices?

  
  

So, how can you use the Wellness Wheel to reflect on your holistic harvest this September? Read on for journal prompts from the holistic healers at Rise and Thrive Counseling! 

Emotional Wellness

Consider the following prompts to help consider your emotional wellness this year, and how you’d like to finish out the final quarter of 2025:

• Which emotions have been most present for me this year, and how have I responded to them?

• When have I felt most grounded, and what supported that feeling?

• Where have I noticed patterns in my emotional reactions?

• What emotions have been hardest to hold space for, and why?

• How do I tend to soothe myself in times of distress?

• Where might I need more compassion for my own inner experience?

Environmental Wellness

Consider the following prompts to help consider your environmental wellness this year, and how you’d like to finish out the final quarter of 2025:

• How have my surroundings (home, nature, community) supported or challenged me?

• What environments feel safe, restorative, or energizing to me?

• Where do I notice clutter, chaos, or overstimulation in my daily spaces?

• How have I connected with nature this year, and what did it offer me?

• What role does my physical environment play in my well-being?

• What changes in my environment would bring greater ease or balance?

• How might I create more spaces - internally and externally - that feel like sanctuary?
  

Financial Wellness

Consider the following prompts to help consider your financial wellness this year, and how you’d like to finish out the final quarter of 2025:

• ​​How has my relationship with money felt this year: steady, stressful, or somewhere in between?

• What financial habits or patterns have supported my sense of stability?

• Where have I felt scarcity, fear, or avoidance around finances?

• What financial lessons (big or small) have I learned this year?

• How do my financial choices reflect my values and priorities?

• What financial boundaries have I needed to set with myself or with others?

• What is one practical step I could take in the next quarter to feel more grounded in this area?
  

Intellectual Wellness

Consider the following prompts to help consider your intellectual wellness this year, and how you’d like to finish out the final quarter of 2025:

• What new skills, ideas, or perspectives have I explored this year?

• Where have I noticed curiosity leading me into growth?

• How have I challenged my own assumptions or beliefs?

• What sources of learning or inspiration have felt most nourishing?

• What mental habits (like overthinking or self-criticism) would I like to shift?

• What topic, book, or skill feels exciting to dive into next?
  

Occupational Wellness

Consider the following prompts to help consider your occupational wellness this year, and how you’d like to finish out the final quarter of 2025:

• Where have I found meaning or satisfaction in my work or studies?

• What tasks or projects have energized me most?

• Where have I felt stuck, stagnant, or overextended with my job or career?

• What challenges have stretched my professional or personal growth?

• How has my relationship with work-life balance shifted this year?

• What would I like to carry into the next quarter in terms of purpose or goals at work?

• What practices help me separate work from rest?
  

Physical Wellness

Consider the following prompts to help consider your physical wellness this year, and how you’d like to finish out the final quarter of 2025:

• How has my body asked for care this year, and have I been listening?

• What daily habits help me feel nourished and energized?

• Where have I noticed fatigue, pain, or imbalance in my body?

• Which routines around sleep, movement, or nutrition have supported me most?

• What does my body need more of right now?

• What habits or patterns feel ready to be released because they drain me physically?

• When have I felt most at home in my body this year?
  

Social Wellness

Consider the following prompts to help consider your social wellness this year, and how you’d like to finish out the final quarter of 2025:

• Which relationships have felt steady, nourishing, and supportive?

• Where have I felt stretched too thin, drained, or misaligned in connection?

• How have I shown up for others this year, and how have others shown up for me?

• What boundaries have I held (or struggled to hold) in my social life?

• Which communities or connections feel most aligned with my values?

• What relationships or roles might be asking for a shift in energy?

• Where am I craving deeper connection?
  

Spiritual Wellness

Consider the following prompts to help consider your spiritual wellness this year, and how you’d like to finish out the final quarter of 2025:

• What values have quietly guided me through this year?

• Where have I felt most connected to myself or to something greater?

• What practices bring me back into alignment when life feels scattered?

• How has my sense of meaning or purpose shifted recently?

• When have I experienced awe, gratitude, or reverence?

• What small rituals or grounding practices could I nurture more consistently?

• Where am I longing for more stillness, presence, or connection?
  

Speaking of resources and reflection: if you want more holistic help, look no further than Rise and Thrive Counseling. Our holistic counselors can help address all areas of life. Reach out today to learn more. We look forward to hearing from you!