5.1 Benefits

As practitioners in the Recreation and Leisure Industry, we strive to enhance wellbeing for our participants. The activities may vary, but all result in engaging the entire being to achieve wellness. One of the best depictions of this holistic approach is found within many FNMI communities through their medicine or healing wheels.

Wellbeing in FNMI communities is visually represented in a medicine or healing wheel. The medicine or healing wheel is a circle split into four quadrants, with everything being pulled towards the center. The center represents balance. Different FNMI communities will vary in the meanings and colours of each quadrant. It is important to note that not all First Nations, Métis, or Inuit people use the medicine wheel. One commonality of the wheel across FNMI communities who use it is the representation of the 4 aspects of being: Intellect, Emotional, Spiritual and Physical. For good health and a happy life, these aspects pull to the centre in harmonious balance. Many wheels depict this holistic approach towards communities and the environment. The circle represents the continuity of connection to all aspects of one’s being, one’s community, and the environment.

“1.6 Enhancing Wellbeing” from Working in Play: Planning for a Career in the Recreation and Leisure Industry in Canada by Linda Whitehead, BA, M Ed, MBA is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Modifications: removed infographic and paragraph on 8 benefits of recreation..