Framework • Recipes for Wellbeing

Wholebeing Framework

Exploring Wholebeing

A Foundation for Changemakers

At Recipes for Wellbeing, we believe in the transformative power of Wholebeing, a concept that transcends traditional notions of wellbeing by integrating the full spectrum of human experiences — both ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Wholebeing is not merely about surviving without problems, but about embracing and growing from the challenges life presents, as well as fostering resilience, empathy, and a deeper connection to your work and the world around you. For changemakers, this journey of inner work is not optional but essential, providing the wisdom to drive meaningful, deep change.

Illustration of two people forming a circle with one representing wellbeing and the other one representing bad-being. © Recipes for Wellbeing

A Set of Practices for Transformation

Embracing Wholebeing as a set of skills and competencies reshapes your understanding of personal and collective development, demonstrating that Wholebeing, like any skill, can be nurtured, refined, and elevated through focused intention and deliberate practice. Skills such as digital agency, grieving the future, non-extracting, and conflict transformation expand beyond the realm of mere habits. They are critical skills that significantly enhance collective wellbeing for individual, community, and planetary flourishing.

Community Wholebeing

For changemaker organisations, adopting a Wholebeing skills-based approach necessitates transforming into learning organisations that keep evolving. By deeply integrating these practices, you propel your organisation towards fulfilling its mission with agility and resilience, and at the same time shaping the wholebeing of your communities. In fact, skills like collaboration, fairness, multiperspectivity, and reciprocity are not individual endeavours inasmuch as they are embodied within the dynamics of community life.

An Ever-Evolving Concept

Acknowledging that Wholebeing is an ever-evolving concept, especially when applied systemically, invites you to appreciate the fluidity and adaptability required in its pursuit. There is no singular, linear path to achieving Wholebeing, nor can a “one-size-fits-all” approach suffice. This journey to achieve Community Wholebeing reflects the broad scope of personal wellbeing, requiring you to adopt a flexible and inclusive approach that goes beyond the limits of culture, geography, time, and conventional measures of success.

An Integrated Pathway for Transformation

We understand Wholebeing as existing at the dynamic intersection of interconnected and interdependent ecologies: the individual, the community, and Nature. This integrated perspective emphasises that your wellbeing is not isolated, but deeply entwined with the wellbeing of your communities and the natural world. Wholebeing emerges from a deep understanding of your place within these ecologies, guiding you towards a transformative journey that redefines your individual life in the collective.

Illustration of three interconnected ecologies – individual, community, Nature – represented through a variety of icons. © Recipes for Wellbeing

An Ethos of Thriving Together

At the heart of Community Wholebeing lies the concept of “Thriving Together”. This journey reimagines your collective existence, emphasising that the essence of true thriving extends beyond individual self-care to a more holistic vision of communal care. It is about shifting the responsibility for wellbeing, empathy, justice, equity, and tangible action to the community and the broader systems you operate in, rather than any one individual.

Our Wholebeing Framework consists of 12 Wholebeing Domains designed to guide you through this collective journey. Each domain represents a critical aspect of the Thriving Together ethos, offering pathways to build skills that are essential for a regenerative, equitable, and fulfilling community life. From transforming conflict to fostering belonging, these domains encapsulate the skills you need to disperse power effectively and live in harmony with one another and the natural world.

As you explore these domains, remember that our intention is to support you in learning and embodying these principles in your daily lives, interactions, and organisational systems, paving the way for a future where we truly thrive together.

Illustration of our Wholebeing Framework consisting of 12 domains – accomplishments, awareness, bioempathy, community, digital consciousness, discomfortability, liberatory learning, meaning, positive emotion, radical race, rest, and ritualising – represented through a variety of icons. © Recipes for Wellbeing

A Pathway to a Wellbeing Economy

Wholebeing allows for a transformative vision for society, paving the way toward a Wellbeing Economy where our collective efforts move beyond foundational economic metrics, aligning with the needs of both people and the planet. In this envisioned economy, the relentless pursuit of GDP growth gives way to the cultivation of shared wellbeing and systemic change. It imagines a world wherein every individual experiences security, happiness, and fulfilment, all within the embrace of a thriving natural environment and a society that deeply values connection, creativity, and collective wellbeing.

Wholebeing skills are crucial in bringing this vision to life. By emphasising skills that enhance personal wellbeing, foster societal liberation, and promote environmental regeneration, we lay the groundwork for a profound paradigm shift in the landscape of impact work. This approach broadens the scope beyond the conventional focus on “green” or “future skills” to include a comprehensive array of practices that nurture life’s thriving on Earth. For community organisers, impact conveners, and social innovators, embedding Wholebeing skills into every facet of your endeavours is essential for steering our collective future towards sustainability, equity, and justice.

At Recipes for Wellbeing, we are committed to advancing this vision through our Wholebeing Framework, consisting of 150+ Wholebeing Skills mapped across 12 Wholebeing Domains designed to empower changemakers and organisations in pursuing a Wellbeing Economy.

Illustration of a pair of hands holding a globe surrounded by various icons (e.g. a scale, a city, wind turbines, a book, a lightbulb, money, etc.). © Recipes for Wellbeing

Wholebeing Domains & Skills

A Wholebeing Domain is a core area of focus encompassing related skills essential for wholebeing and changemaking. A Wholebeing Skill is a learnable capability that empowers individuals and communities to thrive while creative positive change.

Accomplishments

Accomplishments is the ability to channel your motivation and talents to strive for Wholebeing. It involves leaning into discomfort and persevering through resistance. This includes skills such as accountability and planning.

Accountability*: Taking responsibility for the impact of your actions and inactions.
Agility: Thinking and acting quickly and easily.
Ambition: Aspiring to achieve something bold.
Assertiveness: Communicating and behaving with confidence.
Celebration*: Joyfully acknowledging someone or something important.
Contentment*: Being happy and satisfied.
Determination: Trying to do something even when it is difficult.
Discernment: Making good judgements.
Flexibility*: Openness to change or be changed easily to suit any new situation.
Flourishing*: Growing well and wholly.
Goal-setting*: Defining objectives and outcomes to be achieved.
Humility: Keeping your ego at bay.
Legacy: Leaving a positive trace in the world.
Ordinariness: Being content about who you are.
Perseverance*: Determination to keep trying to achieve something in spite of challenges.
Planning: Strategically designing roadmaps to actualise a vision.