The Wholebeing Framework
Wholebeing goes beyond traditional notions of wellbeing: it welcomes the full spectrum of being human — the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’, the joy and the grief. And it is learnable: a living map of skills we can practice, for ourselves, our communities, and the planet we belong to. For changemakers and the organisations behind them, these are the human skills of the new economy we need: a Wellbeing Economy.
More than wellness — a foundation for deep change
Wholebeing is not merely about surviving without problems, but about embracing and growing from the challenges life presents, fostering resilience, empathy, and a deeper connection to your work and the world around you.
A foundation for changemakers
For changemakers, this journey of inner work is not optional but essential, providing the wisdom to drive meaningful, deep change.
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 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.
A set of practices for transformation
Wholebeing, like any skill, can be nurtured, refined, and elevated through focused intention and deliberate practice.
Embracing Wholebeing as a set of skills and competencies reshapes your understanding of personal and collective development. 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
Skills like collaboration, fairness, multiperspectivity, and reciprocity are embodied within the dynamics of community life.
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 shape the wholebeing of your communities.
An ever-evolving concept
There is no singular, linear path to Wholebeing, nor can a “one-size-fits-all” approach suffice.
Acknowledging that Wholebeing is an ever-evolving concept, especially when applied systemically, invites you to appreciate the fluidity and adaptability required in its pursuit. The journey to Community Wholebeing requires a flexible and inclusive approach that goes beyond the limits of culture, geography, time, and conventional measures of success.
Your inner landscape: mind, body, heart, and soul. Wholebeing begins with the inner work of staying present, resting, feeling, and growing through what life presents.
Three ecologies. One flourishing.
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. Tap each ecology on the illustration to explore.
“True thriving extends beyond individual self-care to a holistic vision of communal care.”
At the heart of Community Wholebeing lies the concept of “Thriving Together”. This journey reimagines your collective existence, 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.
12 domains to guide the journey
Our Wholebeing Framework domains map the full landscape of thriving together. Each Wholebeing Domain is a core area of focus, a critical aspect of the Thriving Together ethos that gathers related skills for a regenerative, equitable, and fulfilling community life, from transforming conflict to fostering belonging.
Every domain contains several Wholebeing Skills: learnable capabilities that empower individuals and communities to thrive while creating positive change.
Tap any domain to explore its skills
As you explore these domains, remember: 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.
If your life were a wheel, how would the ride feel?
Move through the 12 domains and notice how each one feels in this season of your life and work. The full ones keep the wheel rolling smoothly; the ones running low are where the ride turns bumpy.
What do you need today?
Every card here is a Wholebeing skill, and opening one shows you what it is and why it matters before offering a small micro-practice you can do right where you're sitting. Each skill also connects to the fuller practices in our library, and many carry a deep dive you can read or listen to whenever the time feels right, so begin with whatever tugs at you and follow it as far as you like.
No skills match. Try a different word, or clear the filters. 🌱
From understanding to practice
There is no single, linear path to Wholebeing. Start small: one domain, one skill, one practice, and let it grow into a rhythm.
Notice
Explore the 12 domains above and notice which feel nourished and which feel depleted in this season of your life and work.
Pick one skill
Choose a single skill that speaks to you. Small is good: breathing, pausing, gratitude, or boundary setting are beautiful places to begin.
Learn & listen
Read the skill’s deep dive on our Substack, or listen to the audio version on a walk, to understand what it is and why it matters.
Practice & ritualise
Try the practices linked from each skill in our library of 300+ recipes, and weave the ones that resonate into your daily and seasonal rituals.
For changemaker organisations, adopting a Wholebeing skills-based approach means becoming a learning organisation that keeps evolving, shaping the wholebeing of your communities while fulfilling your mission with agility and resilience.
Map your team’s wholebeing
Use the 12 domains as a shared language. Where is your team strong? Where is there depletion: rest, community, discomfortability?
Make space to learn
Bring wholebeing skills into your team through workshops, labs, and retreats. We facilitate these for changemaker teams worldwide.
Embed in your rhythms
Weave practices into how you already work: check-ins and check-outs, meeting rituals, feedback culture, and rest policies.
Share the stewardship
Shift wellbeing from an individual responsibility to a communal one. Rotate hosting, celebrate openly, and care for each other’s thriving.
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. The relentless pursuit of GDP growth gives way to the cultivation of shared wellbeing and systemic change.
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, beyond the conventional focus on “green” or “future skills” to a comprehensive array of practices that nurture life’s thriving on Earth.
At Recipes for Wellbeing, we are committed to advancing this vision through our Wholebeing Framework: 170+ Wholebeing Skills mapped across 12 Wholebeing Domains, designed to empower changemakers and organisations in pursuing a Wellbeing Economy.
Essays & audio on the Wholebeing story
The thinking behind the framework: where Wholebeing comes from, why skills matter, and what we’re learning from changemakers around the world.
Begin where you are.
Practice what you need.
Your practice, to take with you
The skills you chose to keep today. Carry them gently, and maybe share one with someone you care about.