When you hear the word "wellness," you may think of meditating before you reach for your morning coffee (or matcha latte if you're really up for it) or going for your daily walk. But what we don't think or talk about enough when it comes to wellness is, IMO, the most important topic for women in particular: financial wellness (opens in new tab).

This is the part you might be thinking about... Hun' she just made it.

I promise. Prioritizing your financial health is best for all aspects of your well-being. Without it, the foundations of your broader well-being will not be as solid.

Recently, Ellevest surveyed 2,026 18- to 69-year-olds in the U.S. and found that 67 percent of women worry about their financial health at least once a week. And 49 percent of women say their mental and emotional health is suffering because of financial stress.

That's why we are proclaiming October 13 as the first Financial Wellness Day. Because practicing financial wellness is the solution to the stress that money causes: simply taking action on money problems reduces stress. And that is what financial wellness is: taking action.

Ellevest (opens in new tab) defines financial wellness as knowing what you have, knowing your direction, and feeling good about it. And just as there are many components to physical wellness (eating well, drinking water, being physically active, etc.), there are many components to practicing financial wellness (opens in new tab). We define them as:

Consider the core components of achieving or maintaining financial stability, such as checking account balances, spending less than you earn (or working toward that goal), etc.

This is a roadmap, or timeline and strategy, to get you and your money to where you want it to go in life.

All of this means having a healthy relationship not only with your money, but also with your ability to manage it. Of course, this can start with learning all the unhealthy and harmful money lies (opens in new tab) that women have been told since birth.

If this sounds like I'm trying to sell you on something as economical as taking a bath, let me give you some examples of what practicing financial health looks like in real life.

Maybe you negotiated your first raise or promotion. Or paid off your student loans three years early. That's great. Good for you. Good for you. Or maybe you decided to cancel a subscription you haven't used in months and set up automatic deposits into your investment account. All of these are practicing financial wellness. It means rejoicing in the positive experiences that your financial choices pave the way for.

In fact, many women are actually less joyful these days about their financial wellness. It makes sense that women are experiencing more money-related anxiety than ever before. First, women earn less than men (opens in new tab) and tend to lose their raises (opens in new tab) a decade earlier than men. Women also invest less than men (opens in new tab), and as a result, women own on average only 32 cents (opens in new tab) for every dollar owned by white men. For women of color, it is less than one cent.

Then there is the pandemic, during which women lose their social safety nets, many of them juggling work and home schooling, experience career setbacks, and even lose their jobs. In addition, 49% of the women we surveyed literally lose sleep over their finances. In short, we know that economic stress has a serious impact on physical and mental health. [25] [26] Many women shy away from investments and money-related activities. This is because of blockers such as "it takes too much time," "I am not good with money," or "it will take too long to get where I want to go. And unfortunately, there's no clock on the wall: if you don't finish paying off your credit cards by this date, you'll pay so much more.

That's why we're bringing Financial Wellness to you and inviting Marie Claire readers (and your friends) to a free Ellevest workshop (opens in new tab) led by a CFP® professional!

We are pleased to announce that we have a new workshop for you.

We also believe that everyone deserves financial wellness. Ellevest wants to help you do that. Get one month free with code "DOWELL", starting at $20.

Happy Financial Wellness Day.(You got this.)

Sallie Krawcheck is CEO and co-founder of Ellevest (open in new tab), a financial company by women for women. She is the former CFO of Citi and former CEO of Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney.