Mental wellbeing includes our psychological, emotional and social wellbeing, how we think and feel, how this affects how we act, and how we cope with everyday life.
Mental wellbeing looks differently to everyone, so how we enhance or maintain it will also work differently to each one of us. Supporting our mental wellbeing is not something we do only when we feel unwell. We should try to look after our mental wellbeing just like we look after our physical wellbeing. Below you can find 5 ways to look after your wellbeing:
Be active: It is no secret that the mind and body are connected with physical activity changing the chemicals in our brain helping to regulate and improve our mood. Each individual base line of physical mobility is different, but regularly moving our bodies in different ways has a positive impact on our wellbeing and increases our understanding of our bodies. Setting physical activity goals are a great way to challenge ourselves and improve our self-esteem. Why don’t you try some light stretching after your breakfast, or push yourself to go further on your run today?
Connect: Social interactions and our relationships with others contribute to how we experience ourselves, others and the world around us. Interacting with others helps us to increase our capacity to recognise and communicate our experience, destress, increase our self-esteem, create a sense of belonging, and gives us and others the opportunity to discuss and share. Putting your phone down to talk to a friend in person or joining a local community group where you will share common interests are some examples of connecting.
Give: Being able to give share part of ourselves, our time or even our money is a great opportunity to discover ourselves in relation to others, participate in different parts of our community and develop meaningful relationships. Where, what or who we’d like to give to allows us to identify and pursuit people and projects that we value to increase a greater sense of purpose and spend our resources on more meaningful interactions. Check in with your neighbour and ask how they are doing, or look for a local charity to provide what you can to support them.
Take notice: Catching ourselves throughout the day to stop and notice what is going on around us and within us in the present moment; from our sensory experience to thoughts and feelings. Regular practicing this helps to improve our self-awareness, appreciate what is important to us, increase our connections with others, and adopt a more mindful and curious approach to our experiences. Try not using your headphones today and listen to the sounds around you on your morning commute, or pay attention to the behaviour of someone around you today.
Keep learning: Learning new things enriches our experiences, creates greater knowledge on specific subjects, activates different parts of our brains, and creates a deeper understanding of others and ourselves. This increases our self-confidence, motivation and social interactions. What have you learned about yourself this week? You can try a new recipe or sign up to that Spanish class
