5 Ways to Wellbeing : Mental Health Awareness Week
This Mental Health Awareness Week our friends at Manchester Mind have provided some tips using the 5 Ways to Wellbeing.
Having a good balance in these five areas of your life has been proven to increase people’s health and happiness. The theme for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is loneliness, which many people have been feeling following the events of the last few years. It’s important to know you are not alone in feeling lonely.
Supporting Self-Care
If you are feeling lonely it can be quite stressful and affect your general wellbeing, making it harder to feel better. Are any of the following affecting how you feel?
- Sleep
- Diet
- Time outdoors
- Stress
- Money
- Physical Activity
Read on for some tips to help manage your wellbeing.
Connect
Connecting with other people is important for everyone because it helps us:
- Build self-esteem
- Feel like we belong
- Share positive experiences
- Get emotional support when needed
- Make new connections
There are loads of ways to connect within our community, either online or in-person.
From our weekly Twitch streams (Wednesday podcast at 11am, Friday with Pete at 3pm, and Saturday night with Dewsbury at 8pm), join the #PRFam Facebook group or one of the many other groups including lots of hobbies and interests, find out if any of the Fam are going to gigs in your area or watch out for our next event… something, something Big Bang…
Volunteering
Volunteering is a great way to meet new people, learn new skills, and grow in confidence, as well as it being a way to help others. Why not find out what volunteering opportunities are available nearby?
Focus on the positives
Sometimes bad or sad things happen that we cannot control or change. These things can make us feel worried or annoyed.
To help yourself feel better and more in control, focus on the things you can change.
For example, how could you make someone’s day better? Do you know another member of the Fam who has been struggling recently?
Sometimes just a quick message to say “Hi” can make all the difference to someone’s day.
Ask for help
It is okay to not feel okay. Think about the people that you can call if you ever feel lonely or upset. If you need extra support, we would always recommend seeing your GP or visit our resources page for a range of support services.
Be Active
Being active can help you feel good both on the inside and out. It does this by causing chemical changes in your brain, which can help to positively change your mood and can help with:
- Raising your self-esteem
- Setting goals or challenges and achieving them
- Reducing anxiety and stress
Being active does not mean you have to do anything particularly intense. Slower-paced activities, such as walking, can have the benefit of encouraging social interactions as well providing some level of exercise. Being out in nature is also beneficial for mental health and we shared lots of information about this for Mental Health Awareness Week 2021.
Take Notice
‘Take Notice’ is about paying attention (on purpose) to what is going on around you and how you feel, in the present moment.
It is sometimes hard to see how just ‘Taking Notice’ can help us feel happier and healthier. However, taking time to focus on the here and now within this busy, confusing and sometimes scary world we live in can help us:
- Enjoy life and appreciate what we have
- Understand ourselves better
- Stay calm
- Think about how to approach challenges
You can find out more about taking notice and mindfulness, including lots of activities to try here
Give
“Give” is about doing something nice for another person, this could be a fellow Fam member, a friend, family member or neighbour.
Giving is like gold dust for our mental wellbeing.
It is also important to treat yourself once in a while. This can help to uplift your spirits, freshen up your routine and can be something to look forward to. You could make yourself a gift if you are feeling crafty, give yourself a pamper day, learn a new recipe and make yourself a nice meal, or just give yourself time to relax.
Learn New Skills
If your mental health is poor, it is very common to feel unmotivated and unable to try new things, or you may be worried that if you start learning something new, you might not be very good at it.
Researchers found that learning new skills makes us happier and healthier by helping to:
- Improve our self-confidence and self-esteem
- Give us sense of purpose
- Connect us with other people
There are so many activities and hobbies out there to for you to try – from photography to football, baking to ballroom dancing! You might already have a hobby or interest that you enjoy, but there is always room for learning. Could you keep building new skills in your hobby? Or could you pick a completely new hobby to try?
Read more loneliness tips on the Manchester Mind website