Improving our Mental Health and Well-Being

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Covid-19 has brought uncertainty for us all, face to face services have been reduced and lots of interactions are now taking place via Teams or Zoom calls. Remote working will affect everyone differently, some may find it useful, for some it may alleviate anxieties, for others it may cause anxieties.

There are lots of things you can do to keep yourself feeling well, here are 4 suggestions you can try to promote better emotional wellbeing;

Sleep - if we do not sleep well, this affects our concentration, mood and how our bodies function. Having a good sleep routine is very important as it will help you to relax and ensure you are fit and well. Sleep suggestions:

  1. Take a bath or shower before you go to bed
  2. Read a book or listen to calming mindfulness music
  3. Switch off devices an hour before you go to bed
  4. Try to keep your phone out of your room at bedtime
  5. Have a set sleep time, for example, 10:30pm to 7:30am
  6. Try not to sleep during the day
  7. Don’t focus on having to get to sleep, focus on relaxing and feeling calm - MIND How to relax video
  8. Practice guided mindfulness techniques 10 minute sleep meditation

Eat well - We need to eat well for our brains and bodies to work effectively. Eating well improves mood and helps you to focus, try the following;

  • Eat a healthy breakfast
  • Eat regularly
  • Drink 6-8 glasses of water and keep hydrated
  • Balance your diet- eat vegetables, fruit, fibre, carbohydrates and protein - MIND healthy eating video
  • Avoid sugary foods and drinks
  • Cut out alcohol
  • Eat healthy fats- oily fish, protein, nuts, cheese and eggs
  • Keep a food diary- this will help you to see which foods make you feel good and which don’t

    • Exercise - Exercise is important to keep you feeling well, relieve stress and improve low mood. “you will never regret a workout” (Joe Wicks 08.12.20) You don’t have to join a gym to exercise, try the following;

  • Walk
  • Run
  • Cycle
  • Free Joe Wicks youtube videos PE Challenge for Children in Need and Wake up with Joe

    • Connect with others - health-in-mind.org.uk Connect video it is important that we feel connected to people, a smile, a kind word goes a long way to helping you and others to feel good. Unfortunately Covid has impacted how we can connect with others and so we have to think of smart ways to still see our friends and families and feel connected. Try the following;

    1. Spend time with the people you live with, eat together, watch tv or a film together, play games together
    2. Talk to friends and family about how you are feeling
    3. Contact friends- Facetime, set up a group chat
    4. Set up fun Zoom quizzes
    5. Go for a social distancing walk or picnic (when we are allowed!)
    6. Virtual movie night
    7. Send someone a note to say you are thinking about them health-in-mind.org.uk- writing to say hello

    Support - Kooth and Togetherall are available to support you, Togetherall is a service which is available 24/7 and has a wealth of information, activities and guided courses. Take a look and see how you can use www.Togetherall.com and www.Kooth.com to support your wellbeing.

    Resources There are also a number of other online resources which you can access;

    1. https://www.thecalmzone.net/
    2. https://www.mindsahead.org.uk/
    3. https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/
    4. https://www.headspace.com/
    5. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/couch-to-5k-week-by-week/
    6. https://www.mind.org.uk/
    7. https://educationinmind.org.uk/resources/
    8. https://whatworks-csc.org.uk/

    Apps

    1. Headspace
    2. Calm

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