Looking after your well-being is just as important as your physical health. Research by the New Economics Foundation has found there are five ways to look after your mental wellbeing:
- Connect
- Be active
- Take notice
- Keep learning
- Give
In this folder, you will find ideas and suggestions about how you can introduce the five ways to wellbeing into your every day routine.
We also know that:
- Sleep
- Eating-well
- Time-management
are also important in supporting your well-being so we have included resources for you on these too.
Connect
Connecting with the people around us is a great way to remind ourselves that we’re important and valued by others.
Here are some suggestions for staying connected:
- Arrange to meet people regularly. This can be virtually or in person.
- Take some time to get to know your peers on the course.
- Reach out to somebody you’ve lost contact with. Send them a letter or give them a call to let them know you are thinking about them
Be active
By making sure we are regularly moving our bodies, we can look after our mental and physical health at the same time.
There are many benefits to regularly exercising, here are just a few:
- Decreases insomnia
- Acts as a relaxant, easing muscle tension
- It releases endorphins which act as a natural anti-depressant
- Can be useful to help clear the mind and distract you from your worries
- It maintains good circulation, lowers blood pressure and improves the body’s immune system to help fight off disease
- Increases fitness of your heart and lungs enhances mental alertness and concentration
- Increases energy levels
Ideas for keeping active:
- Go for a walk during your lunch break
- To get you started, here is a booklet about University Walks (log-in required) that has maps for walks from 15 to 40 minutes long.
- Try one of the free NHS Fitness Videos which include: aerobic exercise, strength and resistance, pilates and yoga and other fitness plans
- Complete the Couch to 5k Challenge (you may like to do this with your peers)
Remember, there should be a balance between activities that are essential e.g. lectures, assignments, work, and those that give you a sense of pleasure and achievement e.g. listening to music, painting, and gaming. Keeping an activity schedule can help you with this.
Take notice
Taking notice of our thoughts, emotions and surroundings is a great way to stay present and pay attention to our needs.
Taking notice of things we’re grateful for, big or small, is a great way to boost our mood and appreciate our surroundings.
Here’s some suggestions around taking notice:
- Take time to notice how the trees change each season
- Each day write down three things you feel grateful for
- Allocate time in the evening to reflect on what went well that day
- Use a journal to support you in expressing your thoughts and feelings
Keep learning
Taking notice of our thoughts, emotions and surroundings is a great way to stay present and pay attention to our needs.
Taking notice of things we’re grateful for, big or small, is a great way to boost our mood and appreciate our surroundings.
Here’s some suggestions around taking notice:
- Take time to notice how the trees change each season
- Each day write down three things you feel grateful for
- Allocate time in the evening to reflect on what went well that day
- Use a journal to support you in expressing your thoughts and feelings
Give
Research has found a link between doing good things and an increase in wellbeing.
Here are some suggestions to give more
- Try and do one kind thing every day
- Recycle your waste and give back to the environment
Sleep
Research suggests that sleep helps our well-being and lack of sleep can affect our mood, motivation, judgement and our perceptions of events. plays an important role in memory, both before and after learning a new task.
Here are some tips to help you sleep well:
- Establish a regular routine for when you go to sleep and wake-up. You may find it helpful to set an bedtime alarm.
- Ensure the environemnt is conductive sleeps as possible, consider lighting, temperature and noise
- Introduce ‘chill time’ before you go to bed where you carry out activities to signal to your body it is time to rest. For example having a bath, reading, listening to calm music, meditation
- Use the ‘Do Not Disturb’ and sleep/well-being functions on your mobile phone
Eating well
The relationship between our diet and our mental health is complex. However, research shows a link between what we eat and how we feel. Eating well can improve your sense of wellbeing and your mood.
Here are tips to help you eat well during your PGCE:
- Consider batch cooking meals at the weekend so you have healthy meals prepared for the week
- In your freezer have emergency meals which you can quickly heat if you have had a busy day and feel too tired to cook
- Explore the NHS Eat Well pages for ideas on healthy meals
Time management
Good time management skills will help you prioritise tasks so they are able to complete your assignments and the various demands required for teaching e.g planning, creating resources and marking.
Tips to support your time management:
- Use a diary/calendar to plan ahead and set time aside to complete tasks
- Break tasks down into small parts
- Create to-do lists and prioritise (e.g. high, medium, low)
- Watch and work through a pre-recorded session about Time Management and Organisation