Practice OPEN for in person sessions and also by phone + Skype
Well-Being Tips
Promoting your well-being during challenging times
Some people have asked me for advice, what you could do to stay safe. Use your common sense. Consider the guidelines as given by the government, consult your GP, NHS information and your pharmacist as well as alternative places of information. I am not in a position to provide medical advice, as I am not a medically trained professional. I studied some Health Psychology during my Masters in Psychology as it is in my view important to have a holistic attitude to mental health.
Hence here some general comments about measures, which research I have come across over the years, has indicated to be useful for peoples overall well-being. Please note, that none of this is directly aimed at you personally and you should consult your GP, and your overall life-experience, also: none of this is proven to be useful for the coronavirus and is not targeted at this specifically, again, please consult your doctor or pharmacists or the NHS helpline on 111 AND inform yourself also by consulting alternative practitioners and sources.
Research on well-being indicates that diminished physical health can impact our mental well-being and vice versa: feeling mentally unwell can impact our physical health. The immune system is often described as playing a key role. A whole field of research is dedicated to this, called: psychoimmunology. Helping and promoting our immune system can help us physically and psychologically and make us more resilient. I am happy to explore with you your thoughts and ponderings on how you can improve your overall well-being.
My experience especially since 2020 has shown, that it can be useful to be on a ‘news-diet’ – by the way in the UK over 680 different newspapers are sold, many daily or weekly, mostly reporting on doom and gloom and crimes and something negative. There is only one tiny ‘positive news’ newspaper. The human mind has a tendency to focus upon the negative, which causes us stress. Hence its helpful to limit exposure to negative news. During these past years many of my clients found it helpful to embark on old – or new – activities, e.g.: learning a language, dancing, watching comedy, going for walks, helping the elderly, …
Whilst hygiene and mindful distancing have their place, in well-being research I have consulted, what strikes me most is: the interaction of our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual/ transpersonal/ metaphysical well-being. Loneliness and lack of social interaction are detrimental to our overall health.
Wellbeing Paths - tested by Research, myself & many of you
Physical Wellbeing
Emotional Wellbeing
Emotional Wellbeing
- getting sufficient and restful sleep!!!
- stress reduction e.g. through organising schedules more realistically
- exercise e.g. running, gym, weights, swimming
- relaxation - breathing-exercises; massage; sauna
- nutrition – reduction in sugar – e.g. some cells which destroy our bodies feed on sugar; keeping the pH alkaline – e.g. many viruses don’t like alkaline environments;
- healthy gut – it affects our immune system, e.g. probiotics could be useful here
- keeping ‘toxins’ low – this includes electro-smog, tobacco, alcohol, drugs
- looking after some of your basic needs, e.g. getting hearing aids, glasses if you need them
Emotional Wellbeing
Emotional Wellbeing
Emotional Wellbeing
- making ‘me’-time, time for yourself where you can be a ‘human being’ as opposed to a ‘human doing’
- socialising with friends – even virtually is better than none
- group-activities – pursuing an interest such as archery, movie-nights in a group, …
- being in nature and connecting with it – in my MSc research many participants found that being in nature gave them ‘meaning in life’ and ‘inner strength’
- dancing - engages our body and mind and provides social interaction, together providing often more joy than we expected
- laughter - going out to be distracted and surprised by comedians, or watching them on video, often we can forget ourselves for moments, which provide inroads of change
- counselling and psychotherapy
More useful Well-Being Measures
Mental Wellbeing
Spiritual/transpersonal/metaphysical Wellbeing
Spiritual/transpersonal/metaphysical Wellbeing
- writing bothersome thoughts down can bring order into thinking
- counselling and psychotherapy
- planning the week’s task in a !!!realistic!!!* manner and daily checking what you accomplished gives a sense of satisfaction and achievement. *Unrealistic goals, chasing what we ‘ideally’ wish to ‘get done’ has a tendency to burden us, resulting often in putting ourselves down
- improve your self-confidence – e.g. learning new achievable things can be helpful here; generally accomplishing small things step by step brings us further
- learning new things - such as in discussion groups, learning a language
- developing ‘rituals’/rhythms – so the mind can stop thinking over and over about the same processes
- asking for help
- volunteering
- improving your environment – e.g. declutter your (computer)desk, surrounding yourself with photos of people close to you and things which give you joy
Spiritual/transpersonal/metaphysical Wellbeing
Spiritual/transpersonal/metaphysical Wellbeing
Spiritual/transpersonal/metaphysical Wellbeing
- practicing mindfulness
- meditation – there are many different forms we can discuss which type of meditation might fit you currently best
- exercise with awareness – e.g. Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong
- connect with nature
- prayer
- music – choir, mantra singing, chanting
- inspirational talks e.g. on TedTalk, youTube, let me know what you might resonate with and maybe I can assist you in finding some gems on the internet
- I practice what I recommend - I have been practicing for over 40 years mindfulness and currently practice daily about 1 hour yoga and meditation.