5 Ways to Wellbeing*

Connect

With the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. At home, work, school, in your local community and within your place of worship. Connect with your faith, religion, spirituality and with nature. Most importantly connect with yourself.

Think of these as the cornerstones of your life and invest time in developing them. Building these connections will support and enrich you everyday.

Be Active

Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game. Garden. Dance.

Exercising makes you feel good. Most importantly, discover a physical activity you enjoy; one that suits your level of mobility and fitness.

Take Notice

Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you are on a train, eating lunch or talking to friends.

Be aware of yourself and the world around you and what you are feeling. Reflecting on your experiences will help you appreciate what matters.

Keep Learning

Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favourite food.

Set a challenge you will enjoy achieving. Learning new things will make you more confident, as well as being fun to do.

Give

Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group, meditate, visit a place of worship. Look out, as well as in.

Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and will create connections with the people around you.

* Adapted from NEF 5 Ways to Wellbeing http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/well-being_fiveways.aspx

The Confidence and Wellbeing team have lots of interesting sessions and programmes in Sandwell and a text support service so take a look at the relevant pages by clicking on the links above.