Following on from our complete well-being guide – How to Look After Yourself and Your Family During Isolation – we wanted to offer even more guidance to help get you through this difficult time. As you can never get too much support when it comes to well-being, we want to share our top well-being tips with you.
It is incredibly important to take some quality time for you, especially now with the anxiety and stress that the Coronavirus pandemic is causing, so to prioritise your ‘self-care,’ here are a few things that you should be doing every day.
8 well-being tips
1. Set a goal for each day
It doesn’t have to be massive, the goal here is to give you a sense of purpose to your day. With the uncertainty of the Coronavirus, many people are suffering from feelings of helplessness, so try to take back some control and set yourself a clear purpose for the day. What could you accomplish that would make you go to bed happy?
2. Take some time to stretch
It may sound strange but stretching is great for mindfulness; it relieves stress, calms the mind, and makes the body feel far less tight and tense. Spend some time, whatever time of day suits you, to do some yoga or just a simple stretching exercise. It can be something as simple as toe touches or laying on your back and putting your legs straight above you on the wall. Just remember to focus on the present breath and breath deeply and fully to get the full benefits.
3. Be kind to others and tell them how great they are
Everyone is struggling with being socially distant from their loved ones, but we don’t have to be physical to show that we care. Start telling others what is great about them. Communicate with kindness, be creative and support vulnerable family members and others who need it the most.
4. Practice positive affirmations every day
Positive affirmations are positive statements that you say about yourself and your life. By repeating them often, your brain will begin to believe them, and you can start to make positive changes.
To help limit anxiety and boost your self-esteem, start practising positive affirmations every day. For example, take 5 minutes in the morning and say your positive affirmations out loud, display them on your bathroom mirror as a reminder too. It can be something like “I am strong and will get through this” or “today, I will make memories with my family.” You can even try helping your children learn this technique too!
See our Top Tips for Keeping Your Children Well During Self-Isolation
5. Take a break
This is an important one out of our top well-being tips because people often don’t take the right kind of break to properly recharge. Taking a break should involve activities that help you to relax, things that allow your mind to shut off, maybe it involves a change of scenery. Wherever and whatever way you find best to rejuvenate and replenish your energy, make sure you do it as often as possible.
6. Regularly check your SMILE score
We all know that to be healthy, we need to be getting enough sleep, we need to be exercising often and eating healthy, and this is what the SMILE score is all about. It is an easy way for you to check-in with yourself and your family every day. The lower the score, the more we need to support our own well-being or help to support a family member or friend, so check your numbers every day.
Each letter in the word SMILE represents one healthy habit and counts as one point, so the highest well-being score you can get is 5.
S – Sleep. Have you had enough sleep? How is the quality of your sleep? Have you rested and taken some time to relax?
M – Move. Have you moved your body today? Have you stretched? Maybe take some time to do something physical with the children.
I – Inhale, exhale. How is the quality of the air you are breathing, for example, have you been outdoors in the fresh air? Have you relaxed, slowing your breathing down?
L – Love and Connect. Have you connected with others today? Have you shown others you care? Have you led with your heart today?
E – Eat to Nourish. How much sugar have you had today? Have you eaten fresh fruit and vegetables? Have you eaten enough? Have you eaten too much? Have you had some water?
By checking in with the SMILE score throughout the day, you can and will improve your overall well-being. For example, if you have scored 2/5, you will know that you need to get more sleep or to drink more water during the day to feel better.
7. Make time to relax
Taking a break switches off the mind for a period so that you can focus again on important tasks throughout the day. Relaxing offers a whole bunch of other benefits that are essential to our well-being. We know it’s difficult with the stress of the coronavirus, but make time to relax. Relaxing activities, such as taking a bath or reading, serves to restore energy, reduce stress, improve sleep, self-confidence, and self-regulation, and it supports your nervous system and boosts your immune system – both of which are essential right now.
8. Don’t forget to breath
Sometimes you’re going to get overwhelmed, and that’s okay. Just breathe. Take long, deep and slow breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Concentrate on the rising and falling of your chest and count the breaths to concentrate. Something as simple as 10 long, deep breaths can help ground you in any situation.
Make these well-being tips part of your daily ritual
You brush your teeth daily, so make sure to cleanse your mind too. If you implement these well-being tips into your daily routine, you’ll soon see that you will feel far better for it.
At Schoolhouse Daycare, we enjoy learning, encouraging confidence and we love life! If you think your child would enjoy life at Schoolhouse, then please do not hesitate to arrange a visit.