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This week marks World Wellbeing Week – an opportunity to start conversations and share ways to improve our wellbeing. But what is wellbeing and how do we care for it? Here, we explain more about why it’s important and share some of our top tips on staying mentally well.
What is wellbeing?
The word ‘wellbeing’ is a popular phrase; we see it all the time in articles or on social media, and we’re often told we need to look after it. But what does it actually mean and why is it important?
There isn’t a set definition of what wellbeing is, but it refers to how we are feeling and how well we are able to cope with life’s challenges. To better understand it, we can break it down into different aspects that influence and interact with each other.
The UK Office for National Statistics has identified 10 dimensions of wellbeing:
- Mental wellbeing
- Physical health
- Personal financial security
- What we do for work
- Our relationships with others
- Where we live
- The natural environment
- Education
- The economy
- Governance
Mental wellbeing
It’s no surprise that mental health challenges and how we’re feeling emotionally greatly affect our overall wellbeing. Good mental wellbeing doesn’t mean that we are feeling super happy all the time. In reality it means we are able to cope with difficult experiences and remain positive, while still feeling a full range of emotions. But when we face mental health challenges it’s easy to become overwhelmed.
How to improve wellbeing
Now that we know a bit more about what wellbeing is and why it is important, we can start to think about how we can improve it. You don’t need to do anything difficult; you shouldn’t be stressing about it as that will defeat the purpose. So, we’ve got five simple suggestions that you can try out.
- Look after your physical health and do something active. This could be as simple as taking a short walk around your street, or dancing in the kitchen to your favourite songs!
- Get out into nature. Being in the natural world has a really positive affect on both physical and mental health, you could combine this with the previous tip and go for a walk at a nearby park or somewhere you can feel at peace
- Talk to your loved ones about how you are feeling. You might also find that they need someone to talk to and you can support each other
- Take time to relax and try to get enough sleep
- Do activities you love or try something new. Remember that you don’t need to push yourself, do what feels comfortable and leaves you feeling happy
Now that we have helped you to understand what wellbeing is and given you some ideas of how you can improve yours, make sure you add looking after your wellbeing to your daily routine.
With your help we can continue to support young people facing mental health challenges. If you would like to donate please click here – we would be so grateful.
