Emotional Wellbeing
It can be difficult to define what we mean by ‘Emotional Wellbeing’, yet it is the single most important key to leading a healthy and stable life. All you need is a positive approach and sense of self and you can tackle everything that life throws at you with strength and mental stability. So, if it’s that easy, why doesn’t everyone have fantastic emotional wellbeing? Well, sometimes it can be difficult for some people to get past that first stage of feeling positive about themselves. Here at Egerton, we provide our students with a better understanding of how to boost their self-confidence and feel happy with who they are. This includes appreciating every individual difference, and learning how these differences provide them with a unique contribution to the world.
So, what are the simple things we can do to start boosting our emotional wellbeing? Well to begin with, make sure you get enough sleep! Sleep helps us to process everything that’s happened during the day, and consolidates all the many things we have learned before falling asleep. During sleep, our brain and body has time to rest, meaning we can concentrate better and be more productive during the day. This rest can also help us to tackle our emotions much more positively, even leading to decreased levels of anxiety and depression.
Next, you will need to keep to a structure. Studies show having a clear structure to each day can help to relieve anxiety and increase productivity, especially in children. This is because we are not only allowing time to focus of specific tasks, but also ensuring that there is ample rest time. Taking breaks and eating around the same time everyday can encourage your brain to keep motivated and function effectively throughout the day. If you would like more help or resources on the best food to feed our brains, take a look at our Healthy Eating page for more information.
And finally, always take time to do the things you enjoy! If you enjoy being creative, or sporty or enjoy the outdoors, make time for this! If we satisfy the needs of our brains during the day, we will be much more likely to concentrate on the things we find more difficult to focus on. Having a balanced lifestyle is key, and this just as much about doing things which make us happy, as it is about challenging ourselves. Let’s take being outside, for example. Being amongst nature has been proven to improve physical, mental and emotional wellbeing! It acts as a natural stress relief and boosts concentration and creativity, even improving your memory!
So, while we’re outside, why not take it one step further and involve some exercise. We all know that exercising at least once a day can have many benefits for the body, but did you know that it can increase emotional wellbeing? Exercise, even taking a walk, can release a chemical in our brains called endorphins. This chemical is known as a natural painkiller, and is released when our body is dealing with an excess of stress of pain. A simple exercise, or even mediation can release more endorphins into our brain allowing us to feel much more positive and clear-headed for the remainder of the day.
If you would like more help understanding emotional wellbeing, or you would like ways to improve your own, take a look at some of the resources below:
www.youngminds.org.uk/resources
www.nurtureuk.org/our-services/publications/programmes/wellbeing-toolkit-teens
www.youthscape.co.uk/store/themes/mental-emotional-wellbeing
www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/improve-mental-wellbeing
www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/wellbeing/wellbeing
Useful Reading:
Emotional Wellbeing for Children & Young People