Friday was the last official day of World WellBeing Week 2020. Together we generated a massive 18.8 MILLION impressions from 4.4K tweets alone by 3.5K users all over the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Brunei, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda, Nigeria, UAE, Hungary, Latvia, Spain, Germany, France, Mexico, USA and Canada*. We were joined by hundreds if not thousands of organisations throughout the UK, Isle of Wight, Eire and Channel Islands, and today also by Romania, with AUSY Technologies who are located in Bucharest and Sibiu; they shared some very simple, yet effective tips to take care of your mind …
Take Care of Your Mind
• Challenge your thoughts. Are they TRUE? HELPFUL? INSPIRING? NECESSARY? KIND? If not, choose to focus on better thoughts.
• Cultivate self-compassion. Stop your inner critic. Treat yourself the way you would treat a dear friend. Accept that discomfort and negative emotions are part of life.
• Practice mindfulness. Be present and fully engaged with whatever you are doing. Be aware of your thoughts and emotions and let them go. Focus on your breath.
• Meditate for 10 minutes a day. [We would add here that if you don’t have 10 minutes to spare, then mediate for 20 minutes!].
• Keep connected to the information provided by media and official sources with care. Too much information is overwhelming – plan your information diet.
• Make a list of your fun activities and choose one whenever you need an energy or motivation boost, or simply for a good mood.
Cultivate Your Social Connections
• Cultivate your relationships – keep connected to family, friends and colleagues.
• Practice compassion. Be kind and patient towards others.
• Send a positive feedback to a colleague.
• Practice gratitude – set a time of the day to write down one thing you are grateful for.
Focus on Meaning and Purpose
• Find a local initiative that is meaningful for you and contribute to that cause.
• Recycle plastic, paper, glass.
• Break a big objective or a problem you have into smaller piece and take one part at a time.
• Take a small step towards your goals every day.
• Find opportunities for development and growth in the hardship.
And Ask Yourself Daily: What have I done today to take care of myself?
Rugby
The Rugby Players Association (RPA) hosted a webinar with Willi Heinz and Dave Dennis about dealing with the fear and anxiety that all of the news stories may cause us at this time. Watch the webinar here.
School Leadership
James Hilton, the author of Riding the Waves: Achieving Positivity and Purpose in School Leadership reminded us that self-care can be one of the most selfless things you can do. He is particularly keen that we look after ourselves in the current climate. He shared his story – click here.
Women’s Centre
Stockport Women’s Centre supported the week with lots of hints and tips. In their final thoughts they remind us that it’s important to remember that as with anything no size fits all and what works for you may not work for others. Do what you enjoy and is management for you and you will feel the benefit.
They shared one of our favourite quotes of the week: ‘Wellbeing changes as we move through life, which is why a child’s version of it cannot be the same as an old person’s.’ ~ Deepak Chopra.
Commuting by Walking
Forward Motion South Essex said quite rightly that plenty of us will be returning to the office over the next few weeks, with most of us resuming our old commuting methods. For shorter journeys, or in the Channel Islands for example, they suggest we take advantage of the sunshine by walking to work. It just might change your life. Here’s an article from the Telegraph – click here.
Independent Living
Social enterprise Hertfordshire Independent Living Service (HILS) round up the week with the fifth element of ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ and that’s Keep Learning. For more info click here.
Mental Health Awareness
Carrot Pharma Recruitment Agency in Wilmslow end the week with a look at one of the most important aspects of our health and wellbeing – our mental health. More important now than ever before as people adjust to the ‘new normal’. Click here.
Shout Out for the Academics
London South Bank University wanted to shine a light on their academics who are producing great work in the various aspects of wellbeing including humanitarian, social, emotional and environment wellbeing. Plus here are 8 Top Tips for looking after yourself. Click here.
LGBT Wellbeing Hub
A great resource to explore during #worldwellbeingweek and #pridemonth2020 is the LBBT Foundation’s Wellbeing Hub. It’s filled with resources and tools for you to use to be able to manage your mental health and wellbeing. Click here.
Discovering Books
The Winchester Discovery Centre have been celebrating #worldwellbeingweek on Instagram with an in-depth review of all things health and wellbeing from Sam, their library expert. If you are in the vicinity, they have lots of books available on loan from their Borrow Box. Click here.
Sleep
Happy Maven reminds us that Sleep seems to slip down our priority list when it is actually a key fundamental wellbeing need. Click here.
Parenting and Family Wellbeing
And the What Works Centre for Wellbeing shared guest blog by Rachel Tonkin from Family Lives who looks at the difference parenting programmes can make on family wellbeing. Click here.
We Love Pets
From Me to You shared about how much pets are boosting our morale and productivity in lockdown, according to a study led by Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. Out of the 2,000 individuals surveyed, 4 in 10 say that having a pet in lockdown helped them maintain a regular routine. Click here to read more.
Isolation and Mental Health
Capital Tutorials shared their free COVID-19 – Impact on Work and Health – click here – including a session entitled Social Isolation and Mental Health. Click here to watch.
Mindfulness Meditation with Chloe Wilkinson
New Adventures shared a wonderful Mindfulness Meditation with Chloe Wilkinson followed by some tips and tools to support the whole body in staying calm, grounded and healthy. Click here.
And closer to home, in the Channel Islands, Grant Thornton has been busy with its own Wellbeing Week. Lots of good material to share. Click here.
We’ve enjoyed local media coverage and support also, with special thanks to Business Eye CI, Radio Jersey, the Jersey Evening Post, and Love Your Island Jersey. Click here.
And there was a great wrap up of World WellBeing Week with a joint panel discussion hosted by Murray Norton, CEO, Jersey Chamber of Commerce on employee wellbeing, flexible working and return to office practices with Susie Crowder, Director of Human Capital at Grant Thornton, Elvina Aghajanyan, Head of HR at HSBC Channel Islands and Isle of Man, and Ben Murray, Founder of the state of the art Boxing facility, Boxinbusiness. To watch click here.
We mentioned that today was the last official day of World WellBeing Week. We love the fact that you didn’t want it to come to an end and there are some events taking place on Saturday also. Please check the earlier updates, below, there are still lots of webinars, podcasts, Facebook Lives and other events for you to catch up on.
Lots of Activities for the Week Ahead
World WellBeing Week 2020 Next Week
There are also many online webinars, advice and guidance available from our Channel Island WellBeing Practitioner Partners … here are just a few of them – click here.
So many amazing posts and messages, such inspiration, thank you all. And thousands of others we haven’t had the room to feature, yet!
That’s right, we have plans … we don’t want it to stop either. We said we would feature some of your stories in our next edition of WellBeing World magazine, and we will. We are also creating a special area in our online magazine and we will include your stories and more in the weeks and months ahead.
So, World WellBeing Week really doesn’t stop here!
*Data sources Hashtagify and Keyhole.
