Daily Wellbeing Reflections

A daily self-led wellbeing activity

Click the below dates for a themed reflection and action for every day. Feel free to engage with these on a cycle, or to choose a few that are particularly relevant to you.

 

Day 1 - Self

What do we talk about when we talk about wellbeing? We might think it’s a synonym for happiness, or healthfulness. For many who work in the area, wellbeing is about ‘balance’ (a physical, emotional, social, economic, spiritual and intellectual ‘wellness’).

You might feel sceptical or critical about the very idea of wellbeing. You might point to much-needed structural and societal change and justice. To planetary wellbeing in a time of climate crisis. Or to the need for enhanced support for mental illness.

But what wellbeing can do is provide us with a way of paying attention to complex and individual blends of feelings, states of mind, and circumstances. We hope the activities of Wellbeing Week help you consider what wellbeing means to you, and provide you with some opportunities to pause...
 

Today, take some time to reflect on your own wellbeing, and how you set boundaries for yourself.

Write down three things you think you could do this week that would enhance your wellbeing; and write down three things you aren’t going to do this week.

Day 2 - Community

Connecting with others and giving to others are two of the five ‘ways to wellbeing’ identified by researchers, and endorsed by the NHS. Although it is perhaps inevitable that much support begins with the individual, it is by seeing yourself as part of – and being yourself in – a wider community that can provide sustained wellbeing benefits. Indeed, some argue that the very models we use to think about the self need to shift from solitary to interconnected metaphors: from individual machine to collective mosaic.

Consider your role within our Homerton community: how do you see yourself as a part of the whole? How does your work, study, or actions, affect others in the College?

 

Today, do something nice for someone else.

Some suggestions for ‘random acts of kindness’, both small and large, can be found here and here.

Day 3 - Nature

“…here, at this exact point

where the town gives way to not-town, I leave my body behind, press

what’s left of me through hazel, brackens— keep moving inwards and under

until I reach the place where the bluebottles and midges sing.”

 

From ‘Spell for Lockdown’, Spelt Magazine

 

Have you heard of forest bathing? This Japanese practice encourages people to go out into woods, observing nature and practicing deep breathing. Studies have shown it’s incredibly effective at boosting health and wellbeing. In general, we know how significant for mental health spending time in nature can be, whether through opportunities to connect with wildlife, or vicariously experience wellness wanders that became so popular during lockdown.

 

Today, if you can, why not try forest bathing yourself at Homerton?

Or you can join Poet-in-Residence Mariah Whelan for a tree-themed poetry walk on 10th November, or check out our tree poem ‘A Homerton Wood’ if you can’t make it in person.

Day 4 - Rest

Sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Particularly in the middle of a hectic Cambridge term, it can seem impossible to switch off and rest. But rest is imperative for rejuvenation and crucial for creativity and perspective. Building healthy routines means making space for time ‘off’ as well as time ‘on’.

Indeed, the right to have ‘Eight hours’ labour, Eight hours’ recreation, Eight hours’ rest’ was a hard-fought concession advocated by historic social movements. So perhaps to our eight weeks of Full Term, we should remind ourselves of the importance of those other ‘eights’ in our daily routines.

 

Today, take time to plan an evening routine.

Give yourself permission to have an early night, and to create a relaxing environment in which to rest. If you would like to think more deeply about your sleep habits, you could start a sleep diary.

Day 5 - Renew

Although we might seem to be constantly notified about what our friends have posted on social media, it is all too easy to lose connections with others. Relationships and friendships may fade away for good reason; but many of us feel their absence, and would like to renew and re-establish conversations with trusted companions.

We might feel apprehensive about reaching out to someone we’ve lost touch with – but consider how you would feel if you received a message from an old acquaintance? Don’t you think they would be equally delighted to hear from you?

 

Today, check in with someone you haven't spoken to for a while.

Send a text message to that old friend you’ve always been meaning to get back in touch with but never quite get around to. Or reach out to someone in College you haven’t seen much of this term and ask how they’re doing.

Day 6 - Creativity

An unhelpful hierarchy between the ‘head’ and the ‘hand’ can persist, splitting those who think and study from those who make and create. The predominantly academic rather than vocational focus of many Cambridge courses can make it hard to justify or reward creative work.

But rather than seeing endeavours such as practical crafts or performing arts as something lesser or optional, we can appreciate their benefits for our mental health and wellbeing. By being creative, we can recover opportunities for play, wonder, experiment, joy. And we can see how such distinctions between head and hand begin to disappear.

 

Today, make something – and feel free to be as creative as possible.

That might mean cutting up some old leaflets into an abstract collage; following a short crochet tutorial on YouTube and not worrying if it goes wrong; improvising a new salad recipe for lunch; or just doodling whatever comes to mind in the margins of your essay notes.

Day 7 - Movement

We know that moving around is crucial to our physical and mental health; that the more sedentary life many of us experienced during the pandemic has longterm health impacts. We might try out a new exercise challenge to get back ‘on track’. But these goals – whether 10,000 daily steps, weekly park runs, or a certain number of gym trips each month – can lead to different pressures and stresses.

Instead, for today’s daily action we have encouraged ‘movement’. Dance, in particular, has been shown to improve mood, and to have significant mental and physical health benefits – whether you are a prima ballerina or a TikTok star.

 

Today, put on your favourite song and give yourself permission to let loose and dance along.

Or get together with a friend and come up with a new dance to a song – you could even film yourselves and share on social media.

Day 8 - Reflect

As we come to the end of Wellbeing Week, we hope you have found time to think more deeply about what wellbeing means to you, and to explore some options for building self-care and community actions into your regular routines. For making moments to stop, or pause.

As Robert Poynton stresses in Do/Pause, and as the Homerton Changemakers workshop on PAUSING this week encourages you to reflect on: 'Experimenting with pause gives you a way to play around with the rhythms of your life. It gives you a way to give shape and texture to your experience, weakening the sensation that your life is driven by external forces over which you have no influence. Choosing where you put your pauses makes an enormous difference to what your life feels like and what you can do as a result.'

 

Today, reflect on what it has meant to take time this week to stop and focus on looking after yourself and others. How might you build these activities into your routines so they become part of every week, not just Wellbeing Week?

You might find it helpful to come up with your own wellbeing plan, informed by your experiences this week.

Or if you would like to continue suggested daily actions for the rest of November, see the Action for Happiness calendar here.

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