Living together may not be a bed of roses all the time. Not only is the day-to-day operations a finely tuned machine, but throw in daily happenings, emotions and hormones and it can become a minefield to navigate. Everything we choose to do depends on our thoughts and our feelings at the time. So your mental wellbeing is key to family wellbeing. Here are 5 top tips to promoting good mental wellbeing within the family home:
- Connect. Connecting with family members through a positive-lived experience can really impact the entire unit and encourage a strong sense of belonging and identity. Simply starting a conversation, enjoying a meal together, playing a game or even making a game out of the chores can help the family to connect more.
- Be active. Whether it’s walking, cycling, football or anything else, exercise has a huge impact on your physical and mental wellbeing. It releases endorphins, which are your brain’s feel-good hormones, so the more of these released, the better!
- Learning not only creates a purpose for ourselves but it boosts our self-confidence and esteem. There are lots of opportunities for learning together at home: trying a new recipe, working on a new project or even taking up a new hobby can all help with good family wellbeing.
- Give. Acts of kindness are one of the most powerful things that we can do. When we experience kindness from others, we want to pay it forward; it creates a rippling of warm positive feelings right across the globe! Hugs are readily available, cost nothing and increase the bond between the huggers, setting you up for a good day ahead!
- Live in the moment. We all have super-busy lives that can really affect how we feel, think, impacting our day. This can be achieved through creating zero tech time together, maintaining a tidy and calm home as well as paying attention to the present moment. Multitasking only works effectively for 2.5% (1) of people, so enough of juggling all those balls and allow yourself to focus on one thing at a time.
For further reading head over to:
Cleveland Clinic, Why multitasking doesn’t work – https://health.clevelandclinic.org/science-clear-multitasking-doesnt-work/amp/
5 steps to mental wellbeing – https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/guides-tools-and-activities/five-steps-to-mental-wellbeing/
