Personal resilience, Day 3 – 4th of March 2020

We hope that yesterday’s self-assessment of the Five Ways to Wellbeing has stimulated your thinking and encouraged your ideas about how you can increase your resilience threshold.

If you missed yesterday you can find it here.

Health Snacks

In Dr Rangan Chattergee’s book Feel Better in 5 we are encouraged to take health snacks.  These are activities that take no more than 5 minutes to complete and can be attached to other habits that we have.  By doing them alongside an existing habit makes you more likely to stick at it.  For example, doing some lunges whilst we are boiling the kettle to make our morning coffee.  The principle is that if we make small changes, they are much more likely to be sustainable.

1. Do some yoga as soon as you wake up
2. Take 5 deep breaths before you get out your car at work
3. Have your morning cup of tea outside in the garden, spending time in nature and getting some early morning light
4. Put your favourite song on when you get in from work and dance around
5. Phone a friend on your commute home
6. Write down three things you are grateful for every night before you go to sleep.

These are just a few examples of changes that you may wish to make to improve your Five Ways to Wellbeing.  This is not an exhaustive list.  Consider taking one action in support of developing the area that you wish to focus upon, there are lots more ideas online.  Please try to take action every day for a month.  You will be amazed at the positive effect that it has on you.
Over the coming days we will focus upon each of the five areas in more detail.  You may wish to listen to Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s podcast where he explains his “health snacks” in more detail.

If any of these emails or exercises have affected you and you feel you would like to speak to someone, support is available through RSABI.  You can call them on 0300 111 4166.  Their helpline is open from 7am to 11pm all year.