Mental Health and Wellbeing - 5 Steps - Take Notice

Hello everyone, welcome to our next wellbeing blog.  This month we are focussing on ‘Taking Notice’.

At Prospect House, we have used the ‘5 ways to wellbeing’ as a framework for our approach to Mental health and wellbeing.

This comprises of 5 different elements:

Connect - Making time for relationships with friends, family and colleagues and elsewhere within your community.

Be active - Exercising, physical activity and enjoying good health.

Take notice - Being aware of the world around you and reflecting on your

experiences.

Keep learning - Trying new things and challenging yourself.

Give - Doing something nice for others, volunteering, making yourself

and others happy

Whoever we are and whatever our role, we all need support from the people around us. In a school this includes teachers, senior leaders, support staff, pupils and parents.

Taking a holistic approach means looking after the whole person, respecting and supporting them, and valuing their unique experience and contributions - the opposite of a ‘one size fits all’ approach.

In practice, this means:

• Providing support for colleagues to meet their individual needs.

• Being a role model for wellbeing wherever possible.

• Removing stigma attached to concern for wellbeing.

• Talking openly about wellbeing and mental health.

• Asking for help and encouraging others to do the same.

• Positive thinking and believing the best about others.

Our next area we would like to focus on is: Taking Notice

Reminding yourself to ‘take notice’ can strengthen and broaden awareness. Studies have shown that being aware of what is taking place in the present directly enhances your well-being and savouring ‘the moment’ can help to reaffirm your life priorities.

Heightened awareness also enhances your self-understanding and allows you to make positive choices based on your own values and motivations.

Take some time to enjoy the moment and the environment around you

Here are some ideas you could try:

· Be aware of the world around you.

· Be outside when you can.

· Reflect on your experiences.

· Consciously relax.

· Try some mindfulness techniques.

· Make time for breaks from the things that cause you stress.

· Keep a mood diary to help establish patterns and find out what might trigger different feelings through the day.

· Try the NHS Feeling Good app to help you establish a positive mindset.