What is emotional wellbeing?
Emotional wellbeing is learning how to create positive emotions in the face of adversity and enables you to block out the negative thoughts and feelings in order to concentrate on the positives around you instead. It is good to acknowledge the difficult situations whilst being in control of your emotions and managing them so they do not take over and control your overall mood. You can do this by making sure you have time for the things you enjoy, even if you have a busy or stressful day. For example, even if you have a full -on day and life is very busy; break it up or end it with some ‘me-time’. Do something you enjoy or something relaxing to keep your brain focused on the good in your life.
Why is emotional wellbeing important?
Emotional wellbeing helps you to be better prepared and able to cope with the stressors of everyday life. If you are feeling good about yourself, you are in a better mindset to cope with challenges thrown at you. If you develop resilience and strategies to cope with these stressful situations then you are able to focus on the important things in front of you with a clear head- making other potentially stressful situations more manageable.
Having good emotional wellbeing also impacts your physical health. For example, if you are feeling emotionally low (sad, stressed etc), you may struggle keep on top of everyday self-care tasks. Also, low emotional health and can weaken your immune system, making you more vulnerable to catching colds and infections.
How can you look after your emotional wellbeing?
There are many ways to look after your emotional wellbeing.
- Sticking to a regular routine can help.
- Ensuring you eat regular meals at regular times.
- Wake up and go to sleep at a similar time.
- Trying to eat healthy food to fuel your brain supports your body in being able to cope with stress.
- Physical activity also helps because it gets the endorphins pumped around your body which, in turn, can boost your mood.
- Taking time to do activities for yourself as well as doing work can also support your mental health. Finding the balance between work and time for yourself really is important. This can also work as a distraction- if you have a particular stress or something which is playing over and over on your mind, then doing something to distract from this can sometimes help.
- Concentrating on positive moments can train your brain to look at thing that are going well when it seems like everything is stressful.
- It can also help to talk to someone about particularly stressful times or if you’ve had a hard day. Go and have a cuppa with a friend, pick up the phone and talk to someone you trust, or try a talking therapy if you are struggling. In times of self- doubt, remind yourself that you are good enough; you are human and you are trying your best.
- Everyone has positives, remind yourself of your good traits- you could even make a list or a poster of your positive characteristics and read them regularly to remind yourself of how brilliant you are!