WELLBEING

The Wellbeing Hub   

From The Counsellor’s Desk

RU OK Day

On Thursday this week the College celebrated RU OK day with a day of no lessons! While excellence in academic achievement is key to our College, this always goes hand in hand with wellbeing. When we are happy and healthy we are able to perform at our best and when we are achieving at our best it helps with our mental health. This year we had a whole day off lessons to look after our mental health and each other. Much thanks to Mr Ingold for making this rest day happen. 

Rest Days

Rest days are great and it is really essential that we take them on a regular basis but what is going to be most beneficial for you to do on your rest days?

The normal pace of life is so frantic that when rest days come we tend to want to use them in fairly sedentary pursuits. We really just want to sleep in, relax, watch tv, play on our phone, sit inside, binge movies and eat junk food. While this proclivity is understandable it really is not at all helpful. 

We tend to feel worse after a day like this and the reason is that it doesn’t help with our main physiological or psychological needs. 

Routine is important, particularly in regards to sleep. If we change our sleep patterns we can end up feeling worse right from the start. Sleeping-in can actually make us more tired than getting up at the same time as we usually do.

Relaxing is nice but if we don’t get up and get moving for the day we may feel like we have wasted our time. This is also the problem with watching movies or TV or playing on our phones. Once we have finished these activities we realise that our lives have not moved forward; that we haven’t done anything of value with our time. The lack of fresh air, the lack of sunshine, the lack of movement all send signals to our brain that we are not in a good place. Our rest days can in fact leave us feeling quite depressed and frustrated rather than rested, energetic and enthusiastic to face the working week.

The Best Rest

Rather than falling into the temptation to veg out on your rest days, why not challenge yourself to come up with some activities that will actually help your mental health on these days. What might these activities look like? What are their key aspects?

Physical movement - getting your body moving is very good not just for your body but also for your brain. It has been linked to a decrease in depression, and anxiety along with helping your thinking, learning, problem solving and emotional balance.

Sunshine - Sunshine on your skin is essential for creating vitamin D which not only helps with your calcium and phosphorus absorption and immune system but has also been linked to emotional regulation. Sunshine has also been shown to increase the brains release of serotonin which boosts your mood and makes you feel more calm and focussed.

Adrenaline - activities that involve the release of adrenaline can be great for people who are depressed. Adrenaline can create a heightened state of physical and mental alertness and can even assist your immune system for short periods of time.

Endorphins - Are chemicals the body releases when engaged in vigorous physical activity. They can help relieve pain, reduce emotional stress and offer a sense of wellbeing helping to ward off depression.

Progress toward a valued goal/Productive - There is nothing more satisfying than standing back at the end of a day and seeing all that you have accomplished. This is particularly the case when you can see progress toward some goal that you really want to achieve. 

Self care - It is important to take time to do activities that have no other purpose than to make you feel good. Take time to smell the roses, relax in a bath, get a massage, listen to your favourite music and do nothing else at the same time. This focus tells you that you care about yourself; that your wellbeing is worth the time.

Social connection - Social connection can be difficult at the moment but it is an essential for wellbeing. We have been created as relational beings and connection with each other and with God is something that is worth the effort.

So with all this in mind what is the perfect activity for your day off?

Maybe: vigorously dancing while skydiving with friends and family who are giving you a massage while you create a masterpiece… or something like that. 😊

But seriously, take the time to plan your times of rest so that they do indeed promote your mental health rather than detracting from it.

Michael Lance | College Counsellor