Rescue UK NPD 3 Ways To Help Your Emotional Wellbeing 1440x420

3 ways to help with your emotional wellbeing

We use the phrase emotional wellbeing to talk about how we are feeling and how well we are coping with daily life. This can include your ability to manage stress, build relationships and overcome any challenges setbacks or hardships (big or small).

When we look a little deeper, it’s important to remember that emotional wellbeing doesn’t always mean you’re happy and without negative thoughts. Many factors can impact your emotional health & wellbeing, such as recovering from an illness, change in lifestyle or misfortune.

So, we've set out three things that may help in managing life's ups and downs, improve your mood and achieve emotional balance.

Natural mood enhancers

Sometimes the stresses of everyday life can get us down, we wake up in the morning feeling a little unmotivated and reaching for the duvet instead of springing out of bed every morning. It's important to understand that this is a normal feeling, and there are ways you can boost your mood naturally.

  • Exercise - exercise releases feel good chemicals (endorphins) which lift your mood and can reduce stress. Studies have shown that you can feel the effects of exercise within 5 minutes.
  • Spend time outside in nature - getting into the outdoors is said to lift your mood. The exposure to sunlight and production of vitamin D has been shown to naturally enhance your mood.
  • Playing with a pet - interaction with animals has been known to boost feel-good chemicals and reduce stress levels. Even if you don’t own a cat or dog, you could offer to walk or hang out with a friend’s or a relative’s pet, or sign up for a local dog walking service.
  • Eat dark chocolate - it contains flavanols which have been shown to have a positive effect on mood and can be found in cacao (the unprocessed seeds from which chocolate is made). These flavanols convert chemicals into serotonin, the feel good hormone.
  • Surround yourself with positive energy - never critique yourself for feeling down. Make sure to surround yourself with positive people and energy which will lift your spirits.

Keeping a positive mindset

The ability to stay positive will help in leading a happy life and improve motivation. When you have a positive attitude dealing with life’s obstacles will become a lot easier and you’ll soon find you’re able to achieve your goals with a clearer head. Think about introducing a daily routine which prioritises your emotional stress and wellbeing. Things like good quality sleep, practicing living in the moment and surrounding yourself with positive people will all help to keep a positive mindset.

There are also slightly bigger steps you can take such as making a mission statement and having personal goals. A personal mission statement will help you define your purpose at work, what your life is about, what motivates you and your behaviour. Setting goals will help you outline specific things you want to achieve, breaking these down into daily chunks to help you process them.

We also have the small and simple every day methods to keeping a positive mindset. Try embracing laughter – who doesn’t love a good laugh? It can make you feel good and is also good for you physically. Be curious and embrace learning throughout your day-to-day smaller moments, be curious about new situations and become mindful of what’s going on around you.

How to relieve tension

Whilst there are a number of ways to keeping a positive mindset in changing your daily habits, there are also many practical ways in which you can relieve tension:

  • Light a candle & relax - using essential oils or burning a scented candle can help in reducing stress. Choose scents such as lavender, lemon balm, or chamomile which are calming and soothing, run yourself a hot bath or pick up your favourite book and relax.
  • Write down your worries - one way to relieve tension is by writing down your worries and daily thoughts, as well as to do lists for the next day. You can also write down things you are grateful for, such as your health, friends, family, and career. This will help you reflect on the positivity in your life.
  • Practice meditation - meditation makes us feel happy and can relax tension and pain we are feeling in the body. The art of practising meditation must begin with you finding a quiet, comfortable space and focussing on your breath. Deeply inhaling and expanding your body at the same time, then exhaling slowly. Try and focus on your body and not the distractions you may have around you, this helps us with the notion of living in the moment.
  • Listen to soothing music - listening to music can have a relaxing effect on the body. Slow-paced instrumental sounds can induce the relaxation response by helping lower blood pressure and stress hormones.