student wellbeing:
Wellbeing; achieving inner balance
One of the most common questions asked when it comes to emotional health and wellbeing or even how to prevent burnout is; how does a person obtain ‘Balance.’?
While gaining balance and a healthy wellbeing can sound simple, being out of balance is one of the most common issues we all face in todays society. Particularly, during times of stress and anxiety we need to stick to the basics of not overdoing it so our systems don't get overloaded and go into flight or fight.
Primarily we are here to survive and that means giving our bodies some basic requirements. Without our basic needs of water and food being met, our bodies will start to shut down, become easily fatigued, and we can even find ourselves being easily irritated and without understanding why we are feeling this way. But often we forget that we are also emotional beings.
As humans, on top of our primal needs to eat, and sleep, we need to feel a sense of connection to other humans – without enough touch babies die aka “failure to thrive”.
When our emotional or physical needs are not being met we can be thrown completely off balance, loose our capacity to be resilient or flexible. It also means our ability to buffer what life throws at us is greatly limited.
CONNECTION
Having human connection is one area we can forget to factor into our wellbeing needs. Are our social needs being met? Are we getting enough down time away from other humans, or are we feeling nourished by the relationships we have already?
Relationships can be one of the most nourishing or depleting parts of our lives, so they are key considerations when it comes to creating and maintaining overall wellbeing.
SLEEP
Regular undisturbed sleep and healthy eating choices help you to keep your body fuelled and energised. There are national sleep recommendations on the minimum hours of sleep each person requires.
Sleep recommendations:
- Have consistent bed and wake-up times
- Children aged 5–13 years = an uninterrupted 9 to 11 hours of sleep per night
- Teens agreed 14–17 years = 8 to 10 hours per night
- Adults 18 plus = 7-9 hours per night
If you dont think you are getting enough sleep, monitoring your sleep patterns, mood, and energy levels daily for at 10-14 days a week or two will help you to determine the minimum amount of sleep your body needs.
When you are sleep deprived your body is goes into a sleep deficit. This then creates a cycle of fatigue and overtired feelings which drain body and mind. This lack of regular sleep can heavily impact your ability to function, make clear choices and slows down your response time and reflexes.
Developing healthy habits to support optimal sleep and rest will help, including being aware of your sleep hygiene. Things that support a healthy ‘sleep hygiene’ include creating bedtime rituals to wind down your nervous system, mind and body.
Set yourself up to have a good nights sleep by winding yourself down for bed at least 45 minutes prior.
Ways to prepare for sleep may include:
- Have a shower or a warm bath before bed
- Have a warm drink (milk with turmeric powder, ground cinnamon and honey is a great Ayurvedic sleep remedy)
- Have a regular bedtime before 10pm
- Remove distractions;
- Turn off your phone! Put your phone on Aeroplane mode, silent (without vibrations) or even better leave it out of the bedroom
- Avoid having TV or a tablet in the bedroom. The blue light can interfere with our ability to sleep so keep all your electronic entertainment outside the bedroom
- Use a blue light filter on all your devices from 6pm at night to 6am each day
- Create an atmosphere of calm and tranquility in your bedroom so its a nice place to sleep;
- the room should be dark
- have blockout blinds in place for early mornings
- minimise external noise; put on music or use some earplugs if necessary
- essential oils diffusing can help create a calm atmosphere to support sleep
- Clear your mind;
- Reflect on the day and connect to gratitude or appreciation for things you did well today
- Place your hands on your belly and do some relaxing belly breathing to settle the nervous system down into ‘rest and digest’ mode
- Put on some calming music or a guided meditation
PHYSICAL HEALTH
The body and brain need sleep to recover, develop, strengthen, repair and build new cells. Just as important is making time for regular movement and exercise.
Regular daily exercise and movement have been proven to increase a positive mood, improve self-esteem, reduce anxiety and promote a positive self-image. Above all, after participating in an any activity that increases your heart rate in the evening, also means it will be easier to fall asleep.
Exercise can be fun, any activity where there is movement is highly beneficial Preferably pick an activity you enjoy and if you have friends who will join in is even better as this will help you to be more motivated to exercise and also helps you to feel socially engaged with people. When you participate in physical activity, your body produces feel good happy, positive endorphins. So back to basics, as human beings, our body produces many chemicals that need to be released, and regular exercise helps in this process by giving your emotions a positive outlet.
The reality is at times we will feel out of balance whether it is pressure from home, school or work sometimes the stress builds up. Taking yourself back to basics ensuring you exercise daily, maintain a healthy sleep pattern and eat healthy throughout the day. Will help you through this stressful time as you are providing your body with the essential needs, enabling you to function less on emotion and more with a clearer head space.
SELF CARE
Self-care is an important part of maintaining our emotional wellbeing. Read this article dedicated to this topic here.