What Does Wellbeing Mean To You? For everyone, it will most probably hold different values but the one thing that all of us have in common is that our own personal wellbeing matters! As coaches it is so important that we look after our wellbeing, not just for ourselves but also to best enable us to be in the best position to be able to fully support and motivate our clients.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines wellbeing as "the state of being comfortable, healthy or happy.”
For me, wellbeing is about being able to find that calmness where you can allow the negative chatter that we all live with to just sit quietly at the back of your mind.
Wellbeing is about being able to recognise and acknowledge the people, situations, conversations and moments that bring a warm glow of happiness into your life and also having the awareness and self-respect to choose to move away from anything that unsettles that wonderful balance that you work so hard to achieve.
Wellbeing is about prioritising yourself. It doesn't make you selfish and the benefits you will uncover from practising good mental wellbeing will have a positive impact on every part of your life.
So, what can you do to ensure that practising wellbeing is something that doesn't only happen when life is testing you? Mental wellbeing should be created by truly listening to yourself and focusing on the things and activities you know you love to do. Allow yourself the best opportunities to flourish in every avenue of your life by making it a consistent part of your everyday routine. Maybe you are probably doing lots already and maybe aren't aware of how important then are to your wellbeing. There are so many different activities, but you'll only really know what works if you give it a go!
Listed below is a selection that you might want to try and I'm sure you'll be able to come up with lots of others too…
…walking, Reading, Yoga, Meditation, Painting, Drawing, Swimming, Listening to a podcast or music, chatting with friends, a nice meal out, exercise, a short nap, an hour or more away from your phone, getting to bed a little earlier, cooking, baking, horse riding, learning something new or doing a crossword.
The list is endless, and the benefits will only really be clear if you find things that suit you.
As someone who has battled with severe depression for over 30 years I now find myself in the strongest place mentally that I have ever been.
It's been more than 14 years since I last took any medication and at one point I was heavily medicated taking 9 pills a day just to help with my mood and thought process, but I've worked hard and I've listened carefully to myself as I watched closely what made me happy and what pulled me down.
What we do, think and feel everyday impacts how we function. If our mental wellbeing isn't looked after as much as our physical health, then life can seem very difficult and achieving the dreams and goals you so desire can feel nothing more than a futile uphill struggle!
This won't suit everyone, but I'd like to share with you one of the tools I use each day to allow me to manage and improve not only my very limited depressive moments now but also to help keep me in a well-balanced place…movement!
My priority every single day is movement…
I love to walk and it's only in the last 5 years that I realised just how much it helps me. My free time can be limited some days and there are many a morning where I wake to that small reasonably silent proverbial dark cloud lingering above my head.
So, what do I do? I get up and move. Sometimes it's around the back garden, sometimes on those wet miserable crawl back under the covers ‘kinda days’, I often find myself putting my favourite music on and either marching indoors on the spot or dancing around the living room doing some high knees and the odd grapevine.
Within minutes I can feel those wonderful endorphins kick in and before long, what might have started from a slightly pessimistic viewpoint changes to one of feeling more positive, motivated and excited about the day.
Nothing makes me feel freer and at peace with my life than to walk, regardless of the weather in an area of woodland where the only sounds I hear are the sweet chirps from the birds and the fallen leaves and twigs crunching under my feet. One of my other favourite places to take a stroll is by the sea where I simply let the gentle breeze and the lapping waves wash away my troubles.
The Gift of Wellbeing
We all deserve to be able to make time every single day to prioritise our wellbeing.
Life is full of challenges and can at times feel unbearably hard. Give yourself a wonderful gift every day by just stopping for a while and making yourself number one. Like our clients, us coaches are incredible and have the potential to shine but we need to take care of ourselves.
Don't just read my words and do nothing! Make even the smallest changes today and then just watch how your life starts to feel very different in a wonderful way.
Ruth Webster is one of The Coaching Academy’s current students who spent the last 17 years running her own business teaching people of all ages how to drive, but her heart now firmly lies within the coaching world. Ruth is excited to be qualifying soon, her chosen niche will be around Mental Health & Wellbeing, and she feels honoured to be a part of her clients’ unique journeys.
Next week Ruth is our guest on Coaching Conversations hosted by Sharon Lawton (Head of Training) - book your free space today here!
If you have not already done so, please do join us for our Introduction to Life Coaching webinar to learn more about coaching as a career and how coaching can be used to help people deal with changes & challenges and move confidently forward in their lives - choose from available dates here.
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