Beat the January Blues and boost your happiness this month with 31 top tips from a range of health and wellbeing experts! This week we are posting tips for the 8- 14 January. We will be posting more tips every week, so stay tuned…
Click here to see last week’s tips!
8. Anyone for Zoom Pictionary?
“Break up your workday with some friendly competition, I’m talking board games, charades, even via Zoom,” says time management coach Carina Lawson. “This can be done over lunch, but it lets people connect, laugh and remember that there’s life beyond their desk.”
9. Take 5 breaks
Wellbeing and addiction coach and author of Love Yourself Sober (£10.19), Kate Baily advises we should all stop five times every day: “It could just be sitting and having a cup of tea without multitasking or if you can, lie down on the floor. This helps to reset the nervous system and get us out of automatic fight/ flight mode into a rest and restore mode which is great for both body and mind.”
10. Say hello, wave goodbye
“Couples often drift apart over time and the physical and emotional connection withers,” says relationship expert and author of Reset (£12.99), Neil Wilkie. “Create a ritual of parting and coming back together. Make these moments of intimacy where it is as if time stops and nothing else matters. It can change how you both feel that day and that night when you connect with hugs or words of love or affirmation.”
11. Bath to boost your Acetylcholine
“The chemical Acetylcholine is responsible for energy renewal in our bodies – which is important to keep us going through winter,” explains author of Physical Intelligence (£14.99), Claire Dale. “To quickly relax and stimulate acetylcholine production after a hard day, take a hot bath with Epsom salts in it. Minerals such as magnesium and potassium (vital for renewal) will be absorbed through the skin, your energy will come flooding back – and you’ll sleep better.”
12. Make the ordinary extraordinary
“Happiness is something you can cultivate moment to moment in your everyday life if you find joys in the smallest of things,” says Vanya Silverten, author of Sacred Revolution: A Woman’s Path to Love, Power & Sensual Enlightenment (£10.30). “Washing the dishes can become fun if you play your favourite record, spending a little extra time coordinating your outfit with accessories will make you feel more fabulous – it all requires a little creative flare and a little more presence, something that we all have.”
13. Learn from your work experiences
Natasha Harvey specialises in mentoring young professional women through Embrace Your Change. She advises to take 5 minutes each week at work to note down what you did well, what you need to do differently to continue making progress and what you need to concentrate on in the coming week. “It’ll help you grow your skills as well as boost your self-confidence at work,” she explains.
14. Forget growing up
“As kids, most of us can’t wait to grow up – we think that’s where all the great stuff will happen. Yet before you know it, you’re caught in the grown up trap, working harder and longer hours to pay for the better house, the better car and for those holiday you need to escape it all,” says Nicky Taylor, co-author of Be More Kid (£8.34). “Why not be more kid, simplify your life and get back in touch with those dreams you had before you grew up?”
Click here to read our article on boosting resilience and rediscovering your inner child!
