Your Wellbeing

Guide

Wellbeing
+ Selfcare & Health
+ Stay connected
+ Spiritual support
Inside your free guide:
• Tips on looking after your wellbeing
• Ways to keep in touch
• Spiritual support
 Looking after your mental
health and wellbeing
Life can be a delicate balancing act between Be kind
competing elements that we need to dedicate
In every act of kindness, there is the potential for
time and energy towards – such as work,
one person to feel supported and the other to
family, relationships, health, and finances.
feel valued and useful. So it can help everyone
Often, especially in periods of transition or feel better! Plus, acts of kindness can increase
uncertainty, we can forget about ourselves in the dopamine and serotonin levels, which are the
process and as a result our mental wellbeing can hormones that are linked to happiness. Reflect
fall by the wayside. on the kindness in your life and plan some more
kind acts for the future.
There are a few simple things that you can do to
help keep your wellbeing on track and maintain Top Tip: Try doing each of these things over
resilience through challenging periods: the course of the next week:

Keep a routine  Remind a friend of their best qualities

Planning out how you’ll spend your time each day  Call someone you know is feeling lonely

Welcome
can be really useful. For instance, thinking about  Pay someone a compliment
what time you’ll get up, what activities you’ll be
doing that day and what time you might have your  Put out a bowl of water for the birds
meals? It might help to write this down and keep it
somewhere that you can refer to it throughout the
Ask for help
day. Keeping to a routine can be especially helpful This can be challenging at times, especially when
during uncertain times to help you prioritise both it is something you are not accustomed to doing.
Welcome to Livability’s wellbeing guide. your physical and mental health. Asking for help can sometimes makes us feel
My name is Emma and I’m responsible for vulnerable and weak and therefore many of us
Livability’s wellbeing services, based at Livability Monitor your news intake chose to struggle on in silence instead.

Holton Lee in Dorset. I have over 20 years Even though watching the news can make However, asking for help is in fact a great sign
you feel more in control, overconsumption can of courage and few people can function without
experience of supporting people to improve their
negatively affect mental health. Negative news help from others in some capacity. It strengthens
wellbeing and I love seeing the transformation can trigger the body to release stress hormones relationships and it builds community, so If asking
of people who take part in our therapeutic and, over time, this can significantly impact mood for help is something that is challenging for you,
programmes. and increase anxiety levels. start small and it will get easier with practice.
Schedule in time for news updates and be vigilant
I strongly believe that it’s really important by making sure that you are getting your news
to look after our wellbeing and, with all the from trusted sources such as GOV.UK or the NHS.
Emma Browning Spend some time seeking out and reflecting on the
challenges we currently face, I wanted to share
Wellbeing Programmes good news happening in your community and the
some top tips and approaches that might help wider world, to help address the balance.
you at this time. I hope you enjoy reading this Manager
Top Tip: Consider turning off the news
guide and it helps you to find your own path to alerts on your phone.
happiness and wellbeing.
Moving matters Keeping in touch
Looking after our physical health can be
Keeping in touch with loved ones is paramount
hugely beneficial for our mental wellbeing.
Getting the body moving releases happy
for maintaining our wellbeing. Sometimes
it is not possible to meet friends and family
How Peter stays
hormones, plus it can help to bring routine and
structure to your week.
in person, so below are some top tips for connected
maintaining those important relationships
Peter suffered from a brain injury as a
Exercise doesn’t need to be intense or through these periods:
child and, as a result, has poor short-term
time-consuming to have a positive effect on
your overall wellbeing; just half an hour will make Develop your memory. He lives at Livability’s York House
where he receives 24-hour specialist care.
a big difference.
technology skills During the coronavirus pandemic, Peter’s
Dance or Sing Technology offers a huge range of ways that we
family were unable to visit him. To stay
connected to his loved ones, the team at
can communicate with one another. Does your
Dancing can be done almost anywhere and York House would arrange video calls for
phone or computer have a camera on it? You could
everywhere – just pop on some music and dance Peter to stay in touch with his relatives
learn how to take a video and send it to a friend
around while you are cooking, or you could even and made sure they sent regular updates.
or family member. It could be anything – sharing
learn a choreographed routine online! Singing This has been vital in keeping Peter
something you have cooked, or a new flower that
can be just as beneficial and has been shown to connected to his family and they‘ve loved
has come up in the garden. Videos enable you to
improve our sense of happiness and wellbeing. hearing how Peter is caring for the gardens
share a moment of your day even if others aren’t
Top Tip: If you’re able to go online you could Gardening physically there and help you to stay connected.
at York House.
consider joining a group and sing together in a
virtual choir.
As many people have have been stuck inside their
homes during the coronavirus outbreak this year,
Connect in new ways
Do household chores it’s no surprise that a new wave of gardeners have
emerged across the country.
For some people, staying inside the house for
long periods can feel very lonely. The answer to
Activities like hoovering, polishing, and mopping loneliness is to find different ways to connect
For those who are lucky enough to have access
are all great ways to get your daily dose of with others, even during those times when we
to a garden, it can be a great source of exercise
exercise. Other activities such as DIY or home don’t feel that chatty. Challenge yourself to come
whilst being outside. For those with no outdoor
improvement projects can also be a good source up with new reasons for communicating with
space, it’s amazing what you can grow on a
of exercise for the body and mind. someone – perhaps you could read a bedtime
window sill.
story to a young family member or phone
someone and do an online quiz together.

Sheila’s sense of purpose Send a letter

You could write a letter to send to a loved one
As a nurse, Sheila had given her life to helping through the post. It could be highly personalised
others. She loved being outdoors but one day and a wonderful surprise that lets the person
she had a stroke and lost all movement in her you’re writing to know you’re thinking of them
legs. She couldn’t speak and, with no family, and miss them. The more letters and messages
she became very isolated. we send out, the better chance we have of
getting something back and receiving a letter
Thankfully Sheila found Livability’s horticultural
can really make someone’s day.
therapy programme where gardening became
a possibility again from her wheelchair. Top Tip: Connect with someone you’ve
been meaning to for a while.
Being able to garden again really has changed
Sheila’s life. It’s given her a sense of purpose.
It’s helped her to maintain her fitness and
given her new friends and the confidence she
thought she’d lost.
Spiritual
support “I’m hopeful that in our
changing world, finding
Caring for our spiritual wellbeing can help us
new ways of being together
to find purpose and feel more connected to
those around us. This in turn can increase our
will help us to share from our
overall happiness. Many people find invaluable
support for their wellbeing through their faith
hearts, to open up our lives, to
because it can: know each other more closely”
Connect us to others Elizabeth Harrison, Chaplaincy Manager at Livability
The community we reach through our church can
be a great form of support. If you’re not able to
attend your local church in person or perhaps sign
up to a service online, you could consider praying
with someone over the phone and having a
conversation about your own spiritual wellbeing.

Volunteering our time

Volunteering our time and skills to support
others can boost our own wellbeing. Faith
groups play a vital role in tackling barriers in
community life. It could be worth exploring
how your local church has changed during the
last few months. Perhaps there could be an
opportunity to volunteer with many churches
now running food banks and other services
supporting their local community.

Encourage reflection
Through reading scripture, and learning from
those who journey before us in faith, we find our
path through a changing landscape. Reflecting
with others can help us to acknowledge
uncertainty and process how we feel. In turn, this
assists us in making choices consistent with our
beliefs and values, which increases our wellbeing
and ultimately our happiness. You could try
building time for spiritual reflection into your
regular practice.
Top Tip: Find a virtual community who could
support you spiritually.
About Livability
Livability is the charity that supports
people with disabilities to live a life that
adds up for them. We tackle barriers that
impact people with disabilities, to enable
better wellbeing and participation for all.
Delivering a wide range of care, education,
vocation and rehabilitation services, we
strive to grow community connections that
help people thrive.

Contact us
For more information contact Livability at
Livability, 6 Mitre Passage London SE10 0ER
Email us at [email protected]
Call us on 020 7452 2121
LivabilityUK

With thanks to Paul Mitchell for supplying some of

the images featured in this guide.

Livability is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee in

England and Wales. Charity No: 1116530 and Company No: 5967087.
Registered office: 6 Mitre Passage, London, SE10 0ER.