Hi there,
I'm David Younger,
Clinical psychologist,
Therapist and coach.
Welcome to the first episode in this Focusing Insight learning series.
During the next 10 minutes,
I'm going to share with you some key tips and pointers about how to create a wellbeing practice.
They're based on key learnings and insights that I've acquired over the last 20 years,
And I'm optimistic,
Really optimistic,
That if you take them on board,
Whether that's some or all of them,
You'll have good success.
An important starting point is for us to give some thought to what wellbeing actually is,
Followed by what it means to create a practice.
I can recall that when I first started reading about wellbeing,
I very quickly learned that it's much more than just not being unwell,
And that even when you are unwell,
That doesn't automatically equate to having good health,
Either emotionally or physically.
Corey Keyes,
The developer of the Dual Mental Health Continuum,
He took this thinking a little bit further when he identified four groups of wellbeing states,
Namely floundering,
Struggling,
Languishing and flourishing,
And he described flourishing as being the highest state of wellbeing that any human can experience.
Adding to this,
American psychologist Martin Seligman,
Who some say is the father of contemporary positive psychology,
He created the acronym PERMA,
P-E-R-M-A,
To represent five ingredients which his research shows,
When present,
Contribute to high levels of happiness and wellbeing.
These are positive emotion,
Engagement,
Which means being fully immersed in an enjoyable activity on a regular basis,
Positive relationships,
Meaning that is having a life that truly feels meaningful,
And accomplishment,
Or working toward goals and achieving mastery,
Competence or success.
So maybe you start to get a bit of a picture now that wellbeing in fact has many facets,
And that it's also something that can be created and strengthened over time.
And it's this point I think that has some real power and is the important one.
So I'll ask you to ask yourself a question right now.
Am I currently in my best state of wellbeing,
One in which amongst other things I'm physically and emotionally healthy,
As well as feeling happy and fulfilled?
You know,
All too often in my professional work,
I come across and I meet people who've already hit the wall,
That is,
They're unwell.
And from this point,
You know,
It's really clear it often takes unfortunately,
A long time and it's a long road to getting back to good health.
But what I can share with you is that it doesn't always have to be like this.
And that then brings us through to a practice.
So what is a practice?
Well,
Quite simply,
We can start to think of a practice as being something that we do regularly and consistently that over time has health and wellbeing benefits,
And that with practice,
In other words,
Through repetition,
Becomes easier,
More rewarding and more beneficial.
It's actually really well documented and understood that long periods of heightened stress,
What we commonly refer to as chronic stress,
Can have all sorts of negative health and wellbeing impacts,
Physical and emotional.
And whilst the scientific area of mind-body science has identified six key areas in which changes that are supportive of good health can be made,
In the context of this Focusing Insight episode,
The type of practice that I'm suggesting you give consideration to,
Is the one that uses the mind to help you disrupt the chronic stress cycle.
And the aim of doing this is to create an opportunity for rest and recovery,
So that the mind and the body together can re-establish a healthy balance.
Some examples of the types of approaches that can be practiced and that provide good benefit are calm,
Controlled breathing,
Progressive muscle relaxation,
A guided meditation or a mindfulness exercise,
Guided imagery,
Or perhaps even just stopping to pause so that you can tune yourself in to the present moment.
In other words,
Your practice can be an approach to reducing chronic stress impacts whilst promoting good health,
And who doesn't want that?
Given you understand a bit more now about wellbeing and about what a practice is,
Let's come through to the most important part,
Namely,
How you can actually create a consistent wellbeing practice for yourself.
So to help with this,
I've got six top tips for you in order of priority.
The first one is motivation.
You're going to need to find motivation so that you can get started and then persist long enough for your practice to become a habit,
Which means it's become automatic.
So what is motivation?
Well,
We can think of it as the energy or the drive that comes from within that pushes us forward towards something,
Such as what we want to do or what we want to achieve.
And the fuel for motivation comes from different sources.
For example,
If we're talking about wellbeing,
Well,
If you're unwell,
Your motivating driver might be to become healthy once again,
Or for others,
It might be to protect yourself from becoming unwell.
And then there's just feeling better overall.
That's a pretty good motivator to have.
But either way,
You need to find your reason,
You need to be really clear on it,
And it's important to turn it into your motivational source.
The second top tip is to make the decision and commit to action.
Sometimes motivation on its own just isn't enough.
And for this reason,
I want to suggest that you make the decision to create a practice,
And then you commit to action on a daily basis.
You see,
A decision represents having made a choice and commitment symbolizes forward action.
Motivation is then used to help you convert thought into reality.
And the follow on from this is finding ways to change some of your current behaviors so that you can support creating a wellbeing practice.
Thirdly,
Find a time of day that suits you.
And by this,
I don't only mean the actual time that's convenient.
I'm also referring to the place in your day that's most supportive of doing a practice.
For some people,
This is first thing in the morning when they're alert and fresh,
But for others,
It's at the end of the day before sleep,
And then there's everyone else and every other time in between.
But what tends to work really well is finding a sweet spot,
A sweet spot between your natural rhythm as a person and your usual daily commitments.
Fourthly,
Find a quiet,
Comfortable place free of distraction.
Make sure that your phone is off or on silent,
That any doors are closed,
And that if other people are around,
They know not to disturb you.
And some additional suggestions are sitting outside amongst nature,
Which can be very calming or playing some soothing music in the background.
Fifthly,
Choose a practice that you enjoy.
It might take a little bit of experimenting and be prepared to try a few options,
But finding an enjoyable practice with positive benefit will refuel your motivation and that will help you to remain consistent.
And this is especially true when you come through to the point of having a practice that you look forward to doing the next day.
That will pull you in the direction of doing it,
And you'll more than likely do it.
And sixthly,
Persist and be consistent.
That is,
Practice regularly,
And if you miss a day or two here or there,
Don't allow that to cause you to stop entirely.
Just re-establish your practice and keep doing this over and over and over again.
Also,
Be realistic with your time frames and give yourself a good few months to create your practice.
And then from there,
The sky is the limit.
In summary then,
The six top tips are find your motivation,
Make the decision and commit to action,
Find a time of day that suits you as a person,
Find a comfortable place free of distractions,
Choose an enjoyable practice,
And then persist and be consistent.
Thank you for listening,
And I really want to wish you all the best in establishing a wellbeing practice for yourself.
