Well-Being
Now more than ever it is important to look after ourselves. It is a great benefit to know how we can relax and what things help us personally. Please find below different links and ideas on how you can achieve this.
Wellbeing drop-in
The Wellbeing drop-in offers support and guidance on children’s mental health. Its open for young people, parents/carers and professional to access.
How does the drop-in work?
We run a drop-in at Eagle House Monday – Saturday during our opening hours.
Youth Worker – can speak to you about all support services available in Jersey, how to access them and general advice and guidance on wellbeing for young people.
Counsellor – can speak to you about one to one talking therapy and how to start regular counselling sessions, provide emotional support and signposting.
If you would like to find out more about visiting the Wellbeing drop-in, call us on our free phone 0800 7350 010 or email us on yes@jys.je
Location: Eagle House, La Colomberie, St. Helier, JE2 4QB
Mindfulness
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.
While mindfulness is something we all naturally possess, it’s more readily available to us when we practice on a daily basis.
Whenever you bring awareness to what you’re directly experiencing via your senses, or to your state of mind via your thoughts and emotions, you’re being mindful. And there’s growing research showing that when you train your brain to be mindful, you’re actually remodelling the physical structure of your brain.
What is meditation?
Meditation is exploring. It’s not a fixed destination. Your head doesn’t become vacuumed free of thought, utterly undistracted. It’s a special place where each and every moment is momentous. When we meditate we venture into the workings of our minds: our sensations (air blowing on our skin or a harsh smell wafting into the room), our emotions (love this, hate that, crave this, loathe that) and thoughts (wouldn’t it be weird to see an elephant playing a trumpet).
Mindfulness meditation asks us to suspend judgment and unleash our natural curiosity about the workings of the mind, approaching our experience with warmth and kindness, to ourselves and others.
How do I practice mindfulness and meditation?
Mindfulness is available to us in every moment, whether through meditations and body scans, or mindful moment practices like taking time to pause and breathe when the phone rings instead of rushing to answer it.
Mindfulness Links:
Free Meditations on Frantic World website
YouTube:
Breathing Meditation
Guided Mindfulness Meditation
The Art of Stillness
Ted Talks:
Self Transformation through Mindfulness
The Practice of Mindfulness
The Mindful Way through Depression
Mindfulness in Schools
The Power of Mindfulness
10 Mindful Minutes
Recommended Resources
Physical & Exercise
Exercise and physical activity has lots of benefits to your well-being, some of these include:
1) Exercise controls weight
2) Exercise combats health conditions and diseases
3) Exercise improves mood
4) Exercise boosts energy
5) Exercise promotes better sleep
6) Exercise can be fun
Please remember to ensure your safety during any of these sessions, these are videos and do not substitute for a real teacher, therefore please ensure you maintain your limits of ability.
YouTube exercise tutorials:
5 exercises to transform your body
Recommended Resources
Relaxation Meditations
WHY LEARN TO MEDITATE?
When we meditate, we inject far-reaching and long-lasting benefits into our lives. And bonus: you don’t need any extra gear or an expensive membership.
Here are five reasons to meditate:
1: Understand your pain
2: Lower your stress
3: Connect better
4: Improve focus
5: Reduce brain chatter
How to Meditate
Meditation is simpler (and harder) than most people think. Read these steps, make sure you’re somewhere where you can relax into this process, set a timer, and give it a shot:
1) Take a seat
Find a place to sit that feels calm and quiet to you.
2) Set a time limit
If you’re just beginning, it can help to choose a short time, such as five or 10 minutes.
3) Notice your body
You can sit in a chair with your feet on the floor, you can sit loosely cross-legged, you can kneel—all are fine. Just make sure you are stable and in a position you can stay in for a while.
4) Feel your breath
Follow the sensation of your breath as it goes in and as it goes out.
5) Notice when your mind has wandered
Inevitably, your attention will leave the breath and wander to other places. When you get around to noticing that your mind has wandered—in a few seconds, a minute, five minutes—simply return your attention to the breath.
6) Be kind to your wandering mind
Don’t judge yourself or obsess over the content of the thoughts you find yourself lost in. Just come back.
7) Close with kindness
When you’re ready, gently lift your gaze (if your eyes are closed, open them). Take a moment and notice any sounds in the environment. Notice how your body feels right now. Notice your thoughts and emotions.
That’s it! That’s the practice. You go away, you come back, and you try to do it as kindly as possible.
Relaxation meditation videos available to follow on YouTube:
10 min meditation for gratitude and happiness
Recommended Resources
Positive TED Talks
TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.
Positive TED Talks:
The surprising science of happiness
Plug into your hardwired happiness
The lies our culture tells about what matters and a better way to live
Embracing others embracing myself
Everyone around you has a story
How to make stress your friend
Want to be happy stay in the moment
How to be calm when you know you’ll be stressed
Recommended Resources
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