Five ways to wellbeing
Aims
- To support individuals to understand their own identity and personal circumstances which impact on their mental health
- To understand the five ways to wellbeing concept
- To be able to support the development of a five ways wellbeing plan for people
- To develop skills including action planning, self-awareness and providing information and guidance
Learning
outcomes
- To be able to understand the needs of people and to support them to have insight into their mental wellbeing
- Developing a five ways to wellbeing plan
- Understanding local support services for individuals
Activities
8. Five ways to wellbeing activity
Connect, Be Active, Keep Learning, Give, and Take Notice.
They help people take care of their mental health and wellbeing. Regularly practising the Five Ways is beneficial for everyone – whether you have a mental health problem or not.
STEP 1: Connect
Connecting with other people is one of the most powerful ways to increase wellbeing. Forming strong relationships with colleagues, friends and keeps us well, and sets us up for better support through the down times.
- Think about what you already do in your personal lives or at work, to Connect
- Tell your partner about it, who do you connect with and why? and describe how it feels? How do you go about making new connections? The partner will listen, be curious, and ask questions about your connections .
- After 2 minutes, please swap to the other person. Share back: What were some of the ideas you heard, or shared?
STEP 2: Keep Learning
Change partners, then:
- Think about what you already do in your personal lives or at work, to Keep Learning in your life.
- Tell your partner about that, describe it, and describe how it feels. The partner will listen, be curious, and ask questions around what it’s like. What are you learning about at the moment? How does this help your well-being?
- After 2 minutes, please swap to another person.
What were some of the ideas you heard, or shared?
STEP 3: Be Active
Change partners, then:
- Think about what you already do in your personal lives or at work, to Be Active.
- Tell your partner about that, describe it, and describe how it feels. The partner will listen, be curious, and ask questions around what it’s like.
- After 2 minutes, swap to the other person.
Share back:
What were some of the ideas you heard, or shared?
STEP 4: Give
Change partners, then:
- Think about a time someone gave to you, or you gave to someone else.
- Tell your partner about that, describe it, and describe how it felt. The partner will listen, be curious, and ask questions around what it was like.
- After 2 minutes, swap to the other person.
Share back:
What were some of the ideas you heard, or shared?
STEP 5: Take Notice
Either: Take a moment to notice where you are in the room, how you’re feeling and whether something has resonated with you from the workshop.
Or: In our everyday lives, it’s really easy for us to notice what’s wrong. We’re wired that way – it’s important that we can sense and react to bad things because they might be dangerous. We have to make more of a conscious effort to noticethe good things. Go around and ask if each person will share something they appreciate about their work, or about the workshop today.