How are you looking after yourself?  I know some of us have been able to focus on wellbeing – eating well, exercising, managing their sleep… and for others, it’s not been quite so easy.

If you’re in the latter category then perhaps taking a leaf out of the Tiny Habits process that Prof. BJ Fogg identified might help.  If we want to exercise more, it’s easy to go with a vision of exercise that’s a long way from where we are now – running 5k or cycling to work every day.  Trying to achieve those things too quickly might be so unpleasant that all of our instinct tells us to stop!

So, start tiny.  Perhaps every time you climb the stairs, go back down and back up again (or even just go back a few steps).  That’s a much easier target, and doing it helps encourage further steps.

The NHS Choices Couch to 5k programme aims to help people reach the fitness level to run 5k by slowly increasing the difficulty over 9 weeks – I did this programme a few years back, and it was really helpful in getting back into running – though I did visit a physiotherapist towards the end of the 9 weeks (she was very helpful)… perhaps I should have combined it with 5 weeks NHS Choices Strength and Flexibility plan.  I do still run though, so it worked well for me.

The point is to start small and work up slowly.  Make one change to your food preparation, increase how much you move a little, turn off the light at night 10 minutes earlier.

But, it’s not just diet, exercise, and sleep that support our wellbeing.  What do you do that you enjoy?  Read a book, take a bath, dance, sing, …  I often share an exercise I call the ‘play list’.  In short: write down everything you can think of that you enjoy.  Keep adding to it, build the list.  And, here comes the intervention: regularly do things from your play list, particularly if you are struggling.

It’s not that we should become hedonists… but do mix play into the non-play stuff to help us recover as a part of our wellbeing habits.  What’s on your play list?

Of course – I’d also strongly suggest you start, restart or continue in mindfulness practice!  Start with 1-minute if you need to.  Prioritising your wellbeing is an investment that pays dividend long into the future.