Wellbeing Wifi

Well before co-design was part of her vocabulary, 11-year-old Zali Fisher presented the Wellbeing Wifi to her mother, Bronwen, Founder and CEO of Roses in the Ocean.

‘Mum, I think you could use this for Roses in the Ocean,’ suggested Zali. ‘Everyone knows they want full bars on their Wifi, and we need full bars for our wellbeing too!’

The Wellbeing Wifi was further developed by Roses in the Ocean, based on the Wheel of Wellbeing and endorsed by the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP).

The Wellbeing Wifi is designed to prompt conversation and highlight areas of self-care that you can adopt in order to improve your personal wellbeing.

If you, or someone you know, are in need of crisis care or counselling, please contact your local service providers.

Well-being Wifi pillars

Have you caught up with friends, relatives or colleagues in the past week? Do you sometimes find it difficult to make and sustain friendships?

Meaningful and lasting connections with family, friends, colleagues and your community are core foundations that support and enrich you every day.

Things you can do better to connect:
  1. Call someone today and catch-up – give your texting thumb a rest and put the dialling finger to work for a good old-fashioned chin wag over the phone or even better, in person.
  2. Tell someone you’re not feeling great – move beyond small talk and friendly banter to a safe place where you can share your true feelings with a friend, confidante or family member. A problem shared is a problem halved. Bottling up negative thoughts and feelings can corrode our well-being and hinder honest connections.
  3. Set a goal to connect with someone in your life every week – whether it’s weekly visits to an elderly family member, a scheduled class with a mate, or date night with that special someone in your life, it’s important to connect with others on a regular basis.
  4. Seek help if you find it hard to connect with others – psychologists and counsellors are excellent sources for working on building healthy attachments.
  5. Get involved with your community and get out and about – It all starts in your own backyard, your neighbourhood or your community. Find your people in a community group, whether it’s cultural, spiritual, social, environmental, lifestyle or political. Not only will you be making a contribution, you’ll also be making valuable connections.

Suggestions from our Lived Experience Collective:
  • Write a letter or send a card for no particular reason
  • Stop and say hello
  • Start a conversation with someone just for the heck
  • Be friendly
  • Send a friend a random text just to let them know you are thinking of them

Do you feel that the way you fill your time is valuable and worthwhile?

Setting and achieving goals, and identifying your values, can add meaning and direction to your life and enable you to play to your strengths

Things you can do to live with purpose:
  1. Set goals linked to your family, friends and things that matter to you – setting short, medium and long-term goals which are both achievable and measurable can help provide us with a sense of direction. Remember to celebrate your achievements when you meet your goals too!
  2. Make something better than it was – there are ways we can improve aspects of our lives without having to completely reinvent the wheel – start with incremental changes, making little tweaks to daily habits and gradually move your way up to more substantial, longer term projects with greater substance and purpose.
  3. Do something that energises your heart and soul – nourish your inner self with caring, person-centred activities such as drawing energy from the ocean, immersing yourself in a piece of music, or pursuing your spiritual or religious practices.
  4. Talk to someone you trust who can offer guidance and feedback on your strengths – Mentors, life coaches, personal trainers, counsellors and confidantes can be great sources of positive reinforcement, professional encouragement or physical motivation. Build trust and rapport with key individuals in your personal and professional life and tap into their insights about you when you need guidance.
  5. Find inspiration and follow your passion – inspiration can be drawn from almost anywhere, whether that be nature, sport, the arts or those around you. Pursuing activities that you deeply care about can enrich your sense of personal achievement and purpose.
  6. Be kind to yourself – practicing positive-self affirmation is a great way to improve your wellbeing. We are often our own worst critics, so practicing speaking compassionately to yourself can provide a much needed counterbalance to the negative self.
  7. Be the best you can be! – whoever that is!

Suggestions from our Lived Experience Collective:

Do you take time to experience and reflect on what is happening around you each day?

Noticing nature, savouring our surroundings and being self-aware can reduce stress and help us tune into our emotions.

Things you an do to be in the moment:
  1. Appreciate the simple things – taking time to acknowledge and appreciate the simple things in life – the smell of roses, your surroundings, your loved ones – helps ground us and provides opportunities for reflection and perspective.
  2. Meditate or practice yoga – meditation and yoga are proven methods of connecting your mind and body in order to release stress and live more in the moment.
  3. Focus on your breath – controlled, deep breathing helps us to reduce stress and anxiety, to relax and generally feel more in control. Read more about techniques and benefits here.
  4. Take notice of small changes in your mood, or in the behaviour of those around you – it’s the little things in life that often go unnoticed. Be aware of how you react to particular situations and check yourself for healthy behaviours. Look out for those around you and reach out if they need support.

Suggestions from our Lived Experience Collective:
  • Listen with your eyes as well as your ears.
  • Take notice of those around you especially those you love
  • Appreciate your pets – they love attention too
  • Create a Gratitude Jar – clean out an old jar and place it on your bedside table along with a note pad and pen. Every day, write something that you are grateful for, fold up the note and pop it in the jar. At the end of the year – or when you need reminding – open up the jar and remind yourself how fortunate you are.Look up! There’s a whole universe out there for you to explore. Find a star-gazing app that suits you or if you want to get a bit closer to the ground, try cloudspotting.
  • Collect flowers while walking – create a flower collage/group and photograph it. Then send the photo to a friend to let them know you are thinking of them (brightening someone else’s day by virtual reality flower gifting!)
  • Record your daily observations in a journal or create your own blog or podcast.

Do you seek chances to learn new things?

Studies show that life-long learners are some of the healthiest, happiest people around.

Thing you can do to keep learning:
  1. Take up a new hobby – a hobby is an enjoyable activity undertaken regularly during leisure time, and has been shown to positively impact your head and your heart.
  2. Learn a new skill – the digital world provides a plethora of opportunities to learn new skills. From instructional videos on youtube, to online learning, open universities or U3A virtual university of the third age, there is bound to be a course to suit you and your interests.
  3. Ask for new challenges or responsibilities at work – join the social club or ask to be part of a small project team that is relevant and of interest to your career and goals. Volunteer for a community outreach project or pursue that next promotion. Show interest, enthusiasm and willingness to step out of your usual practice and extend your skillset.
  4. Expand your horizons – if your life’s bubble is starting to feel restrictive, it may be time to branch out into new areas of interest and activity. Exploring the world, its people, and cultures can bring new perspectives and appreciation of our place in the scheme of things.
  5. Read a good book – immerse yourself in a good book – whether it be a fictional tale to ignite your imagination, or a non-fiction book which provides an opportunity to learn about yourself, others or a particular discipline. If reading isn’t your thing, try an audio book or podcast for inspired storytelling in all its forms.

Suggestions from our Lived Experience Collective:

Are you living an active life and doing some form of movement or exercise every day?

Being active, exercising and doing something you enjoy lifts your mood and counters depression and anxiety.

Things you can do to be more active:
  1. Find an exercise you love to do and start today – one step at a time – there’s no need to join a gym and plan five sessions a week. Start with activities around your house, try some online workouts available on Youtube or get outside and explore your nearby fitness trails or bike paths.
  2. Go for a walk or take the stairs – a 20km hike will certainly tick the activity box…or you could start with taking the stairs at work instead of an elevator.
  3. Ask a friend to be active with you – asking a friend to be active with you keeps you accountable! You could keep it relaxed and social – a simple walk and talk – or ramp up the energy for a bit of friendly competition.
  4. Play outside with the dog – and not just the dog. Play with the kids or grandkids. For that matter, why not play with your siblings or spouses? Play, in its simplest sense, is to be active for the purpose of enjoyment and recreation. It’s neither serious nor even purposeful. It’s fun!
  5. Make time to have fun – Allocate as much time as you reasonably can (start with half an hour at least) to undertake activities that bring joy into your day.

Suggestions from our Lived Experience Collective:

  • Just move a bit more than you did yesterday
  • Learn to dance
  • Count your steps
  • Lift your spirits with a happy song
  • Check out your local indoor rock climbing venue
  • Explore the joys of laughter yoga
  • If you’re enjoying your own company, be creative with hopscotch or hoops, or find a brick wall and have a hit of tennis or handball.
  • Run away and join the circus, or at least try some aerial or acrobatic classes with your local dance school or community circus.
  • Explore the wonderful world of ornithology (birdwatching)
  • Become a citizen scientist and join a vibrant community of inquisitive minds.

Do you regularly add meaning and value to someone else’s life?

When we participate and contribute, we feel included and valued.

Things you can do to contribute:
  1. Practice random acts of kindness – lending a hand or showing kindness, without any expectation of reciprocation, is a powerful expression of authentic generosity.Simple acts like paying it forward, lending an empathetic ear to someone, helping a neighbour with gardening, taking out someone’s rubbish, or sending a friend some flowers, can bring positivity into someone’s day.
  2. Smile. Be kind. Be grateful. Say thank you. – to the bus driver, the barista, your teacher, your student and yourself. A simple acknowledgment can leave a lasting positive impact.
  3. Teach a friend something they’ve never done before – we all have hidden talents we can teach others. Muster your talents and grab a friend for an afternoon of skills sharing in the garden, the kitchen or the digital realm.
  4. Get involved in your local community, charity or volunteer organisations – find your people in a community group – whether it’s cultural, spiritual, social, philanthropic, environmental or political – and meaningfully contribute to your wider community.

Suggestions from our Lived Experience Collective:
  • Support your local neighbourhood watch
  • Find a gardening, nature, hiking or wildlife group in your area
  • Volunteer at your local library, thrift shop or shelter, homeless food vans or laundry service.
  • Leave unexpected little notes for those you love
  • Pass on a coffee – suspended coffee or pay it forward
  • Give more of the best of you
  • Create a chalk drawing on driveway – doesn’t have to be fancy – think love heart or rainbow
  • Share your juggling or hula hooping skills
  • Join a book club of avid readers
  • Find a music lovers or informal jam group
  • Commune with kindred spirits at your place of worship
  • Volunteer or better yet throw your hat in the ring for local politics
Categories
Information
Date Published
March 16, 2022
Topics
self-care , well-being
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