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The Well-being Zine

Welcome to The Well-being Zine, a small book with the power to open many doors. Taking charge of your mental health can be a daunting task and finding the right information for you can feel overwhelming. To get you started we have collected some practical information to guide your first steps. Remember everyone’s mental health journey is different. So let's start yours...

Welcome to The Well-being Zine, a small book with the power to open many doors.

Taking charge of your mental health can be a daunting task and finding the right information for you can feel overwhelming.

To get you started we have collected some practical information to guide your first steps.

Remember everyone’s mental health journey is different.

So let's start yours...

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The

Well-being

The

Zine

Well-being

Zine

The

Well-being

Zine


Inside you'll find

What is this?

Mindfulness

Hobbies

Sleep guide

Soundtrack your mind

Social media &Tech

When I feel down I…

Resources


What is this?

Welcome to The Well-being Zine, a

small book with the power to open

many doors.

Taking charge of your mental health

can be a daunting task and finding the

right information for you can feel

overwhelming.

To get you started we have collected

some practical information to guide

your first steps.

Remember everyone’s mental health

journey is different.

The Well-Being Zine is a great resource that we're

proud of, but for immediate and urgent support, better

options are available.

(more information about all of these options is available inside)

So let's start yours...

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust: Call them on 0800 145 6570

Childline: Call them on 0800 1111

Samaritans: Call them on 116123 or email jo@samaritans.org

Mind: Visit them at: www.mind.org.uk

Shout: Text them on 85258


Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the act of being present in your body

and your mind. A solid connection to yourself and the

present moment allows you to act in your own best

interest and get the most out of every moment.

To get started, try these activities

Write It Down

When we spend our days in

busy environments we lose

the time to check in with

ourselves. Taking time out at

the end of a day to write

down our thoughts

or somethings

we're grateful for

can put everything

into perspective.

Focus On Your Breathing

The most basic way to do

mindful breathing is simply

to focus your attention on

your breath, the inhale and

exhale. You can do this

while standing, but ideally,

you’ll be sitting or even lying

in a comfortable position.

Your eyes may be open or

closed,

but you may find

it easier to

maintain your

focus if you close

your eyes.

(Taken from Mindful.org)

Move Your Body

Moving your body in a way that

feels fun and considerate

strengthens your connection to

it. When you're connected to

your body and moving it

mindfully you can reduce

anxiety, depression, and

negative mood and improve

self-esteem and cognitive

function.

Do Something You

Enjoy

Often we don't spend a

lot of time doing the

things we enjoy because

we're worried about

being productive. But just

like we need to feed our

stomachs we need to

feed our minds. Is there

something you enjoy

doing? Take some time

to do it., if not spend

some time trying new

things.


Hobbies

Setting aside time to disengage from your daily obligations is a powerful tool for

your well-being and allows you to indulge in activities you enjoy.

Hobbies can be creative, academic, physical or simply relaxing. Dedicate your

time and energy to something that brings you joy and ignites your passions.

Need inspiration? We’ve got you covered!

Make playlists for every mood or moment.

Start a Podcast.

Anchor is a great, free app for making podcasts.

You can also record in your voice notes app and

edit using free software like Audacity.

Puzzles! Take your time and direct your attention.

There is an endless amount of puzzles available

on the internet.

Write anything, like stories, blogs, sketches,

jokes, poetry, speeches, journals etc.

Learn a foreign language

Duolingo is a free language learning app/website

Volunteer your time.

Strengthen your relationship with your

community and local organisations.

Geocaching. Real-life treasure hunting!

Using GPS devices you can find hidden caches

and explore outdoors spaces.

Juggling. All you need are some balled up socks!

There are tons of videos on YouTube and it's a

great way to focus the mind


We've all been told that we need to get 8-10 hours of

sleep a night, but why? Sleep is our body's chance to

get things in order.

There are five stages of sleep. Stages 1,2,3,4 and REM.

Sleep stages 3 and 4 comprise deep sleep. While each

stage is important, deep sleep is the most essential of

all for feeling rested and staying healthy.

8-10 hours of sleep gives you enough time to achieve

a healthy amount of deep sleep. This means our

bodies have the time it needs to repair, balance and

energise and our brains can detoxify, turn experiences

into long-term memories, and process new

information and emotions.

Sleep Science

Podcasts

We sound and so should you! It’s is a great

medium for relaxation and mindfulness and can

help you relax and unwind!

Got Spotify?

Pull out your phone and

scan to discover our picks!

Music

Soundtrack

your mind


When I’m feeling

down I…

Speaking exclusively to The Well-Being Zine, some

lovely people share what they do to help their wellbeing.

Josie Peaches, Online Creator

The best advice I can give for when you’re having

a down day is to not fight the feeling. Don’t try and

shy away from it, or try and distract yourself. Sit

with the feeling and honour it. When I feel burnt

out / like I’m losing control of things (usually when I

have too much on my plate!!) I try to press pause

on as many areas of my life as I can. I will take a

day, to do NOTHING. Listen to your body if it’s

telling you to slow down

Beth Tweddle, Olympic Bronze Medal Gymnast

Hi, I'm Beth Tweddle, former Olympic Gymnast.

Mental health is just as important as your physical

health. I find there are a couple of ways that help

me and my mental health. I like to get out and

exercise, this can be anything from going on a

walk, a bike ride or a home workout and either

being on my own or with friends.

The other thing that helps me is to stay in contact

with my family and friends. If I ever have a bad

day I know that they will be able to put a smile on

my face. I know that I can talk to them if I have any

problems or worries and it always helps to talk

things through.

Share what you do when you feel down using the poster

inside or scan to download our customisable graphics for

social media!


Social Media &

Tech

Social media and mental health have a testy relationship.

Experts suggest keeping off social media and it's worth trying

but it's an unrealistic approach when it's the way we stay

connected with people, stay informed, and find inspiration.

We have put together some tips and ideas to modify your

experience with social media and hopefully improve it.

Curate smaller lists

Following a wide variety of diverse pages can mean that your feed

is slightly...irregular. Sometimes when scrolling your feed can jump

from a meme to a devastating political update to a video of a duck

waddling on hardwood floors in one thumb swipe.

Tip! Twitter has a lists feature that allows you to create groups of

accounts in one place to scroll through.

Turn off push notifications

This works for both disengaging from potentially stressful news and

helping yourself be less tied up in comments, likes, and other

engagement.

Follow new accounts

There are a lot of lists out there of cool accounts to follow depending

on your interests, and platforms like Instagram and TikTok make it

easy to discover new accounts via your Explore and For You Page.,


Time boundaries

This can mean putting time limits on yourself for how much total time

you spend on social media per day, or it can also look like deciding when

your designated “social media time” is

Did you know there's a mute button?!

Muting pages and people is an alternative to unfollowing and

unfriending. Users will not be informed when you mute them.

It is 100% okay if you need to do this, even to people you really care

about and are so many valid reasons why you might want to limit your

social media exposure to certain people!

Don’t feel guilty—muting doesn’t hurt anyone and you can always go

out of your way to catch up on their account when you’re in a good

headspace to make sure you don’t miss anything important.

Narrow down the apps you use

The more social media apps you use, the more likely you are to get

trapped in an endless loop of opening one, closing one, opening one,

closing, etc. Consider cutting back on the apps you don’t genuinely

enjoy.

Aim to be more intentional

When we do things on autopilot, we’re not the best at choosing activities

that make us feel good and we don’t always notice when activities are

making us feel bad. The mindlessness of social media can be part of its

allure, especially during these times when we’re so mentally overloaded

with everything else going on, but you can be intentional in small ways,

and it can make social media more enjoyable overall.

Ask yourself, “Why do I use social media?” Becoming more aware of

what you’re hoping to get out of these apps can help minimise their

impact on your wellbeing,

Adapted from Borges, 2020


Resources

Urgent support

Childline is a free, private and confidential

service that you can access online and on the

phone. They can provide help and support for

people up to their 19th birthday.

You can access confidential emotional

support at any time from Samaritans either by

calling 116 123 or emailing jo@samaritans.org

24/7 text service, free on all major mobile

networks, for anyone in crisis anytime,

anywhere. It’s a place to go if you’re struggling

to cope and you need immediate help. Text

85258.

Mental health services are free on the NHS. To

get urgent medical help, use the NHS 111 online

service, or call 111 if you’re unable to get help

online.

Adapted from www.kooth.com


General advice and guidance

YoungMinds provide young people with tools

to look after their mental health. Their website

is full of advice and information on what to do

if you're struggling with how you feel.

Bernardo's give children caring for a loved

one the help and support they deserve and

support families through domestic abuse,

mental health problems, prison sentences,

asylum-seeking and much more.

Mind provides advice and support to

empower anyone experiencing a mental

health problem. They campaign to improve

services, raise awareness and promote

understanding.

Kooth is a digital mental health platform that

gives children and young people immediate

access to an online community of peers and a

team of experienced, accredited counsellors.

kooth


The

Well-being

Zine

The

Well-being

The Zine

Well-being

Zine

Jake Harper

Tabitha Konstantine

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