Wellness Wednesdays Introduction

Walking gently into 2021 was probably a good thing given that four days in, we’re back in national lockdown.

Its a great time for me to be talking about wellness. Wellness is one of the things I have really been trying to focus on as part of my mental health journey. During 2020, I started to lose the focus a little bit and I noticed the impact this has had. Entering January and the new year, I knew I wanted to reinvigorate this focus. Hence the idea of Wellness Wednesdays.

My idea for Wellness Wednesdays is simply to share content each Wednesday related to wellness.

This is the first week, so aside from the introduction, I thought I would start with my word of the year.

I’ve struggled with the whole concept of words of the year and why they would be needed but the more I read, the more I worked out that using one word as a theme for concepts and ideas throughout a whole year could be a great way to develop and embed habits as well as give some focus in times where nothing is certain.

I contemplated different options and eventually settled on balance. Having gone through some of my therapy reference notes I made, I thought this would help. One of the biggest things that I took with me from those sessions was the idea of managing what you give to different areas of your life. Ensuring that neccessary areas are given respect, that your energy doesn’t all go into one aspect, and that you have the time to enjoy things as well. For me, getting the balance in these things is one of the key aspects of wellness.

This is where time planning has worked well for me. Blocking in my Passion Planner at the start of the week where the fixed time or energy is going has helped me hugely. But its not just the specific events and appointments I plan in. I also make sure that meal times are blocked off, my morning routine time to shower and get dressed, and my evening routine where I have time for something enjoyable and for journaling. Developing this to be more effective is an ever changing practise but in my view thats as it should be.

To help me and remind me as I go through the year, I’ve created a reminder in the front of my planner.

This may not seem much, but those definitions are a simple reminder not only of what I’m trying to do throughout the year, but also why I’m doing it. And the why is the most important bit!