This month we’ve been focusing on the idea of building a Wellbeing Toolkit. Having tools, techniques and practices that can help us when we’re struggling and can help us to thrive.
Sometimes these things are in our daily practice because we’ve learnt them over time. This is great because we’ll feel confident in them and be able to do them naturally. Activities such as breathing exercises or regular journalling can become second nature to us.
However, often we need to find the time to absorb new ideas through learning or experiencing new things. I am always struck that it is usually the wisest people who promote questioning, searching and life-long learning - they never get stuck but keep striving to learn more.
““Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.” ”
Opportunities
Here at Space to Breathe we’re committed to sharing ways you can learn and add to your wellbeing toolkit. Coming up in the autumn we have a number of opportunities to learn through courses and experiences. These are all designed to equip you to practice healthy wellbeing techniques in your own lives. There are more details below but you can explore Creating a Culture of Wellbeing, Meditation and Reflection for Wellbeing and our Wellbeing Zones for Business in this website.
Learning approaches
Taking a learning approach to building your wellbeing toolkit can be done in a number of ways but we’d encourage these three principles as core to building a healthy, personal and effective toolkit for your own life. We’ve relied on the wisdom of Albert Einstein to help us with this.
1. Keep being curious
Learning requires curiosity and we have championed curiosity on this website for sometime. If you foster that ability to keep searching, keep being willing to find new things then new learning will come.
““The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day.”
2. Be aware of your own language
You will learn in your own way and you’ll think about your own wellbeing in your own terms. Don’t be afraid of this. Learning comes to us in the way we are tuned. If you think in words, look for them. If you’re more visual, seek out images. Touch, taste, smell - these things can all inspire us. If you’re into the imagination, use it. Learn your own way.
“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.”
3. Be inspired by others
So often learning and new practices come through observing them in the live’s of people who inspire us. Put simply, if we watch someone do something, we are more likely to do it ourselves. This is one of the beauties of social media alongside all it’s challenges - we are able to learn from incredible people. I am thankful for the social media accounts of Simon Sinek and Brene Brown for example - they teach me new things. You can also learn from others you meet - your friends and colleagues - be prepared to be inspired and to ask questions. These lived examples of healthy living can help us so much and in time, we may also inspire others.
“I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.”
We hope these three principles might enable you to take a learning approach to building your own Wellbeing Toolkit. We hope too that some of Space to Breathe’s training might be of inspiration to you too and so here’s three opportunities you can connect with today. Click on the image to find out more.
Our autumn meditation and reflection course, available in daytime or evening courses.
Our Wellbeing Zones for Business sessions are 10 one hour training options for workplaces, organised and delivered in a format suitable for you.
Our next Creating a Culture for Wellbeing (Intro) session is available free at the end of September. Book your place now.