Hi friends, welcome to the third Wellbeing Wednesday newsletter! I hope you’ll find these resources a helpful self-care support as we hit “hump day” again. 🐪
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Inspire
“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh
Look
I invite you to pause and spend a few moments absorbing the simple beauty of these Eryngo plants, more commonly known as sea holly, my namesake.
They drew me in on a mindful walk, closely examining their almost architectural form. I admired the patterns of the variegated leaves, with shades of green, white and lilac almost appearing like veins channelling fuel to their tips. Beautiful to look at, but also fiercely self-protective with their jagged barbs.
I invite you to take a moment this week (each day if you have the opportunity) to notice something simple but beautiful in your surroundings and to spend 15 seconds truly absorbing the pleasure of it.
Listen
I’ve been really loving the rhythm and beauty of poetry lately. While it’s always fun to read, there’s something so melodic and entrancing about hearing a poem read aloud by the author. Here are a couple that I’ve enjoyed, I hope you will too. If you have any more recommendations, please share 🙂
Raju Tai’s poetry debut on Substack: Ghazal for Inner Child
Watch
When I’m in the mood for being awed by the vastness and power of nature, I love watching time lapse videos. Check these out:
Read
I always look forward to Robin Cangie’s daily Creative Letters of encouragement. They are a joy to read, often just the pep talk I need if I’m feeling far behind where I’d like to be. This recent bite-sized letter especially resonated with me.
And this more reflective personal letter packs a punch.
Ask
On Saturday, I wrote about Hot Spots and Not Spots. Hot Spots are the places where we perform at our best. By routinely doing only certain activities in those locations, we establish associations in our brains which help us quickly get into the zone.
Conversely, Not Spots are locations for relaxation, where you never do certain things, priming your brain to switch off and relax. You can read the full post here:
A few quick questions you could reflect on:
What are your current/favourite/potential hot spots?
What about your current/favourite/potential not spots?
Can you ring-fence them?
Do you need more hot spots? Or more not spots?
Do
Join Action For Happiness, the charity that promotes taking action to be happier and kinder, together. They have some great resources and campaigns, with loads of actions you could take. Here are just a few:
Join the Self-Care September campaign - you can download the calendar and put it up in your office, or get daily prompts.
Complete the 10 Days of Happiness free online course (it’s fun! I enjoyed doing it along with a friend so we could reflect on it together).
Watch some of their online talks. The ones I’ve joined have been great. Next up is “Build a Happier Life with Prof. Arthur Brooks” on Tuesday 10 September.
Take the 6 week Happiness Habits course, available in various locations.
Volunteer to support a monthly group or lead a course.
Download the Action for Happiness app for daily happiness prompts.
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Wishing you all a wonderful Wellbeing Wednesday! 💖
I’d love your feedback on this Wellbeing Wednesday post: Is it a welcome addition? Do you like the bitesize format? What would make it better? 🌸
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