Our Corporate Wellbeing Specialist, Susannah Miall shares her tips on how we can maximise our holidays and encourage others to do the same
Sleep
Aim for 7-9 hours per night as recommended and adding in a regular bedtime, reducing exposure to screens before bed, limiting caffeine and alcohol can all help. The good news is short afternoon naps are shown to help memory and be beneficial to mood.
Movement
Aim for 30 minutes of activity a minimum per day. Perhaps include friends or family in increasing activity over the holiday season and remember anything outdoors has added benefits.
Nutrition
Add vegetables to your plate first to try and get the 5+ servings in and don’t forget hydration. Alcohol in particular can leave us sluggish - drinking more water helps.
Mindfulness
If things are seeming a little chaotic find a moment to become present and practice gratitude. Just stopping and breathing in and out to 5 while counting your breath is shown to have real benefits.
Checklist for better Holiday Health
Community and Connection
Loneliness and social isolation have been shown to have a similar health risk to smoking. Ensure you plan ahead and have some social activities organised and if they can include exercise and the outdoors so much the better.
Create positives and opportunities to do the things you love
Holidays are a great time to refocus on what matters most to you. What do you enjoy? Who do you enjoy spending time with? What would you like to do more of?
Give back
Community connection, engagement and activities such as volunteering promoting a sense of purpose have all been shown to increase wellbeing. Do you have skills that could help others?
Workplace Wellbeing in 2020
We explore many of these topics in our Workplace Wellbeing programs to support you and your teams with habit change and reducing risk. We look forward to working with you in 2020 to improve wellbeing in your organisation.
Workplace Wellbeing Program
