Five steps to Well-being in The Well-being Garden

These are five things that can increase your sense of well-being, why not find one or two that suit you and give it a try and discover your path to well-being?

  1. Connect
  2. Be Active
  3. Take Notice
  4. Keep Learning
  5. Give

1 Connect

Simply, connect with the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. At home, work, school or in your local community. Think of these as the cornerstones of your life and invest time in developing them to support and enrich you.

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2 Be Active

Go for a walk or run. Cycle. Play a game. Do some gardening. Dance. Exercise makes you feel good. So discover a physical activity that you enjoy, one that suits your level of mobility and fitness.

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3 Take Notice

Be curious. Catch sight of something beautiful today. Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you are walking, eating lunch or talking to friends. Awareness of the world around you, what you are feeling and your experiences will help you appreciate what matters to you.

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4 Keep Learning

Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favourite food. Learning new things is fun and will make you more confident.

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5 Give

Do something nice for a friend, or even a stranger. Take time to thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in. Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and creates connections with the people around you.

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Health in mind

You probably know about the kind of things you can do to look after your physical health (even if you don't actually do all of them all of the time!) like eating healthily, taking regular exercise and drinking alcohol in moderation.

But did you know that there are practical steps that you can take to look after your mental health as well?

You can find out more by taking a wander through our on-line well-being garden.  In this part of our website you'll find basic advice and information, including interviews with experts.

Well London

Many of us would like to be a little happier and just need a few ideas and some encouragement. Well London's DIY Happiness is designed to do just that. It gives people a few tips; some provided by Londoners themselves and others based on 'the science of happiness'. The tips fall under six themes: body, mind, spirit, people, place and planet, to create a circle of happiness!

Visit the Well London DIY Happiness website Follow Well London on Twitter
Join Well London on Facebook

Thank you
Much of the information published here has been taken from is taken from
Foresight Project Mental Capital and Wellbeing published in October 2008.

The project commissioned the centre for well-being at  nef (the new economics foundation) to develop 'five ways to wellbeing': a set of evidence-based actions to improve personal wellbeing."

Hints and Tips

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What the research says

 

  1. Happy people have stronger social relationships than less happy people

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  2. Regular physical exercise is associated with a greater sense of well-being and lower rates of depression and anxiety across all age groups.

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  3. Being trained to be aware of sensations, thoughts and feelings for 8 to 12 weeks has been shown to improve well-being for several years.

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  4. Adult learning has been linked with positive effects on well-being, reports of life satisfaction and optimism.

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  5. Individuals who report a greater interest in helping others are more likely to rate themselves as happy. Research into actions for promoting happiness has shown that committing an act of kindness once a week over a six-week period is associated with an increase in well-being.

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