Public Health recommendations about our physical health like eating five pieces of fresh fruit and veg every day, trying to get eight hours of sleep, drinking two litres of water and limiting our alcohol consumption are widely known and practised. But what about recommendations for our mental health?

Much of what’s good for us physically also has a positive impact on our mental wellbeing, but research from the New Econonomics Foundation also identified Five Ways to Wellbeing that provide a simple framework with a strong scientific evidence base on how to look after our mental wellbeing.

During the current Covid-19 times, we need to be more flexible and creative in how to implement the Five Ways to Wellbeing during lockdown but the framework remains a simple road map fo us to hold in mind when we’re being bombarded by numerous articles of ‘essential wellbeing advice’ that can send us into a frenzy of information overload.

Try my simple wellbeing Five Ways to Wellbeing Self-Audit to check in and improve your wellbeing today:

1. Give yourself a number between 1 and 10 that reflects how much you practise that ‘way to wellbeing’. Be honest, and remember it’s not a competition.

2. Think about one small action you can implement for each ‘way to wellbeing’ that increases you number by just one step. Small steps lead to big jumps.

3. Acknowledge each action when complete. Repeat to take yourself forward another step.