This month's way to wellbeing spotlight is on Be Healthy.

We'll be producing material to support and promote Be Healthy, alongside focusing on a different, salient wellbeing topic each week. Please visit the other items in this menu for more details.

Don't forget, if you want to plan your own activity and need inspiration, examples of previous events can be found here. As face to face activities aren't possible during the current situation, we'd love to hear from you with alternative suggestions. Please send these to studentsupport@manchester.ac.uk.

Resources

You can find ready-made resources here or, if you want to create your own, visit the University's brandsite for the assets you'll need (you'll need to scroll down a little to get to them!).

If creating your own, you’ll need to buy InDesign (in Adobe Creative Cloud) from the University's Electronic Software Delivery system.

You should also ask IT to install the University fonts, they can do this simply for you here.

Social media

Don't forget to follow us on instagram: @uomwellbeing.

Every Wednesday the Wellbeing Team will be promoting positive wellbeing to encourage students to take care of themselves during these uncertain times. 

We'll be handpicking different events and activites students can take part in throughout the day at home - from mindfulness sessions to exercise classes.

This will be promoted through our instagram page @uomwellbeing and on our student support website. You can find a clickable PDF schedule for the day here, this will be updated every Tuesday. Further assets for social media can be found below.

If you'd like to run your own activities to promote positive wellbeing and need some inspiration, take a look at this event ideas page. Due to the current situation, we know that face to face activities won't be possible so if you have any suggestions for alternative events, we'd love to hear from you: studentsupport@manchester.ac.uk

Remember to use the hashtag #uomwellbeingwednesdays in any social media posts!

Suggested copy for newsletters etc:

Looking for a wellbeing boost? Every Wednesday your Wellbeing Team will be running ‘Wellbeing Wednesdays!'. These Wednesdays will include wellbeing events and activities that you can take part in from home throughout the day - from mindfulness sessions to live gigs. Follow @uomwellbeing to get involved!

Assets:

(Right-click to save images- social media and instagram story assets will be updated every Tuesday)

Be Healthy 

A healthy body can help you better maintain a healthy mind. Be Healthy focuses on how physical aspects of our health, such as getting enough sleep, paying attention to nutrition and hydration, and looking after our personal safety can positively impact our overall wellbeing.

Looking after your physical health may seem like an overwhelming task, especially as a student, but there are plenty of simple and easy ways to incorporate a healthy lifestyle into your current routine. 

Over the next two months, The Student Wellbeing Team will be exploring how to Be Healthy as a student, starting off with getting a good night’s sleep.

Sleep

Sleep is one of the most important things to consider when checking in with our wellbeing.  It allows our bodies to repair themselves and our brains to consolidate our memories and process information. Getting enough sleep also boosts our ability to remember and recall information, which is vital during the exam season and longer term!

A bad night’s sleep can leave you feeling tired, irritable, and unable to concentrate and when you’ve got a lot on your mind, getting a good night’s sleep can be easier said than done.

For advice and sleep resources, including our tips for a better night’s sleep, be sure to check out the Student Support sleep page.

Wellbeing Champion Blogs

For more student tips, have a look at our Wellbeing Champion blogs:

• How to Sleep Well
• Sleeping Tips
• Six Ways to Sleep Better.

More Recommendations

• Headspace Guide to Sleep
• Sleep with Me Podcast
• The Get Sleepy Podcast
• Nothing much happens; bedtime stories to help you sleep

Mental Health Awareness Week is an annual event, inspiring the whole of the UK to focus on achieving good mental health. It’s all about starting conversations around mental health and the things in our daily lives that can affect it. This year’s theme is nature, and the aim is for us all Take Notice of nature and try to make a habit of connecting to nature each day. However, the week also offers chance to talk about any aspect of mental health that you might want to – regardless of the theme.

Nature is so central to our psychological and emotional health, and it’s almost impossible to achieve good mental health for all without a greater connection to the natural world. Therefore, during the week, The Mental Health Foundation are asking you to do three things: 

• Experience nature: take time to recognise and grow your connection with nature. Take Notice and celebrate nature in your daily life. You might be surprised by what you notice!
• Share nature: Take a photo, video or sound recording and share the connections you’ve made to inspire others. Join the discussion on how you’re connecting with nature by using the hashtags #ConnectWithNature #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
• Talk about nature: Discuss with your friends, family and community how you can help encourage people to find new ways to connect with nature in your local environment.

See below for other things you can do to mark Mental Health Awareness Week:

Student Wellbeing Champion recommendations

• Join the Wellbeing Strava group and complete a walk during Mental Health Awareness Week (10th – 16th May). While listening to a wellbeing or mental health podcast, upload and share your walk with a comment about the podcast you have chosen to listen to!
• Six Ways to Wellbeing Walk: Wherever you are in the world, take yourself on a trip in your local area and use our Six Ways to Wellbeing checklist to engage with your surroundings and give your wellbeing a well-deserved boost.
• The 4D's of Dealing with Distress:  On Friday 14^th Mary, Dr Warren Mansell will be presenting The 4Ds of Dealing with Distress: Distract, Dilute, Develop and Discover. 4Ds is a brief, accessible stress management training session in which you learn how to apply simple principles in your life to manage stress, by putting you in control. The session will involve practising a variety of methods and is best done in a private setting. 
• Finally, check out @uompodium through the week for some honest and open advice from our Wellbeing Champions about how to manage and stay on top your mental health.

More Recommendations

• Mental Health Webinars: A webinar series focusing on various aspects of Mental Health.
• Manchester Walk Routes: Check out our #SundaySuggestion post on Instagram @uomwellbeing for some walking routes in Manchester!
• Or why not Find a Walk Route Near You

Making time for healthy meals during exam season may seem like a stressful and time consuming thought. However, missed meals and quick food fixes can impact your physical health and ability to concentrate, absorb information and function properly. There’s lots of advice on the student support website to help with looking after your physical health during the assessment period and going forward, and you can check this out here. Incorporating healthy food habits into your busy schedule may seem like a lot of effort, but having balanced and nutritious meals will not only support your wellbeing but actually optimise brainpower and boost your immune system

Wellbeing Champions

• Check out @uompodium for our Chef Series – this week is Crispy Tofu Noodles!
• Our friends over at SEED have organised a Sustainable MasterChef. You can share your favourite meals and explain why they are sustainable for a chance to win a Thrift Shop Voucher! To find out more head over to @uompodium or submit your entry here!

More Recommendations

• Sorted Food: 17 recipes to get you through exams
• BBC Good Food: Eating for Exams
• Jamie Oliver: Brain Fuel for Exams
• The Doctor’s Kitchen Podcast
• Food Psych Podcast with Christy Harrison

The Wellbeing Champion programme is growing bigger and stronger each year. Every two months, the Champions will help amplify our Six Ways to Wellbeing campaigns. Their role is to support the current theme, whether that’s by helping at or promoting a wellbeing event, running their own or creating content for our social media and blog. This is an opportunity for students to take action towards wellbeing and make their student community seen and heard.

We have recently launched our own social media platform @uompodium! Follow for student-led content and resources and keep up to date with our events and workshops!

Over the period of Be Active, we have been and will continue to focus on the inclusivity and diversity of the fitness and wellness space with events and resources on the whitewashing of wellness and the body neutrality versus the body positivity movement.