Your six-week winter wellbeing challenge! | Health 2000

Wellbeing, noun. “The state of being comfortable, healthy and happy.”

The lockdown had many of us feeling like we’ve fallen off the wagon when it comes to our health and wellness goals. You may find you are feeling a little unmotivated, lethargic, or down in the dumps. If you’re struggling to get yourself back on track, then this is the perfect time to take up a challenge to get motivated and work on your wellness this winter.

Introducing… your six-week winter wellbeing challenge!

The Health 2000 six-week winter wellbeing challenge looks at six key areas of wellness and provides challenges and tasks to complete, each ranked by area on a spectrum from easy to hard. We’d recommend taking these one week at a time, and adding in additional wellbeing area to your weekly routine until you find you’re working holistically on all six areas over a six-week timeframe. The aim of the challenge is to leave you feeling motivated, confident and back on track in a wellness routine.

Pro-tip: start with a level you’re comfortable with and progress to the next level when you’re ready to step up.

If you’re not keen to commit to the full six weeks we still encourage you to commit to one area that you want to work on and dedicate a week to achieving the challenge. Acknowledge how you feel after that week and repeat any time you feel your wellbeing slipping.

The challenge

Week one: focus on activity

Did you know that your physical and mental wellness are inextricably linked?

Partaking in at least 15 minutes of active movement, three or more times a week is a great first step to improving your physical wellness, and therefore your mental wellness too. Active movement occurs when your heart rate rises and your breathing shifts from your normal breathing rate.

Remember when it comes to physical exercise that pushing your body too hard can be just as bad as not doing anything at all, so be sure to start at a level you’re comfortable with, but feel challenged by, so you don’t overdo it. Work from a difficulty level that you are comfortable with, but which also challenges you, taking each day, step or workout one at a time.

Week two: focus on connection

Connecting with those around you supports your physical health and psychological wellbeing. In this digital age, it is important to remember that personal connection cannot be built solely online, and face-to-face communication (even at a safe social distance) is important.

This area is all about focussing on making real connections with those around you and those close to you.

Week three: focus on being in the moment

Mindfulness is a bit of a buzz word at the moment. Defined as “the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something”, it is a mental state achieved by focussing your awareness on the present moment to acknowledge your thoughts, feelings and physical state.
This week’s activities are designed to help you practise in some elements of mindfulness, to help you to feel more aware, engaged and grateful with your here and now.

Week four: focus on acts of service/kindness

Random acts of kindness help to spread an air of positivity in your home, workplace or community.

While partaking in acts of service or kindness with those close to you in your live is a wonderful place to start, it can feel far more difficult to extend these amongst people you don’t know, but that’s where they make all the difference.

When you’re ready to complete a random act of kindness for a stranger in your community, consider the following as a good place to start:

• Pick up road-side rubbish from your local area
• Pay it forward by buying a coffee for the person behind you in the line
• Leave letters of encouragement on people’s car windows
• Donate to a cause of your choice, either by money, items or time
• Clear through old clothes and donate to a worthy cause (e.g. Hospice, the Salvation Army)
• Leave your waiter a generous tip.

What will you do to spread kindness this week? Let us know!

Week five: focus on skill building/learning

Embrace new experiences, see opportunities, surprise yourself. This wellbeing area is all about self-development, skill-building and working on yourself.

Find an area that you are keen to develop on or learn more about and take the time to focus on that. If you really feel like a challenge, try to learn a new language or new phrase in a new language for every day this week. Would you learn sign language, Spanish, French, Maori?

Week six: focus on nutrition

Good nutrition is an important part of leading a healthy lifestyle. Your diet can help you to reach your health and wellness goals to leave you feeling more energised, focussed and ready for the challenges that lay ahead.

If you’re seeking support for topping up nutrition and finding it hard to achieve results through diet alone then it may be time to look into supplementation. Speak to the staff at your local Health 2000 store about the right vitamins, minerals and nutrients for you and your health and wellness journey today!

Disclaimer: when we say nothing but water, we mean it. There’s no exceptions for coffee, pre-workout or a post-work wine.

Following the challenge

Hopefully by the end of the challenge you feel your mental and physical wellness has improved, and you are feeling accomplished, prepared, and holistically well. However, the journey to wellness doesn’t stop here. Any time you feel your wellbeing slipping, or even just to keep feeling on top of your wellness, we encourage you to complete at least one wellbeing challenge, at any level, during any given week.

Looking for support on your health and wellness journey?

Join the #H2KTRIBE. The H2K Tribe is a closed Facebook group and a place for you to share your natural health tips, experiences, services, and more with like-minded individuals as we all proceed though our journey to better health together.

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