Talking wellbeing with Sam Bell

Wellbeing stories come in all shapes and sizes.

This month we’re giving you a helping hand by sharing wellbeing stories of people across the business to help inspire you and give you a few ideas of how to prioritise your own wellbeing as well as support others.

We caught up with Sam Bell, Technology Project Manager, who’s been using her own experiences with wellbeing to help others.

Wellbeing is so important to me because I’ve suffered from depression over the years and have had to learn how to manage it. I don’t always get it right and there are days when I really struggle, but I always try to find at least one positive in the day.

The last 12 months have taught me to take one day at a time. We’re all in the same storm, just battling it in different ways. For me it’s so important to be able to open up and share things with those around me when things are tough.

Similarly, I want to be there for others who are having tough times so I’ve been checking in on those around me and spoken about mental health awareness at a recent Technology huddle where I shared my experience. I also challenged the team to think about improvements they could make to improve their own wellbeing.

Outside of work I’ve been challenging some of my family and friends to think about pushing themselves physically and trying something different, whether that be running, yoga, or something completely random.

We often set ourselves huge goals but it’s so important to think about what is realistic and how much we can really commit. Starting off small is key and goals are personal. I’ve decided that my challenge will be to meditate for ten minutes every day, however if I only manage two minutes I’ve still achieved my goal. Once we’ve mastered the art of ‘showing up’ it’s easy to build on goals and extend the challenge.

Aside from meditation I’ve also found enjoyment in podcasts and walking, taking in the beauty of what’s on our doorstep. I aim to walk eight thousand steps each day and to get outside in the daylight. I’ve also started writing daily in a diary which is called The Six Minute Diary. It’s structured into daily pages with six easy questions: what are you grateful for, how you will make today great, a positive affirmation, what good deed did you do today, how can you improve, and what good things did you experience today. It’s simple and effective and gets me to focus on happiness and mindfulness.

Wellbeing is a very personal thing and what works for one person may not work for another. I came across this quote recently that I really like and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to reflect on their own wellbeing.

“If you don’t make time for your wellness, you will be forced to make time for your illness”.

It really puts things into perspective and makes you think about the small things we can all do that make a huge difference.

My recommendations:

• Calm app – I use this to take ten minutes out during my day (sometimes between meetings) to have some me time. The breathing techniques really help to keep me calm and refocus. Until this year I never really appreciated the benefits of meditation. I also use the sleep section to help bring me some calm and reflection at the end of the day.
• Podcasts – On Purpose (Jay Shetty) and Feel Better, Live More (Dr Rangan Chatterjee). Dr Chatterjee has some very interesting guests on his podcast, more recently Edith Eger, a Holocaust survivor and a specialist in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. She’s written a great book which I’m halfway through reading called ‘The Choice’ – I can highly recommend it.
• Reorganising my iPhone home screen – I was listening to a podcast recently about how to build good habits and break bad ones and it talked about why we don’t always stick to something new. I personally want to listen to more podcasts and experience the benefits of daily meditation. However, I don’t always achieve this. When I looked at my iPhone and where my podcast and meditation apps were, they weren’t on the home page, instead Facebook and Instagram were. So, I moved these to the second page and moved my Podcast app and Calm app to my home screen. It’s a small change but one that proactively reminds me to access the ‘good habit’ apps rather than Facebook and Instagram.

Remember, if you’d like to speak to someone about any worries you have visit The Insider for all support available to you, including access to our Employee Support Programme – a confidential, 24/7 support service.

Want more wellbeing stories? Read more from Jade Williams and Kasia Waters.