How to Wellbeing Wander

15 Minutes...

...that's all you need to do a Wellbeing Wander and in that time you will:

• get away from your screen,

• do something for your wellbeing and

• do some thinking outside the door.

It doesn't sound long but it is amazing how giving yourself just 15 minutes can help you to destress, reset, relax, think, question, imagine, to be creative, to make decisions...basically to refresh and reboot ready for the whatever is next. There is plenty of evidence to support the benefits of going for a walk, how it boosts our creativity and how it is good for our health, so what are you waiting for?

So how do I 'Wellbeing Wander'?

Well it is actually really easy, there is no magic sauce, just some simple steps:

1. Switch off - we seem to be even more connected by technology than ever before and whilst this is wonderful in many ways it is also a real challenge to find time to be with our own thoughts, to do some deep thinking, to sort those thoughts out and to let our mind and imagination wander. So shut the laptop, switch off notifications on the phone and give yourself a break from the screens for just 15 minutes.

2. Get out the door - There is plenty of evidence to show how good going for a walk is for both our physical and mental health, so we are going to head outside...whatever the weather, as Billy Connolly said "There's no such thing as bad weather, there's only the wrong clothes"

3. Wander - The destination isn't too important, you might have a quiet lane to wander down or you might have a busy high street, you might have a specific place you want to head to or you might want to be carried along with your thoughts and see where you end up. What is important is that you wander.

4. Pause - On your wander make sure you give yourself time to slow down, to pause, to go at a different pace, this is a time for reflection and thinking, a gift that we often don't have during our normal busy days.

5. Wander back - And then it is time to head back to where you started, and on the way probably think about what just happened and what you might want to do with what happened.

Videos

If you want some inspiration for your Wellbeing Wander you can watch some of our other videos on this site or on YouTube.

Audio Guides

If you would like a guide to lead you through a 15 minute wander we have a series of podcasts to accompany the videos that you can download and take with you to walk you through a whole guided wander. You can find the podcasts attached to each video on this site and also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and probably whatever podcast app you use just by searching for Leap Further.