What is it?
- Rest is vital for emotional wellbeing in a busy life.
- Adequate sleep regulates mood & reduces stress.
- Leisure activities offer relaxation & rejuvenation.
- Helps manage stress & maintain emotional balance.
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Description
Rest can be an important strategy for nurturing your emotional wellbeing. Life can be a whirlwind of activity, from school demands to extracurricular activities, social engagements and personal growth. While it’s important to learn new things and pursue your interests, it’s equally crucial to make time for rest and relaxation.
Getting enough sleep and taking breaks to rest can work wonders for your emotional health. Adequate sleep can help to regulate your mood, improve your concentration and reduce feelings of irritability and stress. By recharging your mental and emotional batteries, you can face each day with a clearer mind. Additionally, taking breaks and engaging in leisure activities you enjoy, whether it’s reading a book, listening to music or spending time in nature, can provide essential moments of calm and rejuvenation. These breaks can give your mind a chance to unwind, helping you manage stress and maintain emotional balance during the ups and downs of life.
Watch the video from Nip in the Bud below which gives parents tips to improve their child’s sleep.
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A typical amount of sleep for a young person is between 7 and 11 hours each night, more for younger people, but everyone is different.
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Try to help your child go to bed and wake up at about the same time each day. This encourages their body to expect sleep at a particular time, creating a natural rhythm of waking and sleeping.
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- Learn more
Sleeping well is essential for both physical and mental wellbeing
Sleep is important for:
- Helping us to repair and restore our brains and bodies
- Processing information
- Consolidating memories
Research suggests that getting adequate has long-term benefits for mental health. However, many of us struggle with sleep, and mental health problems can often have a detrimental impact on sleep. Tips for getting a good night’s sleep:
- Write down your thoughts and feelings before going to sleep
- Switch off your phone and practise meditation, breathing exercises or another form of relaxation before sleeping
- Create a routine around going to bed and getting up the next day
- Plan for the next day
- Find calming activities to do before bed
Researchers have shared five principles for good sleep health, which are that we should:
- Value our sleep as something crucial to our lives, and take our sleep seriously
- Prioritise our sleep by putting sleep first when making choices about what we want to do
- Personalise our sleep by finding the ‘sleep window’ that works best for us
- Trust that sleep is a natural process and that our sleep will get itself into a good pattern
- Protect our sleep by avoiding or preventing things that can upset it
To learn more about sleep and mental health, visit the links below.
- Blog: What to do if you’re struggling to sleep
- Research: Sleep patterns and anxiety and depression
- Guidance: Taking sleep seriously
- Guidance: Impact of sleep on health and wellbeing
Download Nip in the Bud’s fact sheet on Sleep for parents below.
Some resources that may help:
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