Knowing a lot of our viewers are university students, I wanted to write about something in line with University Mental Health Day, which was Thursday 4th March.
In this month’s blog post, I wanted to explore some wellbeing tips of mine. I know we’ve already ridden the highs and lows of the Corona-coaster, and whilst there is hope upon the horizon, these
last few weeks and months may feel harder. You’re know that last week of the month before
payday? Those moments where you’re literally looking for pennies under the sofa to get through each day until you feel like you hit the jackpot when you pay rolls in? I’m guessing that’s exactly how these next few months will feel. Except it’s not a week, it’s several. Come rain or shine, the summer is looking fabulous. Whether the magical June 21 st fairy is able to wave covid away or not. Naturally infection rates reduce in the warmer months. With the added
bonus of the roll out of the vaccines, infection rates should start dropping rapidly – so long as we’re still following guidelines. With that end goal in sight, it’s important we start preparing ourselves to go back out into the wild. It was a huge shock to go into lockdown initially. As I’ve always said, one of
the greatest strengths of humans is that we are adaptable. And to some degree, we’ve adapted pretty well to lockdown measures. To prevent another shock to the system come the summer months, I want to share some tips on how we can remain positive and utilise these next few months to prepare ourselves.

Prep

Whether this is cheer prep, meal prep, fitness prep, packing prep, etc.; preparation is key! I will never forget the quote that was written above my high school’s changing room corridor:
“The failure to prepare is preparing to fail”
Now I am someone who goes completely overboard when it comes to preparation. I’m not expecting you to be as precise as me, but I’ll tell you why I plan every little detail. Each day we only have the capacity to make a certain amount of decisions before we start experiencing that decision-making-
burnout. That number will be different to each individual. If we just think about the most basic decisions: deciding what outfit to wear, what socks to wear, what we’ll have for breakfast, lunch and tea. That is already five decisions before I’ve even gone about my day. Making those decisions ahead of time saves me using up my decisions on little things like clothing and meals.
Initially this level of planning took a long while. Now it takes less than five minutes as I’ll just have the month on repeat. That way it’s not even all that repetitive. Again, you don’t have to be as precise as me, but incorporating little things like this will help relieve day-to-day stress. It is also a great help
if you can be forgetful. Something as simple as planning your meals for the week will also help you spend less on your weekly shop and waste less food also. It’s a win win!

Goals

Something that goes hand in hand with preparation is goal setting. Now I’m not going to sit here and teach you how to suck eggs, don’t worry. Setting goals provides you with a timeline and helps keep you motivated when you can see your results before you’ve even reached your end target. The key there is setting mini goals.

For example, if you want to get your needle, we know you should probably start with your splits each side, bridge work and shoulder flexibility. There are several goals you can hit along the way. These steps will help make you feel better before you’ve grabbed that needle. The same with any kind of flexibility, tumbling, strength and conditioning, cardio and even things like
tidying up. Of course, I’m a sucker for a list. So something as trivial as tidying my flat, I’ll have a list for each room.

E.g. put clothes wash on, hang clothes up to dry, fold and put away clothes, tidy the floor, hoover and mop. Sometimes those six mini goals feel a little less daunting than “tidy bedroom”.

It’s the same with anything. Ticking off those mini goals will help keep you motivated and
give you the feeling of accomplishment.

Routine

Over the past year I’ve noticed how integral a routine is to my wellbeing. I know just how difficult it is to wake up each day when you don’t have school or work to get up for. If you don’t want to be hit with the shock of early mornings come the summer months, I’d advice tweaking your routine now.
Think of it this way, our cheer routines are set routines for a reason. If your team did a free-for-all for two and a half minutes, the judges wouldn’t know where to look and it would not do for easy viewing. Be your own cheer coach; organise your daily routine with what works for you. At the top of the scoresheet is motivation, life satisfaction and happiness. Keep them in mind during your planning process!

Self-Care

A common misconception is that self-care is all about “me time” which includes face masks, bubble baths and spa days. I’m not saying that spa days aren’t an integral part of my wellbeing – and if I had more money, they’d definitely be a regular thing, but I digress. Myself and Caroline touched on this
topic during our Instagram Live which you can now catch as an IGTV on the Cheer From Head to Toe Instagram.

Self-care is so much more than the lotions and potions located in your bathroom. Self-care is sometimes about doing the tasks we don’t enjoy.

For me those include washing my hair,
cleaning the bathroom and washing out my water bottle (why do they make water bottles so difficult to clean?). As much as it drains my energy, if I don’t do the above, it’ll be detrimental to my health.
Also, in my self-care routine is exercise. Physical activity is imperative for our wellbeing for a huge number of reasons. Sometimes I’m so keen to get moving. Other times, not so much.

Whether it’s your cheer session, a HIT session, yoga or a run; stick it in your routine and do it no matter what. Worst case scenario is that you will only do a short five-minute burst. That’s five minutes more than you would have done if you’d have stayed in bed. Usually, once you’re up and moving, you’ll want to carry on anyway.
Next time you sit down to do goal setting and routine planning, think about both the fun and the not-so-fun self-care tasks. And make sure you plan something enjoyable and motivating either side of the tasks that you feel may suck the life out of you. Expecto Patronum those dementors away!

Self-maintenance

I debated putting this in. For so many years I had my head stuck in the sand when it came to self-maintenance. I didn’t think it was important at all and thought it was just for those people who loved themselves. And I want you to just think about that for a second. When we say someone
“loves themselves”, it’s often used as an insult. Often it comes from a place of jealously. In reality, we should all love ourselves! We should love every part of our mind and body, inside and out. It’s not a crime to feel good in your body or wear the clothes you feel comfortable in. So work on that skincare routine, go through your wardrobe, update your underwear drawer to some that actually fit you and fit you well. Learn how to manage your hair. Make sure your wearing the correct size shoes. Put up some decorations or pictures that remind you of the good times. We need to get rid of this stiff upper lip mentality if we want to truly embrace positive wellbeing.

Social Support

Lastly is social support. Whether it’s talking to friends about your day, colleagues about post-covid plans, or close family about the tough day you’ve had; don’t play the martyr. You can’t pour from an empty cup, so you can’t expect to be there for everyone without allowing people to be there for
you. If you need a chat but don’t feel like anyone in your life is able to provide the level of support you need, there are organisations set up to help people in situations just like that. There are so many helplines out there (telephone, email, online chat and text) that I couldn’t write an exhaustive list as
there is such a huge variety of needs. If there’s a specific topic or organisation you are looking for,drop us a message on our socials. We’ll be sure to signpost you to the most appropriate organisation. Failing that, speak to your GP if you feel you would benefit from long-term support, or to signpost you to local support services. Before I sign off, I just want to add that you don’t have to be proactive every minute of every day.There will be days where your routine does not go to plan. We’ve all been in those positions where you have all the will in the world to keep that stunt in the air, but it still falls to the ground. What do
you do in that situation? You get back up and give it your all. One blip does not determine the end result. Keep pushing and we’ll be there before you know it!
That’s all from me, take care,

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