THE words “well-being” and “self-care” are often used but one children’s charity is encouraging parents to take steps to help their kids improve theirs.
Barnardos launched its Big Active campaign with Aldi in March and has the likes of rugby star Paul O’Connell on board.
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Barnardos Big Active supported by ALDI and Paul O’Connell calls for schools to get movingCredit: Patrick Bolger
It gets schools involved and calls for them to focus on three key areas: Body – physical challenges that take care of your body; Mind – mindfulness exercises to support positive mental health and well-being; and Heart – promoting the importance of charity and helping others around you.
Barnardos said putting a bit of time into emotional resilience will help parents and children prepare for when they have to face adversities.
And it does not have to cost anything. Sinead Halligan from the Barnardos wellbeing team said even dancing in the kitchen, playing football or listening to music can be simple steps to improve wellbeing.
Barnardos is inviting primary and secondary schools to register at barnardos.ie/bigactive and get active to raise funds for vulnerable children and families across Ireland.
Here Sinead tells NICOLA BARDON more about the Big Active campaign, supported by Aldi, and what it means.
Sinead said: “Wellbeing is really about anything that affects our health or happiness. It is important because it affects our physical health, our emotional wellbeing, how we process and manage emotions and how we deal with stress and adversity.
“It also affects how we feel about ourselves and it affects us socially in all of our relationships, with friends, family, colleagues.”
She added: “Wellbeing is about having a balance. The reason that self-care is put with it is because it’s having self-compassion and reflection on your own day and doing what’s good for you.
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“Things like taking time out to see what you need and tuning into yourself to identify your needs and stuff to work on.”
Sinead said it doesn’t have to cost a cent.
She said: “It’s definitely not a massive overhaul people need to make. It’s about looking at your own home and your own routine and seeing what you like, what your children like and building on that.
“For some people, some things come more naturally than others. Some people have friends and family in their lives and that is a normal part of their well-being, but for others they have to make that conscious decision to go out and meet with other people.
“Or for some people being active is an ordinary part of their day but for others, you need to incorporate that.
“It’s not about doing intense exercise or anything like that, it’s about what suits you.
“For some homes, this can be just playing games, playing football, going for a walk.
“Or even making it a bit interesting by making a list of things to find on your walk and having fun. It shouldn’t be an additional financial stress coming into your home.”
HOW DO I DO THIS FOR MY KIDS?
“It’s about taking steps that suit your own home.
“So reflecting on your everyday, because it shouldn’t be an additional stress or something that is hard to do. We are all going to have good days and bad days and having self-compassion for yourself on the bad days is modelling emotional wellness in itself.
“It’s just about balancing play activities, sleep, food and social time.
“It’s about taking time to play together, have games together, go for walks together, even dancing in the kitchen. It doesn’t have to be something that is expensive.
BALANCE
“Identifying your children’s needs, likes and dislikes and building on that can create healthy habits. Even just going to sleep at the same time and making a nice safe space in your room, with a candle lit, that is self care for yourself.”
Sinead said they see children in Barnardos who are going through traumas, such as the loss of a loved one or bullying, and these steps help them.
“For any adversity, such as bullying, if we have strong emotional wellbeing, we can better process and manage these adversities and challenges better.
“When you have balance, that can impact your overall wellbeing. Even just saying your affirmations everyday, your thoughts become your reality, it becomes your perspective. So even that in itself can be a nice thing to help you overcome adversities, taking time to check in with yourself, knowing what you need.”
To find out more about Barnardos and their Big Active campaign supported by Aldi, visit barnardos.ie/bigactive.
