The pillars of wellbeing support each other
The importance of rest, exercise, friends, a good diet and time together should come as no surprise to you. You may think that maintaining all the different aspects of wellbeing in the hustle and bustle of everyday life would be overwhelming for your family. However, by improving one aspect of your family’s wellbeing, you will also shape other dimensions of everyday life for the better as a side effect.
For example, exercise and outdoor activities contribute to brain function and mental wellbeing. Going outside can calm your mind and help you sleep better. Children are also often calmer in the evening and fall asleep more easily if they have been outdoors enough during the day.
You may also be able to combine physical activity with family time together, e.g. by kicking a ball together, playing frisbee, ice skating or going for a bike ride. Alternatively, exercise can give you a chance to spend time with your friends, e.g. in the gym or at team sports training sessions. In particular, goal-oriented physical activity often brings new relationships and meaning to everyday life.
Exercise increases your appetite, making even a healthy starter salad tastes better than usual. A varied diet and regular mealtimes will help you keep going – in terms of physical activity as well. On the other hand, a regular eating rhythm and sufficient food will reduce tantrums in children, and sometimes in adults as well. This can facilitate good emotional regulation in everyday life and improve your family’s interaction with each other.
Mental health and family relations
Perheen hyvinvointi on ennen kaikkea perheenjäsenten hyvinvointia. Jos perheessä on kaksi aikuista, joiden keskinäinen suhde hiertää, muu perhe ei voi hyvin. Myös jos lapsi tai useampi oireilevat huonoa oloa tai riitelevät toistuvasti, tilanne heijastuu yleensä koko perheeseen.
On siis tärkeää hoitaa
First and foremost, the wellbeing of a family means the wellbeing of its members. If the family has two adults whose relationship with each other is strained, the rest of the family are not doing well, either. Also, if a child or several children exhibit symptoms of not being well or argue repeatedly, the situation usually affects the entire family.
It is therefore important to take care of
- the wellbeing of the family as a whole
- the family members as individuals
- the relationships between the family members.
Fortunately, however, correcting one area – whether it be your partner’s tiredness, the children’s fighting or the one-sidedness of your everyday life – will have positive ripple effects on the rest of your family’s everyday life and interactions. In other words, you do not have to fix everything at once.
Mark rest time in your family’s schedule
A smooth everyday life will also contribute to your wellbeing. In a smooth everyday life, your family’s jointly agreed routines, rules and schedules support your shared goals. Your schedules should also include completely free time, preferably each day.
Take time to recover when you come home from work or studies. You can schedule a moment for recovery before your afternoon chores or the children’s evening routine, for example. If you keep yourself busy non-stop until evening, you will be more likely to be tempted to stay up after the children have gone to bed. However, getting enough sleep is one of the key pillars of wellbeing, so you will be paying a high price for your late-night quality time.
When you rest, stop occasionally to think about what it is that you really need and want: are your current everyday activities and rest satisfying your needs? If not, think about what you could do to have more meaningful things in your everyday life. For example, could you start a new weekly hobby or agree with a friend to spend time together on a regular basis? Perhaps you could retreat to the tranquillity of the library every week, tend a garden patch or train with a punching bag at the gym.
You should also take care of your children’s recovery. If your child has a lot of hobbies and other activities, make sure that they have enough evenings of relaxation at home with the family. Often, even an active child who requires plenty of things to do will need evenings at home in order to feel well.
