Dear Staff

Welcome to week 15 of our Wellbeing Wednesday updates. We hope you made time to focus on giving yourself recognition for what you have achieved during this time as part of week 14. This week’s theme is ‘Give’ with a focus on how to ‘Hygge’. Hygge is pronounced HOO-gah. Hygge is based on a Danish word meaning "to give courage, comfort, joy". Hygge stems from hyggja which means to think in Old Norse. Hygge is built from the Old Norse word hugr which later became the hug which means

the soul, mind, and consciousness. It is a way to practice self-care which focuses on feeling present and spending quality time with yourself and your loved ones. This week’s update contains the following:

1. Practicing Hygge 2. Week 15 Quiz 3. This week’s ‘Challenge’ 4. A new recipe to try 5. Useful websites and resources

Practicing Hygge: You don’t need to overhaul your home to make it more hyggeligt, tiny additions to the home can transform any moment. Treating yourself to your favourite coffee, indulging in new bubble bath for long dips by candlelight or finally putting your favourite photographs on the wall are all instant mood lifters whenever you use/see them, so take the time to enjoy them. Hygge is about doing things which help you and your family to feel calm, safe and comforted. To truly focus on being calm you need to take your time and not rush, slow down and try and take it all in. For example you could take the time to really enjoy a mug of coffee, stay in the bath for an extra 5minutes to ensure daily stresses have melted away and focus on savouring the flavours of your food especially if you get to treat yourself with a slice of cake.

Taking up new hobbies to enjoy in the home allows you to switch off and refocus the mind. Turn off the TV and grow to love something new that you can nurture during your hygge moments in the home or pick up something you used to love to do but don’t have time for anymore. Crafty hobbies such as knitting or sewing which have been gaining in popularity in recent years are perfect to teach yourself and help to relax and calm your being, or curling up and reading a good book for a few solitary hours will have you refreshed in no time. Some hygge based activities to try at home:

• Arrange a movie night with pyjamas and hot chocolate or popcorn. • Go for a picnic in a park • Read a book together • Draw together • Watch a TV show together • Have a comfort food night • Have a family comedy night • Plant a seeds or do some gardening • Try yoga

You have probably considered taking up a yoga class at some point or another. If you actually did, it is going to help you a great deal with the Yoga challenge. You are going to need a partner to help you out with this one. To add to the fun factor, it is great if you can get more people involved. You are also going to need to look up some couple yoga poses online. The goal here is to recreate these poses. You can start off with more simple poses and move onto the really difficult ones. You can’t move to the next pose unless you have successfully completed one.

This week's Quiz: Have some fun and try to answer these questions. We will send out the answers with next week’s Wellbeing Wednesday update.

1. Who was leader of Germany during the First World War? 2. A 'millennium' celebrates the anniversary of how many years? 3. Can you place the following curries in order of strength beginning with the

strongest curry first: Madras, Korma, Phaal, Vindaloo? 4. Constantinople was the former name of which Turkish city? 5. The Starry Night is a famous painting by which Dutch impressionist? 6. Which sport is associated with Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte? 7. Which American drama series is an adaptation of George R. R. Martin's

fantasy novel series 'A Song of Ice and Fire'? 8. Does the British noble title 'Marquess' rank above or below an Earl? 9. Which body organ produces bile? 10. What sea is surrounded entirely by the Atlantic Ocean and is the only sea

on Earth with no coastline / land boundary The answers to last week’s quiz questions are below: Quiz Week 14 answers: 1. Haricot beans (navy beans) 2. Ed Sheeran 3. 270 degrees 4. The Blacklist 5. Amsterdam 6. Seven 7. Eye 8. Sir Henry Morton Stanley 9. 2007 10. OUTATIME Weekly Recipe to try at home:

This week we have a special treat, please find attached a series of recipes shared via Twitter by Teachers:

Useful Contacts: Mind – Being active supports mental health http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/physical-activity-sport-and-exercise/#.V72m6PkrLAU NHS Self-Help https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/self-help-therapies/ Self-Development Secrets https://www.selfdevelopmentsecrets.com/self-care-ideas/ We hope you find this week’s Wellbeing Wednesday helpful, we would be grateful for any feedback or pictures Many thanks Ms Sweetlove and Mrs Halton