12 Days of Kindness

Say or do something positive for every person you meet today - it can be as small as saying hello, smiling, or making them a brew.

Watch this video of Ann McDonnell, nursing associate, talking about' every connection counts - her way of sharing kindness to others and making a difference.

We're lucky to have some breathtaking scenery in the Greater Manchester area.

Plan a winter walk, go somewhere new and connect with nature.

Press stop on this video for some inspiration of where to go.

Make an effort to say thank you and tell someone you appreciate them.

Thanks to awesome actor Mark Benton for sharing this message to our #PennineCarePeople.

Improving your diet can help to improve your mood, give you more energy, and think more clearly.

Some quick tips:

• Have a variety of different coloured fruit and veg
• Eat enough protein
• Choose slow-release energy foods
• Smaller, regular meals
• Avoid ‘trans fats'
• Drink plenty of water (6-8 glasses a day)
• Avoid excess caffeine

Dawn Howard from Be Well Tameside has shared this tasty, healthy festive pudding recipe which is one of your 5-a-day.

Whether it's in the car, shower, in a group or on your own, singing has lots of benefits.

It can help your breathing and circulation, releases endorphins ('feel good' chemicals), reduces stress and leaves you feeling energised.

Jocelyn Lavin, a medical director based in Bury, has shared a super rendition of 'We Need a Little Christmas'

What's your favourite song to sing?

This could be donating to a local foodbank, giving warm clothes to a local homeless charity, or even giving some of your time to volunteer or help a friend.

Giving makes us feel good and connected to our communities, plus it has a knock-on effect in making others pass on the kindness too.

Our Rochdale community mental health team (pictured) have been doing their bit by generously supporting a local winter food parcel appeal.

Who have you been meaning to catch up with for a while? Set some time aside today to give them a call.

Connecting with others and building good relationships is important for your mental health.

A self-soothe or calm box (or bag, drawer, tin, or any other container) is something filled with things which can help if you're feeling low, stressed, overwhelmed, or just generally struggling.

Here's Dr Lucy Bateman from our Oldham learning disability team with some info about what to put in a soothe-box.

Perhaps it could even be a last minute gift idea for someone else?

Being creative can improve mood and self-esteem.

Our suggestion for today is an activity called ‘blackout poetry’, which comes courtesy of David Miligan-Croft, technical instructor at Arden Ward in Stockport:

1. Get a page of text - from an old book, magazine or newspaper.

2. Highlight some words on the piece of text. These can be random words, or you can give yourself a challenge and compose a new piece of poetry out of the existing text.

3. Once you’ve composed your piece, you need to ‘blackout’ the text you don’t want people to read. You can do by doodling abstract shapes and patterns, then colouring them in. You can use felt tips, pencil crayons, watercolours, pastels, collage, acrylics, whatever you like.

4. If you’re feeling adventurous, you might want to do an illustration which relates to your newly composed piece.

Remember, don’t worry about the end result, it’s the act of ‘doing’ that’s important. Losing yourself in the process is the objective.

Mindfulness is taking notice of the present moment, without judgement.

This can improve your focus and help you to overcome stress, anxiety, depression and chronic pain.

Mindfulness can be practised by paying attention to your senses, physical sensations in your body, and breath as a form of meditation.

Visit our mindfulness page, or watch this video with Heather from Stockport Healthy Minds to find out some of the ways you can practice mindfulness in daily activities.

Get in the habit of exercising your brain and keeping it active.

Doing puzzles or challenges every day has loads of benefits. It improves memory, concentration, and productivity, decreases stress, boosts mood, and can even increase your IQ.

Here’s one to try and solve:

Jay has 3 daughters. His friend Sam asks how old they all are. Jay says the product of their ages (all multiplied together) is 72 and the sum of their ages is equal to his house number (which Sam knows).

After thinking Sam still isn’t sure, so she asks for another clue. Jay tells her his oldest daughter likes football. With this Sam determines the correct answer.

Can you guess their ages and how Sam figured it out?

Check out our Facebook post for the answer.

Treat yourself and take time to do something you enjoy.

Try to block out some time to pause every day and do the things you love, whatever that may be. It helps to ease stress and lift your mood.

Watch this short video of Matthew from Be Well Tameside explaining some other things to help you enjoy the Christmas period.