Good morning everyone,

This week I thought I would talk about one of the best things we can do for our minds… SLEEP! There is a close connection between sleep and your mental health. If you’re having difficulty sleeping, this can make coping with daily life hard, and if you’re struggling with your mental health, you may find you can’t sleep.

Lots of people struggle with sleep problems, but there are things you can do to help improve your sleep and reduce restless nights. You can try many things to help improve your sleep, but remember, different things work for different people. A few tips I recommend are:

1. Try to establish a wind-down routine. This is something you may do to relax before you go to sleep. For example: Reading a book!
2. Try to avoid going on devices (phones, games consoles, ipads, computers etc) for at least 30 minutes to an hour before you try to go to sleep.

Small simple changes can make a big difference and the better quality sleep, the better we feel.

Have a lovely week,

Mrs Ollerenshaw x

Happy Monday NJS!

This week I am going to share some ideas for meditation!

What is meditation? 

Meditation is when you focus your mind to help you relax and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm state. It is a tool you can use anytime you would like to feel calmer, less stressed or simply as a daily activity to maintain a good quality of mind.

Meditation is not about turning off your thoughts or stopping your feelings – it’s about observing them without judgement, from a bigger perspective. Learning to meditate is the same as learning any other sport or skill – it can take some time and practice to get better at it, but it is definitely a skill worth mastering. It is a great way to be kinder to ourselves, and also helps us be kind to others.

Why meditate? 

1. It is proven to reduce stress!
2. It helps us feel happier.
3. Meditation helps us relax which can help improve sleep.

Below is a guided mediation for children. We often do this at school with simple music… 5OP often listen to piano music to create a calm environment (we also listen to music from different decades so not always piano). You don’t need music either… simply a quiet place to sit and reflect.

Take care,

Mrs Ollerenshaw x