At our August Employee Wellbeing Forum Anna Kvyatkovska gave us some valuable tips for self-care and coping under pressure.
Anna is a Senior Counselling Psychologist with the Be Well Program and Integrated Community Health Team, so her advice comes with a body of evidence behind it.
In challenging times, it’s more important than ever to look after our wellbeing. Anna spoke about recognising what we can and can’t control, skills we can implement to cope, and how purposeful self-care can increase our coping resources.
“I have an acronym that I use, and I find it really easy to remember,” Anna says. “The acronym is BACE and it stands for body care, achievement, connection and enjoyment.”
Body care
“Body care is things like getting enough sleep, eating nutritious foods and moving your body,” explains Anna. “When I get stressed, sleep is actually the first thing that gets impacted for me. Other people notice an increase or reduction in appetite when they experience stress. It’s a really good thing to watch out for when we see a change from our regular pattern.”
Achievement
“When we think about achievement, we tend to think about the big things in life, like finishing degrees or getting married or climbing Mount Everest. But we can feel achievement in the things we do every day, like organising a shelf in the pantry, or clearing out the inbox of emails.”
Connection
“We’re talking about connection to our loved ones, connection to our colleagues, connection to community, connection to sporting groups, connection to religious organisations, connection to nature. All of these things help to recharge our batteries, and it doesn’t have to be the whole day. It can just be a message that we send to someone we haven’t spoken to in a while, or switching off our phones when we have dinner with our family.”
Enjoyment
“Do something for the sheer pleasure of it: hobbies, reading a book, listening to music, watching a movie, puzzles, sports. And something we can think about is combining all these elements together, like organising a game of pickup football at the park with our loved ones. That’s something that can really replenish us.”
You can watch all of Anna’s fantastic presentation here, and you can access her slides here.
For further details about the Be Well Program and to stay informed about the latest initiatives, visit the Be Well Be Safe Program webpage.
Approved by Karen Lowe.