Be Aware and Take Notice: Week 4 of the ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’

To Be Aware and Take Notice means to slow down and pay attention to the moment you are in, to your surroundings, your thoughts and your feelings, without judgement. By focussing on the present instead of the past or future, you can be aware of our thoughts and feelings without getting lost in them. This can positively change how you approach life’s challenges and increase your ability to:

• keep calm,
• reduce stress, worry and negative thoughts,
• concentrate and think clearly,
• increase performance academically, or in sporting or interest areas,
• cope better with difficult situations and improve your mood.

One thing that you can do right now to Be Aware, is to think about something good that is already present in your life, no matter how small – this is called ‘practising gratitude’. Ways to experience greater awareness can also include doing yoga, meditation, breathing exercises, walking in nature and turning off gadgets to be in the moment.

There are two ways that students can help others and get involved this week:

1. Express their gratitude and send an anonymous message of thanks to someone in our community, such as frontline workers at Bendigo Health, our teachers or to our parents or carers which will be put together and shared.
2. For a chance to win a ‘mindfulness prize’, students can upload a photo of something they are grateful for or perhaps something they have ‘noticed’ this week – maybe on a walk.

View or download the flyer below for links to more lips from our community and lots of extra tools and resources for being aware and taking notice.