Derval O'Rourke: An easy chocolate oat biscuit recipe, and low-cost wellness tips (2024)

This week I’ll chat about five ways that you may not have thought of for your winter wellbeing. They are low on cost but high on return for your wellbeing. And, I have one of my favourites recipes too!

Simple winter wellbeing activities

The library

I love the library, I think it is one of the most under-rated ways to spend some time and avail of the amazing service. Whether you are going by yourself or with children, it is without doubt a great resource. Make sure to avail of the ‘borrow box’ app and for anyone who feels a bit pressurised about returns there are no longer fines in place so you can borrow without worrying of accumulating a fine if for some reason you were delayed. My kids love the library and I’ve spent many a rainy day there. Did you know that there has been research to show that reading just six minutes a day can reduce stress by 60%?

Game night

We are all on our phones or looking at screens a huge amount of the time and blue light from screens can impact our sleep, bad quality sleep negatively impacts your overall wellbeing. Playing games is a great way to turn off the screens and get your brain working. Dig out a deck of cards or a board game and organise a games night. There’s lots of research to suggest playing board games increases brain function.

Get crafty

Did you know that crafting such as sewing, weaving and crocheting have a lot in common with mindfulness. Crafting can help to boost your mood. There are endless ideas online for great crafts. Cobh author Lilly Higgins has a great new book out called The Homemade Year and it has some really nice crafting ideas. Whether you are an adult or a child you will feel the benefits of time spent crafting. If you would like to mix your crafting with friendship, be sure to look up craft clubs that meet up each week, these are inexpensive and a lovely way to spend time.

Walk and talk

Pick a new destination to go for a walk and organise to meet someone to walk and talk with. It’s free and guaranteed to make you feel super-charged. Walking is one of the most effective ways to increase your energy levels, so even when it looks a bit wet and miserable try to find the time to wrap up and get out. Make sure to wear a hi vis vest.

Mindfulness

Winter is a great time to add mindfulness as a tool in your wellbeing kit. I find formal meditating hard but informal mindfulness is something I’ve found really useful. There are lots of low-cost resources for learning simple mindfulness techniques. Putting some time into mindfulness during this period of the year will help you to easily use it throughout your life when navigating challenging situations.

Winter can be hard for many people. If you can take it as an opportunity to add layers to your wellbeing tool kit it can become really beneficial for you.

Remember it is so much more than fitness and eating healthy food. Think about yourself as a whole and what you can do to support yourself. Some of the activities above might seem simple but they will
benefit you.

Any activity involving people is also a really big bonus. Check in on people and spend time with others.