The Your prescription for wellbeing journal is a journal to help you keep notes of what helps you to get back on track when you're out of sorts. You'll can buy it here and find out more about it here.

Two very important lists you're asked to write on every prescription are:

• Things I do that help
• Things I do that don't help or hinder me

The premise is that when you're out of sorts you're often so caught up with how you're feeling you forget that there are things you can do that will help you, and things you might be doing that are hindering you. Writing a list of these activities is a nudge to do more of those on one list and less of the other. A list you can then refer to and update in the future.

You'll find a list of suggestions later in this post.

Here's one activity on my list of 'things I do that help' recorded during a personal training session with my PT:

There's a list of suggestions about what might go on each list later - please remember though that one person's support activity might be another person's nightmare stress inducing activity because as as I say in my what is normal poem:

"my normal isn't your normal, yours isn't mine"

Things you could do that might help

(a list that tells you more about me than it being an exhaustive list of things to do - so do please use it as something to get your creative juices going about what would be on your list - on page 8 of the journal you're encouraged to write your own general list of things that work for you - that you can then pick from when writing a specific prescription.)

• Affirmations, Action, Adventure, Art, Asking for help, Appreciation, Awareness,
• Being, Boundaries, Baking, Balance, Belief, Bird watching, Breath work, Bathing, Badminton,
• Confidence, Camping, Candles, Cycling, Coach, Connection, Celebration, Crystals, Compassion, Cooking, Crying, Caring, Creativity, Counsellor, Climbing, Choir, Comedy, Concert, Classes,
• Drinking water, Doing nothing, Doctor, Dancing, Diet, Decluttering, Doing something different, Driving, Date night, Drawing, Debrief, Discipline,
• Exercising, Extreme sports, Essential oils, Eating, Ecology, Empathy, Enjoyment, Emotions, Earth,
• Fun, Flower arranging or growing them, Focusing, Fresh Air, Films, Fitness, Flexibility, Forgiveness, Friends, Fishing, Fulfilment, Faith, Feelings, Family, Food, Flowers,
• Gratitude, Giving, Gardening, Grounding, Golf, Games, Going Out, Gym, Goals, Goodness, Grin,
• Hiking, Healthy eating, Hugs, House cleaning, Humour, Health practitioner, Holiday, Helping,
• Intuition, Inspiration, Intention, Imagination,
• Journaling, Jogging, Joy, Judo, Jazz, Join in, Jokes,
• Kindness, Keeping it simple, Kick Boxing, Knit,
• Listening, Light, Laughter, Love, Letting go, Like minded souls, Learning, Lambing, Lie down,
• Movement, Meditation, Mindfulness, Music, Me time, Mountains, Massage, Mandalas, Mentors, Mobilisation, Musicals, Mudras, Mind, Mindset, Metaphor in your language,
• Noticing, Nature, Napping, Nutrition, Nurture,
• Openness, Optimism, Observation, Offering help, Objectivity, Oneness, Opportunities,
• Patience, Poetry (and is why I've included some of my poems in the journal), Playing, Podcasts, Pets, Plays, Purpose, Puzzles, Plank, Passion, Pilates, Plants,
• Quirky, Quiet, Qigong, Quotes, Question, Quiz,
• Resting, Recharging, Recycling, Reading, Rain,  Releasing, Reciprocity, Refer to your prescription for wellbeing journal, Relationship, Reframing, Running (this would be on my hinders me list), Rivers, Repairing, Role model, Respect,
• Sleeping, Sewing, Singing, Stretching, Sea, Stop, Staying In, Support, Social, Supplements, Smell, Smudging, Star gazing, Sports, Swimming, Slow down, Stillness, Sunrises/sets, Self Awareness, Spirituality, Sunshine, Song, Sound, Soul, Smile,
• Triathlons, Touch, Trust, Theatre, Talking, Taking a break, TED talks, Therapist, Tennis, Tai Chi, Travel, Time out, Turn off electronics, Taste,
• Ubuntu, Us time, Universe, Understanding,
• Vision, Values, Vegetables (growing or eating them), Visualising, Volunteering, Vacation,
• Writing, Water, Walking, Weights, Woods, Work from home/ in the office, Wellbeing, Wildlife, Write in your prescription for wellbeing journal,
• Xenodochial, Xenial, (Yes I had to get creative towards the end of the alphabet)
• Yes, Yoga, Yummy, Yell, Yippee,
• Zen, Zestful, Zone out, Zagging!

More importantly what's on your list - and are there one or two that work more of the time - ie doing plank (or is that just me 😉)!

Things you could do that don't help and can block or hinder you

Do remember, as the above What is normal poem says:

"no right, no wrong, just what is."

• Assumptions, Apathy, All work, Anger, Addiction, Aloof, Acrimonious, Alienated, 
• Blaming, Bored, Burnout, Boundaries (lack of), Bossy, Belligerent, Bad habits,
• Can'ting, Crime films, Catastrophising, Cynicism, Comparisons, Cold hearted, Controlling, Closed,
• Drama, Drinking, Deception, Doubt, Distractions, Denying, Dishonesty, Destructive, Demotivated,
• Ego, Eating, Embarrassed, Envious, Excessive,
• Fighting, Fear, Frantic, Failure (fear of),
• Gossiping, Go go go, Greed, Guilt, Giving up, Gloat, Grudge (holding one),
• Hard or half hearted, Hurtful (to self or others), Hording, Head down, Hostility, Helpless,
• Ignoring, Inner critic, Impatience, Inactive,
• Judgement, Jealousy,
• Knowing it all, Keeping going, Killjoy
• Limiting, Lacking confidence, Lost perspective, Lazy, Lonely, Lying, Languishing,
• Multi tasking, Messy, Misunderstanding, Mean, Misaligned, Manipulative, Mindless,
• News, Negativity, No (not saying it enough perhaps?), Nagging, Noise, Not moving, Nasty, Needy,
• Over working, Over thinking, Obsessive, Obstructive, Obstinate, Oblivious,  
• Passive, Perfectionism, Procrastinating, Pessimism, Prejudice, Pushing,
• Quo (status), Quiet, Quarrelsome, Quitting,
• Resentment, Refusing help, Resistance, Rejecting, Risks (taking too many),
• Shoulding, Shouting, Skipping meals, Slowing down, Speeding up, Stuck, Sacrifice, Sabotage, Showers (would be on my list as they get me too hyper whereas a lovely bath starts my day more calmly)
• Them (vs us), TV, Tense, Thoughtlessness, Threatening, Tangled (webs we’re weaving),
• Unwilling, Untidy, Unbalanced, Untrustworthy, Unhealthy, Unjust, Unpleasant, Uninspired,
• Victim thinking, Violent, Vulnerable (not being),
• Worrying, Withdrawn, Won’t stop, Wavering, Wary, Wallowing, Worthless (belief in),
• Xenophobic,
• Yawning,
• Zealous (overly), Zigging!

A post from the archives tells you a little more about the zigging and zagging - ie the mindsets that Inhibit growth and those that Accelerate it.

What's on your list?

The aim being to do more of the first list and less of the second - and I appreciate that's sometimes easier written and said than done. Awareness however is the first step allowing your pre frontal cortex to get to work in finding solutions about how to stop or release this unhelpful mindset, belief or behaviour.

For more about the Your prescription for wellbeing journal, examples of how it is being used, and other more unconventional tools to help you when you're stuck to get back on track why not:

• Buy the journal
• Read this introduction post
• Keep an eye out on social media for #PrescriptionForWellbeing #LandscapingYourLife
• Follow my blog here, or
• Sign up to my newsletter.

If you'd like me to run a prescription for wellbeing session for your team do get in touch alison@alisonsmith.co (please note not .co.uk)