Power UP - your mental and physical energy
How energised are you feeling today?
As we all head into the summer we want to help power you up both mentally and physically.
Even a short burst of 10 minutes brisk walking increases our mental alertness, energy and positive mood. The average brain uses 20% of our energy, so it’s really important to stay fuelled up and know how to recharge it.
Want to stay alert, positive and feeling energised?
We’ve put together ideas and activities to help you support your employees to Power UP their energy. For more information on how to talk through the content, download the toolkit, which is in the employer useful resources area further down the page. There’s also the Power UP podcast – why not have a listen with a cuppa, it’s a great place to start!
Fuel UP
- Kick start the day – always having breakfast gives you an immediate boost to the start of your day. You could try one of these 3 ideas: Porridge with dried fruits, muesli, fruit and yoghurt or boiled eggs with wholemeal toast
- Skip the snacking – avoid eating too many white or refined carbohydrates (e.g. white bread, biscuits, sugar, cakes) – this can lead to poor blood sugar balance and this actually leaves you feeling drained, tired and reaching for more sugar. Try and graze on energy giving foods such as fruit, nuts, bananas, chopped carrots or cucumber which also count as part of your 5 a day!
- Hydrate and feel great – water is the main source of energy for the body along with food. It’s essential we try and drink 8 cups of water or a healthy juice each day as a minimum
Recharge
- Be an energy giver – be the best pal you can be, and each day share a positive thought, compliment, or kind comments with your friends or colleagues, it will give them an energy and healthy hormone boost. Believe it or not, it takes practice!
- Have down time – especially before bed, power down your brain, relax and do something you enjoy that isn’t going to challenge your brain. The more you can build this into your bedtime routine, the easier it will be to fall and stay asleep
- Power down the heat and light – to energise our brain you need great quality sleep so make sure your bedroom is dark and cool and avoid blue light by switching off your phone. This will really help to improve the quality of your sleep, essential to allow your brain’s energy to recharge for the next day
Did you know?
Peaks and troughs in energy levels can cause us to crave unhealthy foods, become irritable, have poor sleep and before we know it we have no energy to do the things we enjoy. If this happens over a long period of time they could potentially lead to worse long-term conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. There are some really easy ways to get that snap, crackle and pop back into your life!
Power UP podcast
How to Power UP your mental and physical energy
This Power UP podcast lasts around 10 minutes and is packed with information to help you Power UP your mental and physical energy, learn how to spot when you need to recharge and recover, what will help you and others and where to go for help and support.
Key topics covered:
- The temptation to power through
- How to recognise when both our mental and physical energy are running out (burnout)
- How to recharge and recover both mentally and physically
- Techniques that might help
- Where you can go for help and support
Activities to test your mental energy
Test your mental energy and Power UP your brain
The brain’s primary function is the processing and transmitting of information through electrical signals.
It doesn’t use a great deal more energy when we face difficult challenges or have to think through problems but it does deplete throughout the day, so it’s really important we do all we can to keep it energised.
Have a go at the question below, the answer is written somewhere on this page and it’s in the Power UP podcast!
Give the word search a go!
See how quickly you can find the 8 words. Use your cursor to draw around the words as you find them.
The wordsearch works best when it’s viewed on a desktop or tablet device.
3 top tips to take-away
✓ Empty your mind
Empty your mind, declutter that brain and focus on the present. Slowly breath in and out, focusing on the here and now, perhaps a tree, your breath, or even a plant pot on the windowsill. To recharge your brain, you need to meditate in a way that works for you
✓ Express yourself
Dress up and wear something that gives you confidence, just be you. We’ve all lost a bit of ourselves during COVID-19 so find a way to express yourself. Confidence and feeling good, immediately gives you more energy – you might even get the odd compliment… remember those!
✓ Feed your brain
To improve mental energy, try something new, a game, crossword, chess or read a new book. You will receive a boost of energy as you fire up parts of your brain to learn. Have a go at the word search above and see how it feels to zone into a new activity
Useful links
Remember you’re not alone – support is available for you.
All the videos and links to further information we have shared have been peer reviewed and continue to be free at the time of writing this campaign.
The NHS is particularly amazing and constantly offers updates to its free support and guidance. Please find helpful links below.
NHS sleep and tiredness – Why am I feeling tired all the time?
www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness
Action for sugar – How to control your sugar rollercoaster
www.actiononsugar.org
Active 10 – The benefits of 10 minutes activity per day
www.nhs.uk/better-health/get-active
Hydration – FAQs and information on the importance of hydration
www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/water-drinks-nutrition
Mindfulness – How mindfulness helps mental wellbeing
www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/tips-and-support/mindfulness
If you are worried about your health, it is important to speak to your GP or a qualified health care practitioner.
Take the poll
Do you feel positive about yourself today?
For employers
Useful resources to download
To help your company promote the activities to your workforce and signpost to support, we’ve designed an A4 printable poster, digital banners to use on social media or your intranet and a handy toolkit which includes exercises and helpful handouts to help your employees increase their personal energy levels.
Feel free to download and share, print and put them up, or simply email them to all of your employees.