Keeping well and staying motivated in 2021

Move your body

Exercise can be a great way to relieve stress, ease anxiety and boost your mood and energy levels. Even just a gentle yoga session can help to get those feel-good endorphins flowing. There are so many great apps out there offering free, follow along workouts such as DownDog or the Nike Training Club. NTU Fitness also offer a full schedule of virtual fitness classes every week. You can keep up to date with the class schedule on their Instagram. You could also get involved with RED January via the NTU Moves app.

Take a deep breath

When you can feel yourself getting overwhelmed, take a step back. Go on a walk, read a few pages of a book or do some meditation. Headspace offers a great range of free, guided meditation sessions that will help to clear your mind and they even have a Netflix series now too. NTU Silvercloud and StudentSpace are also excellent resources, whether you’re looking for mental health support, reassurance or tips on how to maintain your wellbeing if you have to self-isolate.

Have a read

The Healthy NTU Blog is written for students, by students and discusses all aspects of mental health and wellbeing. The Blurt Foundation also have a great blog if you want to take 5 minutes out of your day to read and focus on yourself. Mental health charity Mind have also created a dedicated web page for students during the pandemic.

Supporting your friends

Student Minds offer some great advice and practical tips on how you can look out for your friends. It can sometimes be hard to know what to say, Student Minds have useful resources about how to start a conversation.

If you’re worried about a friend at NTU and you need our help, we’re here. You can complete an online form for another student explaining your concerns.

NTU is also offering free ‘Look After Your Mates’ training, nationally recognised training that helps you to look after your mental health and the mental health of those around you. There are 4 virtual training sessions being held via Microsoft Teams between January and April and you can book your place by emailing healthyntu@ntu.ac.uk.

Keeping motivated with your undergraduate studies, a little extra support from our Centre for Student and Community Engagement (CenSCE) Team

The NTU student dashboard is there to help you keep on track with your studies. For our undergraduate students, if you find that your engagement dips for a while the dashboard will notify your personal tutor. In addition to this it sends a message to the CenSCE Team, to let them know you might need a little extra support or guidance. Last Term the team called over 1,800 undergraduate students providing them with a supportive problem-solving call. 

In many cases students were referred to their personal tutor or to Student Support Services for further support. One student who received a call last term said the call “motivated me to start getting back into my studies” whilst another shared that ‘it made me feel protected and considered as a member of the NTU community”.

We’re always here for you

You may not be on campus right now, but NTU are still here for you. You can view our range of resources and services on StudentHub. You can always tell us if you’re having personal, emotional or mental health difficulties by completing the get support for yourself form.

Nottingham Trent Students' Union also has an Information and Advice Service offering independent, free and confidential advice to students. If you feel as though you are in need of more urgent, emergency support, visit the Get Help and Support page.

Feeling a little lost in lockdown? Watch the following video for ways to look after yourself and connect with those around you.