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Movement is essential for our physical and mental wellbeing, however, the Mental Health Foundation reported that 36% of adults find it challenging to find the time for physical activity (1).
For Mental Health Awareness Week 2024, we’ve been excited about the launch of our new podcast, ‘Off the top of your head.’
Over eight episodes, our Chief Executive, Simon Blake, and guests have unpacked the importance of movement for our mental health.
Below, we’ve shared a few of our favourite quotes from our insight-driven and expert guest speakers. Once again, a massive thank you and shout out to our wonderful podcast guests for their time discussing movement and mental health.
Follow us wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss an episode, and let us know on our social media channels which episodes you found useful to help us shape our future podcasts.
*Please note that quotes have been edited for length and clarity.
“In our contemporary world, we’re seeing a real reduction in the baked-in movement, and we’re seeing a correlated increase in poor mental health...when we look at it [physical activity], which we all want, and in a person alive who doesn’t want to be happier”.
“If you look at it from an evolutionary perspective, we didn’t really evolve the neurological circuits to make us go to the gym or to do high-intensity exercise...so movement to me is how can you naturally build that into your day, whether that’s using the stairs instead of the lift, using a standing desk if you can, going and doing walking meetings, things that are really low effort that you can just build in automatically.”
“I think we're just so caught up with your work or your family stuff or, you know, your commute, home or whatever it is. And I think we think we have breaks during the day, but I get nothing like that except for running realistically.
And for me…when I'm out, even if it's for half an hour, nothing can distract me…[running] gives me some time to process my thoughts and feelings.”
“Sometimes you feel like you don’t belong in that health space of moving and fitness...society has so many physical barriers, so movement to me looks very different...the best advice I can give is to start thinking about the wider community, be willing to make changes and not just for one individual; inclusion is about the more you change, the more you make better, the more people will come.”
“Try and find other people that can support what you want to do; Try and find your tribe...statistically, if you do something, any activity as a group, particularly an exercise activity, you’re more likely to continue it. So, try and find something you can do with someone linked to movement, and you’re much more likely to continue it, and you might make a new friend and enjoy it more.”
“I think that we sometimes forget how important movement is and we work in offices that mean that we just sit for a lot of the time, then we're not stretching, we're not using our bodies. But also, movement can help us to think. So, it's important to create spaces where people feel safe enough psychologically, emotionally, and physically enough to be able to move.”
“Moving for mental health means for me finding something exercise-wise that I actually enjoy. Whatever it is, keeping moving and exercising has a known link to improving mental health...you need to give yourself evidence that you're dealing with things constructively and moving regularly; it's just proving that you're managing things really like with exercise and stuff, and with your mental health.”
“The life expectancy of someone living with a severe mental illness (SMI) in the UK is some 15 to 20 years shorter than someone without a mental illness. There are a lot of barriers that prevent people from going to their annual physical health check. But our message is, go.”
“A better routine or better approach to movement is habit stacking...I like to break it down for myself and encourage people to break it down as well... it’s all about making things accessible and breaking barriers down because it doesn’t have to be, so extreme, it can be a little bit of movement that that really helps your day.”
Do what you can to keep moving for your mental health beyond Mental Health Awareness Week.
Our exclusive Empower Half Hour resources provide simple and mostly free activities that connect our mental and physical wellbeing, promote colleague connections, and help encourage positive mental health.
Download Empower Half Hour Resources
Additionally, you can now download our redeveloped My Whole Self MOT to help take further care of your physical and mental wellbeing.
Download our redeveloped My Whole Self MOT
Sources:
(1) Mental Health Foundation, Mental Health Awareness Week, 2024