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Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 theme is movement – “moving more for our mental health”, raising awareness of the benefits that movement can have on our mental health.
The evidence is pretty clear, movement can help us.
· People who are inactive have three times the rate of moderate to severe depression
compared to active people.[1]
· Regular physical activity can reduce your risk of depression by up to 30%.[2]
· Being active can increase your self-esteem, reduce stress and improve your quality of life. [3]
Despite most of us knowing that activity can help with our mental health there are many barriers to us keeping active. The Mental Health Foundation recently published report demonstrates the main barriers (see below)
At Pilates with Sarah, we focus on the physical aspects of exercise, with that hormonal change exercise brings, strengthening, stretching, mobility. However, I pay as much attention to the mental health side, focussing on breathing patterns to help with stress reduction, keeping our minds present during class and providing an environment where everyone feels comfortable, listened to and building a little community is really important to me. Interestingly, the most common positive feedback I get from classes are surrounding, better sleep, reduce stress, feeling generally better in one’s self.
So,
· If you know you like Pilates come give it a try (as finding an activity you like is so important)
· If you aren’t sure if it’s for you, try one of my taster classes to see.
· Join one of my beginners’ groups
and ultimately, don’t forget to think about how any form of exercise is helping your mind 😊.
[1] Understanding and addressing inequalities in physical activity: Evidence-based guidance for commissioners Public Health England; 2021
[2] Physical Activity: Applying All Our Health: Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, Public Health England: 2022
[3] Global status report on physical activity 2022. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
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