Movement: Moving more for our mental health

When I found out that the theme for Mental Health Awareness week was 'Movement: Moving more for our mental health' I was pretty excited!

Not only does movement release feel good endorphins and lower our stress and anxiety levels, but it also gives us a very accessible way of connecting with our bodies and, for me, that's the exciting bit!

It's so easy to be lost in thought, living our lives from the neck up. But we are so much more than our thoughts! Connecting with our bodies brings many benefits, including opportunities for:

🌟 Present moment awareness - we can only ever notice sensations in our bodies in this moment.

🌟 Coming out of the thinking mind - yes, our mind will still think, but when it does we can practice noticing that and returning our attention back to our bodies. For many people, this is easier in movement.

🌟 Insight - our bodies reacts to whatever we are experiencing, often before we even register anything mentally. Think about our gut reaction! Yet this often goes unnoticed because we're not aware of our bodies and often just live life in our minds.

🌟 Noticing our attitude and behaviour - movement is a great way to notice how we might behave in daily life. Do we push ourselves and strive? Do we judge ourselves? Compare ourselves to others? Is this helpful? What choices do we have?

🌟 Gratitude - our bodies works hard all day doing all sorts of things for us, yet we don't often notice that.

Here’s a short mindful walking practice for you to try to see what you notice whilst your body is moving.