"Walk n Talk" - Walking through picturesque locations in Swansea, Cardiff and Bristol allows you to enjoy the physical benefit of 30 minutes moderate intensity walking as well as the mental health benefits associated with the activity, whilst observing the social distancing advice.    Join the walk by  connecting virtually with the walk leader, trained Mental Health First Aid.  Mental Health First Aid training is the mental health equivalent of physical first aid. It provides our walk leaders with the skills, knowledge confidence to recognise the signs and symptoms of common mental health issues and effectively signpost a person to further support.  If you feel you want to open up and talk about anything negatively affecting your mental health our trained listeners will support and if need be signpost you to resources where you can help yourself or direct walkers to professional help with the therapists and psychologists we are collaborating with.  

Brave Lifestyle are collaborating with specialists in Psychology and Cognitive Behaviour Therapists.  One such collaborator says;

Duncan Stephenson, Deputy Chief Executive, Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), said: “This is an unprecedented period of anxiety for many people in the UK and the population’s mental health is paramount at this time. We fully applaud the work of Mental Health First Aid England’s network to help people through it and signpost to mental health supports....We know Mental health Fist Aiders provide excellent support in the workplace. It will be fantastic to see this work translated to community settings and remote working as we manage the mental health challenges associated with this outbreak.”
​(taken from Press Release Wednesday 18/03/2020; MHFA England calls on national network of Mental Health First Aiders to support during coronavirus crisis)

Downing Street Press Conference, 22nd March 2020
Prime Minister, "It is crucial for peoples physical and mental wellbeing that they get out in the fresh air and exercise in open spaces and parks...however it is absolutely crucial to observe the social distancing advice and everyone must act responsibly"

Deputy Chief Medical Officer "We don't want to grow mental health problems...generally, being outdoors in the fresh air is better than staying in your home but it is important to stay the 2m apart from other people to keep the more vulnerable / at risk in the population safe"

At BRAVE LIFESTYLE we are on the same page as the Government and are launching a variety of 'social distancing' appropriate activities outdoors to keep you physically and mentally fit.  The timetable below shows the variety of classes Brave Lifestyle and our collaborating professionals are delivering online.   Click the following link   bookwhen.com/bravelifestyle   to get your access code and URL to join in.

The above image from Public Health England's 'Health Matters: getting every adult active everyday' (1), shows the variety of activities you could participate in order to achieve recommended guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week.

A very recent publication entitled 'Well-being of Wales 2019' (2) released September 2019  evaluated the effectiveness of national strategies to increase the percentage of adults participating in physical activity.  As you can see the findings were not encouraging.    

Last year we delivered 'WALK and TALK' sessions, encouraging our participants to benefit from 30 mins of steady paced brisk walking for their social but pulse raising exercise.  This year we are launching the NEW 'Scrabble Club at the Beach'.  Studies have shown significant evidence to suggest regularly engaging your brain can reduce the risk of dementia in later life (https://www.helpguide.org/articles/alzheimers-dementia-aging/preventing-alzheimers-disease.htm ) so we are exercising that grey matter of yours with a social game of Scrabble followed by a supervised 1 mile walk (no exercise walk in winter months).  There is free fruit so you can tick off your five a day but please bring water, comfortable shoes and a hat.  The sessions are aimed at participants over 50 years old.  If you would like to book in for a health and fitness assessment so you get the most out of the physical exercise component of this session please contact us on 07961924950 to book.  If you only want to play scrabble, that is fine too.  

Scrabble Club at the Beach
Thursdays, 12 (noon) to 2pm
at Swansea Central Library (ground floor)
Civic Centre, Oystermouth Road, Swansea. SA1 3SN

Currently Public Health England recommends that everyone aims to participate in 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week as this significantly improves both your physical and mental health.

For decades the focus has been on the benefits of physical activity on your physical health, for example the reduction in risk of conditions such a cardiovascular disease, cancer and obesity.  For this reason I made it a priority to stay informed by attending continued professional development training in BACR (British Association of Cardiac Rehab) Phase IV,  GP Referral and MEND (a child anti obesity project) programmes.  More recently research is being directed toward the effect of physical activity on mental health conditions such as GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder) and Depression.  The evidence has led to Public Health England recommending the 30 minutes, five times a week of moderate physical activity approach to reduce mental health problems.  It is also recommended that everyone opens dialogue with those around them on the topic of mental health whether they are affected by mental health or not, so the stigma around it is removed.  Public Health England  suggests everyone incorporate wellbeing strategies into their everyday life.  An example is the 'Five ways to wellbeing' strategy, an evidence based report commissioned by the Foresight Reports and compiled  by New Economics Foundation in June 2008.

​More recently, government attention has turned to rise in reported mental health issues in the working population.  In October 2017 the Stevenson / Farmer review 'Thriving at Work' stated, "the correct way to view mental health is that we all have it and we fluctuate between thriving, struggling and being ill, possibly off work". 

So whether you are someone who feels you are affected by mental health or if you are an employer who would like to see the reported cost to benefit ratio of 1:4 in your workforce then, please do get in touch with bravelifestyle.  We can help you lead a physically and mentally healthier 2018 through our 1-to-1 or small group exercise programming / sessions.