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Mental Health Awareness Week
Movement: Moving more for our mental health.
Physical activity holds significant importance for our mental well-being. However, numerous individuals encounter challenges in achieving an adequate amount of exercise. Recognising the multifaceted reasons behind this, during this Mental Health Awareness Week, our aim is to assist individuals in incorporating moments of movement into their daily routines. Whether it’s taking a stroll in your local park, enjoying your favourite music and dancing within the confines of your living room, or engaging in chair exercises while watching television – every effort contributes to the cause.
Physical movement affects the functioning of your mind and your emotions
Dr Andrew Morris
Identify what is missing
Your emotional and physical needs need to be met well and in balance. This could feel stress, anxious, sad or unmotivated because one or more of your 9 emotional needs aren’t being met well, or in balance, or because your innate resources which were designed to help us meet our needs aren’t functioning as they should (this is known as the human givens approach). By identifying and addressing the missing needs and learning to make the best use of your resources – your natural guidance system – will allow you to master effective ways to ensure yourself a better future.
Explore more about the human givens approach
Take back control
If you or someone you know suffers from high levels of anxiety, there are many things that people can do to help themselves. Clear, practical information can be found in our anxiety resources listed below. If you live or work with anxious people, we also offer a range of accredited mental health training courses – click here to find out more >
Anxious about going out?
On our Human Givens College training courses, we teach a technique which Joe Griffin named ‘7-11’ breathing, because it’s the most powerful technique we know.
Here is how you do it, and it is as easy as it sounds:
- Breathe in for a count of 7.
- Then breathe out for a count of 11.
If you find that it’s difficult to lengthen your breaths to a count of 11 or 7, then reduce the count to breathing in for 3 and out to 5, or whatever suits you best, as long as the out-breath is longer than the in-breath.
Continue in this way for 5-10 minutes or longer if you have time – and enjoy the calming effect it will have on your mind and body. An added bonus of 7-11 breathing is that the very act of counting to 7 or 11 is a distraction technique, taking your mind off your immediate concerns.
This 7/11 breathing technique for relaxing quickly is the most powerful we know and has been used for thousands of years throughout the world.
Make sure that when you are breathing in, you are doing deep ‘diaphragmatic breathing’ (your diaphragm moves down and pushes your stomach out as you take in a breath) rather than shallower higher lung breathing.
