Mental Health

It's well known that regular exercise is good for our bodies – and there's good evidence that it can help improve our mental wellbeing too.

Get Involved

An Overview of Mental Health

Physical activity has a huge potential to enhance our wellbeing. It also plays a role in preventing the development of mental health problems and in improving the quality of life of people experiencing mental health problems.

MIND's online information about getting started with physical activity can help people with mental health problems better understand how sport and exercise can improve their physical and mental health – and overcome some common barriers.

Deciding what's safe for you, how hard you should push yourself and finding the right sport or activity can be difficult when you've got a mental health problem. And we can all struggle finding the motivation to be active.

Benefits

Mood: when asked to rate their mood immediately after periods of physical activity (going for a walk, doing housework) and periods of inactivity (reading a book, watching television), participants felt more content, more awake and calmer after being physically active.When you exercise, your brain chemistry changes through the release of endorphins (or 'feel good' hormones), which can calm anxiety and lift your mood.

Stress: when events occur that make us feel threatened or upset, our body's defences cut in and create a stress response, which may make us feel a variety of uncomfortable physical symptoms. These symptoms are triggered by a rush of stress hormones – the fight or flight response. Adrenaline and noradrenaline raise our blood pressure, increase our heart rate and increase the rate at which we perspire. This causes us to feel stress. Physical activity is a good output for relieving these symptoms and consequently relieving stress.

Self-esteem: how we feel about ourselves and how we perceive our self-worth is a key indicator of our mental wellbeing and our ability to cope with life stressors. Physical activity has been shown to have a positive influence on our self-esteem and self-worth. When you start to see your fitness levels increase and your body improve, it can give your self-esteem a big boost. The sense of achievement you get from learning new skills and achieving your goals can help you feel better about yourself and lift your mood.

Depression and anxiety: physical activity is increasingly used as an alternative treatment for depression. It can also reduce levels of anxiety in people with mild symptoms and may also be helpful for treating clinical anxiety.One study has found that by increasing your activity levels from doing nothing to exercising at least three times a week, you can reduce your risk of depression by almost 20%.

Social and Emotional Benefits: being around other people is good for our mental health and social networks, plus you can maximise the benefits of exercising by doing it with other people. Lots of us enjoy being active because it's fun. Researchers have shown that there's a link between the things we enjoy doing and improvements in our wellbeing overall.

Don't forget the physical benefits too. Being physically active can reduce your risk of some diseases, improve the health of your organs and bones, help you to maintain a healthy weight and give you more energy.

Involvement

Quick tips for being more active - Watch the video for five ways to get moving and feel better.

Duncan Bawler Training

I am a self employed PT and CrossFit Coach as well as L3 trainer assessor for the delivery of 1st Aid

Taunton Fitness Club

Taunton Fitness Club is for ordinary folk that like to run, walk, cycle, swim or do other fitness activities. TFC is not a sports club as such but a community club where like-minded people can enjoy keeping fit with others without elitism or competitivene

Taunton Running Club

Taunton running club provide sessions every Tuesday and Thursday at 18:30 in Taunton town centre.

There is no joining fee or ongoing subs needed - we run for fun and we run for free!

All abilities and ages welcome!

Petroc Mid-Devon Plodders

Heather Pring Health And Fitness

Tai Chi Qigong in Bridgwater with Henriette

Easy, gentle exercises to improve physical & mental health. The forms consists of sequences of slow, gentle exercises which may:

reduce stress & anxiety
reduce blood pressure
improve general well-being
improve balance
improve memory
improve coor

Tavern Fight Academy

Local community Martial Arts Club. We cater for fitness, boxing, kickboxing, grappling and circuits. We also run dedicated Bootcamp and fitness classes in the summer months.

In Line We Dance

Discover The Joy Of Modern Line Dance
Classes suitable for all ages and abililites from Absolute Beginner to Advanced dancers. There are also many health benefits including Improving co-ordination, balance and cardiovasclar and mental health.

TTBonSea

We are a small club based at the Catholic Church on Highbridge Road, Burnham. We are keen to welcome new players of any ability. All we ask is a willingness to play. Be Friendly, encourage others, and hopefully learn about and improve your TT game.

Well Image

We run photography workshops to:

. encourage people to be more active because they have a focus or reason to get out and about
. connect people with nature wherever possible
. connect people socially
. empower people by teaching new digital skill

Glastonbury Cricket Club

The club exists to foster and promote the playing of cricket within the community, providing facilities for playing, training and coaching. We run 3 adult teams and 4 youth teams and outdoor coaching sessions run from April to September at Tor S&L. All ag

Carolyn Smith Yoga and Mental Health

Yoga for health, wellbeing and mental health in Butleigh near Glastonbury, Barton St David, Coxley near Wells and Shepton Mallet.

Healthwatch Devon

Healthwatch Devon is the independent champion for people using health and care services. We listen to what people like about services and what could be improved and share those views with those with the power to make change happen.

Porlock Weir Gig Club

Porlock Weir Pilot Gig Club was founded in 2018 by Ben Allerton who recognised the growing need for the sport on Exmoor, in this fast growing traditional sport.

This created a large amount of interest and within 12 months the club had over 40 members.

Fit For Life

If you’re new or nervous to exercise or suffering from joint pain, arthritis or injury then this class is for you.
This is a full body circuit style workout aimed at movements to promote everyday functional activities and encourage full range of moveme

Forestry England - Haldon Forest Park

Open Mental Health Grants

2:00am - Sun 31st March, 2024

Open Mental Health grants are available for projects that focus on improving the mental health and wellbeing of people living in Somerset. We are looking to expand the provision of support in Somerset by inviting local organisations to apply for grants up to £10,000.

Volunteer Manager

Sport in Mind is excited to be recruiting a new full-time Volunteer Manger to start in 2024, we see this as great opportunity for people with experience of managing volunteers effectively, inspiring people to give back to vulnerable communities and are confident with IT management systems.

Sport in Mind is a fast-growing charitable organisation, and we support those within the organisation to grow with us. Deadline for applications – Thursday 21st December. Interviews week commencing 2nd January.

One You - Feeling Stressed?

https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/stress