Dorset Mind launch their new ‘Move Your Mind’ wellbeing initiative for January, following on from last year’s successful £6,000 fundraiser.
Last Autumn, local mental health charity, Dorset Mind, launched their ‘Move Your Mind’ initiative, with the aim of inspiring everyone to get moving to help get through the traditionally daunting period after Christmas and plan a positive start to the new year.
A range of online classes and activities were offered that helped encourage people to improve their wellbeing, by getting active for at least 30 minutes, EVERY day, throughout the month.
Move it in January
The theme this year is ‘Move your body, to free your mind’ – emphasizing the positive benefits of regular physical movement to our collective mental health and wellbeing. Restrictions permitting, the charity aims to run walks in person every weekend at various locations in Dorset as part of their January timetable.
Did you know that regular exercise has a direct impact on mental health? It can help manage anxiety, stress and intrusive thoughts by releasing cortisol which helps manage stress. It’s also known to reduce the likelihood of experiencing a period of depression. Importantly, by concentrating on your body and movement, that act gives your brain something else to focus on and can be a positive coping strategy.
Togetherness
We also witnessed a continued sense of community last year as people pulled together through the pandemic and emerged from multiple lockdowns. It’s this togetherness that ‘Move Your Mind’ hopes to continue by encouraging people to sign up together and help each other through the notoriously tough first month of the year.
‘Move Your Mind’ proved to be a huge success in 2021 – and has raised over £6,000 to help fund the charity’s 1-2-1 and group support across Dorset. As last year, it’s FREE to take part, with the opportunity to donate or fundraise a minimum of £31 – that’s just £1 for every day in January. As a non-profit, don’t forget all donations go towards helping the charity support local people in need.
How to join in
Registration opens mid- November 2021, and the charity invites everyone across the county to join in. It’s open to individuals, teams, schools and businesses and people can get active in any way they want. This makes it suitable for anyone who wants to plan their positive start to the year with a change in their usual routine – or with a bigger challenge for themselves or a team.
You’ll find a registration form and extra resources to download at https://dorsetmind.uk/move- your-mind/
Participants are encouraged to share their stories, efforts and progress online, by tagging the dedicated Instagram account – @move_your_mind_dorset.
This will also help encourage a supportive online community – and inspire other people to take part.
To help encourage participants, Dorset Mind is appealing to local businesses to help sponsor the campaign. If your organisation wishes to help support the charity, please email Hannah Garrett at fundraising@dorsetmind.uk
