Time is a precious commodity these days, with packed schedules and never-ending to-do lists. What if we were intentional about carving out pockets of undivided attention, free from the pings and dings of technology, an intentional space to tap into the restorative power of presence?

Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly Merry Christmas – Peg Bracken

This could mean a leisurely coffee date with a dear friend, an unhurried stroll in nature, or an evening of board games with the family. We can truly listen, connect, and be present with those we love in these moments.

And then there’s the simple act of gentle touch – a warm hug, a comforting hand on the shoulder, or an affectionate pat on the back. Studies have shown that physical contact not only strengthens our bonds with others but also has tangible benefits for our mental, emotional, physical and social well-being. Touch can lower blood pressure, reduce stress, and even boost our immune systems. Yet in our increasingly isolated world, this fundamental human need is often overlooked.

In a world that often values productivity over presence, the simple gifts of time and touch can be gentle acts of self-care and connection.

So slow down, reach out, and nurture the relationships that truly matter, starting with yourself! You might be surprised by the ripples of calm, joy, and fulfilment that follow.

Consciously make time and gentle touch a priority, to cultivate more meaningful relationships, rediscover the joy in the everyday and dare to be the change you want to see in your organisation, family, community and life!

The Gift of Time and Touch Matters

• Bring calm and relief to a stressed or anxious friend, colleague or yourself
• Share a special time between parents and children
• Communicate when you can’t find words

Learn to Give a Hand Massage

This two-and-a-half-hour workshop will provide you with the foundational skills to share the gift of gentle touch with family and friends. It is an introductory exploration of the energy of gentleness, a moment of self-care and it will give you the confidence to safely offer your presence and a hand massage to people you know. No previous experience is necessary.

Get in Touch Today – mathilde@atouchofgentleness.org – 07947 319 362

Words: Mathilde Barbier – DareToBeTheChangeToday

The post The Gift of Time and Touch appeared first on Wellbeing Magazine.

As a parent of a teenager, I can only begin to fathom the anguish his parents must have felt when they learned the depths of his despair. For Jacob, opening up about his darkest thoughts and fears was an act of immense courage. As we chat about those days, I’m reminded of my own struggles during adolescence—dark thoughts I thought I was alone in facing. Perhaps, like me, many of us grapple with these challenges growing up, navigating the turbulent waters of puberty, hormones, academic pressures, and the quest to find ourselves.

For Jacob, support came in the form of a loving family and a therapist who encouraged him to express his emotions on paper. What began as a therapeutic exercise soon transformed into a lifeline—song lyrics that evolved into poetry. In school, poetry had seemed irrelevant, uninspiring. But in his darkest moments, it became a life line, guiding him out of despair.

Seeing Jacob’s enthusiasm as he talks about his poetry and the journey of creating his book, it’s hard to imagine that only a few years ago he was in such a dark place. The simple act of transferring his thoughts onto paper not only had a profound impact on his own life but has now become a tool through which he hopes to touch the lives of others. Calm After the Storm is more than just a collection of his thoughts, feelings, and experiences – it’s a movement—a powerful reflection of the impact of words, vulnerability, and hope.”

In addition to his writing, Jacob discovered a local event called ‘WordUp,’ an open mic night that welcomes songwriters, poets, and comedians to share their creative talents. He encourages everyone to find their own “thing,” emphasising that while poetry might not resonate with everyone, the act of putting feelings into words can be a powerful starting point. Poetry saved Jacob’s life, and now he hopes his poetry can inspire others, showing them that they are not alone, that there is always hope, and that they are deeply loved.

Before our meeting, I had the chance to listen to Jacob’s spoken word poem, Don’t Die Today; Die Tomorrow. It portrays a typical conversation between two friends but with a profound message on how to potentially save a life. Dedicated to Men’s Mental Health Month, the poem is featured in Calm After the Storm. Jacob highlights a harrowing statistic: by the time he finishes reading the poem, seven men will have taken their own lives—one every 40 seconds. This is a statistic that he is determined to change.

The poem is a poignant call to action, and I urge you to watch and share it. It may just save someone’s life. Jacob’s poetry has already made a significant impact, with individuals reaching out to thank him for sharing his journey and giving them the permission to be vulnerable. In a society where men are often taught to suppress their emotions and “tough it out,” Jacob’s work is a powerful reminder that opening up can be a lifesaving act.

Men’s mental health is an area that has been shrouded in silence for far too long. According to the World Health Organisation, men are three to four times more likely to die by suicide than women. This alarming statistic underscores the urgent need for more open conversations about mental health, particularly among men. Jacob’s story illustrates how vulnerability can lead to healing, offering a blueprint for others to follow.

Generations before us rarely spoke about mental health. The stigma attached to it was suffocating—admitting to struggling with mental health was often seen as a sign of weakness. But talking with Jacob gives me hope for the future. The younger generation is not afraid to confront their demons, to share their darkest thoughts, and in doing so, they are creating a ripple effect of hope. They are proving that no matter how deep the darkness, there is always light around the corner, a new adventure waiting to unfold.

As Jacob prepares to head off to university to further his studies in creative writing, he does so with a sense of purpose and excitement for the future. His writing has already touched many lives, and there’s no doubt it will continue to do so. By sharing his story, Jacob is not only helping to break the stigma surrounding men’s mental health, but he is also providing a lifeline to those who may feel lost and alone.

Jacob’s journey reminds us all that even in our darkest moments, there is a way forward, a path to healing, and a world of possibilities waiting just around the corner.

For more information and to explore Jacob’s work, visit Lightningpoems.com or follow him on Instagram @lightning.poems and TikTok @lightningpoems. Let his words be a source of inspiration and a reminder that we are never truly alone.

The post Finding Light in the Darkness: A Journey Through Men’s Mental Health appeared first on Wellbeing Magazine.

Join Helen & Team for Half-Day Workshop

Wednesday 28th August, 10.00 am-12.30 pm, Rottingdean, East Sussex

A half-day workshop for those who would like to learn how to give friends and family a lovely hand massage. Minimum donation request is £20.

For More Information https://www.atouchofgentleness.org/join-us

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Modern medicine has focused on extending our life span, supported by the general public. This has been achieved but at a severe cost. If we look at America as a vision of where the UK follows a few years on, we should be making vital changes to the way the health care system works. 

Longevity has been achieved with ever increasing medical support, so that now the American people are the sickest people among the industrialised nations despite, or perhaps because of, their highest national expenditure on medicine.

The key question is “are we brighter than an amoeba? Every living creature from amoeba to human has the ability to respond to its environment. Shine a strong light on an amoeba and it will move away for its survival. 

We humans also have the ability to respond to anything that is a threat to life, or in other words we all have response-ability for our lives. Sadly most of us are not living responsibly, we no longer feel responsible for our own health and longevity. Many of us have handed over this responsibility to others such as a doctor, the food industry, or the government in charge of health and safety!

We all have a choice between a long active healthy life or a long increasingly unhealthy life progressively more and more inactive or disabled.

What can you do to achieve the long healthy, active lifespan?

You can start with four key factors for health promotion (in order of priority):

1. Your breathing
2. Your eating
3. Your body care
4. Your mind

Why this ordering? 

We can live our entire lives with many mental problems, we can live for years with little exercise and structural problems, we can only live for a few weeks without food and water but we can only live for a few minutes without breathing!

The other reason for this order is to make this life changing shift easier for you! You can improve your breathing in a matter of days or weeks, you can change your eating habits with a little effort in weeks or months but work on your body might take months or more and changing old established mental problems can take years of effort and good support.

Now you know how to proceed, you need some measuring tools to check your progress on this journey, both to give you encouragement and to help you direct your efforts in the most useful ways.

Based on my forty years of experience in the healthcare profession I would suggest some of the simplest yet well proven tests:

1. For your breathing I suggest the Buteyko Method “Control Pause “ – This test takes about one minute and will give you a good indication of the quality of your breathing and your tissue oxygenation.
2. For your nutritional status I would suggest the simplest test, “The 4LeafSurvey” – This is based on twelve questions and gives a good measure of the percentage of calories you get from whole plant based foods in your diet.

You now have perhaps the two most important vital signs that most doctors have neglected for half a century. The vast majority of diseases are closely related to how we breathe, our tissue oxygenation, and what we eat.

• The testing of your body can be much more complex, but as a good start to assess your weight related to your age and height, the “BMI” can be useful.
• The last but not least is the measure of your mental state. This without doubt is the most complex area but we still need some measure for this. I suggest a very simplified version of “The Luscher Colour Test”. This test was developed by Professor Max Luscher, and is based on the fact that our response to colour reflects our emotional state or mind-state.

Check your breathing, diet, BMI and mental state by clicking on the links below:

1. Breathing
2. Diet
3. BMI
4. Mind

Words: Michael Lingard BSc. DO

The post 4 Key Factors for a Long Healthy Active Lifespan appeared first on Wellbeing Magazine.

Our ancestors were much more connected to the earth and spent the majority of their time outside – hunting, working on the land and even sleeping outside. 

Today many us live and work in the city and spend a lot of time inside and on screens. This means we are missing out on the surprising health benefits of walking barefoot.

Experts recommend standing or lying on grass, soil or sand for 30 minutes a day in a practice known as “Earthing” or “Grounding”.

Earthing is a form of mindfulness that involves walking barefoot, while paying close attention to the feeling of your soles connecting with the ground.

Now summer is finally upon us and it’s easier to shed the layers and kick off our shoes, we thought we’d reveal some of the health benefits of going barefoot:

1. Boosts feel-good hormones – When you walk barefoot on grass, the level of endorphins (feel-good hormones) in your body increases. 
2. Decreases stress levels – Research shows walking on grass can help decrease your stress level by around 62%.
3. Connects you to health benefits of soil – The common microscopic bacteria, Mycobacterium vaccae, found in soil can improve mental health, according to scientists. This is why getting out in the garden/digging in soil is also great for your wellbeing. 
4. It’s a great form of mindfulness – Walking in nature can be a great mindfulness practice and can combat anxiety, but doing it barefoot has even more benefits. Your feet contain thousands of nerve endings and walking barefoot can help you connect with the sensations around you and ground you in the present moment. 
5. It can aid better sleep – Contact with the earth helps to stabilise and reset the natural circadian rhythms in the body, which in turn can help aid sleep. A circadian rhythm is the natural cycle of physical, mental and behaviour changes that the body goes through in a 24-hour cycle. They can affect sleep, body temperature, hormones, appetite and other bodily functions.

Want to learn more about mental health, psychology and relationships, while boosting your self-awareness and self-esteem?

Join The Link Centre’s Official Introduction to Transactional Analysis course Dates: 22nd/23rd July 2023 in Plumpton OR 9th/10th September 2023 online.

These are some of the main takeaways from the 2-day course:

• Greater understanding of self & others 
• Better personal & professional relationships
• Skills to help you make decisions that serve you better
• Heightened self-awareness & self-esteem

During the fascinating 2-day course you will learn about topics including Life Script, Psychological Games and Ego States.

To hear more about the other courses we offer come to our relaxed and informal Online Open evening with The Link Centre team on Wednesday 19th July, 6.30 pm to 8.00 pm.

Words: Laura Mitchell

The post The Mental Health Benefits of Going Barefoot appeared first on Wellbeing Magazine.

According to the RNIB:

• 31 per cent of blind and partially sighted people are rarely, or never, optimistic about the future
• Only 17 per cent of people experiencing sight loss are offered emotional support in relation to their deteriorating vision
• More than 4 in 10 people attending low vision clinics are suffering from symptoms of clinical depression
• People affected by sight loss were more than twice as likely to have experienced difficulties with unhappiness or depression than the UK average.

Blindness is a condition that affects around 2 million people in the UK, and it can have a wide range of causes.

Some people are born with visual impairments, while others may develop them later in life due to illness, injury, or age-related conditions. Regardless of the cause, sight loss can have a significant impact on mental health.

Seema Flower, aged 55 and from Buckinghamshire is one of the 100 most influential disabled people in the UK 2020 according to the Shaw Trust Power 100 list.

Seema is the founder and MD of Blind Ambition and she is a driven and passionate advocate of equality and has been training organisations in Disability Awareness issues for over 25 years.

Seema said:

“It’s so important that conversations around mental health include people like me who are registered blind.

“In my experience of providing coaching and advocating for people who are visually impaired, it’s extremely disturbing the number of people who experience social isolation, anxiety and depression as a result of sight loss.

“The lack of specialist emotional support from counsellors has a huge impact people who are on a disability journey.”

Seema added:“We need more qualified professionals who understand sight loss.”

Focusing on anxiety for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week will increase people’s awareness and understanding of anxiety by providing information on the things that can help prevent it from becoming a problem.

RNIB say people who lose sight later in life can require emotional support to come to terms with and accept their sight loss.

RNIB’s Counselling team offers emotional support for those with sight loss RNIB offers emotional support for blind and partially sighted people through their Sight Loss Counselling team.

The NHS suggest if you’re blind or partially sighted, you may be referred to a specialist low-vision clinic, which is often located within a hospital. Staff at the clinic can help you understand your condition and come to terms with your diagnosis.

Blind Ambition offers a series of training sessions and consultancy on diversity and inclusion.

Seema recently ran an 8-week programme on confidence and resilience specifically designed for visually impaired people who are experiencing anxiety or depression as a direct result of sight loss.

The course was in partnership with London-based Dr Anneka Kumar, Clinical Psychologist.

Find out more on Seema and the work she does with Blind Ambition here: https://www.blindambition.co.uk/

The post Mental health support for people who are affected by sight loss appeared first on Wellbeing Magazine.

The concept of ‘mental fitness’ is one that high performance leadership coach and behavioural science consultant Chinazom Sunny Nwabueze has been fascinated by for years, particularly the impact on men. Statistics suggest that 1 in 8 men suffer from a mental health problem and research by The Priory revealed that 40% of men have never spoken to anyone about their mental health concerns.

Chinazom has experienced a number of significant transitions in his life, including leaving a 20 year career in investment banking to become a performance psychologist, relocating from the UK to the US and becoming a father for the first time during the pandemic. 

Having discussed mental fitness at length with clients, mentees, friends, family members, Chinazom combines his observations with extensive research and professional training in his new book, Real Talk: A New Approach for Men’s Mental Fitness and Wellbeing. In it he shares critical insights gained from coaching and pairs it with solid data and impactful storytelling. 

Real Talk

Real Talk is not your typical nonfiction book that promises to reveal the ‘secret sauce’ to mental fitness. Chinazom is not a ‘guru’ nor does he want to preach;  he is very aware his own mental fitness journey is still evolving. 

Instead, this book contains a series of fictional short stories based on real-life events that take place with normal, average, everyday people navigating their own journeys to mental fitness. 

Real Talk explores the idea that people, especially men, need to drop the facade that everything is fine, and actually talk through their issues. Chinazom argues that men need to ask better questions of those they are closest to.

“I’ve chosen to share what I’ve learned in this engaging way because these stories bring you alongside the characters in meaningful and relatable ways. It’s a really effective way to reflect on the practical, actionable and tested insights contained within each chapter,” explains Chinazom.

Written as a mind opener for any man, or woman with a man in her life, who wants to discover their own mental fitness power. Chinazom remains a firm believer that mental fitness needs to be discovered and then practiced.

Each section includes “Mind-Flexes” designed to help the reader practice the lessons contained within, providing bite-size mental fitness reminders that can be immediately implemented in everyday life. 

“I wrote this book to show you what’s possible when you prioritise your mental fitness. I want to change that script because when I look at my son and my new baby daughter, I want to model strong mental fitness and mindful wellbeing to them so they can pass it on to later generations,” he adds. 

Real Talk is priced at £12.99 and is available now to order from Amazon. 

The post Real Talk: A New Approach for Men’s Mental Fitness  appeared first on Wellbeing Magazine.

Mental Health and Stigma

Thankfully, mental health is a subject which is being taken much more seriously nowadays. Previously, conversation around the impacts of mental health on the self, whether with regards to professional performance or household dynamics, had been heavily stigmatised. 

Today, though, routes to care have been dramatically improved, and – while misogyny remains an endemic problem in today’s society – discriminatory diagnosis and treatments (such as ‘hysteria’) are things of the past. Still, though, there is a tendency for individuals to downplay their ill mental health – and to struggle as a result.

When Might You Be Struggling?

As a result, it can be hard to know if or when you are truly struggling with an illness. There are some tell-tale signs, though, which run common through a number of key conditions including depression and anxiety:

• Excess worrying, accompanied by heightened physical sensation
• Little interest in eating or sleep
• Difficulty focusing on a given task
• Experiencing difficult and painful thoughts, including intrusive thoughts about yourself
• Noticing any real-world impact of negative sensations or thinking

Steps to Take for Your Own Mental Health

Speak to a GP

If you are noticing a pattern of poor mental health, whatever the symptoms, your first port of call should be your local GP. As mentioned above, though, a fifth of us in the UK have sought help from the NHS regarding mental health issues. If you are one of those people, you may also know how difficult it is at the moment to secure help and treatment through the NHS; waiting lists for therapeutic services are longer than ever, while certain issues are increasingly misdiagnosed at first contact with a GP.

Naturally, this process and the various hurdles it can bring up can exacerbate symptoms or retraumatise patients; misdiagnosis in particular is grounds for medical negligence, which can see patients eligible for compensation for their ordeal. This should not dissuade you from seeking primary care for illness, but should indicate that other options may also be wise.

Seek a Therapist

If you decide you need mental health treatment, and if you have the budget to do so, you might seek out a trained therapist with whom to talk through your recent struggles. Medication is but one part of a much larger treatment ecosystem, and the ‘talking cure’ absolutely a viable route to giving you new resources with which to tackle your own thinking.

Reach Out to Charities

In the event of a serious mental health episode, during which you are worried for your own safety or state of mind, there are charities available for you to speak to immediately. Samaritans is one of the more well-known charities for this, with a 24/7 phone line and a large team of volunteers on hand to talk you through your episode or situation.

Institutional Support

Lastly, your mental health struggles need not continue to impact other areas of your life even as you seek solutions. There is often pastoral support available via the institutions with which you are affiliated – whether your workplace or place of learning. A HR or student services department will be well-equipped to provide you with fresh resources and even dispensations for your work or study load.

The post What Steps Can You Take If You Are Struggling? appeared first on Wellbeing Magazine.