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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.

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.

Find Mental Health Clubs/Groups Near You

Use the search below to find local organisations near you.

National Governing Bodies

MIND

Contact Name
MIND
Contact Email
contact@mind.org.uk
Contact Telephone
020 8519 2122
Aerobics

Keep Phytt

We offer physiotherapy led exercise classes to older people and those who struggle to exercise in normal classes. Classes are designed around participants to deliver targeted exercise to their needs. We aim to have classes within 10 minutes of clients hom

Olympia Boxing CIC

Olympia Boxing CIC

We deliver Olympic Style Boxing Fitness programmes in schools and community groups across Kent and the south east.

Thrive Community Health, Fitness and Wellness

Thrive Community Health, Fitness and Wellness

Weight Management
Wellness Workshops
Group Exercise Classes
Mental Health First Aid
1:1 Health Coaching (available from January 2022)

The Net Community Hub

The Net Community Hub

The Net provides social and wellbeing activities for the vulnerable and elderly residents in the area, to combat social isolation.

Squash

The Park Club Chatham

The Park Club is a charitable company whose focus is to get more people, more active, more often. We have two clubs in Kent, one in Chatham and one in Ashford. We offer group exercise classes, a fully equipped gym, functional training area & squash court

RUGGERBUGS Ltd

RUGGERBUGS Ltd

RUGGERBUGS is a FUN and exciting Pre-School Sports Development Programme based around non-contact rugby for girls and boys, aged 18 months to 6 years.
Established early 2007, RUGGERBUGS has been innovative in developing this toddler rugby activity and is

The Right Step Dance Company

The Right Step Dance Company

The Right Step is a community dance company. We provide high quality dance lessons At Any Age, For Any Ability in schools, care homes, youth centres and for other organisations across Kent.

The Right Step Dance Company

The Right Step Dance Company

The Right Step is a community dance company. We provide high quality dance lessons At Any Age, For Any Ability in schools, care homes, youth centres and for other organisations across Kent.

Dunton Dragons Football Club

Dunton Dragons Football Club

We are a local amateur community sports club based in Dunton Green, Sevenoaks.

Tennis

Jimmy's Tennis

Exercise provided around the sport of tennis. Numerous locations with experienced staff providing lessons for beginners to those that have played for a long time. Ages 4 years to those a lot older.
Many sessions provided for those with additional needs

Athletics

Royal Tunbridge Wells parkrun

A free, weekly & timed 5km event open to people of all ages and abilities. Every Saturday at 9am.

Tough Love Boxing Ltd

Tough Love Boxing Ltd

We are a new Boxing club focusing on both physical health and mental health.

12in12.run

12in12.run

Rewarding runners, both new and accomplished, when completing consecutive runs

United Judo

United Judo

Exciting New Club welcoming all into the Olympic Sport of JUDO. From ages 3 years to 80 year olds. All sectors of the community welcome. Inclusive - Toddlers - Juniors - Adults - Seniors and Masters.

LimbPower

LimbPower

LimbPower was launched in November 2009 to engage amputees and individuals with limb impairments in physical activity, sport and the arts to improve quality of life and to aid lifelong rehabilitation

Exercise Class

First Step fitness

Free fitness class for total beginners based in Pitsea on Monday nights at 19.00.

Mental Health

Together In Musical Expression

Charitable organisation, established to relieve the needs of those with special and/or additional needs through the provision of musical based activities.

The charity is a progression from the initial conception of TIME Ltd. Both organisations will run

Faversham Strike Force Football Club

Faversham Strike Force Football Club

We are an FA Charter Standard Community Club who provide a safe, enjoyable, learning environment for all children and adults.

The Park Club

The Park Club

The Park Club is a charitable company whose focus is to get more people, more active, more often. We have two clubs in Kent, one in Chatham and one in Ashford. We offer many group exercise classes as well a fully equipped gym and functional training area

MIND

MIND

MIND provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem.

Mental Health First Aid England

Mental Health First Aid England

MHFA came to England in 2007 and was developed and launched under the Department of Health: National Institute of Mental Health in England (NIMHE) as part of a national approach to improving public mental health.

10 Today

10 Today

10 Today is a set of fun, 10-minute, audio and video routines to help older people get stretching and moving at home. They're adaptable to different fitness levels and can be done at any time, standing up or sitting down.

Community Resilience Young People Mentor

Somerset Activity and Sports Partnership are looking to recruit full time and part time posts to support Young People aged between 8-25 years old with a young person-centred relationship-based approach to supporting Young People.