Mental Health Awareness Week – Why We Value Staying Active
As anyone who has worked in a start-up environment before will know all too well, it can be a massive challenge to keep on top of your mental health while staying on top of everything on your to-do list.
For a small company like Beau’s, where each of us wears many different hats during a working week, it can feel a herculean effort to make time in our schedules to look after our mental wellbeing as well as get all the work that needs doing, done.
For many of the Beau’s team, staying active has become a key part of how we take time away from the pressures of work. Getting away from our computer screens and out into nature allows us to properly step out from the business for a short while and forget about what needs to be done – and often leaves us inspired with new ideas and perspectives when we get back to our desks.
Being active has also helped us when finding like-minded people to join us on our journey – our co-founder Amber met our regular photographer Helena Rose Murphy while completing yoga teacher training, while Jenny – our Head of Engagement – also first came into contact with Beau’s through sea swimming with Amber.
Even though working in a start-up has its pressures, making sure we can stay active is a key part of our ethos – and we have an understanding with all of our team that there is always time to lace up our trainers for a run, take a dip in the ocean or just take half an hour for a mindful yoga practice. After all, if your mind is a mess, then you’re never going to get good work done!
In the spirit of celebrating the importance of Mental Health Awareness Week and this year’s theme of ‘Nature’, we wanted to share how some of our team heads outdoors to keep their mental health robust and get active at the same time.
Cold Water Swimming | Amber Fox-Eyre, Co-Founder
My head is usually spinning 24/7: if I’ve not got ice cream on the brain I’m in ‘Mum mode’ with a highly adventurous and mischievous little lady who loves nothing more than jumping from heights and doing impromptu handstands in any precarious area of the house. There are days where, quite honestly, you feel like however hard you juggle, you drop every ball.
An early morning sea swim
I found it really hard to switch off and frequently obsessed over every single detail of every single thing – and then I discovered cold water swimming. Nothing I can say will adequately describe how joyous and wonderful it feels to be submerged in freezing icy water. It’s truly the one time in the day where I can switch my mind off and just be in the moment, bobbing about in chilly tranquil water.
Once you get out and you’re drying off, the sense of exhilaration is amazing. It feels like you’ve conquered your fears and mental barriers. And if like me you’re lucky enough to share your swim with a truly awesome friend (Jenny, our Head of Engagement) and huddle up after with hot water bottles and flasks of hot drinks, mentally and physically, it’s one of the best moments of the day.
NB: It’s important to be Safe Swim Aware. The Outdoor Swimming Society has tons of information about how best to approach cold water swimming safely, so before diving into cold water swimming, do your research and please stay safe!
Running | Ben McCabe, Marketing Director
I didn’t always love running. When I started, back at university, I could barely run two miles without feeling wheezy and out of breath. Fast-forward a few years, several 10Ks, a few half-marathons and one London Marathon later, and running is something I couldn’t imagine not being a part of my life.
A recent shoreline run in Whitley Bay
I can always feel it when I’ve not been running for a couple of days. I become irritable, less patient with others. My back starts hurting from sitting too long at desks or lounging on the sofa. And so I go for a run, and all the tension I’m feeling just seems to dissipate.
For me, an early morning run – while everyone else is still in bed or blearily making their first coffee of the day – is an incredible experience. My regular run takes me down the Avon Gorge leading out of Bristol where, after passing under the majestic Clifton Suspension Bridge, the towpath leads me out of the city and out past the woods into rolling countryside.
Leaving the city behind and enjoying the beautiful scenery helps me to reset and find balance, both physically and mentally. It’s a cliché to call running ‘moving meditation’ but it really can be – just slip into a comfortable pace, let your feet carry you along and just let your mind wander wherever it needs to.