The Healthy Role Sport Plays In Supporting Mental Health
As the festive season can be busy and chilly, there’s not always time or the willingness to stick to healthy routines, such as doing regular sports or getting outside to exercise when the weather is colder. However, maintaining a small amount of exercise and engaging in sport can benefit both your physical and mental health.
With the New Year approaching, it’s a great opportunity to make a healthy start to 2025 and discover ways you can get involved to promote the healthy relationship between sport and mental health. From volunteering to be a mental health advocate to organising a fundraiser, this article explores the positive impact sport can have personally and for those in your community.
Boosts mental health
Whatever your age, being physically active can help you lead a long and healthier life with the NHS recommending at least 150 minutes of physical activity a week. From cardiovascular exercise, such as running or improving strength and flexibility at the local gym, engaging in exercise through a variety of activities has a multitude of mental health benefits. When you’re physically active, the body’s feel good endorphins are natural chemicals that can elevate your mood, reduce stress and anxiety, and even alleviate feelings of depression.
When it comes to boosting your mental health, just a little amount of moderate exercise, such as a dance routine, a morning jog, or cycling a short distance can significantly improve someone’s wellbeing. Other activities, such as cold water therapy and swimming all-year in natural bodies of water have become well known for their healthy, mood-boosting effects.
Beyond the mental health advantages, an active lifestyle also brings important physical benefits. Regular exercise can strengthen the cardiovascular system, improve muscle tone and flexibility, and even boost the immune system. By taking care of our bodies through sport and movement, we’re investing in our overall health and resilience.
Raises awareness
At Havant and East Hants Mind, our Mental Health Ambassadors Project is focused on promoting the importance of regular exercise for people’s mental health. Likewise, they can support young people and adults to access local sport and wellbeing services because it’s not always easy to participate as a single person or sign up and pay for group or solo sessions.
If you want to become a Sport Ambassador within your community, you’ll receive free training and a mental health awareness session. You might be asked to host awareness activities, support fundraising programmes, and signpost your club/team members to wellbeing services in your area. In addition, Sport Ambassadors work with local clubs, teams or groups to increase mental health awareness and encourage people to get active even for a short amount of time.
Even a 10-minute brisk walk can increase energy levels, boost moods, and distract from racing or intrusive thoughts. So, whether you’re a football coach at grassroots level or a manager promoting mental health first-aiders in UK gyms, the combined efforts and shared support can be instrumental in creating safe, inclusive spaces for sport-loving individuals. This applies to people of every age who might benefit from being signposted to mental health services in their area, and being made aware of the variety of different settings where they can enjoy sport whilst also seeking mental health support if needed.
Promotes active lifestyles
Sport England, introduced their ‘Uniting the Movement’, a long-term vision and investment in promoting active lifestyles to transform lives and communities through sport and physical activity. Such collective efforts play a significant role in promoting mental health awareness, its positive connection to sport, and enabling access to sport for everyone. Sport England also shared information and reports on the progress and positive impact of their campaign. For example, one report explained that sport and physical activity interventions had positive effects on the mental health problems of children and young people.
Projects and campaigns that promote healthy living, whether they’re Government guidelines or charity initiatives are all fantastic endeavours to encourage more and more people to adopt a healthier and active lifestyle in the New Year. Launching the Ambassadors Project and appointing mental health advocates in a variety of sport settings, from local sports clubs to community fitness groups, extends the message to lots of people, and across the UK.
Recruiting dedicated mental health champions or having them embedded within sport settings and mental health charities at both the local level and nationally, therefore, will continue to be invaluable in 2025 and beyond. They serve as trusted sources of information, opening up more conversations around mental health, and encouraging people to prioritise their physical and mental wellbeing.
Encourages inclusivity
Not everyone is drawn to the same types of physical activities. That’s why it’s important to embrace a diverse range of inclusive options and keep in mind individual preferences, their ages, and sporting skills. From swimming laps in the pool to kicking a football around the pitch, there are countless ways to get moving to benefit your mental health, either by making small changes to your day-to-day life or focusing on a personal fitness goal.
For those who prefer more leisurely pursuits, activities like walking, cycling, or even gentle yoga can be just as impactful. The key is to find an activity that you genuinely enjoy, whether it’s the competitive thrill of a team sport or the meditative calm of a solo workout. When we engage in physical pursuits that we find fulfilling, we’re more likely to stick with them and make them a regular part of our lives.
Whether you’re part of a small business or working for a large company, you might want to organise a corporate fundraiser in 2025. Building on the motivation that often comes at the start of a New Year, it’s always a great time to raise funds, either on your own with a personal sporting challenge or as part of a bigger, charity event.
If you’re passionate about mental health and the power that sport has to transform, you can sign up to be a Sports Ambassador or get involved in another way to make a real difference in your local community. Not only will you connect people to the resources and support they need, you’ll receive training and guidance on how to promote mental health awareness and create inclusive sporting and fundraising environments. With a network of mental health and sport advocates, you’ll soon help to inspire friends, family, and colleagues to have a healthy 2025.
About HEH Mind
Havant and East Hants Mind work to promote good mental health and seek to support and empower people to lead a full life as part of their local community. To achieve this HEH Mind offers a range of services and support to individuals and groups across South and East Hampshire, with some of our services support and projects being Hampshire wide. Our services include: wellbeing services for adults, children and young people, families and workplaces. Crisis support is also offered via the Adult’s Safe Haven and Young People’s Safe Haven. Additionally, HEH Mind has an active Community Team that deliver and support fundraising, community engagement, campaigns and events.
Article written by guest author: Annie Button
Annie Button is a freelance writer specialising in wellbeing and sustainable lifestyles. She strongly believes in placing a compassionate focus on mental health and actively seeks to highlight the challenges of contemporary living.
Posted on: 16th December 2024
