A wee end of week recap coming to you on a Monday this time, and I wanted to make this one a little bit different.

This past Saturday was World Mental Health Day, with the theme “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change.” It got me thinking about the conversations we have here at HQ, and how much it matters to have somewhere you feel listened to. Mental health, or mental wellbeing as our lovely Anita always puts it, is something we speak about often. We don’t shy away from some of the more difficult topics and conversations, and that’s something I feel immensely grateful for and proud of. I think sometimes we don’t fully understand the impact of these things until they touch our own lives, whether that’s something we experience ourselves or through somebody we care about. But even when it hasn’t affected us personally, it still affects people in the world we live in. 

Taking the time to listen to somebody’s experience can help us understand things we might never have had to think about before. We all have different things going on outside the gym, and some days getting yourself through the door takes a lot more than others. I’m grateful that you feel comfortable enough to come in, be yourself and share how you’re feeling if you want to. Whether that’s having a wee chat with us or just enjoying your session and some company. 

As some of you will know, there have been some difficult moments amongst friends and family over these past few weeks. I think it really brings home how delicate and fragile life can be, and how much pressure we sometimes put on ourselves to do everything perfectly and do everything well. Between work, family, training and everything else, sometimes we forget to enjoy a little bit more of what life has to offer, or the life we’ve made for ourselves. 

So this week, I’m setting you a wee challenge to let your hair down a little and make time for some things that fill your cup. Spend time with people you love, have a laugh, do something because you enjoy it, and let yourself enjoy it without feeling you should be doing something else. 

Thank you, as always, to everybody for the conversations you share with us and the support to one another. I

hope you all manage to find a wee bit of time for yourselves this week to fill up your cup too.