It is the start of Mental Health Awareness Week which this year focuses on “body image”
The world in which we live is obsessed by what we look like and how we appear. Social media fuels that fire and the photo-shopped images that we see make us all feel hugely inadequate.
Body image is a stressor which adds to the stress which comes at us from every angle.
The job we do is stressful! I have to confess that I get stressed doing this job and I have been doing it for a long time.
A survey published in April highlighted just how stressful the legal profession is. Undertaken by an insurer the survey found that the legal profession is the second most stressed occupation in the country and that Liverpool comes 12th in the list of most stressed cities.
So, in Mental Health Awareness Week, how do we deal with the issue of body image and can we deal with stress at the same time?
One way of doing this is of course to do some exercise but that in itself can be a daunting prospect. It is always a challenge to take that first step.
Well about four years ago now my wife Kathryn started to go to ParkRun in Princes Park. She hated cross country at school and would never describe herself as a runner.
You may not have heard about ParkRun. It is a free, weekly, 5km timed run staffed by volunteers which takes place in hundreds of locations across the country. Locally we have runs in Princes Park, Croxteth Park, Crosby, Southport, Birkenhead Park.
Now I can hear you say that you are not a runner either. However the beauty of ParkRun is that it is open to everyone, it is not a race, no one comes last as there is always a tail walker who makes sure of that.
It does not matter what shape you are, what age you are – you go at your pace whatever that is. Everyone is welcome and no one gets turned away.
Don’t take my word for it – read Dawn’s story and be inspired!
Most Saturdays now Kathryn and I are at Princes ParkRun, rather than me being at my desk all morning adding to my stress levels!
As you will see from the photo I am not alone – people of all shapes and sizes and even some dogs!
