Join Ruth Davis on this lunchtime walk which will give you some new ideas of how to walk with maximum freedom and minimum effort. Walking provides not only numerous physical benefits but supports our emotional wellbeing and alleviates the symptoms of anxiety and depression.

You can walk anywhere without equipment or a special membership. The more you do it, the more positive effects you can experience.

There are numerous benefits of walking and some of the most common include:
Improved sleep; Better endurance; Stress relief; Mood improvement; increased energy. It also provides a way to reduce tiredness, boost mental alertness and enhance creativity.

The physical act of striding out really does help lighten our mood as it increases blood flow and circulation to the whole system. When you incorporate walking into your daily routine you calm your nervous system and reduce stress. Even a short 12 minute walk around the block can provide numerous benefits.

During our short 50 minute walking session you will explore playful ways to approach how you walk. You will learn how to:

• Improve awareness of how you use the whole body in walking;

• Interact more openly with our environment;

• Achieve more freedom and less effort so you can enjoy walking comfortably for longer

The ideas throughout are designed to foster curiosity and encourage active participation. There will be practical take-aways, follow-up material and access to a guided audio file for future reference.

Meeting point: Hay's Galleria (in-front of the Navigators sculpture)

About Mental Health Awareness Week

Mental Health Awareness Week takes place annually, and is a campaign led by national charity Mental Health Foundation. This year’s edition is taking place from 13 to 19 May, on the theme of "Movement: Moving more for our mental health".