Mental Health Awareness Week: Taking Action In Real Life

This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week theme is Action, and I keep returning to what that really means in practice, beyond awareness and conversation.

Because in reality, mental health is not something that sits in the background of life. It shows up in real time, in real bodies, in real conversations. I see it every day, whether I am working one to one in Yoga Therapy, teaching in group spaces, supporting wellbeing through charities such as Shout and Samaritans, or simply sitting with someone after class when something they have been carrying finally comes to the surface.

What I notice most is how often people minimise their own experience. They will describe exhaustion as “just being busy”, anxiety as “just stress”, low mood as “just a phase”. Yet underneath that language there is often a nervous system that has been under sustained pressure for far longer than the person has allowed themselves to acknowledge.

We are not separate from this. Not as practitioners, not as professionals, not as parents, not as humans trying to navigate modern life. Mental health is not something some people have and others do not. It is a constantly shifting experience influenced by our biology, our environment, our relationships, and the pace of the world around us.

From a physiological perspective, it makes sense that so many people are struggling. The human nervous system is designed to move between activation and recovery, between stress and rest. Yet many people are living in a near constant state of low level stress activation. Emails, screens, financial pressure, lack of time, disrupted sleep, reduced physical movement, and limited genuine rest all contribute to a system that rarely fully down regulates.

Over time, this can affect not only mood, but concentration, sleep quality, digestion, immune function, and emotional resilience. It is not a lack of coping ability, it is often a system that has simply been asked to carry too much for too long without enough space to recover.

This is where the idea of action becomes important, but not in the way it is often presented as doing more or fixing ourselves. In my experience, meaningful action often begins much earlier and much more quietly.

It might be the moment someone notices they are not okay, instead of pushing through as usual. It might be the decision to speak honestly to a friend rather than saying “I am fine”. It might be reaching out for support when things feel overwhelming, whether that is through a GP, a therapist, or a support service. It might be making space for practices that help regulate the nervous system, not as a luxury, but as a form of care.

Sometimes that looks like breath. Sometimes it is gentle movement. Sometimes it is yoga that supports regulation rather than performance. Sometimes it is stepping outside, even briefly, to feel something different in the body. These are not small things to the nervous system. They are signals of safety, and over time they matter.

I often think about how many people are trying to think their way through something that is also deeply physiological. The body holds experience. It responds to consistency, safety, rhythm, and care. When we begin to include the body in how we support mental health, we often create more capacity for change than thinking alone can offer.

I also see how powerful connection is in this process. I am incredibly aware of this through my work with Shout and Samaritans, where being heard without judgement can be the first point of change for someone in distress. Not advice, not fixing, just presence. That in itself can be an intervention.

If you are reading this and recognising something of your own experience in it, then I would gently encourage you not to wait for things to become unmanageable before reaching out. Support does not need to be reserved for crisis. It can be part of how we care for ourselves earlier.

In the UK, services such as Samaritans are available any time on 116 123, and Shout offers text support by texting SHOUT to 85258. Speaking to a GP or a mental health professional can also be an important step if things feel like they are becoming harder to manage alone. These are not last resorts. They are part of a wider system of care.

Alongside this, I return often to the importance of small, consistent actions that support regulation. Not as a replacement for support, but as something that works alongside it. A breath that is slower than the one before. A moment of stillness in a busy day. Movement that allows the body to release what it has been holding. Time away from constant input. Sleep that is prioritised rather than sacrificed.

None of this removes the complexity of mental health, but it does create more space within it.

Mental Health Awareness Week is not only about understanding mental health. It is about how we respond to it. In ourselves, in each other, and in the way we structure our lives.

And sometimes the most important action is simply noticing, and then choosing not to ignore what we notice anymore.

How will you take action this week?

Naomi Hurst

Resources:

Mental Health Awareness Week | Mental Health Foundation