Move It for Mental Health 2023

Now in its 6th consecutive year, Move It for Mental Health is Mind HK’s annual campaign to raise awareness of the link between physical exercise and mental health and encourage everyone to develop a healthy lifestyle. This year’s challenge is to complete 30km in nature.

The money raised for Move It for Mental Health 2023 will go directly to providing free mental health support to low-income youth through Mind HK’s iACT programme, which provides a sustainable, long-term solution to address the mental health crisis of long waiting times and unaffordable treatment in Hong Kong. Similar programmes overseas show that up to 70% of those who receive this type of therapy require no further treatment. Adolescents are just the start of Mind HK’s wellbeing practitioner series, which will expand to target other vulnerable populations in the years to come. HK is a stressful city to live, study and work in - the need for iACT is deeply felt across all sectors of society.

How Exercise Has Helped Me

I discovered the joy of exercising outdoors when I started training for trail races last year. Being on the trails brings mental clarity and makes me feel calm and free, away from noise, traffic and heavy crowds. Leaving distractions (my precious internet connection) behind and being in a remote location accessible only by a one-hour ferry ride teaches commitment and perseverance - there is no turning back, no stop button you can push on a treadmill. You start to notice more of your surroundings - the sounds of your footfall and the crunching of the leaves, the breeze and sunshine and sweat on your skin, the birds flying overhead and the waves crashing beside you. When you’re surrounded by beautiful views on top of a mountain, you’re reminded of how insignificant we are on this earth and how grateful we can be for it.

My history with running has been a long and life-changing one. Exercise has been a lifeboat, a coping mechanism I used during a very difficult period in my teenage years. It gave me a way to directly confront my negative thoughts through action, a tool to rediscover what I am capable of. On days when I barely wanted to get out of bed, running gave me a reason to leave my house and provided structure and predictability in contrast to the chaos inside my head: I knew what to expect when running, and I knew I would be okay. Pushing through discomfort showed me that all pain, physical or mental, does not last forever. To this day, whenever I start to feel my mental health deteriorate, I can trust that after a few runs, I will inevitably start feeling like myself again. I find it hard to relax by sitting still; movement is my meditation and helps me appreciate being alive.

Although I have received a lot of support for my condition - kindness and understanding from friends and family, access to therapy, doctors, and medication - it wasn’t until running showed me I could start believing in myself again that I was able to shift my perspective and regain hope and confidence. As exercise showed me what my body was capable of, I realized it needs to be looked after, not punished. On days when I don’t feel as well and run less or slower than I anticipated, I no longer beat myself up for it but feel proud that I tried. I’ve learned to be adaptable and less rigid and more loving to myself.

I used to be intimidated by runners until I became one myself, gradually overcoming my doubts, finding a rhythm, and building up the distance from 5k to an ultramarathon. Something magical happens when you start running - it connects you to the world around you. I was very withdrawn when I was in the midst of depression and lost interest in pretty much everything. Life is way too hard to figure out on our own, but we can achieve our goals in a community. Running gave me the opportunity and courage to interact with others, to laugh and bond over shared setbacks and triumphs.