As a Jami service user I thought I'd share a few well-chosen words about my take on Mental Health and its relation to exercise and fitness. The healthy benefits that can be derived from sport and fitness when confronted with mental health issues can never be underestimated. 

 From a personal point of view I find that either jogging or running helps immeasurably when tension, anxiety or stress hits home. What could be more invigorating than a good, old fashioned run around the local parks or indeed streets? I'm now ageing very slowly so the mental and physical stamina required makes running that much tougher. But if I need to slow down for a minute or two then I most certainly will.

Running or jogging I find clears the mind, challenges my body and generally leaves me with a warm glow of nostalgia - although still sweating in rivers by the end of it all! Running is, I think, extremely therapeutic and rewarding because of that feel-good factor and the sense of complete wellbeing and euphoria after the run, something that gets the endorphins going quite quickly and efficiently. 

I've also recently taken up tennis but, I hasten to add, not the fiercely competitive variety that means that sport should ever be taken too seriously.  A friend and I frequently engage in a leisurely, knockabout game of tennis thrashing a tennis ball recklessly over a drooping local park net. But do we ever keep score or play for match points? The answer is quite categorically “no” because the sheer joy of hitting and revelling in the knowledge that none of us will actually win the game has to be the most enjoyable feeling of all.

I have to say that just the general feeling of participation and involvement in any activity that requires just a hint of exertion or energy does make you feel subconsciously more relaxed, if totally exhausted. You feel as though you've genuinely achieved something that has tested all of your powers of stamina and endurance.

The relationship between mental health and fitness can never be more clearly emphasised because your mind is so focused intensely, providing it with something else - a sustained burst of athleticism and a way of releasing pent up frustrations inside your mind. 

Now I've found a renewed peace and contentment in my life. I now have the coping mechanisms that give my life a new focus and the right channel for pouring out all of my innermost emotions.