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WFW Virtual Walk 103
Northern Lights Virtual Walk - Wk 36
Keeping active while coping with the heat?
This week, the Walking for Wellbeing Online Peer Support Group have been sharing experiences of the creative ways they have been keeping active, while coping with the heat.

How have you been keeping well in the heatwave?

We're always happy to hear from the Oxfordshire Mind community. Reach out if you have something to share about how walking helps your wellbeing. Your message may inspire others!

You could send photos of nature or places you have noticed on your walks each week, or a written message of support or a tip for how you've been keeping active and maintaining your wellbeing. Anything that you feel would be positive, helpful and encouraging. 

You can share your name but please don't reveal your home address, or take a photo or video of somebody else when you don't have their permission. 

Please send us up to 7 photographs per. week.

If you would like to share something in the Walking for Wellbeing Newsletter, please send it in to walking@oxfordshiremind.org.uk. We will ask you to complete a consent form for the first time we share your photos / message. 
Contribute to the Virtual Walk challenge!

We are currently doing an Oxford to Lapland challenge together. This is where we try to walk the equivalent of the 2,226 miles from Oxford to Lapland.

We appreciate every contribution of miles to help us on the journey!

Haven’t submitted before? This is how to:

Each week, we add up how far we’ve walked, run or cycled and add it to a running total until we reach Lapland - we have 470.64 miles to go. If everybody on the Walking for Wellbeing mailing list did one mile, it would take us less than a week!

How to participate in the challenge:

1. Go out for some exercise (i.e walking, running, cycling) in your local area. 2. Find a way of tracking how far you’ve walked. You could use your smartphone, a pedometer or fitbit or measure it on a map. 3. Email your mileage by filling out this form. Please submit all distances in miles. You can easily find converters from steps to miles by searching online.

4. Each week we will tally up how many miles we’ve all done together, input it to our map, and figure out where we are on the route. Each week, there will be a list of everyone who has contributed…and even a leader board of the people who have walked the furthest. This is completely optional, you are very welcome to participate anonymously. If you’d like your mileage and pictures from your local exercise included in the newsletter on the Monday, please send them to the walking team at the latest by the end of the day on Thursday of the week before. Otherwise your mileage will be included in the next week.

Our current virtual walking challenge route takes us all the way to Lapland via the Baltic coast, taking in the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland.   Together we can walk the 2,226 miles to Lapland. All submissions to be sent in by Thursday for inclusion in the next week's newsletter, please. Submitting is easy, you just need to fill in this form: https://form.jotform.com/210061907549051.  Or feel free to email them in to this address (walking@oxfordshiremind.org.uk). 
Current Location...

Pyhäjärvi, Finland


Total miles walked...            1871.63


Miles till destination...          354.8        

Thank you to everyone who has sent in miles to contribute to the journey... anonymous and named...

This week's leaderboard...

Jackie... 14.84 
Richard... 12.8
Steve... 12.3
Tanveer... 10 

Our progress so far...
Where are we now?  

Pyhäjärvi, Finland
We have reached the first large town in some time! Well done everyone. I invite you to imagine a lovely rest and the appreciation of some beautiful lakes, perhaps camping under the stars. It is hot in Finland as well as England, according to the world wide web (!) so do take care and keep hydrated when you set off on your next walk. 
How to join an Oxfordshire Mind in-person walk?
If you've enjoyed our virtual newsletter, why not join us for an in-person walk?

We will still be asking coronavirus symptom questions and asking you to sign-up before coming on a walk.

If you have not come on a walk with us before, please complete the online referral form using this link: https://form.jotform.com/202154292851048
Once we have received your form we will be in touch about next steps.

If you already attend walks with us, please remember to confirm your attendance by texting or emailing Eleanor :)
Peer Support Group
We a virtual peer support group to help support each other with staying active.

Would you like:
  • To share your love of nature with a group of like-minded individuals?
  • Help with goal-setting and friendly encouragement to keep going with physical activity?
  • Practical ideas for how to get more out of your walks and stave off boredom? 
Then this could be for you!

Please get in touch for more details including timings. 
Walks from our week...

Above photos contributed anonymously by one of our walkers.

St. Davids Pembrokeshire, contributed by Jackie. 

St Davids Cathedral, contributed by Jackie. 

St Davids Cathedral, contributed by Jackie. 

View towards Lower Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, contributed by Jackie. 

Fishguard cat, contributed by Jackie. 

Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales, contributed by Jackie. 

Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales, contributed by Jackie. 

Thank you to everyone who has sent in their photos from their walks this week... anonymous and named...
What if I can't go outside?

If you aren't able to go outside right now, there are things you can do to still keep active and get the benefits of nature in your life.

Suggestions for what you could do to get the benefits of the outdoors while inside:

  • Spend time with the windows open to let in fresh air.
  • Have flowers or potted plants in your home.
  • Use natural materials to decorate your living space, or use them in art projects. This could include leaves, flowers, feathers, tree bark or seeds.
  • Arrange a comfortable space to sit, for example by a window where you can look out over a view of trees or the sky, or watch birds and other animals. 
  • Grow plants or flowers on windowsills. For example, you could buy seeds online or look for any community groups that give away or swap them.
  • Look at photos of your favourite places in nature. Use them as the background on your mobile phone or computer screen, or print and put them up on your walls.
  • Listen to natural sounds, like recordings or apps that play birdsong, ocean waves or rainfall.
  • Get as much natural light as you can. Spend time in your garden if you have one, or open your front or back door and sit on the doorstep.

Remember as well that our Peer Support Group is always here for you!
What is the latest government advice?

 Please check these links for the latest advice and further detail:

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
 
About Walking for Wellbeing
Walking for Wellbeing runs walking groups for people with severe and enduring mental health conditions. 
For more information, please contact walking@oxfordshiremind.org.uk.
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