Kate talks to adventurer, explorer and speaker, Richard Matthews about the positive effect of outdoor pursuits upon our mental heath.

Richard has personally experienced and seen how all our mental states fluctuates as well as our understanding of other people around the world. From heading in to countries that the media say are dangerous and full of terrible people to find that this is not the case. Being outdoors can massively help the mental state of everyone.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• After a severe breakup in 2014, Richard found himself suffering from crippling depression that impacted his life greatly. After a two and a half month trip to Mongolia, Richard found himself changed, as though his depression had been left on the trip instead of returning with him.

• Through this experience, Richard believes that others can benefit from adventures in the outdoors, which can serve to remove the focus from the internal anxieties that may be impacting our lives.

• Richard’s theory is that by feasting upon the sensory overloads of different cultures from around the world, our own minds are given to letting go of the depressions that weigh us down.

• Cutting himself off from the world on a solo trip to Slovenia gave Richard time to think and to focus upon himself. It also gave him the opportunity to realise that he could handle being alone.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I’m trying to promote the idea that everyone should get outdoors. The outdoors is an incredible place for mental wellbeing’

‘Travelling through different cultures is an overload of the mind’

‘It’s tough to be alone’

‘Mental health isn’t something to be tolerated, but something to push through’

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Mental Health Revolution Podcast

ABOUT THE GUEST

Richard grew up living in seaside town of Teignmouth, Devon. Growing up on the coast, he embraced water based adventures from young age! These included sea swimming, kayaking and canoeing. Changing from water he then took to the land and air getting involved with Ten Tors taking him all over Dartmoor and beyond. Simultaneously Richard joined the Air Training Corps were he had many adventures, flying, shooting, mountaineering and learning a whole host of skills, then went on to gain 30+ hours flying and a few hours solo flights.

The Arctic Survival Challenge in Sweden was the first international challenge for Richard. The Challenge entailed sleeping outside in temperatures as low as -35°C, in snow holes and shelter from the forest. 

The Mongol Rally in 2015. This journey from Teignmouth, UK to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia was my first big adventure into the unknown. We drove through Iran, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, and nearly all of Russia, all in a 1996 Nissan Micra. This trip is eye-opening to all that experience it, to have a look into the diverse cultures outside of Western Europe. 

www.rmadventures.co.uk

Facebook: @theRMAdventures

Instagram: theRMAdventures

ABOUT THE HOST

Kate Ashley-Norman is creator of Positive Mind Management, the host of The Mental Health Revolution podcast, and a passionate speaker and trainer about our emotional wellbeing. She is seeking to change the nature and tone of the conversation around mental health for business owners, their workplaces and ultimately in their personal lives.

Kate has spent the last 25+ years running her own businesses, initially working running a six figure PR consultancy agency, then building a multi-million pound international property portfolio. Latterly she has dedicated her time to studying emotional mastery and positive psychology, while bringing up four children, and has used her experience and knowledge to create the Positive Mind Management programme specifically for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

The knowledge Kate has collated will help you to not only better understand your emotions, it will help you both improve it, and supercharge it during those more challenging times when emotional wellbeing can be compromised. Fear, procrastination, overwhelm, powerlessness, self worth – empire building is a hugely challenging process in its own right. The more power you hold within your own emotions, the more you can harness the power of those emotions, good and bad, to the benefit of your business and life in general.

Hugely practical and applicable, this revolutionary approach to mental health is putting the power back into the hands of each and every individual.

CONTACT METHOD

You can support The Mental Health Revolution, and contribute to the conversation in the following closed Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/238516643507943/

You can search Kate Ashley-Norman on any of these platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

You can also support the movement through our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=12852819

Kate can be contacted anytime via her email: [email protected]

This show was brought to you by Progressive Media