Words by Smiley Team
It’s widely known that exercise boosts both mental and physical health; yet another reason to keep to your fitness resolutions this year. Hoping to tackle the surge in mental illness during the pandemic, sports company ASICS has announced a new partnership with mental health charity Mind. The brand is committing to raise funds for valuable services and to get more people active.
Kicking off with a campaign on social media, ASICS is encouraging people to exercise at sunrise and to post a selfy with the hashtag #SunriseMind. Using dawn as a symbol of hope, each post will trigger a company donation to Mind.
Starting this week, hundreds of ASICS athletes, ambassadors and employees will participate in the drive to fund research into mental health in sport and to support services for people experiencing mental health problems.
EVP Categories at ASICS, Gary Raucher, said, "We know COVID-19 has put even more pressure on the wellbeing of millions of people. We also know and believe that sport and movement can lift spirits and help people feel better. For us, 2021 is about unlocking the unique power of sport to uplift our minds."
ASICS has a long-standing history of supporting mental health awareness going right back to 1940s Japan, when its founder, Kihachiro Onitsuka, saw that sport could lift people’s spirits. Based on these founding principles, the company name is an acronym of the Latin phrase ‘anima sana in corpore sano’ or ‘a sound mind in a sound body’.
ASICS athletes, including British Olympic runner Eilish McColgan, are paying tribute to these roots by inviting people around the world to boost their mood through exercise.
To get involved, simply exercise at sunrise by going for a run, walk, or taking part in any sport or activity. Post your sunrise selfie on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #SunriseMind and help raise funds for important mental health services.
As leading exercise and mental health researcher at King's College London, Dr Brendon Stubbs, said: "It is impossible to overstate just how significant the impact sport and exercise have on our mind. Never has there been a more important time to become active and experience the mental health benefits sport and movement bring."
For more information or to take part, visit ASICS.com and follow @asicseurope.
