STIMH - Sport as a tool for improving mental health

The Sport as a tool for Mental Health project aims to raise awareness regarding the benefits of sports, such as Pilates and yoga, in tackling mental health issues related to stress, anxiety and depression, as well as improving and promoting mental clarity, coping and resilience abilities, healthy choices and mindfulness for people regardless of age. The project has brought together 5 organizations within the European Union (Romanian Humanist Association branch, USIT Spain, EDUCATOR Czech Republic, HORN Poland, Rasio Perspektiva Latvia) in order to develop and implement a project that addresses healthy lifestyle choices in the context of mental health related issues, each organization bringing their previous experiences within sport and youth focused projects. The project will be developed by identifying the manners in which people choose to cope with mental health related issues, with a focus on analyzing the percentage of citizens who opt for sports and healthy solutions rather than vices in order to release stress, anxiety, and depression. By creating a training format based on previous research of good practices and the results of the questionnaire, we will select vulnerable young people (18-25, the most prone group affected by mental health issues) in order to offer them both educational guidance as well as yoga/Pilates/mindfulness courses. Main objectives Promoting sports in order to tackle symptoms of mental health related issues, raising awareness about the benefits of yoga, Pilates and mindfulness in developing mental clarity and positive cognitions, and offering support in order for the participants to choose a healthier lifestyle in their daily routines, Offering the necessary tools and materials to fight against the mental health stigma, involving different types of actors (the participating organizations,psychologists, coaches, teachers, authorities and a variety of participants from different age groups), supporting international cooperation.