The outdoors is our medicine

Getting outside and connecting with others can have huge benefits for both our physical and mental health. The YesTribe was founded on heading out to spend a night in the great outdoors with good people and we’ve seen proof of the benefits firsthand, linking connection with the natural environment to our wellbeing.

Life isn’t easy

When life gets tough or just generally busy, it can be easy to become disconnected from our environment and the people around us. We’ve all experienced how this can lead to feelings of ​isolation​, u​nhappiness​ and at times, ​hopelessness​.

As a community we are proud to try and be a part of the solution by providing a non-judgemental and friendly space where people can share their experiences, through a variety of mediums, and support each other - whatever’s going on.

However, we get that reaching out and sharing isn’t always easy. So, as a first step, we hope that by simply listening to someone else’s story shared here, the world might seem a bit smaller and problems a little more surmountable.

Videos and blogs by YesTribers

The Joypot Theory

Whilst we believe that getting outside with like-minded folk can do wonders when we’re feeling ​blue​, our dream as a community would be to support each other in achieving a satisfying daily life balance, full of adventure, so that we’re in better shape to face what life might throw at us.

We like to think of this as keeping the ‘joy pot’ full in order to counteract the stresses that life can bring. Pesky life.

We don’t claim to be experts or a substitute for the many fabulous forms of mental health support out there (many of which we’ll give a shout out to later on) but we’re big believers in the power of collective knowledge and experience...and we’ve got a lot to share!

Here are some ideas on how to keep that joy pot topped up and things to try should your stress pot start spilling over...

Great projects linking nature to wellbeing

• Wildlife Trusts

• Mind.org.uk

• BBC Article

• The Wave Project

• Forest Therapy

• (let’s add more here, ideally YesTribe projects)

Reading List

• Millennial burnout

Blog: You can worry and still be happy

Instant refill

A few ideas to rebalance your joy and stress pots in those wobbly moments

• Refocus - swap out the unhelpful thoughts for some YES instead.

• Change the tune - here are the Joypot playlists, or some good podcast recommendations.

• Get moving - even 10mins out and about can get the endorphins flowing - here are some ideas for 10 min workouts

• Change your scene to somewhere green, if possible.

Regular top up

Plans to keep your joy pot filled

• Your people - life is better together. Keep in touch with friends, the ones that really get you. Meet familiar faces, and new ones - we’d love to see you at any of these YesTribe events - and don’t forget to check out the Events Calendar on the YesTribe

• Say YES to microadventures, or something bigger - get outside, keep life interesting and mix up your routine. Join our Facebook groups to share regular updates on events and members adventures - they are joy filled spaces.

• Keep Calm - life is busy, give yourself timeout to rest. Need some help to switch off? Here are some suggestions

Running on empty

When joy is harder to come by

• Say YES to you - do something enjoyable for you, which is likely to lift your mood.

• Sharing is caring - talk to someone you trust, a problem shared is a problem halved. It is often helpful to hear how others have dealt with harder times.

• Staying hopeful - take time to remind yourself of what you love about your life.

If there is no joy to be found and you are feeling in a bad place - do consider exploring specialist help. Here are some organisations that offer advice and support.

SayYesMore Playlists

Check out these collaborative YesTribe playlists on Spotify, always good for a listen whatever your mood. And even better, you can add your own faves to these. Go on, give it a go