Ringing Church Bells Helping Well
Being
It might
seem strange to suggest but in these days of Doctors, prescribing social
activities to help with mental and physical well-being; that perhaps Doctors should
be recommending some patients should learn to ring church bells.
Many years
ago, I took the first steps in learning to ring church bells. Well to say learnt
is perhaps an exaggeration as although I could ring a bell and could follow
instructions about, which bells to follow, more advanced change ringing was beyond
me. However, I enjoyed learning a new skill, meeting the other ringers at a
weekly practice and contributing to the life of the community by ringing before
Church services and on one occasion ringing in the New Year.
Ways to Well Being
Recently as
part of my work in community development, I have learnt more about strategies
to help people towards mental and physical well-being,with a recent tweet alerted
me to the connection between ringing church bells and positive mental and physical well-being.
The Five Ways
to Well-being are recognised by many health professionals as a way to encourage
positive mental and physical well-being in our communities. They are:
Connect – Listen and talk to other and fell
connected
Be Active – Do what you can enjoy what you do
move your mood
Give – Your time, your words and your presence
Take Notice – Remember the simple things that
give you joy
Keep Learning – Embrace new experiences, see opportunities,
surprise yourself
Reading this
list it is easy to see that joining a group of church bell ringers will tick
the boxes of the Five Ways to Well-being
Connecting
with other as ringers meeting to practice and ring the bells before a church
service to commemorate a special event such as a wedding or to bring in the New
Year.
Being active; belling ringing is not like running a marathon but it does involve physical exertions and many ringing rooms are up flights of stairs in a church tower so you will be keeping your body active.
Ringers giving
their time as they contribute to a group activity
Ringers take notice and pride as the bells they ring, ring out across the community
Joining a group of bell ringers will require learning a new skill and rings regularly as they learn to change ring the complex patters with other ringers.
To find out
more about what is involved in ringing a church bell see:
To find
details of a local church tower where you can learn to ring see
For
more information on the Five Ways to Well-Being see https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/improve-mental-wellbeing/
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