This is My story and why I started Sana Days | Exercise and Mental Health
Hey, my name is Brock Day, and I am the founder of Sana Days. Sana Days is a brand I started to encourage and promote exercise to support mental health. Before I get into the brand and what we do, I’ll tell you a bit about myself and why I started the brand.
In 2013 I received the news that my Dad had taken his life.
It is not easy to reflect and speak about what happened; however, over the last eight years, I have learned that opening up, talking to others, and being vulnerable is a sign of strength, not weakness. After experiencing the devastation and darkness of a loved one taking their own life, I want to shed light on the topic of mental health and ultimately prevent someone else from going through what I did.
During this time, one of the big factors that helped me was exercise. I’ve always been active, whether it was sport, running around the yard after school, working out in the gym, I like moving my body. Exercise has been a constant through the ups and the downs. I’ve always made exercise a priority. Without realising it, there was always a positive connection between exercise and my mental health.
It wasn’t until 2019 I started to piece it all together, and I realised exactly what I wanted to do in the mental health space. In 2019 I competed in a team triathlon to raise money for Beyond Blue; it was such a feel-good experience that I decided I wanted to recreate it for others. As I have always felt my best mentally, physically & overall when I’m exercising, my vision became clear:
“To create initiatives to support your mental health through exercise, events & community.”
This Is how the idea for Sana Days was born.
Sana Days is a platform that encourages and promotes exercise to support mental health through community initiatives, events, mental health resources, clothing, supporting mental health groups/charities, sharing stories and anything that can create awareness around mental health.
Every week we run a free outdoor boot camp session and have a free group running session. Some of the events we have organised through the platform include running, cycling, team triathlon, trail running and gym sessions. Basically, anything to get people feeling the benefits exercise can have on their mental health. The message behind Sana Days is “a healthy mind in a healthy body”, which is the origin of the word SANA.
My goal is to continue organising events and encourage people to move through a wide range of activities. I'm not sure what the future holds, but I’ve always thought, if I can help just one person going through a tough time, it will all be worth it.
If you would like to support Sana Days, follow us on the social accounts or check out our clothing online to help us spread awareness and create community initiatives.
