Mental And Physical Health
One of the silver linings of these lockdowns has been the opportunity to join the Scottish Poetry Society, which had to move online. If you ever visit Edinburgh (post lockdown – there will be such a time!) make sure you take a walk down the Royal Mile and pop in to the purpose built glass structure that houses this wonderful tribute to Scottish Poetry. It’s an inspiring place for any amateur or professional poet, and it has meant that I have had a sounding board for my own poems.
The two businesses I own, which run alongside each other, are Arran Knight Pilates and Arran Knight Counselling. I was always interested in Joseph Pilates vision for an exercises system that addresses mind, body and spirit. The spirit element of his vision often gets overlooked in favour of a mind and body focus. This is one of the reasons that I decided to train as a counsellor and to begin to address this “spirit” element, which I translate as our emotional wellbeing.
I noticed that one of the ways that people coped with these three lockdowns was to exercise. One low cost way of supporting our mental and physical health is through accessing the ever-soothing surroundings of nature. And in this part of London our main access to nature is the River Thames. I found taking a walk or a bike ride along the River Thames, as often as possible, did wonders for my mental and physical health. Here is a poem I wrote that came from what I noticed.
London’s Lockdown Artery
Snaking, rippling, sea-hoarse curves
shore tickling, teasing dogs on leads
seeping wrinkles into ageing wood
yielding to journeys with zipper like ease
clear skies green-yellow, overcast grey
night time reflections, light kisses goodnight
a stave for my thoughts
on a brackish fresh scent
as it spreads through the streets
of a city impaired
Father Thames entices us
like new shoots in spring
to awake from our slumber
from the glum and mundane
along a highway for breeze
flanked by sand, silt and stone
on a brown bank-side bench
billowing stranded souls sane
