ASICS Launch Mental Health Campaign with Mind Charity
January 15, 2020
Sportswear brand ASICS is partnering with UK mental health charity Mind to use sport to get more people active and raise funds for positive physical and mental wellbeing, with a new 'Sunrise Mind' campaign.
Starting this month, the campaign will help fund support services, including physical activity-based projects for people experiencing mental health problems, citing the new lockdown's negative effect on the mental health of millions of people.
Using the daily sunrise as a symbol of hope, Asics and its athletes, including Eilish McColgan, Noëlle Roorda and Kiryu Yoshihide, have issued an invitation to people around the world to join their mission to uplift the world. The campaign encourages everyone who can, to move at sunrise and capture the positive impact of movement on their mind with a 'sunrise selfie'. For every #SunriseMind selfie shared, the brand will make a donation to Mind.
Through the partnership, ASICS wants to raise awareness about the benefits of physical activity as well as use the funds to support Mind’s research into mental health in sport, under the belief that "all movement, no matter how big or small, is good for your body and mind".
In 2021, ASICS says it will undertake a new research project of its own into the positive impact of sport on mental wellbeing. It will be using cutting-edge biometric technology to capture the true impact of sport on the minds of thousands of participants around the world.
Gary Raucher, executive vice president categories at Asics EMEA, said in a statement: “We know COVID-19 has put even more pressure on the wellbeing of millions of people. We also know and believe that sport and movement can lift spirits and help people feel better...For us, 2021 is about unlocking the unique power of sport to uplift our minds.”
The brand also conducted an initial study by an exercise and mental health researcher, Dr. Brendon Stubbs. The study involved a group of elite athletes, including British Olympic runner and European Triathlon Champion Beth Potter. The Moving Minds Measured study measured a series of brain pathways known to influence the emotional and cognitive elements of mental wellbeing.
“It is impossible to overstate just how significant the impact sport and exercise have on our mind. It’s absolutely vital that people regularly move their body to experience those all-important cognitive and emotional benefits for themselves. Never has there been a more important time to become active and experience the mental health benefits sport and movement bring,” said Stubbs.
The study found that after a short amount of physical activity, athletes experienced an overall emotional uplift, including up to a 29% improvement in their ability to cope with stress and up to an 18% increase in their relaxation levels. They also reported a significant drop in negative emotions like frustration and 28% were less prone to making rash decisions and reacting negatively to challenges or disruption.
To coincide with the campaign Asics have also released a special Sunrise Red Collection to tie the running brand back to its roots and to place a sound mind and body at the core of its 2021 business philosophy. ASCIS is an acronym for a Latin phrase, which translates into ‘a Sound Mind in a Sound Body’.