Run, Walk, Talk - A New Pathway for Wellbeing


In honour of Men’s Health Week, I was honoured to share a conversation with Eoghan Roe on The Sharon Fitzmaurice Podcast, Eoghan is a wise and humble soul at just 28 years old. Eoghan is a teacher, fitness coach, and breathwork facilitator in training. But more than that, he is a young man deeply committed to connection, both within himself and within his community.

Feeling the pangs of isolation and disconnection in his own life, Eoghan decided to do something most people don’t: he took a brave step toward change. He created Run, Walk, Talk, a simple, soulful initiative that brings people together in nature to move, share, and connect. It’s free. It’s welcoming. And it’s exactly what many are craving in today’s fast-paced, digitally saturated world, a return to genuine human connection.

Eoghan’s journey of self-awareness began with loneliness, but it is being guided by courage. Through his training in breathwork, he has learned to pause, to ground, to feel -rather than suppress what arises within. In his words and presence, there’s a gentleness, a quiet strength that comes from doing the inner work and daring to create something meaningful for others.

As I listened to Eoghan, I found myself reflecting deeply:

How do we expect men to show up in the world today?
What beliefs have been inherited from generations past that tell men to stay silent, to be strong, to never crumble?
Is it finally time we allow men to be human first - feeling, sensitive, struggling, healing—without shame?

Because the truth is, it’s not just young men like Eoghan who are feeling the ache of disconnection. Men of all ages, particularly those over 30, are facing a quiet crisis of loneliness and emotional suppression. Research from Ireland shows that men aged 30–44 are among the loneliest age group, with many struggling to maintain friendships or find spaces where they can open up safely. (The Irish Times)

And yet, the cultural script hasn’t changed fast enough.

Too many men are still silently carrying the burden of:

  • Emotional pain they don’t know how to name.

  • Societal expectations that define worth by productivity, stoicism, and status.

  • A lack of meaningful spaces where they can just be without fixing, performing, or pretending.

So today, I gently ask:
How are the men in your life showing up for themselves?
Are they creating space for rest, reflection, and reconnection?
Are they surrounded by people who really see them - beyond their roles, titles, and responsibilities?
Are we offering them the emotional safety we all need to heal and grow?

These are not small questions, but they matter deeply.

The Power of Connection in Healing

Connection isn’t a luxury, it’s medicine. When we walk and talk alongside others, something beautiful happens: we begin to soften. We begin to trust. We realise we are not alone in our pain, our questions, or our longing for something more.

Being involved in something outside of work and family, like Eoghan’s Run, Walk, Talk -is not just good for our mental health; it’s vital. Engaging in community builds new neural pathways in the brain, inspires curiosity, invites new friendships, and helps us rediscover the joy of shared human experience. It’s where adventure, growth, and healing meet.

And for men who have been conditioned to “go it alone,” this kind of safe, inclusive space can be transformative.

Join the Movement

Eoghan’s next event is an invitation to reconnect with others, and most importantly, with yourself.

📅 Date: 22nd June
📍 Location: The Land of the Giants, Claremorris, Co. Mayo
💫 Cost: Free, and open to everyone who needs a little connection

Whether you're walking, running, or just showing up, know that your presence matters. Your voice matters. Your wellbeing matters.

For More Support

Visit the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland at www.mhfi.org for more tools, inspiration, and community resources. You’ll find plenty there to support the men in your life—and perhaps yourself too.

To Eoghan and to all the brave men who are beginning to unlearn silence and choose connection, you are helping to reshape what strength truly looks like. It is found not in the armour, but in the openness. Not in perfection, but in presence.

As we continue to walk each other home, may we all remember:
Healing begins when we feel seen, heard, and held - just as we are.


Sharon Fitzmaurice

Wellbeing Coach, Author & Host of The Sharon Fitzmaurice Podcast

Here Are the Best Ways to Improve Your Sleep and Boost Your Mental Health

You know sleep is crucial for your well-being. But did you know that it can affect your mental health, too? Getting enough sleep can impact all areas of your life. Catching up on your rest is a step in the right direction no matter what other stresses life gives you.

Here are the best ways to improve your sleep so that you can boost your mental health, courtesy of therapist and author Sharon Fitzmaurice.

Set a Bedtime for Yourself

Most adults think about bedtimes as sleep rules for children. But Science Daily confirms that bedtimes are also beneficial for grownups. The less consistent your sleep habits, the higher your health risks—increasing your chances of high blood sugar, heart attack, stroke, and other health issues. Irregular sleep is the problem—even if you get adequate hours each night.

Experts recommend setting a schedule and sticking with it—even variations of 10 minutes in sleep and wake times seemed to affect people’s health in relevant studies. You should also skip sleeping in on weekends. What are the benefits, apart from your metabolic and other physical health? Research showed that people with irregular sleep schedules were more likely to feel depressed or under a lot of stress. In short, consistent bedtimes make for better mental health outcomes.

Change Your Sleep Environment

Your bedroom should be an oasis for relaxation. Fortunately, incorporating positivity and relaxing elements into your room is easy. Do some decluttering and be sure to avoid interacting with anything potentially negative, like your work or social media, in the bedroom. Also, think about simple tricks like making your room darker or adding some background noise to keep you relaxed.

It’s important to understand that light cues your body that it’s time to wake up, making light-blocking curtains an excellent investment. Per the Cleveland Clinic, pink noise “enhances brain activity that’s associated with… deep sleep.” In short, relaxing music might help you sleep better, even if a fan or static sounds keep you awake.

Other small changes to your sleep environment, such as adjusting the room’s ambient temperature, can also help you catch higher-quality Z’s. The recommended sleep temperature is between 16-18°C (60-65°F). Higher or lower temperature settings can cause you to sleep restlessly. Instead, aim for a cave-like feeling in your room—colder temps included.

You should also monitor your bedroom’s humidity levels because high humidity can bring an increase in mold and dust mites which may make sleeping more difficult. If your bedroom’s humidity level routinely rises over 50 percent, you can use a dehumidifier to lower the amount of moisture.

Avoid Too Much Tech

Although using your smartphone for pink or white noise while you sleep offers benefits, technology also threatens both natural circadian rhythms and overall mental health. Artificial light from smartphones, tablets, and TVs can mess up your body’s melatonin production (the stuff that makes you sleepy). It can also distract you from a proper bedtime.

To preserve your sleep quality, aim to cut technology out of your bedtime routine as much as possible. Put your devices away at least two hours before you plan to go to sleep for the best results. Of course, setting your music or white noise app requires smartphone usage. Keep it minimal and opt for an e-reader sans blue light or an old-fashioned paperback book for pre-sleep entertainment instead.

Take Advantage of Daylight

Those “wake signals” that natural light provides might be a problem when you’re trying to sleep. But during the day, you should take advantage of the sun’s rays. It seems exposure to sunlight can boost your serotonin levels—the hormone that helps you feel happier. People who spend more time in the sun have lower risks of depression and seasonal affective disorder (SAD), too.

Of course, getting outside also helps you burn energy—preparing you for a deeper and more refreshing night’s sleep. Whenever possible, enjoy sunlight—safely—in nature for even more mental health benefits. A scientific report from Nature.com confirms that spending time in nature correlates with better mental health and well-being. Around 120 minutes in nature each week is ideal—and even more beneficial with sunlight.

Improving your sleep helps restore the brain’s ability to process events and emotions, effectively “cleaning” it so you’re fresh for the next day. In this way, you can help restore a bit of peace in a stressful life—enhancing your mental health in the process.

Looking for more information on how to improve your quality of life? Connect with therapist and author Sharon Fitzmaurice.

Photo via Pixabay

 

What is your inner voice saying to you?

That little voice that gently urges you on and encourages you to keep going can sometimes come from the strangest of places!

 I started a walking challenge at the start of this second lockdown to help raise money for Galway Mountain Rescue Team, I love walking and being outdoors, so this would combine doing something for myself and helping others at the same time. I had virtually teamed up with some other participants from across the country, so we were there to support each other every day and we would get to see through our photos, the many places we each walked and a bit more of our beautiful countryside.

 I am not one to track my steps normally, but because of it being a challenge, I decided to use an app on my phone to record my walks. On my first day of walking, pressing the start button, it asked me to enter my distance target to be achieved that day which was 5KM, I suddenly felt a touch of anxiety about not being able to reach the daily targets and everyone would know about it! That little voice in my head that tries to halt my good intentions was fully in my awareness.

 We all have this voice when it comes to trying something new or challenging and it can stop us from experiencing new opportunities or reaching our goals. One of the first steps to eliminating self-judgement, is to recognise that the voice in your head never means you any harm. It may be the source of self-criticism, but that was never its intent. Believe it or not, it originally developed to help us feel emotionally safe and happy. It is trying to protect us. My inner voice was trying to stop me before I even got started - just in case I failed!

 It started to develop in me from a young age, believing that I was worthless and would amount to nothing. I was a people pleaser and constantly sought approval from others to validate myself as a good person. Worrying what other people thought of me was a clue to my past patterns and the nagging voice that told me “don’t try it, you will fail, and everyone will know you are worthless

I took a deep breath and told myself “Just take it one step at a time” this is a mantra that has been part of my life since I started practising mindfulness over 25 years ago to help me deal with severe anxiety and depression. I had learned to trust my intuitive voice, the voice that urges me to take a chance, put myself out there, to go for what I wanted to achieve, this is the voice I trust and believe, but sometimes the other little voice sneaks in and makes us aware of the little doubts we may have about ourselves.

 I took off smiling and reminded myself to be mindful whilst walking and take in the beauty of my surroundings. It was a beautiful fresh day, and the sun was shining. I got into a good stride and felt energised, then suddenly out of nowhere, I heard a voice saying “1km – well done only 4 kms to go”. I didn’t realise the app would speak to me, at first I was like “this will drive me cracked if She keeps telling me how far I have gone/to go”, but when she announced to me I was 2KM into my distance target, I shouted out loud “YES”!!!!!

 Suddenly I was getting excited about reaching the next kilometre, what time I did it in and how many kilocalories I had burned off, it was like a whole new world for me, strange as that may seem to those that have been tracking or monitoring their every step for years, I had just enjoyed the pleasure of walking.

 By the time I had reached home again, I reached my target distance and had gone an extra 1.74km as it was a loop walk that I had done for many years, but never realised the distance.

I shared my photos I had taken along the way and the image of my recorded steps and KMs done for that day with the other participants and they with me, we all congratulated each other on a great day of walking and got to enjoy the sights they enjoyed along their routes.

 As I reflected on this later in the day, I realised that the voice coming from the app was like the positive side of my inner voice, the voice that says “yes you can do this, go for it” and I felt very grateful for having it and used it every day of the challenge, I used to say out loud to her…”thank you for encouraging me

I know, I was really speaking to myself!

 We tend to knock ourselves down when we do not achieve the big things in life, but for me it was the achievement of the small things that led to me believing I could achieve the bigger things..

 If the voice in your head frequently tells you “you can’t do this”, try and come up with a visual image of yourself doing the challenge or reaching your goal. As you start to see yourself doing it, you will also start to realise the feelings associated with focusing your attention on something that feels great!

 Not only had I the voice in the app encouraging me, but I also had my virtual team to encourage me to keep going every day. Surround yourself with people who want you to achieve and their voices will also become part of your inner dialogue.

 Learn to me more aware of the inner voice, accept that it is there and have some compassion for all that it believes to be true for you in the past, in doing so you will give yourself the personal freedom to explore new aspects of yourself and the world. Listen to the voice that flows from your heart, it will always guide you in the right direction.

 “Every time you are tempted to react the same old way, ask yourself if you want to remain a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future” ~ Marcandangel

 

Sharon Fitzmaurice

Holistic Wellness Coach, Author & Podcaster

www.sharonfitzmauricemindfulness.com

 

 

 

 

 

Where is your happy place?

Along the winding paths of a country lane, the dawn just beginning to break, the birds starting their morning chorus, the world wakes up around me and I am present - not just in the world but in my body, my mind and my soul.

For each of us we may have a place that brings a sense of joy, peace or inner happiness, but it’s not just about the place, it’s about you. Allowing yourself space to be, to breathe deeply and to be truly yourself, this is your happy place.

So many people are searching for happiness that is portrayed by others on social media, remember most of us only post our happy days, there are few and far between that show you the other side of their lives, the days when they feel stressed, sad or lonely. We are only getting snippets of the lives of others and life can’t be defined by those images.

I love to see how other people are spending their days, but never compare my life to theirs personally or professionally, we are not living their lives and they are not living ours. As individuals we admire others when they do something that we would love to do and instead of feeling left behind, ask yourself “what is stopping me from doing this too?” When you see what others are doing, see it as inspiration to do something similar but in your own way. I for one get loads of ideas on places to visit from other people’s stories. I love finding a new adventure!

As the New Year approaches, I don’t set myself any unrealistic goals. To be alive and appreciate each day is the greatest goal we can have. As we do this, we start to feel more self-aware and in turn we progress onto doing what helps us feel good about ourselves. If we continue to dwell on what went wrong in the passing year, we get stuck in the negative attachments of the past. Let’s try and move on one step at a time.

It’s not about being better than you were last year, but simply allowing yourself to feel better in all that you do.

Ask yourself three simple questions

  • What activities do I most enjoy doing and how can I plan to do more of them in 2020?

  • If I had one dream that I could achieve in the coming year, what would it be?

  • What’s stopping me?

    By answering these questions it will help you identify where you can adjust your thoughts and focus on planning to bring about more of the positive aspects of what you want and love doing. This is the starting point

  • Identify

  • Focus

  • Plan

    There is no new you, only the you that wants to try something new. You are an accumulation of your thoughts, emotions and beliefs, when we understand this, we learn that every thought and feeling has an impact on our behaviours. Happiness is an inside job, I could be in the middle of a bog covered in muck and feel so much joy, not because of where I am, but for allowing myself time and space to be just me.

    Wherever you are, be present!

    Sharon Fitzmaurice