22 July 2024
A new arts-inspired wellbeing festival, organised bike rides, goat yoga sessions and forest bathing feature in the North York Moors Mindful Month programme this September, which is designed to help people unwind after a whirlwind summer by using the beautiful natural surroundings in the National Park to relax and recharge.
This year, the ability of art to absorb and relax people’s minds plays centre stage during the first Mindful on the Moor Festival on 7 September at Danby Lodge National Park Centre.
People can try their hand at making pottery, weaving a willow fish or flower, painting a moorland scene or using the landscape as inspiration to create a piece of embroidery, all under the guidance of talented local artists and craftspeople.
On 29 September the focus will be on the ‘feel good’ endorphins that come with venturing outdoors on two wheels with the new Minds & Miles cycling day organised in association with Struggle Events.
Making the most of the National Park’s on and off-road routes around Sutton Bank, the event will have four fully-signed rides designed to appeal to people of all ages and cycling ability – with 50 and 80km road routes, a 50km gravel ride and a 25km family route.
The beautiful surroundings of Rosedale will be enhanced by the therapeutic presence of goats during calming yoga sessions, or people can lose themselves in the art of cheese-making, both held at Abbey Farm Cottage.
Yoga at Guisborough Priory and on a beach will form part of a three-night Pretty Gritty retreat from 10-13 September which will also include dips in the sea at Saltburn and guided hikes further inland.
Otherwise there’s an evening outdoor yoga session coinciding with the Harvest Moon on the 17 September which will be held in the charming, rewilded scenery of Coast and Camplight near Whitby.
Other ways to switch off include a wild foraging foray in the company of local forager and fire cook Katy Doman; a soothing guided big tree walk through Raincliffe Woods; and a mood-boosting dark skies evening with Adventures for the Soul at Sutton Bank where people will be guided on a safari with a difference, listening to the birds’ evening chorus before the bats and stars emerge.
Phoebe Smith, Marketing Assistant for the North York Moors National Park comments: “This year’s programme really accentuates the multitude of ways and places that people can seek out within the North York Moors to help switch off from everyday life.
“We’ve aimed to create a nurturing, unpressurised environment where people can try out an activity for the first time, follow quiet signed routes for some relaxing cycling, or simply discover a local business they can revisit to continue to find relaxation in beautiful surroundings beyond Mindful Month itself.”
For more information on Mindful Month go to www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/mindfulmonth
ENDS
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The North York Moors National Park
The North York Moors is a beautiful landscape of stunning moorland, ancient woodland and historic sites. Created on 28 November 1952, it became Britain’s sixth national park. Covering an area of 554 square miles (1,436 square kilometres) the National Park has 26 miles of coastline, two national nature reserves, 840 Scheduled Monuments and over 3,000 listed buildings, attracting an estimated 8.4 million visitors a year.
The National Park has two visitor centres, Danby Lodge National Park Centre and Sutton Bank National Park Centre, providing opportunities for cycling, walking, eating, picnicking, shopping, crafts and wildlife-watching. The centre in Danby also houses the Inspired by… gallery, which features regularly changing exhibitions by artists who draw their inspiration from the North York Moors.
The North York Moors National Park Authority works with a wide variety of people to care for this beautiful corner of Yorkshire, providing apprenticeships and volunteering opportunities with nearly 14% of staff being apprentices from local families.
To view other press releases and for further information about the North York Moors National Park, visit www.northyorkmoors.org.uk