The Ten-Minute Check-In: Wellbeing Sometimes Starts With Another Person

Yesterday, 10 September, was World Suicide Prevention Day, and this year’s message was a particularly simple one: start the conversation.

The World Health Organization’s 2024–2026 theme, Changing the Narrative on Suicide, is about replacing silence and stigma with openness, empathy and support. WHO estimates that more than 720,000 people worldwide die by suicide each year.

Those are enormous numbers.

But today I want to bring the subject back down to something much smaller.

Ten minutes with another human being.

Wellbeing Has a Social Spoke

When I think about the Wellness Wheel, it’s tempting to concentrate on the things we can do individually.

Eat better. Move more. Sleep properly.

Meditate. Stretch.

All worthwhile.

But social wellbeing matters too.

Sometimes looking after ourselves means allowing somebody else into our world, and sometimes looking after somebody else begins with noticing that they’ve become quieter than usual.

Yesterday’s awareness campaign was about suicide prevention, but we don’t need to wait until somebody reaches crisis point before asking how they’re doing.

“Fancy a cuppa?”

“Do you want to go for a walk?”

“How are things, really?”

Nothing clever.

Just an opening.

Try the Ten-Minute Walk

Here’s my suggestion for this Friday.

Think of somebody you haven’t properly spoken to recently and invite them for a short walk.

Ten minutes is enough to start.

There is good evidence for the physical and psychological benefits of regular activity. NHS guidance says even a brisk ten-minute daily walk has health benefits and contributes towards the recommended 150 minutes of weekly physical activity.

But forget the fitness tracker for once.

Walk beside somebody rather than sitting opposite them.

Talk if conversation comes naturally.

Allow silence if it doesn’t.

Listen without immediately trying to fix everything they tell you.

You don’t have to be a counsellor to be a friend.

And if somebody tells you they’re struggling seriously, that’s the point where friendship includes helping them find appropriate professional support rather than trying to carry the problem yourself.

Our Naturist Community Matters

There’s something here for naturists as autumn approaches too.

As the Welsh weather becomes less cooperative and outdoor naturist opportunities reduce, it’s easy for some of the casual social contact of summer to disappear with them.

But naturism doesn’t hibernate.

Community certainly shouldn’t.

A phone call is still community.

Coffee with another naturist is community.

A clothed walk through an autumn woodland is still two naturists sharing time together.

And when we do have somewhere comfortably warm and private to meet naked, the simple familiarity of sitting together without pretence can be valuable in its own right.

I’m not claiming nudity prevents loneliness, depression or suicide. It doesn’t, and we should never turn naturism into a medical treatment.

I’m saying something much simpler.

People need people.

Acceptance, Kindness, Respect and Community mean rather little if they’re only words we use when everything is going well.

They matter most when somebody isn’t quite themselves.

Don’t Wait for the Perfect Words

One reason people sometimes avoid difficult conversations is fear of saying the wrong thing.

So don’t make it complicated.

You can simply say:

“I’ve noticed you’ve been a bit quiet lately. How are you doing?”

Then give them time to answer.

Yesterday was the international awareness day.

Today is the day after.

And perhaps that’s when the message matters most, because wellbeing shouldn’t be something we remember only when the calendar tells us to.

So sometime today, find ten minutes.

Put the kettle on. Make the phone call. Take the walk.

Who haven’t you properly checked in with lately?