Say hi to Jamie Clements and the anti-man-up movement
This week we chatted with Jamie Clements, a fervent advocate for men’s mental health and breathwork coach. He talks to us about how he wants to change the way men feel about expressing their emotions and what is expected from them. We live in a society where we are often being told how to be, and what we should do and shouldn't do, but how can we escape from this? Read on to find out more!
Hi Jamie! Thanks for having a chat with us. First of all, could you introduce yourself and a few of the many things you do?
Thanks for having me! I’m 27 years old, living in London and primarily working as an Account Executive at 11:FS, a fintech company HQ’d in London. Outside of that, I spin a few different plates. I’m a keen mental health advocate and the host of the Man Down podcast, focused on men’s mental health and masculinity. As well as this, I recently founded my breathwork coaching practice, The Breath Space, helping people to use their breath to optimise their physical, mental and emotional health.
What does a ‘normal’ day in your life look like? What are your self-care habits?
I’m an early riser, I don’t buy into the whole ‘wake up at 4am otherwise you’ll never be successful’ vibe but I’m usually up by 6am most days because I like to start my day off on the right foot. This usually takes the shape of about an hour and a half, made up of any combination of breathwork, meditation, reading, stretching and exercise. That period of silence in the morning, with no distractions, really sets me up for the day. After that I’ll get stuck into my day job and a few evenings per week I’ll record a podcast episode or teach breathwork.
Why do you feel it is so important to talk about men’s mental health? How do you feel we’ve evolved in this area over the past few years and what would like to see more of in the future?
Mental health in general has been a traditionally taboo subject in the U.K. and globally. For me, I wanted to focus in on men’s mental health for two main reasons: the alarming statistics on men’s suicide and because I can speak from experience. The way in which we are raised as boys and men, the societal expectations and conditioning, has created a world in which men feel they cannot express their emotions, for fear of being seen as weak or a failure, so much so that many of us get to a point where we actually don’t even know what we’re feeling. This kind of emotional repression can have disastrous and ultimately tragic consequences. The mental health conversation has moved forward massively in recent years, with more and more of these types of conversation taking place. However, we’re still seeing the male suicide figures increase, so there is clearly more to be done. For me, there is a lot we need to address at a systemic level, looking at upstream, preventative measures, to address the route cause of why so many men are struggling with their mental health.
Can you tell us a little more about “Man Down”, the podcast you’ve started in partnership with Beder (a charity raising awareness around mental health & suicide prevention)? Who do you invite on the podcast and what are some of the topics you’ve covered?
Man Down was initially born out of losing a friend to suicide, as well as my own battle with mental health. Having struggled with anxiety and depression for much of my young adult life, I only really began making progress when I was able to speak openly about what I was going through. Sadly, I lost a friend to suicide in 2019 and that was the trigger that really got me to start speaking to my friends, family and my therapist about what I was going through. I then started to realise that a lot of what I had been taught it meant to ‘be a man’ was tied to this idea of emotional repression and wanted to explore how we could get men comfortable with the idea of talking about their feelings, whilst still feeling ‘like a man’. I’ve had the fortune of meeting some incredible men along the way and lots of them have had their own battles with mental health. I wanted to speak to them about their stories and what has helped them get to where they are today, to show anyone listening that vulnerability is rooted in strength and takes courage. We’ve covered a broad range of topics, from grief, to fitness, relationships, sex, alcohol and much more — all with the idea of holding a mirror up to the listener and seeing what might resonate with them, no matter how small.
👉 Listen to The Man Down Podcast on Spotify or Apple
You’ve also created The Breath Space, helping people use breathing techniques to optimise their physical & mental health. Why is breathing such a useful tool for our mental health? How can we use breathing techniques in a workplace environment?
When I tell people about breathwork, I think there’s a preconception that it’s all a little bit spiritual and ‘woo-woo’ for your average person on the street to engage with, and many people don’t really see the link between this work and my work in the mental health space. But, for me, the two couldn’t be more closely linked. The breath is one of the main (and most accessible) tools in our body that we have conscious control over, which, due to where it sits within the nervous system, means if we change our breath, we can send signals to the brain to change our mental and emotional state. As breathwork comes more into the mainstream, there’s a real danger of us over-complicating something that is ultimately so simple. When it comes to the workplace, you could use breathwork techniques to give yourself more energy, to calm your nerves before a big meeting or even to switch off at the end of the day — there is so much you can do with the breath.
Last question, can you recommend a book to read during this unsual pandemic period?
If I can be sneaky and recommend two books; the first would be Exhale by my good friend Richie Bostock — it’s an amazingly accessible intro to breathwork and gives real, practical tips. The second would be Solve for Happy by Mo Gawdat — Mo is the former Chief Business Officer of Google X and has written an incredible book on how to find happiness, a must-read.
Follow Jamie Clements on Instagram 👉 @jamieclements_ & @the_breath_space and visit his website for more 👉 www.thebreathspace.co.uk
👉 Listen to The Man Down Podcast on Spotify or Apple
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