mental wellness the key resource for resilience

The trauma and pain experienced during and after the COVID 19 era was difficult to ignore. Lotus collaborated with Leonard Makoni in the aftermath of the pandemic to offer mental wellness services to the Spa’s patrons.

The mental wellness journey was part of the Lotus Wellness Spa rollout plan from inception. These sessions paved way for the Silent Struggle initiative that was launched in November 2022. Leonard launched a book titled ‘Forgiveness- a journey to mental wellness’.

In this troubled world, everyone needs to take heed of issues surrounding mental wellness.

Mental wellness is the capacity to work with one’s emotions to process events so that the choices made result in healthy relationships with oneself, others and the environment. Mental wellness becomes a critical resource for building resilience for a productive life in a world filled with challenges.

How are you doing regards your mental wellness?

• Check out your levels of burnout

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• Check out your risk to anxiety and depression

• How well are you balancing your selfapplication in all your spheres of influence?

What can you do to maintain your mental wellness?

• Acknowledge that you are facing challenges

• Accept that you are responsible for your mental well-being

• Seek understanding of what you are going through

Seek appropriate professional help especially about how you relate with:

• Your physical self (exercise, nutrition, rest)

• Your intellectual self

• Other people

• Finances

• Your spiritual self

• Your Career

Know your capabilities and limitations

• Learn to say “No” in building boundaries

• Maintain margins to accommodate incidentals so you are not under the tyranny of the urgent

• Keep on learning

The bottom line Without sound mental health it is impossible to attain complete health. The brain and heart get hurt just as much as a bone can get a fracture. Just as there is no stigma related to going to the dentist, no one should feel ashamed to visit a counsellor. As each of us takes care of our mental wellness, we create a psychologically safe living environment that promotes overall health.

Leonard Makoni is a counsellor, Certified End of Life Coach and Life Coach as well as a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF). He is also an international leadership development facilitator, a staff wellness consultant and marriage conference speaker in addition to being a radio counselling programme host. He can be contacted on +263 719 239 486, +263 772 239 486 or leonardm@team.co.zw

Bonaqua African Triathlon Cup Troutbeck

A Hugely Successful And Well Organised World Class Event

The Bonaqua African Triathlon Cup Troutbeck was held on Saturday 1st April at the Troutbeck Resort in scenic Nyanga. 2023 marks the 15th edition of the event and the 6th anniversary for Bonaqua as the official sponsor. As the manufacturers of the Bonaqua brand Coca-Cola and Schweppes Zimbabwe are joint sponsors of the event. Other sponsors included Toyota (CFAO), iGo from Cimas, Ecocash, Rooney’s, African Sun, Troutbeck Resort, Simbisa and others.

The event was co-ordinated and organised by Rick Fulton in conjunction with the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee and the Triathlon Association of Zimbabwe. The event is endorsed by the International Triathlon Union (ITU) which means participants score points within the ITU ranking system and ultimately points for the Olympic Ranking Qualification for the 2024 Olympics, so the results are recognised worldwide.

Events included the Elite and Junior races as well as an African CrossTriathlon (Off Road) Championship, the CIMAS Corporate Triathlon Challenge, Zimbabwe Triathlon Championship over a number of events, Tri-Kidz and

Trisports Triathlon, Aquathlon (an event including running and swimming) and the Open Water Swim with all of the events falling under the umbrella of the Bonaqua Troutbeck Multisport Festival.

It was a truly international event with over 51 athletes taking part from 20 countries including Mexico, Ireland, South Africa, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Chile, Slovenia, Japan, Austria, Kazakhstan, Togo, Mauritius, Morocco, Poland, Ukraine, Finland, Romania, Guam and Bermuda.

The men’s Elite race was won by James Edgar from Ireland with Dylan Nortje from South Africa taking second place and Jorge Alarcon Familiar from Mexico taking third place. Shanae Williams from South Africa won the Elite women’s race with second place going to Barbara de Koning from the Netherlands and third place going to Romano Gajdosova from Slovenia. Shaun Wolfaardt won the Junior men’s title and Kadence Ribbink took the Junior women’s title – both of them from South Africa. The best performing Zimbabwean athlete was Anje van As who took fourth place in the Junior women’s event.

Although Zimbabwe was not able to claim any medals Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, Kirsty Coventry, was full of praise for the organisers for putting together a world class event. She pointed out that the event has drawn together a number of important sponsors and has survived through 15, sometimes turbulent, years demonstrating the organisers’ commitment to excellence and sustainability. She hoped the event would inspire young, up and coming athletes to train harder and develop their skills in order to participate in both local and international competitions.

In a press release Coca-Cola Frontline Marketing Manager, Barry Otieno said, “We are delighted that every year, through our Bonaqua brand, we have been able to support Triathlon Zimbabwe to bring this event, which is not only significant for sports but is also a flagship for the country’s tourism industry. Each year, together with our partners and organisers, we strive to make the event more exciting. We, therefore, call the Zimbabweans to come and enjoy as we cheer the future Olympic hopefuls in action in the Africa Triathlon Junior Cup and support the best of our local athletes in the Zimbabwe Junior National Championships.”

Troutbeck Resort demonstrated their outstanding ability to host such a prestigious event with excellent accommodation options for participants and spectators. The Troutbeck Resort area has good road routes for running and cycling, safe and clean water for the swimming events, as well as outstanding scenery and ideal climatic conditions.

Hopefully the event will continue to be staged for many more years to come putting Zimbabwe firmly on the international sporting map as well as motivating local athletes to reach for the stars.