Ellie Douglas - Mental Health Personal Trainer aiming to raise awareness, and challenge stigma around mental health.

<div>Ellie in her own words:</div> <div> </div> <div>“I am a Mental Health Personal Trainer based in East Sussex. I started my business WellbeingFIT last year because I want to raise awareness of the many benefits of exercise on our mental health and wellbeing. I also want to make exercise more accessible and positive to people - especially if they usually feel that exercise isn’t for them.</div> <div> </div> <div>All of this was inspired by my own mental ill-health. I have suffered with depression and anxiety for the last 10 years, and have also received treatment for PTSD. I did get to the point when I began planning my suicide.</div> <div> </div> <div>Exercise was my saviour through my toughest times. I am still on my journey of recovery and I am using my experiences to help people; to provide empathy and compassion; alongside emphasising how exercise can really help our mental health.</div> <div> </div> <div>Alongside WellbeingFIT I have also started my mental health blog #WeGotThis. My aim here is to raise awareness, challenge stigma and to provide a safe space to share stories.</div> <div> </div> <div>I want people to know that you can go through a really tough mental health journey and still come out the other side. There is hope when you are able to share what you are going through. Stigma still tells us that we should feel guilt or shame when we are experiencing mental ill-health - this alone adds a huge amount to our suffering which is completely unnecessary.</div> <div> </div> <div>Exercise can provide relief from symptoms of mental ill-health and can be a space for sharing how you are feeling. It can also be a way of maintaining good mental health - regularly giving yourself priority and challenging what you are capable of.”</div> <div> </div> <div>New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday and Thursday at 7am UK time - Make sure you hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss out. </div> <div> </div> <div>The tough girl podcast is sponsorship and ad free thanks to the monthly financi