A Tradition of Health, Wellbeing and Connection
Since 2017, Love Your Heart has been a cornerstone event at St. Andrew’s Community Centre, using the theme of Valentine’s Day to encourage people to prioritize their health and wellbeing. The event fosters a sense of community by bringing people together in a welcoming environment, promoting self-care, and making healthy lifestyle choices accessible to all.
Each year, Love Your Heart serves as one of the first major events in our social calendar, setting the tone for the year ahead. It provides a meaningful and uplifting experience, particularly for those who may find Valentine’s Day isolating.
A Holistic Approach to Wellbeing
The event offers a variety of activities designed to promote physical and mental health, including:
- Holistic Therapies: Attendees can enjoy complementary treatments such as Indian Head Massage, Reiki, Reflexology, Back Massage, and Acupuncture.
- Health Information Stands: Experts provide insights on cardiovascular health, gut health, smoking cessation, alcohol awareness, and blood pressure management.
- Practical Demonstrations: Hands-on sessions include healthy juicing demonstrations and CPR training using a defibrillator.
- Social Connection: Nail painting and a cozy café setting encourage companionship and relaxation.
With over 80 attendees in previous years, the event has consistently received positive feedback, with highlights shared on our respective social media platforms.
Love Your Heart 2025
This year’s Love Your Heart event took place on Thursday, February 13, 2025, from 10 am to 2 pm at St. Andrew’s Community Centre. While attendance was slightly lower than in previous years (with 63 participants), probably due to another event taking place at Richmond Barracks on the same day that may have impacted turnout, the event remained a resounding success.
Despite this, the atmosphere was warm, welcoming, and deeply engaging. Attendees enjoyed at least two therapy sessions each, ranging from hand and chair massages to facials and Reiki. Free nail painting was also available, adding to the relaxing experience.
The Irish Heart Foundation engaged with over 22 attendees for thorough health consultations.
Additionally, the sound bath experience was well-received, and it would benefit from a dedicated room in future events to enhance the immersive experience.
A New Initiative Sponsored By Smart D8: Men’s Mental Health Workshop
This year, Smart D8 partnered with St. Andrew’s Community Centre once again and, recognizing the importance of engaging more men in the event, this year we introduced a Men’s Mental Health Workshop, facilitated by Irish singer-songwriter Luke Clerkin.
Luke delivered an inspiring and heartfelt talk, sharing his personal journey through mental health challenges with honesty and vulnerability. He introduced practical tools such as creativity, mindfulness, and self-compassion to support emotional wellbeing.
Workshop Highlights
- Personal Journey: Luke’s candid discussion of his own experiences and how he overcame challenges.
- Gratitude & Self-Worth: Participants reflected on positive moments and words of kindness they had received.
- Emotional Awareness & Mindfulness: The importance of allowing emotions, guided mindfulness exercises, and recommended mental health apps.
- Taking Action & Growth: Understanding personal control, building community connections, and setting achievable goals.
- Closing & Reflection: Participants created personal mantras and identified key takeaways from the session.
- Resources & Support: A QR code linking to mental health services was provided.
Feedback & Impact
Eight men attended the workshop, which, while below full capacity, was a meaningful step toward greater male engagement. One attendee also kindly shared his reflections with us:
“Although I hadn’t attended a similar session/talk I was hugely impressed by the session presented by Luke. In a very personable and comfortable manner, Luke with humility and honesty shared his life story, including addiction issues, and held the attention of the room for the full session. As a participant, I was impressed by the request and encouragement of Luke to map our emotions and history to mirror feelings that he had informed us of from his life story and experience. The overriding message from the session was that the importance of vocalising or sharing feelings on personal mental health were hugely important things to express. The session conducted included some personal and moving songs that Luke had composed. These songs by Luke were written as a coping mechanism to express his moods through music and song and were warmly received. Luke informed us that for him these creative forces saved him in darker times and had strengthened his self-esteem when he encountered mental health issues during difficult periods of his upbringing in adolescence and early adult life. At the end of the session, I detected a warmth of feeling in the room where Men had partaken in something quite powerful with freedom and honesty. Several of the men who I hadn’t previously met freely spoke about the positive power of being able to chat and talk so freely at this session. A great experience I would consider for all participants and a very worthwhile project.”
The positive response underscores the importance of initiatives like this, and we are committed to expanding our outreach to encourage even more men to participate in future health and wellbeing events in the Dublin 8 community.
Looking Ahead
As we look back on another meaningful year, we remain dedicated to supporting Love Your Heart, an annual event that brings our community together to focus on self-care and holistic wellbeing. We look forward to expanding this initiative and continuing to promote health—mind, body, and heart—for all.