Let's celebrate men!
“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.”
- Marcus Aurelius
It's Men's Mental Health Week, and I want to celebrate the men in my world and acknowledge the changes I've witnessed in recent years.
As an observation: when I first started attending embodiment, trance and integrative retreats and workshops, I was generally the only man in the room. Similarly, when I first started offering breathwork eight years ago, perhaps 85% of my clients and workshop participants were women. Now, in 2026, more than half of my clients are men. Men's group breathwork has consistent attendance, attended by really wonderful men. This weekend's Winter Solstice breathwork event is almost 50% men. Incredible!
Men's mental health is being more openly discussed — both privately and publicly. Whilst rates still remain low for men seeking mental health support (only 37–40% of men experiencing a mental illness seek professional support), this culture is changing, and quickly.
Men are recognising their struggles, seeking support, supporting others and speaking more publicly about their experiences. The hard exterior many have had to develop as a form of protection is slowly being dissolved. Men are talking about feelings and feeling their feelings — whether that's sensing into the body or allowing energy to be in motion (e-motion). Old worldviews that logic, control and physical strength are more powerful than tenderness and heart-intelligence are slowly being rebalanced. Men are learning to listen to their hearts, and let that lead.
Of course, there are people and events happening in this world that will challenge what I've witnessed. The wounding that has taken place for all of humanity is immense, including the real pain and suffering inflicted by male violence and control. This kind of cultural transformation doesn't happen in a single generation — it takes time, and accountability, to undo what took generations to create. And while the manosphere, patriarchy, gender-based violence and other shadow parts of male identity need to be transformed and healed, it's important for us to keep orientating to our collective North Star — to notice and acknowledge the changes that have taken place, to support those still carrying the impact of that harm, and to help future generations of men (and all folk) be less burdened by the pains of the past, and better supported through the struggles of our time.
I was recently reading about biomimicry — the philosophy of aligning human systems with Earth-based systems. In terms of environmental repair, biomimicry shows that in a landscape laid waste by industrialisation and colonisation, we only need to rewild 15% of that land for the natural rewilding process to begin. Insects and birds return and help spread seeds. Mycelium regenerates the soil to support new life. Repair, rebirth and recreation of the landscape follow.
I like to think this principle applies to us too. If just 15% of who we are is open, ready and willing to change, our inner rewilding process will naturally unfold. If just 15% of men — and all humans, men, women, non-binary, trans, queer — around the world or in our community actively choose to tend to the parts severed by generations of pain and trauma, and step consciously into their vulnerability and heart, the natural shift and evolution will take place. Just 15% to turn the tide.
I celebrate the men and the community of men I'm surrounded by. I celebrate every man who has shared the depths of their pain, taken ownership of their past, and chosen to create a better life for themselves and their loved ones. These men continue to help me heal, and I hope my presence and support have helped them too.
With warmth,
Joshua