Closing out ’23, we’re teaming up with ASICS for an end of year celebration to ask what ‘Sound Mind, Sound Body’ means to you.

At the heart of Footpatrol is our diverse community. We continuously look to find avenues that give back and on this occasion we need your help!

Who was that person that went above and beyond to help you this year? Has someone stood out and done great things for your community? Let us know.

Head over to our recent Instagram post and make sure to tag them in the comments. They could be in with the chance of joining us for a private end of year dinner at Silo.

Speaking of Silo… Last week, we headed out to Hackney Wick to visit the Silo team. World renowned for their methods, they took us behind the scenes to get a greater understanding of what makes Silo so special. What makes them special we hear you ask? Imagine opening a restaurant and ‘Not having a bin’. Well this is something artist Joost Bakker wanted to explore with Silo’s chef and owner Douglas, creating the worlds first zero waste restaurant. Bringing you along for the journey, we wanted to promote a healthy mind and body and ask the question of sustainability and health.

Now back to the ASICS mantra of ‘Sound Mind, Sound Body’. We’ve celebrated many conversational topics this year, from disability awareness to mental health and wanted to continue by exploring this idea with you, the community.

Footpatrol: Team Silo, thanks for hosting us down at the restaurant today to meet the team ahead of our community give back dinner with ASICS to celebrate ‘Sound Mind, Sound Body’. Could you give our audience an introduction to Silo and what makes it such an innovative space within the food industry?

James, Silo: Thank you so much for coming to visit, we are really excited to be collaborating!

Well, Silo is a restaurant without a bin. This statement has become our guiding principle, forcing us to work backwards in eliminating waste from our food system. We create everything on the menu from ingredients in their whole form, cutting out over-processing and dood moles, whilst preserving the integrity of the ingredients we treasure. The restaurant is in constant evolution as a consequence.

Footpatrol: So as you’re aware, we’re down at Silo celebrating our community and those who have particularly helped others throughout the year. Inline with ASICS, we’re exploring the idea of ‘Sound Mind, Sound Body’, a mantra they’ve had since their early beginnings and stay true to to this day.

Could you and the team give us your interpretations to the idea of ‘Sound Mind, Sound Body’ and how you look to create this within your everyday life?

James Pritchard, Restaurant Manager: The interconnection between mind and body is undeniable. The rhythm and different shift types working in hospitality really make you realise that. Eating healthy food allows the body to get its nutrients but also for us to feel good and this is reflected in how clearly we think and process information, especially as I get older, this is more and more true. In recent years, I have discovered yoga and meditation and i am a better person for that. Mental Health is something more and more talked about and nearly as much as physical health nowadays but really they go hand in hand on lots of levels.

Katya Lukina, Front of House: For me, the priority is keeping a sound mind because then everything else will follow. When my mind is overstimulated and stressed out, I can tell my body is in the same gear; my abdomen tenses up and I get pulled into not so helpful habits like eating junk food. Being at peace in your head makes it so much easier to navigate through life in a more healthy way. I find it that I tend to have fewer cravings and appreciate doing things that require more discipline. But equally, sometimes all it takes is a walk around the park to clear the mind. So I guess it’s a two-way street really.

Eloise Pontefract, Head of Drinks and Sustainability: Working in hospitality, it has never been more important for me to consider Sound Mind, Sound Body, and keep these in balance with each other. We work long, often late hours so it is hugely important to prioritise rest and relaxation. On my days off I like to spend time in the kitchen cooking something tasty which I think nourishes mind as well as body. Myself and my colleagues have been going to a community sauna once a week before work which is amazing for clearing the mind and soothing tired muscles (shout out Hackney Wick Community Sauna!). I also find the cycle to and from work helps to clear my mind of any worries or stresses from the day. I think spending time in nature is really important for my mental health so I try to do this as much as possible, even in London.

Sophie Black, Floor Manager: Having a sound mind and body is intricately connected with others when you work as part of a restaurant team. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by caring individuals who all do their best to uplift one another on days when a sound mind is harder to maintain! That being said, during a busy week of restaurant activity lots of people need your attention and it can sometimes be tricky to feel grounded as an individual. I’ve found that it helps to start my days off with an exercise class that holds a lot of my focus, like yoga or boxing.

Julia Kuniewicz, Front of House: The body and the mind are physical vessels for the human experience. The food on our plates is a representation of whole universes interacting with each other — charged with networks of connection, intergenerational wisdom and reserves of energy. Eating it is just another way to practice, to connect and to be. Silo’s ethos is exactly that food is friendship, environment, and the world, always in motion and interconnected. To feel sound in my body and mind over food is to embody and honour those connections.