Meet The Maintenance Manager Behind Mindfulness Mondays

Terry Desmond, a former soldier turned wellbeing champion, is the maintenance manager at Hyllden Heights care home in Kent. He is now combining his maintenance duties with his passion for yoga and mental health to offer support for the residents.

About Terry

Terry began his career in the British Army, where he gained confidence in himself, developed essential life skills, and achieved personal growth. Despite only being slightly older than others at his rank, the younger soldiers on his squad looked to him for guidance during operations and exercises.

However, being stationed in Cyprus, away from his young family, took a toll on his mental health, and he made the tough decision to leave the forces. Once back home, he realised that his caring mindset, combined with the maintenance skills gained in the forces made care homes an ideal work environment.

Terry has been at Hyllden Heights for 2.5 years and has been providing support to residents and staff from the beginning. While Terry enjoys his maintenance role, his real passion lies in wellbeing and helping people. He discovered mindfulness techniques that helped him cope with his mental health and has now started passing on his knowledge to others through yoga and introducing Mindfulness Mondays to Hyllden Heights.

Mindfulness Mondays

Initially, Terry thought that mindfulness meant achieving inner peace or meditating on a mountain, but mindfulness is really about learning to process thoughts without letting them become crippling.

Swimming, running and going for a walk can be considered a mindful activity, and this is one of the techniques that kept Terry grounded. He quickly learned that mindfulness doesn’t require formal yoga practice – any peaceful, grounding activity can be beneficial. He also realised that while most people think yoga is all about flexibility and contorting your body to get your legs behind your head, the reality is almost the opposite.

Mindfulness involves understanding what you can control and channelling energy toward positive reactions rather than reacting negatively to situations beyond your control. Terry still experiences anger and stress, as all people surely do, but now takes time to breathe and regain focus. He wants to share his techniques as breathing, meditation, and yoga practices are free and accessible to everyone.

Terry has since introduced “Mindfulness Mondays” to the residents’ weekly schedule of activities. He offers weekly yoga and meditation sessions for both residents and staff members, which have been well-received. Despite initial concerns that residents were potentially unfamiliar with yoga and meditation practices, many showed up for the first session.

Terry says that these sessions were quickly being taken on board by everyone, and the residents are even using the techniques throughout the week. The gentle movements used in yoga are helping them get up and about, and the mindfulness techniques are helping them deal with stressful situations.

Residents rave about improved relaxation

Terry tells residents that yoga is a “practice,” not an “accomplishment” or achievement. He says, “Yoga is not about touching your toes, it’s about what you learn on the way down.”

Every session is a learning experience, with both good and bad days. Success in one pose or feeling calm one day doesn’t guarantee the same results the next day. Continuous learning and practice of breathing techniques, meditation, and yoga movements combined with understanding your strengths and acknowledging your weaknesses, and removing your ego, will allow you to be more open and mindful.

Terry wishes he had started yoga 10 years earlier, but says it’s never too late to make positive changes. Many residents, some who are 40 years older than Terry, all lived routine lives (sitting, standing, same movements 90% of the time) before yoga was introduced to Hyllden Heights.

The yoga and mindfulness practices have many physical benefits, like increased use of underused body parts, moving muscles residents never knew existed, and learning to position their bodies in new ways. Mental health benefits include improved focus and a calm mind and reconnecting with oneself.

Terry also recognises that almost everyone has experienced trauma or loss, and that may not have been properly processed emotionally, with yoga and mindfulness techniques now allowing residents to process this trauma in a healthy, productive way.

The sessions end with participants bowing to each other, and residents open their eyes, smiling and saying thank you to each other. Terry respects that each person’s yoga practice is personal, individual and unique to every resident and staff member who participates, he just wants to create a lovely, positive environment after each session.

Respecting residents and their stories

When asked what the best part of his position at Hyllden Heights is, Terry says “the people” – both residents and staff. Terry enjoys hearing residents’ life stories and discovering common experiences with people 40 years older than himself, and the smiles when they get to share their stories. He often states that care work requires special people who genuinely care about helping others, and he knows that all staff members at Hyllden Heights, regardless of role, take time to engage with and help residents.

Working with residents makes Terry reflect on living life to the fullest. Now at 40, Terry often looks back on what he’s accomplished in the past 20 years and knows what he wants to achieve in the next 20, or even 40! He says residents serve as examples that life has ups and downs, but the goal is to create a journey worth looking back on.

Terry wants to ensure that when he’s older, possibly even in an Oakland Care Home like this, he can look back at having had one hell of a journey – what a brilliant mindset to have!

You can listen to the full podcast with Terry here.