Theme Ride Thursday: World Mental Health Day 🌍💚

• Host a special tribute ride focused on mind-body balance and self-compassion.

• Partner with a local mental health organization.

• Dedicate one of your weekly classes to the theme, weaving in messages of awareness and support.

💚 Tip: Encourage riders to wear green (the color of mental health awareness), dim the lights for moments of reflection, or incorporate candles or soft lighting. Creating a mindful atmosphere can make this ride feel grounding and deeply meaningful.

👉 For music inspiration: We have created a World Mental Health Day bucket playlist that you can find below. There are over 100 songs to choose from. We we also have a collection of 35 inspirational bucket playlists with a combined 3,100+ empowering songs? This trusted resource is packed with songs about perseverance, empowerment, and hope, a perfect fit for World Mental Health Day. ICA members can find that amazing resource here. We’ve taken six additional playlists from that extensive list that would be appropriate for this particular theme and added them below. 

🌍💚 Theme Ride Idea: “Mind, Body, Resilience”

This ride celebrates the connection between movement and mental well-being. Frame it as a mindful journey:

• Warm-up: Gentle start. Encourage riders to set an intention: perhaps release stress, cultivate gratitude, or dedicate the ride to mental wellness.

• Climbs: Represent the uphill struggles of anxiety, depression, or personal challenges. Cue riders to find steadiness, breathe deeply, and meet resistance with patience.

• Sprints: Symbolize breakthroughs and bursts of freedom. Let riders release built-up energy and stress in powerful, cathartic efforts.

• Recovery moments: Create space for mindfulness. Invite riders to notice their breath, feel grounded, and connect to the present moment.

• Final push: A ride of unity and support. Emphasize community—no one rides alone.

• Cool-down: A closing of reflection and renewal. Encourage gratitude, self-kindness, and carrying lightness beyond the bike.

🎶 Song Ideas and How to Use Them

This Is Me, Keala Settle (The Greatest Showman), 3:54, 192 bpm
Warm-up or intention-setting flat. “Start this ride owning your worth. Every pedal stroke is a declaration: this is me.”

Anxiety, Doechii, 4:09, 129 bpm
Let’s climb! Who doesn’t suffer from anxiety sometimes? “Together we are stronger.” 

Carry On, fun., 4:38, 145 bpm
Endurance flat. “Whatever you’re carrying, you don’t have to carry it alone.”

Shake It Out, Florence + The Machine, 4:38, 107 bpm
Flat road with intervals. Encourage letting go of negativity with every push.

Beautiful (Peter Rauhofer Radio Mix) Radio Edit, Christina Aguilera, 3:59, 132 bpm
Steady flat. “A reminder that you are enough—just as you are.”

Everybody Hurts, R.E.M., 5:20, 94 bpm
Slow climb or reflection. “When you feel like giving up, hold on.”

Human, Rag’n’Bone Man, 3:20, 75 bpm
Mid-ride endurance. “It’s okay to not be perfect—it’s okay to just be human.”

Good Job, Alicia Keys, 3:53, 180 bpm
Reflective cool-down. “This is for you—for everything you’re doing to keep going.”

🗣️ Empowering Messages to Weave Into Your Ride

• “Mental health is a journey, not a destination—just like this ride.”

• “Sometimes the climb feels endless, but pedal by pedal, you move forward.”

• “This sprint is your release—let go of what’s weighing you down.”

• “Breathe in strength, exhale tension.”

• “Look around—you’re not alone on this road. We ride together.”

• “Every recovery is a reminder to pause, reflect, and honor yourself.”

✨ Share Your Story
Have you ever dedicated a ride to mental health awareness, mindfulness, or stress relief? We’d love to hear how you used your class to create connection and support. Share your stories in the comments to inspire other instructors to bring hope, balance, and community into their rides.

Below you will find our World Mental Health Day bucket playlist with over 100 song options, plus six additional bucket playlists that will help you round out your event playlist.