Sometimes it’s the simplest of things that make the biggest difference in our lives.
Finding time to get out into nature, being mindful, and connecting with other people can be transformative – and one man in West Cumbria is proving that.
David Barnes, 51, of Cleator Moor, is the owner of RX4, a unique wellness business that has been helping people change their lives through nature for the past three years.
His work has breathed new life into places like St Bees beach – where he hosts regular cold water swimming and wood-fired wild sauna experiences to help people reduce their stress and boost their wellbeing.
David also hosts day-long exploring retreats in the Lake District, outdoor and indoor wellness workshops, one-to-one sessions and multi-week life coaching programmes that all aim to help both individuals and businesses flourish and improve.
Alongside his events – he hosts a popular free community dip every week at St Bees that brings people together for a mindful cold water dip session.
David gives attendees a mindfulness talk and calming exercises at the session – as well as free biscuits after their swim – and it has proved so popular, that one week, he had 100 people attend.
He has since launched a new community interest company, Patterns of Life, to keep up with its popularity, grow the premise and his community work further through grant funding and keep it sustainable in the long-term.
David said: “There’s been so many amazing stories in that sauna and at the community dip. People have changed their lives and habits, created new friendship circles.
“We’ve had people who were scared of the water, who aren’t anymore, there’s people who have stopped drinking, friendship groups being built, and new independent groups going out to do their own dips too.
“The water has helped them overcome things they didn’t think they would, just from turning up at the dip every week.
“In the last two years, we’ve had 40 or 50 people on average coming every week, times that by 100 weeks, it’s a lot of people, it’s thousands of people.
“But I can’t think of anyone who has said they wish they hadn’t done it. There was an older lady, around mid 70s, who not long ago said it was one of the best mornings of her life.”
But it all started back in 2020, after David – who is a former project manager and business leader – went on a personal journey to improve his own life.
He said: “In November 2020 I was in a pretty bad place. Physically, I was overweight at 19st 10lb, emotionally, I couldn’t regulate myself or my thoughts at all, I was drinking heavily to try and switch the universe off.
“I was at the start of getting a divorce, things had gone very wrong. But I was working, I was doing well and running a business.
“But I was working 16 to 18 hours a day thinking that the finish line was in sight and that I would sort everything out, which is what a lot of people do.
“I think the breaking point was I was in a house by myself drunk and I looked in the mirror and I thought it’s either time to give up or get up Dave.
“I thought I don’t want to give up, I have too much to give.”
David found support through a life coach, who helped him learn to look after himself better, create structure in his days and develop better habits.
He is now four years sober and over five stone down, and his journey inspired him to train as a professional wellbeing and life coach to help others in a similar way.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing, David said he had spent 20 years going through ups and downs trying to improve his life.
He read all the books and listened to all the podcasts, he had lost and regained weight and said he had felt stuck in a cycle of wanting to improve.
There wasn’t a single immediate breakthrough moment for him, instead, it was a decision to rebuild and restructure his life slowly while also learning how to regulate, reset, and lead himself through tough times.
David now runs RX4 full-time and spends his days giving people the support, advice and guidance that he has learnt to make use of himself over the years.
He said: “The way I feel now, I’m not just surviving, I’m thriving, and I want everyone to feel that, because we can be so conditioned with how the world pushes us to just feel like we’re surviving each day.
“But there were all sorts of things I did to deeply understand who I was, and by doing that, I learnt to understand everyone else a little bit more.
“We’re all very different, but we all have similar things going on, as we operate in similar ways, so I thought to myself I want to do something different to help people, and that’s how RX4 was born.
“The four R’s stand for reset, refocus, recharge and relaunch, as humans, that’s how I see us working daily, monthly and quarterly, as with the seasons. The four R’s also represent the four elements.”
RX4 is made up of two sides – the first being focused on supporting people in business and leadership and the second being a focus on supporting communities and individuals.
David’s events, activities, workshops and programmes all make use of either mindfulness practices, breathing exercises, cold water or contrast therapy and are normally carried out in nature or in work settings.
He also hosts keynotes and workshops that help people and businesses learn about simple and sustainable methods to improve their physical and mental wellbeing.
David added: “It’s all about helping one another. I think in the world today the one thing that is missing at times is community. I’m really passionate about helping as many people as I can.
“In my own garden I have a little two man sauna and ice bath, and I’ve been doing it for around three years.
“The hot and cold contrast therapy made me feel like I’d hit a deeper reset, so I thought how can I share this with people, and that’s where the wild sauna came from and it’s a great wellbeing tool.
“In a lot of countries the younger generations are meeting in saunas and talking instead of going pub, so there’s a strong community element to it.”
David added that watching people grow at his events like the wild sauna and community dip has been a special experience.
He said: “There’s been some amazing conversations in that sauna already, with people opening up about their challenges. We do a brief before the event and one of the things we say to the people doing it is it’s good to talk.
“It’s nice to sit quiet, if you feel like that, but you’ll feel the vibe of the sauna, and it’s good to talk. As a human being we love a bit of fire, we’re cavemen and cavewomen really living in a modern world, sitting around a fire opens things up.
“But people can talk about things as much as they like, unless they actually take some action around that, it’s just talk.
“So the cold water has a physical impact and is resilience building, so when you face a challenging situation in life, your body and mind know what to do with it.
“But the first time you do it, it’s not easy, and that’s why the community dip is really important because it’s a safe environment, I’m first aid trained if something doesn’t go according to plan and we get people into pairs to go in safely.”
David also stays behind to chat and check in with people after his events and the community dip.
He said: “One of the common things I hear from people is ‘I’d love to do it, but I don’t like cold water’ and I say every time, ‘who decided that?’
“They’ll say ‘me’ and I go ‘why’ and they say ‘oh I don’t know’, and I tell them well you don’t know if you don’t have a go.
“We’ve had people turn up one week and watch what goes on, and they then come in the next week up to their knees, and then they’re in the following week and they say ‘why didn’t I start this three weeks ago’ and I say ‘it doesn’t matter, you’ve started now.’
“Six months ago I had a woman who was scared of the sea and she’s been swimming every week near enough now.
“I get people into pairs to do it and say if two of you go out and one comes back, someone is missing! I had a new lady come along and I watched this woman who used to be scared of the sea guide her in and talk her through it.
“My god, talk about something that warms your heart, I made a post about it at the time and I titled it when the pupil becomes the teacher, and that happens a lot.”
You can keep up with RX4 Lakes events and book via Facebook and Instagram here.
