Adventuring
You cant miss the new This Girl Can adverts out at the moment on social media and tv. The 30 second clips are of women running, swimming, dancing, spinning and generally getting hot, sweaty and dishevelled to the beat of Missy Elliott's Get Ur Freak On. This Girl Can is here to inspire women to wiggle, jiggle, move and prove that judgement is a barrier that can be overcome. It's a celebration of active women up and down the country who are doing their thing no matter how well they do it, how they look or even how red their face gets. I am a huge fan of this campaign by Sport England and the fact that they used real women as the case studies, it really makes it stand out over other 'get active' campaigns. Along with a great choice of music and branding it is instantly recognisable and the message crystal clear. Sport is wonderful as it releases happy endorphins that give you that oh so fantastic feeling after doing exercise, if not while you are doing it (spin classes!) then definitely afterwards! It is the ultimate cure for the Monday blues. This campaign aims to show that it doesn't matter what you do as long as you love it. It has lots of examples from cycling on the weekends, open water swimming, netball and even exercises in the lounge with the kids. It can be anything! I love adrenaline sports and have recently started doing mud runs like Hellrunner and Tough Mudder, but from a glance at me you would never expect it being a small smiley girl with glasses. Its all about finding what makes you feel great, motivated and more you and then going for it:) Along with the This Girl Can ladies I'd like to share some other women who inspire me as well... Hazel Findlay Hazel is one of the world’s best trad rock climbers and was the first woman to climb an E9 route (which basically means really hard and really really scary! Watch her do it here). She grew up in Bristol and learnt to climb with her Dad from a young age, now she travels the world climbing and showing everyone just what small, blonde girls from England can do. I love this video about her because she talks about how leaving her comfort zone feels just the same as anyone leaving theirs, hers is just higher off the ground! All the best things happen when you leave your comfort zone and find out what you are capable of:) Alana Blanchard and Bethany Hamilton Alana and Bethany are friends and pro surfers from Hawaii. I love surfing so these two were on my radar anyway but they both have something extra which stands out to me. Bethany lost her arm in a shark attack while surfing when she was 13 and despite losing 60% of her blood she overcame the trauma of the attack and not only went on to surf again, she realised her dream of becoming a pro surfer. She has taken this awful thing that happened to her and turned it into something amazing, along with her friends and family she created the Friends of Bethany Foundation to use her experience to help others. This NGO with Christian values at its heart is dedicated to sharing hope, love and supporting fellow amputees. It also runs the Beautifully Flawed retreat for young women with limb loss. Pretty amazing:) A few years ago I read an interview with Alana where she spoke about how some people judged her for wearing skimpy bikinis when surfing instead of boardies. But she stood up for herself saying that it was what she was most comfortable in and made her feel confident. I like this attitude because everyone is different and women should feel free to be who they are without judgement. For me it's eyeliner and I no longer worry about wearing it to the gym, while camping or on mud runs. It makes me feel more confident and that's all that matters. Whether you get the confidence boost from bikinis or boardies, lipstick or lycra, or joggers and a jumper just be you:) Tegan Philips Last year Tegan won a touring bike (and she named it Charlie!) in a competition and took it on a month long adventure cycling from Bristol to Spain. And she has written the most amazing blog about it! Seriously you should go check it out right now. Her adventures with Charlie are hilarious and brilliant and will make you want to go on a cycling tour of your own. It is great to see a girl set off on her own adventure and write/draw in such an engaging and funny way. Now that her Spanish adventure is over she has persuaded her whole family to join her on a year long bike tour all the way up through Africa! How exciting is that?! Kacy Catanzaro I'd never heard of American Ninja Warrior before but I pretty much watched this video on repeat for a whole day! Kacy Catanzaro absolutely destroys this course, completing every obstacle and making it look easy and graceful. In doing so she became the first woman in the shows history to complete the course and make it to the finals. If this isn't fitspiration I don't know what is. Enjoy.
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Authorcharity worker, adventure lover, sci-fi geek and beginner dress maker! Archives
April 2015
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