Mover & Groover Since Day One.

As a Leo, we are known for our outgoing and confident nature. Well, I did not fail in that department.

Mini me was a lot. A lot. You only have to ask any member of my family how they remember me as a child and I guarantee the words ‘put on a show’ would come out.

I wanted to be right there, centre stage, singing and dancing, creating a whole load of noise. I really didn't give two shits about what I was doing and who I was doing it in front of.

It's funny because I don't really know when things started to change? 

At the age of 8, my parents picked me and my brother up and took us from gloomy England all the way down to Australia.
All we had now was each other and a (very big) land of new opportunity.

We moved a lot. We met a lot of new people. We travelled to our own backyard and ventured abroad. 

But if there's one thing that's kinda swept under the rug is that being a teenager is hard. The things people say, the way people act and the rhetorics that we hear, are important. 

We are impressionable. We listen and we learn. And thus, we change.

So somewhere in the midst of so many amazing opportunities and experiences, I started to change. I started to worry about what others thought of me. I started to worry about what I looked like. I started to fear making the wrong decision.

I started to lose my sparkle.

During my degree, I studied gendered politics and the intersectionality of patriarchy, globalisation and media. From the gender pay gap, to women's health, to photoshopping, to equal rights - I was in deep. 

All thanks to the power of technology, capitalism, and marketing, many trends and fads began to change our social nature as humans. One being the diet industry. From juice cleanses, keto diets, sugar free challenges and new years exercise resolutions. It's safe to say most households had their go at a ‘health kick’. Ours was not exempt.

It's not until now, sitting here today, that I've started to process the things I used to hear and believe to be true. 

We all have our triggers and certain sayings that we probably don't even realise we say. But words matter. They matter a lot. And when you’re trapped inside of a continual closed circuit of mass media, being fed that the way we are and the things we’re doing are not enough, we start to believe it. For years, we have been told that we must look a certain way in order to be accepted into the ‘attractive’ bracket of society.

Fuck this. 

(Excuse my profanity)

Prior to lockdown, I had dabbled in the intriguing practice of reformer Pilates and started attending my local yoga and Pilates studio.

I noticed how exercising daily and moving my body in a way that aligned with rhythm and music, in a positive and upbeat environment, felt good.

I noticed that I had a desire to be a little ‘cleaner’ and ‘healthier’ in my food choices in order to enhance the physical benefits of such a movement. And it works. Science does not lie folks. You really can change the way you look. But how much control you have over that walks a fine line. For me, exercise and diet was my only form of control in a world that was continually changing every single day.  

Eventually, I became a qualified Pilates instructor. I moved to the city. Worked for a fancy and booming studio and met some amazing people.

I felt like ‘mini me’ up there teaching with my headset microphone and jamming to funky beats. It was fun!

To everyone else, I was living the lifestyle of a big city Pilates instructor posing in the mirror. And I guess I was. I'll be the first to admit that I like to use Instagram. But the truth is, you never really know what's happening behind the lens. 

Prior to COVID-19 and throughout my school years, I had well and truly caught the travel bug.

So, when we were finally allowed to venture into international waters and squeeze into economy seats - it was time to get the hell out of here.

BON VOYAGE 

FEEL GOOD MOVEMENT

I started to realise after a few weeks of disjointed hostel sleep, long and compact bus rides, and a few too many Changs… that I needed movement to make me feel good. I craved that natural dose of dopamine that made me perk up and feel fresh, see clearer and be happier. It became less about wanting to maintain a certain shape, or the food I consumed and more about what kind of version of myself I wanted to present to the people around me. Who I wanted to be as a human. 

I needed to rediscover what felt good. What made me a better version of me? What made me sparkle? 

I am fortunate enough to be in the most unique and diverse locations of the world. A cultural combustion of colours and culinaries. I am here because I love to travel. I want to see, explore and experience. I want to learn and share. So I need to go and do it.

Travel is movement. Moving from one destination to the next. 

Constantly moving in 10,000 different ways every single day. From logging my (exceptionally overpacked) backpack on and off a bus, walking in 30 degree humidity, up and down a hostel stairwell. To explore my new surroundings and gather my bearings by walking local streets, perusing the markets and heading down to the beach. Then back with a recharged social battery to mingle at the hostel and watch the night turn to day by sweating out my entire body weight at the club. Backpacking is no joke.  

And for those who haven't been a dirty backpacker, we all know that travelling is hard on the body. Long flights, dreaded jetlag, uncomfortable beds, sleepless nights, raging bellies, and violent hangovers is just the beginning. And for me, the added craziness of being crammed into a bus of at least 25 people, 30 cargo boxes of god knows what and the occasional dozen of chickens on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis - it’s no wonder my body craved more.

And so a new concept unfolded…

movement. made good. made global.

I had to rediscover what it meant to FEEL GOOD again. And simply being brave enough to open the flood gates, listen to your body, the things its telling you and TAKE ACTION.

From dancing on the furniture, to pumping iron in the gym, to a soothing dip in the ocean. It's time to embrace the things that make you FEEL GOOD.

Someone very special once said to me;

“people will remember you for the person you are, not for what you look like”

This was huge. 

This changed the game.

And to tell you the truth, it has gotten me out of a lot of mental Muay Thai. 

There is so much more to life (and this world) than what you look like or the rules you set yourself.

We are so much more. 

Fast forward to 31 countries and a lifetime of memories later, I’ve come to understand the power travel has to transform your life.

Travel has taught me more about myself than I ever thought possible.

By getting out of your comfort zone, meeting new friends, and challenging yourself every single day — travel encourages you to be brave, go beyond the ordinary, and take charge of your life.

And so welcome to ELEVEN - A Feel Good blog, podcast and community sharing the stories, places, and people that changed my life.

Because there’s a whole world out there waiting for you
— you just need to be brave enough to find it.