Editor’s Letter I often find myself outnumbered 20 to 1, and it
This is what The Grain has set out to achieve.
makes me wonder. 1, is it like this for everyone,
A publication dedicated to women that asks you to
and 2, will I always feel like this?
take your time to read. There is no ‘Like’ button, no flashing images and no option to click away.
As we become more and more encompassed by technology and social media, I find it difficult to
These women’s stories deserve to be read, and you deserve to read their message.
step back, and even more difficult to stay immersed in a single task. I believe that reading a publication
Take a moment to be selfish. Take your time
should be an immersive experience. Far from the
to read the pages, just as we have taken the time
instant and continual gratification rewarded to us
to put them together. A labour of love should be
by the internet. Reading is a journey of discovery.
shared and loved in return. Harriet Cooper
Contents:
1. Women Emma WHITAKER pg. 9-21
India SILVANI-JONES pg. 23-33 Ellie HIDE pg. 45-55
Jane CUTTS pg. 35-43
Lauren WHITE pg. 57-67
2. Thoughts SWEAT pg. 71-73
STRETCH pg. 75-77
3. Places The NAKED DELI pg. 81-87
We Are WELLNESS pg. 89-99
Isle of ARRAN pg. 101-111
01 women
Emma WHITAKER Photographer, Adventurer, Climber
9-21
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EMMA WHITAKER
The first time I meet Emma we go bouldering and after a few minutes, I realise why. Emma Whitaker is not the kind of person who sits still. Studying Adventure Media at the University of Cumbria, she always seems poised for the next venture.
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“I just think it’s so strong for people to just say ‘no I’m not going to do that’ and work out how to get money a different way, and not get a house, and not get a mortgage.”
EMMA WHITAKER
Having been ranked number one in the United Kingdom for Downhill Mountain Biking, Emma’s used to hard work and speed, but as she moves on to different things, her eye is still very much on the adventure. Starting with her first love, Emma learnt to Mountain Bike just by giving it a go. “We used to go on holiday out to France quite a lot in the Alps for summer and I always saw people mountain biking and stuff out there and I though it looked really cool and I wanted to give it a go so me and my sister hired a bike and just had a go at it. I really loved it, like I really enjoy it, I picked it up quite quickly.” By the next summer, she had bought herself a second hand bike, and the seed was sown. “I didn’t stop riding when I got home, I carried on riding and entered a couple of races.” As she puts it, she “decided that I was going to do it for the next few years.” And decide she dWid. Hundreds of hours training and many races later, she had 2 national titles and 3 regional wins under her belt. She still mountain bikes in her spare time and by the sounds of it, that won’t change, but after some pretty damaging crashes, and two ruptured spleens, Emma decided to stop racing and focus her energy on other things.
Interestingly, as much as she believes Adventure Media was the right course for her, it wasn’t Emma’s first choice. “I didn’t really want to go to university, I didn’t really want to do anything back then, I just wanted to do nothing, I literally just wanted to do nothing with my life.” Which is unsurprising when you have what you thought was the next five years of competing is taken away from you with little choice. “My sister showed me this course and I was already interested in mountain biking, I’d done a bit of photography, she said its look like you’d enjoy this more than a Graphics course.” Emma originally applied to do Graphics at various universities across the country. “I think if I’d have done graphics, I’d have just left after a couple of months and had none of it. It was the one that stood out because I got to do the outdoors side as well.” This was probably the biggest draw for Emma, and most likely will be a driving factor for most of her life choices. When I ask about her biggest passion, she’s pretty clear: “The outdoors and nature and sports in the outdoors and film and photography, anything in the outdoors basically.” And in comes across in everything she does such as setting up her own specialist adventure production company focusing on film making and photography.
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As we climb, it’s clear she’s a natural. She doesn’t have trouble with the overhangs, and takes each difficult route in her stride. As I watch her, she pauses before each climb, mapping in her head each hold and place before she starts. She’s climbed for a number of years, and learnt while in secondary school. “They had a climbing club and I really wanted to get involved with it, and I always though climbing’s a cool sport. I was interested in watching it and seeing pictures of it beforehand. I got involved with the club and started going two or three times a week when I was 14, so I got quite good at it when I was younger. I stopped climbing when I went to boarding school because I couldn’t go to the club or do it as much then. I got back into it when I went to university, and I got more involved in the outdoor climbing scene so more traditional climbing where you place gear.” Now, she climbs for enjoyment, and not for the competition. Evolving through sport is something she clearly loves, and moving though each technique and skill each time is important to her. In terms of competing, she’s not currently got anything in her sights, she’s just learning as many outdoor sports as possible. “As you get older, you can always pick something new up. I think if you want to compete in a sport it helps if you start it at a young age.
When you look at the people, especially mountain biking people that are at the top, they’re the ones that started very young. Not so much in climbing. But, if you just want to do it for the fun, then just do it whenever. The only thing that’s stopping you is you.” This try-anything attitude comes across well, and it something that I hope rubs off on anyone that comes into contact with Emma. As if the inspiration comes full circle, she is also influenced by a great number of people. “I get inspired from other people, like literally anyone. If one of my friends does something, it doesn’t even have to be cool, if they like go out of their comfort zone and do something, then that inspires me to go do something.” Her older sister has also remained a constant source of inspiration for her, “she’s done so well in her life, and she’s just gone and done what she wanted to do, which has kind of pushed me to do my course. I’ve learnt that it’s what I wanted to do so bad.” Helped only by her sense of adventure, Emma grows with the people around her and the things they do. For the next year Emma and her partner Carly are planning on saving as much money as they can. They’re going to buy a van, kit the van out and travel for as long as they can. “Say if we saved
EMMA WHITAKER
up 15 grand, then that’s 15 months but we want to try and work while we’re on the road by writing and filming and photography.” A creative and free lifestyle is exactly where they want, an amicable and bold choice in today’s climate. A dream so big it shouldn’t be perturbed by the ring of the impending future. Using social media to keep her eye on the end game, she likes to follow “people that have just said no to the normal grind of every day life and have just gone out and people that live in vans. I just think it’s so strong for people to just say ‘no I’m not going to do that’ and work out how to get money a different way, and not get a house, and not get a mortgage and not do that, and that’s pretty great.” Emma’s happy with the choices she’s made for now, and her future plans. “I would say I’m pretty proud of my life. If I looked back, if my 16 or 17 year old self saw where I am now, I think I’d be proud of myself. Because I’ve got a really solid plan for the future and everything.”
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EMMA WHITAKER
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EMMA WHITAKER
EMMA WHITAKER
“If you just want to do it for fun, then just do it. The only thing that’s stopping you is you.”
India SILVANI JONES
Experimenter, Blogger, Baker
23-33
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INDIA SILVANI-JONES
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We meet at the Grub and Grop Shop in Leeds, on the business side of town and nowhere you’d usually venture on a Saturday morning. Completely off the beaten track, it almost feels like a secret, somewhere waiting to be discovered. It’s quiet, which is perfect and nothing like the din of a Starbucks chain. Her first question is about tea, which I love. Tea first, chat later.
INDIA SILVANI-JONES
To call India a Blogger would be unfair. Yes, she has a blog, but she does so much more. A vegan for about a year, her exploration of food and her drive to show people the creativity in veganism is refreshing. She doesn’t preach, she just wants to cook. Her opinions are interesting, and just what you want to hear. She challenges the norm, and makes you question why you’ve made certain decisions, or not even considered what you’re doing, especially about social media. In the last 6 months, she’s begun running a 100% vegan supper club every six weeks, inviting people to try a themed night. She’s also started supplying vegan treats to Hyde Park Book Club, an amazing café and venue in Leeds. We start with the future, which sounds full of amazing ventures, and just enough dreaming to make it work. “I think because it’s only recently that I realised I didn’t want to do a ‘proper job’ I wanted to do something else. It sounds like there’s so many things I could do, and I just need to narrow it down and just do it. At the minute I’m just like, I could do this, or this and wouldn’t it be really nice if I could travel and do something that I really like.” The way she says ‘proper job’ is interesting, with so many people rushing into employment because they feel like they have to, it seems a later career change is still an option, and the perfect one for India. Following your dream may not seem realistic right now, but what about India’s method of trying to fit them in? She aims to change her career in the next year,
transitioning slowly until she’s financially stable enough to support herself. A wise decision in todays climate. She doesn’t strike me as a gung-ho kind of woman. A dreamer yes, but not reckless, which is just what you need. “It’s just difficult doing it around a job, very difficult and that’s also part of the reason I don’t do much blogging. Because I’m at work all day at a computer, the last thing I want to do, is come home and write more. I just want to be in the kitchen and do stuff that way.” Her opinions on blogging are what intrigue me the most, they differ from the norm, and in such an online focused society, they make me question my own. After being introduced to her as a blogger, they title doesn’t do her justice. It’s interesting to see a different side to her, she questions it all and is keen to step away from the title. “To be honest, I don’t really like blogging.” And she makes a very valid point, “I feel like you kind of get sucked into it if you’re trying to create an online presence for yourself and what I actually want to do, is make food.” It’s true, with the sea of voices now online trying to be heard, being genuine doesn’t seem to be enough. Unsurprisingly she’s also not a fan of reading other blogs. That’s not to say that she doesn’t. “I scroll down this post and I think, why are you telling me this? I’m not reading it. Just tell me what the recipe is and I’ll just make it”. It must be true for a lot of other people too, when was the last time you read a blog post from start to finish?
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We are so used to getting our information instantly that it’s becoming more and more difficult to hold someone’s attention for a longer period of time. She has similarly differing opinions about social media. While she uses it as a tool for promotion for her supper clubs, she keeps it strictly in line with her ideals. “I intentionally very rarely post anything to do with my actual self and usually only just do my food.” It’s interesting, when so many people are promoting themselves through the way they look, and while the key to success is often now cultivating a personable and relatable image, India believes her food should speak for itself. “It’s awful to have your body plastered all over the internet and be portraying that as some kind of achievement.” She purposefully avoids it from both angels, not following these types of accounts either. “I’m intentionally trying to avoid people that are trying to show some sort of perfect life. Because it really pisses me off.” Unlike what we have grown to expect from a stereotypical vegan, India couldn’t care less about what you eat. Her boyfriend isn’t vegan, or even vegetarian, and she will never be caught questioning your diet or motives for eating meat. She suspects this is why she doesn’t get any
opposition or augmentative comments about what she chooses to eat. “Someone’s asked me, aren’t you always hungry, but I think that’s people that can’t understand that a meal isn’t just meat, veg and potato”, a typical diet that the majority of the British population follow. While an estimated 5.7% of the population are vegetarian and 2% vegan, those in the minority are bound to be a curiosity. Her biggest tip for vegans though, “Don’t be an arse, don’t be a vegan dickhead.” Forcefulness is never the way to go when trying to change opinions, “I think it’s easy for vegan people to get a bit self righteous and think that because you’re cruelty free and don’t eat any meat, people who do are lesser, or they’re doing something wrong.” Similar to other causes, those in the minority who scream and shout seem to become the figure heads and cause the public to form a biased opinion. India doesn’t agree with shock tactics, and has a friend who “often posts shock pictures of pigs being slaughtered and stuff like that, and it’s the wrong way to go about it and I think she gets more opposition than she does support because she’s so aggressive about it. I just think it’s completely the wrong way to go about it personally. I think it pushes people away and makes them think you’re a crazy person.” People are sceptical of those who go against the
INDIA SILVANI-JONES
norm, and so often oppose veganism, even when it’s not their place, or they just don’t understand. As a dreamer, I hope all of India’s plans for the future come true. With a curious and sharp mind, she questions the norm, but doesn’t make you challenge your opinions in a way that makes you feel defensive. We could all do better to take note of this.
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INDIA SILVANI-JONES
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“Don’t be an arse, don’t be a vegan dickhead.”
Jane CUTTS
Ambassador, Instagramer, Motivator
35-43
JANE CUTTS
Jane Cutts is a testament to the power of social media. As a This Girl Can ambassador and personal trainer, she uses Instagram to reach as many people as she can, and there’s much more to her than meets the eye.
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JANE CUTTS
A Durham business graduate who became a personal trainer isn’t a story you hear every day, but it’s an intriguing one. When I ask her about it, she lights up. You can tell she’s found her secret to life, and is just desperate to share it. “Most important in life is 100% being happy. Like whatever you’re doing, just be happy. That’s exactly why I chose the career I’m doing.” She continues to bring everything we talk about back to happiness, her choices, her goals, what she tries to do for her clients, and she’s right. He career has brought her, and her clients, happiness, and shouldn’t that always be the end goal? When I ask her what she’s proud of she hesitates, “I think I’m proud of following my dreams. I’m doing exactly what I want to do. I’m not fitting in with the social norms or doing what is expected of me, or what other people think I should be doing.” This opinion definitely isn’t the norm, with people currently going for any job they can get, not necessarily the job they want in order to support themselves. “It was sort of expected that I would just go into an office job,
but I knew that I wanted more and something very different.” Undeniably she achieved this. Full time successful personal trainer is not as achievable as most people seem to think. It’s clear though, that through all her hard work her main goal is to help others. “I’m not in it for the money, I’m in it for the changes I make. So for my clients I prefer to focus a lot more on people who I can genuinely help, so maybe not your average client but someone who just working with me for an hour or two can make like a massive different to their lives.” With a swell of personal trainers hitting the industry as it has its moment in the spotlight, it’s easy to see how some PT’s could be in it for the wrong reasons. But Jane couldn’t be further from this. “In the future, I just hope to inspire and empower other people. That is my ultimate goal.” As the fitness industry is so unpredictable, she’s realistic, “I couldn’t even say that you know, I’ll always be in the health and fitness industry, it does have an expiry date.” But with every passion comes big dreams: “I would say my ultimate,
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ultimate goal is to help girls in their teenage years, because there’s so much body confidence issues. That’s who I want to help, so I hope that’s my future.” This goes hand in hand with her role as a This Girl Can ambassador. The national campaign developed by Sport England is a celebration of active women up and down the country who are doing their thing no matter how well they do it, or even how they look. The campaign is everything we want it to be, and a perfect pairing for Jane and the message she’s trying to get across. She chooses to promote this by showing the most realistic and true version of herself possible. “The main thing is just to be a figure to inspire and empower women, so it’s just encouraging women to get out there and exercise, be confident and happy with who they are.” And with so many social media profiles now trying to gain popularity from the trends, it’s a welcome breath of air. With social media being the influential tool that it is, Jane is understandably skeptic. “I personally think that it’s an extremely powerful and amazing tool to connect like minded people to inspire others but at the same time it can look very unrealistic, for example some health and fitness accounts make
it look like the good life, but it’s not that, these people work really, really hard.” It’s true, how many of these people show a true representation of their lives, the hours they spend working hard, training and the precision with their nutrition? It’s unreasonable to expect people to share every aspect of their lives on social media, and it’s questionable whether these accounts would be as popular if they did, but clearly these accounts are not realistic. “You need to take it with a pinch of salt. I would say, don’t use it as a comparison, don’t use it if you want to be like people on social media, but if you want to be inspired and learn from people, then I think it’s really powerful.”
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“Most important in life is 100% being happy. Whatever you’re doing, just be
JANE CUTTS
happy”
Ellie HIDE
Engager, Rower, Surfer
45-55
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ELLIE HIDE
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Ellie Hide is someone who is often underestimated. She’s all smiles and has a great little giggle.
ELLIE HIDE
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She is in fact a champion sailor at the top of her game with a place at one of the top universities for her choice of degree. Someone who’s not shy of hard work, Ellie will dip her toe in any water sport going. It’s clear her passion is the water. “I just like to feel the water around me, it kind of gets you away from everything. You kind of forget your worries when you’re on the water, it’s just you, and the sport you love.” She’s tried almost every sport going since childhood from football to gymnastics, but always gravitates back to the water. Currently she’s focusing on sailing and rowing, with a little bit of surfing thrown in for fun. On her university team, rowing is something she picked up when she started at Newcastle University. “Rowing is a lot more physical. It’s a lot more about the training, and your split time, and how hard you can push and your timings. Sailing, physically is a lot more forgiving, it’s just a lot more mental. You use a lot more tactics and it’s quite high pressured. You get in high pressured situations, so it’s less about how hard you can push but like if you’re pushing in the right direction.”
It seems to be that it is drive and cultivated mental strength that fuels her love of the sports. Her enjoyment comes from the hard work. “It’s just a fact of trying to push yourself, and trying to see what you can achieve. Just seeing what you can achieve physically.” It’s this drive that comes across in all aspects of her life, not just sailing. When I ask her about what she’s proud of, she mentions her academic achievements before her sporting ones. “Getting in to university, that’s a big one. My A level results I was particularly proud of, especially as I sat them whilst competing, so most weekends I was away doing events, which was quite a challenge, to get studying and sport in at the same time.” Of course, she’s also proud of sailing, and why wouldn’t you be. Working as hard as she does, the satisfaction must be astonishing. “I’ve been abroad with sport which is quite nice. I’ve been to Ireland, I’ve been to Denmark, I’ve been to Italy, it’s just yeah, travelling I guess, and being at a top level of what you do is always something to be proud of.”
ELLIE HIDE
“You have to push yourself as hard as you can. Knowing that as much as your mind is telling you to stop, you can push yourself physically further than you think you can.”
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She also compliments her love of the sport to the people surrounding her. You often find that people either fall into one of the two categories; team sports, or individual sports, and it’s clear that Ellie’s one for the team. “It’s the people in sports as well, you meet amazing people, it’s just like that friendship. You’re all doing the same thing, you’re all pushing yourself, you’re all trying to work as hard as you can and I guess it’s encouragement and stuff. It’s just a nice atmosphere.” Rowing can’t be considered an easy sport, or an undemanding one and it’s the team that keeps her going. “There’s been plenty of times when I’ve been rowing that I’ve wanted to physically give in. But then you’re letting down your team because it’s not just you in the boat it’s other people, and you have to push yourself as hard as you can. Knowing that as much as your mind is telling you to stop, you can push yourself physically further than you think you can. It’s a mental thing.” She also considers her team and they people she’s met on her journey to be her greatest source of inspiration for life, and her hard work. “My people around me, other people doing my sport
motivate me. People that push themselves.” There’s also one of her greatest role models, Ellen Macarthur, who was the first woman to circumnavigate the globe by herself. “She did it the fastest as well, which is quite impressive. People that do things that people don’t necessarily expect them to be able to do. It’s just like breaking those boundaries I guess.” Water sports are often physically demanding, and almost always male dominated. Ellie takes the time to explain to me about the double standards of the scoring, and team selection and the detrimental effect it has to men and women in the sport and sailing especially. “I think it should be unsegregated, I think that men and women should be kept together. I don’t see why if women want to, they can’t compete against men because if you’re striving to be better then there’s no point training with people who are the same level as you. I think men could learn a lot about sport from women. In the way that they perform and the way that they push themselves I mean.Even motivation, I think women can be the most motivated people. I believe in gender equality and I don’t think that
ELLIE HIDE
anything should be separated, I think everyone should get the same opportunities.” She says she lives by the mantra “go hard or go home”, and she does. “In drinking and in sport I guess” she adds ruefully. Embracing the social side of the sport and university isn’t something Ellie has struggled with, but she takes it all in her stride, and if you’re not having fun at university, then what’s all the hard work for? She likes to add; “I think, if you don’t put 100% effort in to everything you do then there’s no point in doing it.” Although she doesn’t explicitly state it, happiness also seems to be a running theme for Ellie. She originally moved to Southampton University for their Marine Biology but hated it. Knowing it wasn’t right for her, she moved back home, worked as hard as she could for a year first doing night shifts at a supermarket, then at a cafe, and subsequently found her place at Newcastle. “If you’re not striving to improve, then well I guess you must be pretty happy. Unless you’re 100% contented then surely you must always be trying to improve on your life and what you’re trying to do. I think that everyone should always
be self improving, you should always be critiquing and improving yourself. Seeing how you can improve as a person. Not everybody’s perfect I guess.” Just about to finish her first year at university, it’s unsurprising that Ellie doesn’t have any set plans for the future. “At the moment I have no idea, hopefully I can say I’ll be in offshore renewables in an exotic county. Who knows, just traveling I guess, doing what I love.” All I know after meeting Ellie, is that she’ll be by the sea whatever happens.
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“I think men lot about sport
ELLIE HIDE
could learn a from women.�
Lauren WHITE
Body Builder, Achiever, Chef
57-67
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Say ‘female bodybuilder’, and most lines of Arnold Schwarzenegger in
LAUREN WHITE
people picture something along the a wig, wearing a glittering bikini.
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In actual fact Lauren, along with most other female body builders, looks nothing like this. Nor will she at peak when she steps on stage to compete. Over the last few years, female body building has increased in popularity massively, and thousands of women each year now compete. There are now competitions for female categories in most major UK cities and strong female hashtags have taken over Instagram. The trend continues to grow, but so then does Lauren’s competition. Second time around she’s a lot calmer and ready. Her motivation for taking on such colossal challenge aren’t as thought out as I’d expected though. With such hard work and grueling dedication required over a long period of time, I anticipated single minded and thorough reasoning behind her decision. “I’m not actually sure what made me decide. It was a combination of wanting something to aim towards, and needing something to keep me focused.” Focused it did, and she came back for more. For a shy individual like Lauren, it seems like an interesting sport to choose, one that demands you to step out of almost all social norms in the preparation stages and flaunt your work on stage for all to see. “I used to be really petrified of what people thought of me, it used to stop me doing anything thinking oh, I can’t do that, people will think I’m weird. Now, just fuck them. Now
I try and consciously decide to not give a shit basically.” Body building is a sport that requires a lot of self critique and dedication and it’s given her the confidence she though she was missing. Where she chose to compete is also an interesting one considering her slightly cautious personality. Originally from Hull, she entered the Miss Hull bodybuilding competition last year in front of her home crowd. “I wouldn’t have done that competition if I would have thought about what other people would think of me doing it. There was a lot of people in the audience who knew me, so many people who I went to school with, the person that was at the stage door was the person that I went to school with for seven years.” An interesting choice, and definitely a bold one, but not one she could regret. “I’m glad I did it.” It seems facing fears head on is how Lauren slays her dragons. It’s clear when she speaks, like may other frequent gym goers, that it’s the part of her day that she enjoys the most. And like many other women in the gym, it took her a while to get into the weights section. Almost like a forbidden club house, many feel there’s an unwritten rule that weights are strictly boys only. “You do feel a bit vulnerable, you feel like people know that you’ve not been before. You’re like ‘Oh god, everybody knows I don’t belong here’.” Despite this 3 years ago something changed and she shifted her training from skinny
LAUREN WHITE
cardio goals, to strength. Her mindset completely changed in those years, gradually getting stronger, and realising her passion. Now she’s keen for everyone to embrace the gym and female strength. “Being physically strong is very applicable to every day life. It’s more applicable to every day life than most women actually think.” From a girl who joined the gym because she “wanted to be skinny”, her inner fire was lit. Unhelpful to the perceived intimidation of female lifters is the confidence generated from their strength and the necessity that most people need to change their mindset in order to lift. “Certain things you kind of have to get a bit angry. I can’t press anything above my head if I’m feeling a bit soft and sappy. I need to get a bit pissed off to do that. You do have to sort of shut yourself off really.” And that determination has lead to some opposition from friends and family. “If you don’t have any friends that are into dieting and training it can look a bit weird. People have accused me of having an eating disorder because they think I’m not eating, when I’m eating 5 times a day.” For this reasons she’s helped to build a supportive community around her. “I think it is quite important to find like minded people to give advice to because if you ask advice about dieting, when you’re a size 10, if I’m talking to my friends about it, they’ll be like ‘nonsense shut up you’re fine eat a cake’. But if you speak to someone that actually wants
to get lean, get in really, really good shape. Not just looking good in clothes, but getting in phenomenal shape then they’ll be able to talk to you on your level. Rather than people just telling you what they think you want to hear. I think that’s really, really handy.” When I ask her what she’s passionate about, she mentions her job, “I guess it sounds really sad but, yeah making people happy with cake.” And it’s not. Her passion comes through in her work, developing menus and the range of food on offer at a local produce café in Leeds. Her day job as a chef seems to be the opposite of her love of fitness. She chooses things she’s passionate about, and sticks to it. As someone that thrives on hard work, it seems like the perfect choice. Her opinion about the future is one that intrigues me. When I ask her what the future holds for her, she says “hopefully more of the same.” More of the same. She is happy at 25 with the life that she’s built for herself. Have any opinion you’d like about whether body building truly is a sport, whether you ‘find it attractive’ or whether you just don’t care, she has found her time, her moment and that’s what we should all seek. That isn’t to say she’s staying where she is: “There’s always room for Improvement.”
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“I used to be really petrified of what people thought of me, it used to stop me doing anything thinking oh, I can’t do that, people will think I’m weird. Now, just fuck them”
LAUREN WHITE
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LAUREN WHITE
02 thoughts
How I feel each time I
Stretch 71-73
Stretch As I settle in, I feel my joints loosen. My body lengthens, My mind stills. A clarity, And a Mindlessness. The ripple of each muscle, I feel nothing but This moment, This movement. I feel it in every Fibre Of my being.
How I feel each time I Sweat 75-77
Sweat Sweat, drip. I feel the familiar response Course though my veins. Hot, drip. It pitches and rolls, A ship caught in a storm It sails its own Course. Considered a sign of Weakness, I see it as Dedication I see it as Hard work. It clings to my clothes and splashes to the ground. My skin slick, Drenched in Determination.
03 places
The Naked Deli Newcastle
81-87
PLACES
THE NAKED DELI
PLACES
THE NAKED DELI
The Naked Deli is mindful of their foods pathway between its origin and to your plate. They only ever use unprocessed, whole and natural state foods. You won’t find anything processed on the menu, and everything they serve is freshly prepared in the deli kitchen. The Deli creates phenomenal deserts from all natural ingredients. They are completely refined sugar free, but so tasty you could be fooled into thinking they’re naughty. Their small menu is bursting with flavor, using only grass-fed meats, free range chicken, responsibly sourced fish and organic eggs and dairy.
PLACES
THE NAKED DELI
We Are Wellness Leeds
89-99
PLACES
We Are Wellness offer not just classes, but a community. They focus on a work/life balance and aim to make the space as homely as possible. Their classes are set up to provide the most convenient times for both attendees and teachers alike. Mats are provided for those who don’t own one, with spaces to leave your mat for your next session.
WE ARE WELLNESS
PLACES
WE ARE WELLNESS
Unwilling to settle into what they call ‘OM Yoga’ We Are Wellness are striving to accommodate as many styles and personalities as possible. With over 15 different classes a week, they aim to offer a class to anyone, no matter their experience, abilities or style.
PLACES
A once derelict mansion, We Are Wellness have converted a phenomenal looking building into an equally amazing movement. In the last six months, they have transformed Helena’s dreams of a discontent yoga teacher into a thriving community.
WE ARE WELLNESS
Isle of Arran Scotland
101-111
ISLE OF ARRAN
As the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Arran stands tall, boasting incredible scenery and adventures. Surrounded by choppy seas, the beaches always hold hidden treasures. Coire Fhionn Lochan is the gem of the crown, an unsuspecting beauty of an overlooked walking route. Take the time to scale the fell and the beauty you find is worth every step.
PLACES
ISLE OF ARRAN
Embrace each opportunity. Join in with the local Cèilidh, the traditional Scottish dance, kayak in the sea and visit Brodick Castle. Live like a local and soak up every ounce of untouched natural beauty.
PLACES
ISLE OF ARRAN
Seal Bay provides the wonderful opportunity to witness the seals bask in the sun. Watch as the seals dote on their pups and return your inquisitive stare.
PLACES
The views by Machrie Bay on the west side of the island are some of the best, the greenery alone transports you to another world. Climbing Goat Fell is the challenge of the island, with a 2,866ft accent starting from sea level.
PLACES
ISLE OF ARRAN