Your Health is Your Wealth
Let’s face it in the ‘normal’ pre-COVID times most fitness instructors at this time of year would be reminding you of the looming Summer deadline, promoting physical motivational strategies to help achieve that ‘beach body’.
Fast forward one year and our experiences of a COVID pandemic with numerous lockdowns, these kind of impending deadlines and fitness goals fill me with dread and have hence seen a change in my attitude towards fitness.
I have always been passionate about exercise and very self-motivated especially in 2017 where my focus and determination to improve my physical body strength helped me when going through my divorce and for two years, I felt in the best physical health and mind-set to date.
Lockdown One wasn’t too bad helped with Boris Johnson’s daily one hour a day exercise ruling which helped give me a routine and structure however by lockdowns three and four and the end of 2020 my motivational mojo had lapsed and bad living habits crept in. I felt lethargic & withdrawn from life and dependent on the comforts of my home. Long hours of working at a desk job and not being as active gave me musculoskeletal and joint pain preventing me from being able to run or do intensive exercise. Like many, I have experienced weight gain and online working out at home fatigue syndrome. I was craving that personal, face-to-face social real life group experience.
Fast forward to the start of 2021 and my approach to fitness has changed, focusing primarily more on the mental wellbeing benefits of exercise. Ironically, in a period of global turbulence, I feel the most content in myself. I have realigned my fitness goals and become more accepting of my body and lifestyle during COVID. It’s as if the switch has flipped and I am more realistic about what I can achieve and how exercise benefits my emotional wellbeing primarily. I am grateful that I can actually get out training or teaching a fitness class and I have found yoga and trying new exercise social groups has helped me find my running mojo again starting back to basics. It’s also been a comfort to connect with strangers and through new conversations, realise that this pandemic has affected us all.
From meeting new people and listening to my HMS Shipshape clients COVID has affected us all in so many ways. We’ve lost social confidence and connections; we’ve become more withdrawn trying to juggle the work/life balance at home whether living alone or in a family unit. Now we need help resurrecting ourselves out of lockdown where exercise, eating well and meeting socially with others is essential for our mental health. People need to be encouraged to release those barriers preventing them from engaging in society in safe and supportive environments within the leisure, fitness and hospitality industries.
HMS Shipshape prides itself on promoting exercise first for its wellbeing benefits and is keen to work and support other local businesses in the community that follow the same philosophy and provide great individual services and talents to help people endeavour to make “health their wealth”.
May 2021 Update
Campaign promotion – Captain Heidi and Shipshape Sue on Thinking Women
Captain Heidi (along with Shipshape Sue for motivational support) had the opportunity to travel to Bodmin and the home of the Cornwall Today social media channel to appear for an interview and podcast chat on ‘Thinking Women’ a local intelligent conversation show. This featured an interview about HMS Shipshape generally and the promotion of the ‘Your Health Is Your Wealth Campaign’ to a wider online audience. Afterwards Captain Heidi had the privilege of being the first ever guest on Thinking Women’s new podcast show where with the presenters Mags and Lou a good discussion was had around the topic of ‘Your Body’ which covered all sorts of angles from our own personal perceptions, societal portrayals of the female figure over the years as well as some motivational and fitness tips from Captain Heidi.
Check out the links below to listen to the full sofa interview and podcast:
Sofa Interview- 5 minutes 05 seconds (5:05) into the Thinking Women June Episode: Interview Link
‘Your Body’ Podcast: Podcast Link
AUGUST 2021- HMS Shipshape Community Piece Aired on BBC Radio Cornwall Breakfast Show 31/08/21
BBC Radio Cornwall visited HMS Shipshape one wet and windy July Wednesday evening to experience the outside Dance Fitness class and interview Captain Heidi, Shipshape Sue and some of the fabulous member crew.
Check out the link below to listen to the full interview *Note that you will require a BBC Sound Log In to access the programme link:
Radio Interview- 3 hours 10 minutes (3:10) into the James Dundon BBC Radio Cornwall Breakfast Show 31/08/21 Episode: Interview Link