July 3, 2023 • 34 mins
As a working parent, do you struggle to find the time and energy to stay active and maintain your physical health? Wendy Welpton, founder of Reclaim Movement and mum of three, joins me in sharing her enlightening journey of overcoming physical challenges and discovering the power of natural movement in daily life. Wendy's inspiring story of determination, resilience, and transformation will motivate you to embrace movement in your own life, even amidst the chaos of raising young children.
We also discuss the significance of creating a culture of self-care and prioritising movement, especially during menopause. By educating our children and surrounding ourselves with supportive communities, we can navigate these life transitions with grace and strength.
ABOUT THE GUEST - WENDY WELPTON
Wendy Welpton is the founder of Reclaim Movement. She coaches natural movement to individuals and small groups, in person and online in the Reclaim Movement membership. Sessions are aimed at improving mobility and strength by helping clients find the gaps in their current movement patterns, giving them ways to help fill those gaps. The aim is to help them embrace a movement-rich lifestyle and keep doing all the things they love as they age.
CONNECT WITH THE GUEST
Learn more on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok - @reclaim.movement
Email- wendy@reclaimmovement.co.uk
ABOUT ME - AYESHA MURRAY
I'm an accredited career coach with over 20 years experience in the corporate world. Having experienced the working parent juggle first hand, I now coach people through their career and life challenges.
WORK WITH ME
I'm here to give you the confidence, self-belief and support to help you design a life that works for you and your family. Through tried and tested approaches, tools and methodologies, you'll leave the coaching process with clear direction, motivation and energy.
If you'd like to find out more about how coaching could work for you, book a free 30 min call at https://calendly.com/ayeshamurraycoaching/discovery-call
CONNECT WITH ME
Website - www.ayeshamurray.com
LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/ayeshamurray75
Instagram - www.instagram.com/ayeshamurray_coaching
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the host and guest speakers. Please conduct your own due diligence.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Parent Equation podcast with me, Aisha
Murray.
This podcast series is full ofinspiring stories from working
parents who are passionate aboutdesigning a life that works for
them and their families.
Working parents like you whowant a purposeful, rewarding
career alongside a balancedfamily life.
Today I'm joined by WendyWelton.
(00:28):
Wendy is the founder of ReclaimMovement, a mum of three.
One of those three has turnedinto an adult this week, which
is quite exciting.
It's a happy birthday, Wendyand Wendy welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Hi, thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Really pleased to be here.
I'm so happy to have you here.
This is a bit of a context.
Wendy and I work together.
We can't remember when,sometime in the late 90s, early
2000s, we think Can't remember,which is fine, it was good, fun
times.
It was good fun times Which isprobably why we can't remember
them.
Yes, wendy, your career journeyand through motherhood has been
(01:03):
led, i suppose, by your ownpersonal experiences as you've
gone through life.
Especially the business youhave now, which is all about
movement and natural movement,has come definitely from a place
of personal experience.
So maybe talk us through a bitabout where that started and how
that I suppose, where itcoincided with the kids coming
along.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yeah.
So I completely didn't expectto be doing the job I am doing
now, especially not being acoach And I used to.
I've always been a mover, i'veloved moving, i've always been a
bit of a gym bunny when I wasyounger and so on, we obviously
sat at our desks for eight plushours a day for a long time And
that was me as very sort ofnormal existence.
(01:41):
And then, when I was during mychildren, basically, i suddenly
decided that running would be agood thing for me.
Now, often people do thatbecause it's great, it's so easy
, you can go on your trainersout, you go and you can run
anywhere.
So you haven't got thelimitations of getting to the
gym etc.
And for me it was a greatsolution to get fitter again.
(02:03):
After my last child I gotcompletely and utterly addicted
to it.
So I had been only workingpart-time and very part-time And
I was thinking about it lastnight for pretty much a decade
of having my little guys, whichI hadn't planned at all.
I had completely expected towork the entire way through
having children, as my mum had,and I think that's we all looked
(02:26):
to our role models and so onAnd I didn't, because
geographically it didn't workout.
We moved around a lot, so whenI was had free time I really
focused on moving.
Moving has always been thething that centered me.
It's really helped me bothphysically but also really
mentally, to be honest to sortof cope with the stresses and
strains of three young boys.
(02:47):
So then when I got into running,i got really into running
because it was so easy to do.
I really enjoyed it.
But what I didn't realize wasthat I had a bit of a wobbly
body, so I am hyper mobile insome of my joints to a greater
or lesser extent.
When you run, you put a lot ofimpact force through your body,
as we all know, which is why youoften don't see lots of eight
year old runners.
(03:07):
And I got so into what Istarted doing longer and longer
distances.
My body started telling me thisis not happy and that's not
happy, until I got to halfmarathon distance, which I did.
And then later that year I wentout for a very normal training
run in the winter, and duringthe night after that training
run I woke up and had extremepain down back and legs and
(03:31):
couldn't walk.
And that was then the sift in mylife.
Everything changed And ratherthan being able to find out what
had gone wrong, unfortunately Ididn't get a lot of help And
that then turned into me tryingto discover what on earth was
going on with my body And, longstory short, it was four years
of chronic pain And thattherefore made me incredibly
(03:54):
frustrated because I didn't havethat sort of mental relief of
running that I needed to copewith bringing up a young family
and all of the rest that comeswith that.
I was really got quitedepressed, but I decided that
this was not my lot because Ifeared, at the age of 40,
feeling like I was 80 alreadyand very immobile, just not
being the person I was I reallyfeared for my future.
(04:16):
So I did lots of research Andthat's where I find natural
movement And that's again, longstory short, where I have come
to now.
So now, that was when I was 40,i've just turned 49.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
And I have been coaching now for nearly four
years And thinking about from aworking parent point of view,
with three young boys at thetime being immobile is not
something any of us needs in alife like that, and boys do have
a lot of energy.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
They also have a lot of energy too.
But boys do have a lot ofenergy And I had always seen
myself as that active parent Andyet when they asked me to do
certain things, i had to say no,i couldn't join in.
I couldn't help because I knewI would then have three days of
flair up afterwards and bemiserable with them.
That was the problem.
A lot of the time it was that Ijust didn't have the patience.
(05:04):
I would get very upset veryeasily And I was really upset
with myself.
But it's very hard when they'rereally pulling your strings not
to then take it out a bit onthem when you really don't want
to.
So yeah, it was really toughAnd I was juggling things, as
we'll do.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
And do you think then it gets hard to imagine a
different path when you've beendown this one.
I'm so embedded Do you think ifyou hadn't had, I suppose, that
catalyst of your injury andthen taking you down this path,
do you think you would havestayed in your, I suppose,
corporate office-based sittingdown career?
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Well, by that point I was doing part-time marketing
consultancy, so I was workingfrom home, all virtually.
We were using not the amazingtechnology we have now, but it
still worked, and I justrealized that after two or three
years of doing it that it justwasn't me And I didn't know what
was.
(05:56):
So it was very interestingbecause I've always wanted to be
an entrepreneur.
I've always wanted to buildsomething for myself and have
actually doubled with a fewsmall business ideas In the past
.
I don't know if you remember medabbling with a knee patches
idea because my boys, theclothes constantly had holes in
the knees And I thought theremust be some good patches out
(06:16):
there that are washable.
And I did a whole months andmonths of research, got to the
point where I found out that toresearch, to invest in getting a
good glue, was going to costthree grand or something, and
thought, well, that stops therethen And a couple of other
things.
So I was constantly lookingalongside for something else to
do.
And then suddenly this happenedAnd in so doing all the
learning that I did for it, ihad to really research what on
(06:39):
earth was happening to me, butalso the key part was working
out why this has happened to me,why over many years, had my
body got to a point that I couldsort of jump around in a gym
and yet then be so deeplyinjured?
And natural movement.
When I came across it, you know, via someone, via someone, all
the lights went on And I thoughtthis is exactly.
(06:59):
It is a missing part of ourlives.
Now, when you've got smallchildren, you're on the ground a
lot, you're having to get upand down to the ground a lot,
and that's great.
But then, when that passes, ofcourse, you get to the chair And
yet, because we miss out thatsort of I talk about the most
important meter you travel, whenyou miss out that, you start to
be less able to do it And youstart to use your hips in a very
(07:21):
similar way every day.
So, and the most importantthing about natural movement is
fitting in through your dailylife And again, when you have
got little kids and if you areat home, then you are doing that
more, but it all changes asthey grow up.
So lots of lights went on And Ijust thought, actually this is
a way of moving andunderstanding the way I move,
that I can do something withinthe future.
(07:44):
But also I realized throughtalking to people, i just I'd
learned a lot.
I'd learned so much that Ithought, hang on, i need to
share this with people.
And then it all came togetherAnd I thought, could I?
I didn't tell people for a longtime.
I trained to be the coach, igot my qualification And then I
went on a business course andthought actually I need to start
saying this out loud to peoplearound me to be accountable,
(08:05):
because I actually really wantto do this.
And it was that point as wellthat I realized that my boys had
never seen me working.
They've never actually seen thesort of product of my work at
all, always been when they wereeither at nursery or school.
And I had three boys And Ireally wanted them to have a
mother who as was a role modelthat was doing something for
herself.
(08:26):
And so and they are very proudof me now they talk about
reclaimed movement.
And when we're out on walks andbalancing on logs, as we do,
they talk about reclaiming theirmovement, which they shouldn't
be at their age.
But yeah, they're very, veryproud of it all.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
But you're embedding a mindset, obviously, in them,
not just with regards to runninga business and being an
entrepreneur successfully, butalso with the movement how to
look after your body actually atthe right time, which is, then,
not when it's too late for manyof us.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Exactly, we hope that when we say things to our kids,
even if they come back with analternative view, that actually
it is embedded and there's beenmany times with my kids where
I've heard them say to someoneelse something that we've said
to them, and that's always apride moment because you think,
yeah, they have listened deepdown, even when they're teens
and they really don't say thatthey are listening And also
(09:14):
because the business you'rerunning yes, the role modeling
is they can see you To work withme, find out more at
ishamariecom.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
They're also seeing you.
Help connect with me onLinkedIn or check out my free
resources and quizzes atishamariecom.
Versus my own perception,versus us sitting in our office
as we did in the 90s,potentially not seeing the
impact of our work Maybe wedidn't have any impact, i don't
know if it did, but suddenly itwasn't visible to us.
So that must be a huge shift,but so rewarding from a person
(09:46):
of view.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
It's really rewarding And I think that they can see
in me that I feel very fulfilledby what I'm doing.
And looking back, i don't thinkI was fulfilled in that way
when they were younger And Ihope that didn't come across to
them.
But at the same time now, themseeing this sort of all come
together, yes, i really hopethey can see that it's important
(10:07):
that you have different facetsto your life.
And with my husband, he hasalways worked outside the home.
So even in the pandemic he wentto the office because him and
his business partner sort of sattwo opposite ends of the office
.
So he's always gone out to workin that way that they could
sort of see it, even though theythen would occasionally say
what does that do?
(10:29):
Oh yeah, i don't really know,but they were seeing such
traditional roles happening, andnow, when dad comes home,
there's much more of a balanceof right well, there's this many
jobs to do, i'm still working,can you carry this bit of load?
and vice versa.
And so they're really seeing asa team.
I think that's a reallyimportant thing.
They're not necessarily copyingit themselves just yet.
(10:52):
We're trying our hardest Andthrough this exam period we've
just had, we've been veryrelaxed, but I've said to all of
them that as soon as thatfinishes, things are going to
change.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
They are not silent partners in this whole
foundation anymore.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Your story, i suppose , or your journey, is similar to
many mums of a certain age whohave a career of a structured
expected, i suppose career path,and then something happens to
give them that motivation,catalyst, whatever you want to
call it, to change and to do sofor themselves, or to change a
career, or to do whateverBelieve the country, who knows,
(11:28):
which is great, obviously.
How do you think we can, or onecan, make that change earlier,
find a catalyst before, isuppose, start to role model
these things actually, when thekids are younger, is there, i
don't know, is there some kindof trick that maybe we missed
when we were on that hamsterwheel rap race that we could
have looked at?
Speaker 2 (11:47):
I generally I really think the answer is no, because
to find the thing that is goingto really excite you and make
you feel passionate, genuinelypassionate, you need to have
been searching.
So I suppose, yes, you canstart searching earlier, but I
was and I went through a fewthings.
So I think my thoughts on thatwould be don't go into
(12:08):
everything thinking it's goingto be the thing.
Try a few different things, asI did, and then always be sort
of self analytical Is it reallydoing for you what you want it
to be doing?
Is it fitting in with your lifeAnd what are your goals in the
long term with it?
And I think then, when you comeacross something that you
really do enjoy even thoughthere's clearly going to be
(12:28):
downsides with that thinkingabout, is this something that
can sustain you for a long time?
And now, in my position, i kindof I can't imagine not doing
this now, and I'm about to turn50 next year, so you know how
long will I be working for?
Hopefully quite a long time.
And it has changed.
It has gone through lots ofdifferent iterations.
(12:49):
I've got, currently got amembership.
Before that I just didstandalone classes, didn't do so
much private coaching.
Now I do quite a bit more, butalso I'd like to start a podcast
, as you know, and I do a lot ofdifferent things And I write a
lot, so that might be squirreledaway for something in the
future.
And I like doing things, as Ilove the variety of it.
So I think it's got to be aboutfinding something that makes
(13:11):
that you really enjoy and thatfits.
It has to fit.
And for me, having three boysat three different schools the
last few years, with varioussort of school runs or them
getting out different times andso on, you know you are limited,
we're all limited in thoseschool hours And I like to try
to clock off when they're back.
Now, when they're older, theyjust go straight to their rooms.
(13:33):
And I was your day fine, is youknow?
we all know that.
So I can often do a little bitmore then.
But then, particularly when itcomes to food and sitting down
around a table, for me that'sabsolutely sacrosanctin, a
really important part of the dayto reconnect, whether it's to
fight or to laugh, but it's forme it's really really key And
(13:53):
then trying to be relaxed andhave me time or you know couple
time after that, where we walk alot.
So we'll often walk afterdinner just for half an hour,
and so on.
So it's got to fit And butyou're right, it is.
It would be lovely if we couldfind these things earlier.
It really would.
But I think life just has totake its path.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Yeah, and I suppose all the experience that we gain
over the years leads todifferent paths, different
opportunities, the rightconversations at the right time,
hopefully, rather than the youknow, etc.
Yeah, so talk about time,family time, busy households,
and thinking partly personallybut also from people I speak to,
is finding that time forourselves, especially with a
busy young kids household wherethey do need us a lot more, and
(14:35):
then link to the movement andnot doing enough of the movement
And I know I certainly don't,because my like, i support the
dog, yes, but it's still quite,quite functional.
So a lot of my me time will besitting down with a book or a
screen or something or other.
So I suppose where can we asparents and maybe younger kids
who do need us more, as a lotmore we haven't got as much time
(14:56):
, yeah, where can we start tointroduce this movement into our
lives?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
I think it's really important that we shift our
thinking about the how valuablejust moving is.
Everyone knows how importantexercise is and we use that word
It's a very loaded term forsome where actually they're
unable to do certain types ofexercise and therefore they feel
that they are marginalized,that they're not doing enough.
(15:22):
And that's just not true,because moving, every time we
move, we're firing up oursystems.
So one of the biggest problemsis actually when we're sat in an
office, you know hardly movingfor eight hours, zoom meeting
after zoom meeting, not gettingup and doing things in between,
and that can be really tough.
Even five minute movementbreaks can add a lot in.
So I talk a lot about thinkingabout the shapes we make with
(15:45):
our body during the day, becausewe can be very linear seat
based we're very chair opposed alot of the time and mixing up
those movements and reallymaking different patterns with
our body so that we becomeresilient in sort of 360 degrees
of movement, but also thinkingabout how you can stack on those
types of healthy movements ontothe things you're doing anyway
(16:07):
And that's how we add in withouthaving to think about it.
So I do, on my social mediaparticularly, i do a lot of sort
of examples, like when you'regetting the washing out of the
washing machine, which you'redoing how many times a week.
Then try to do a squat Easy forsome, not so easy for others.
Put something under your heelsif you need to, but if you start
(16:28):
to link the washing machinewith the place that you squat,
then every time you're there youdo a squat.
I do calf stretches when Ibrush my teeth.
I've got a foam half dome thatI have at my sink And then the
kids see you doing these thingstoo and they start to copy you,
which is, you know, can be fun.
But also thinking about am Ibending down, curving through my
(16:48):
spine, or can I get down usingmy hips on my legs, so putting
things in low cupboards?
all these little sort of hacksbecome really useful.
But it's the key thing is yourmindset around it.
So I used to stand there foldingthe washing and putting it into
the piles, folding it and kindof just be annoyed because this
is like 10, 15 minutes of time.
I wish I was doing somethingelse, whereas now I take the
(17:08):
washing to a space on the ground, so I have to lift it over, i
have to take it down weighted tothe ground.
So my body is going the hallwaydown to the ground And then
when I sit there I move througha variety of sitting positions
as I put the washing in thepiles around me And therefore
I'm getting a 10 minute movementbreak where I'm getting lots of
really healthy movement into myhips and my knees and my spine.
(17:31):
So then I'm thinking, oh, thisis good.
I feel I'm quite happy to dothe washing now because I know
I'm getting that movement in.
So I think it's twisting it allto say movement is a really
positive thing that we need.
How can we make it easy onourselves through the day?
I teach crawling.
So the best time for crawlingwhen you've got little ones is
clearly when you're clearing upthe Lego and shoving it all into
(17:52):
a box, but see that as a goodthing to do, and there's three
different ways you can crawl.
So learning different ways tomove.
That's obviously where I comein with my movement break videos
and so on.
That's what I teach.
So part of my teaching is aclass where you're just moving
with me.
But my real passion is gettingpeople moving outside of that
time.
So they're learning in thattime and then they're applying
(18:15):
it to those daily jobs that theyhave to do.
But also feeling good that youare getting those movements in
when you can is really, reallykey Two things I didn't think
I'd ever hear.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Well, one thing I didn't think I'd ever hear is
washing machine and do a squat.
So two things I wouldn'tnormally put together, but I can
see why.
And second is congratulationson folding your laundry, because
I certainly don't.
Thank you, thank you.
Thank you very kindly.
Yes, i don't even findsomething else to do.
Shop at the big pile in thewashing basket and hope it's not
something to yourself.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Oh, i know, And the interesting thing about having
three boys, who are all going tobe definitely taller than their
father, is that very early onthe clothes, you can get less
clothes.
In each wash They have thesevery large jumpers, the massive
hoodies and massive joggingbottoms.
So you're trying to shove itall in and it's like but hang on
, that means there's threewashes.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
And you talked a bit about guilt there.
I'm not, i suppose, exercise ornot the guilt, but the sort of
loaded nature of the word.
Exercise, yeah, which isabsolutely right, and I can't
run.
I have what's it called nowI've got to remember A cute
something syndrome, right, very,very Muscular compartment
syndrome.
That's what I have, okay, okay,in my legs.
(19:28):
I've had it for my whole lifeand I can't run because if I run
, my legs basically seize up andthe front shin It's not shin
splints, it's different, butit's a similar outcome I just
free my, literally if my legs goto fire and I can't move.
So I always had this massiveguilt and frustration that I'd
love.
When you're doing runningearlier, the sort of going for a
run, and it's beautiful weather, clear your mind.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Well, that's where walking comes in and you are
walking and another thing.
So again people are sort of, oh, it's just walking.
Walking is one of the mostbeneficial forms of exercise, if
you're needing to call it that.
For me, movement, particularlythat you can do, because again,
it's all the same advantages asrunning, but actually there are
(20:09):
more, because you can actuallystop and see the things around
you, you can really take thetime to talk with someone rather
than just through panting andbreath, and you can do it
anywhere.
You can do it loaded, you can.
It can be a strengthening thingby putting the name for that is
rocking, where you put someweight in your backpack.
So it's actually really becauseit is a weight bearing exercise
after all, bone on bone and youcan mix up your terrain, your
(20:33):
length of time you do it, thespeed you do it.
It can be an absolutelybrilliant form of exercise And
yet it's probably we take it forgranted.
It's just to get.
For me to be not as exciting,but the reality is I'm now
addicted to walking where I wasaddicted to running, and I'm
quite happy with the shift.
And I do see people out runninglike you and think, yeah, i
wish I could still do that maybeone day.
(20:54):
And then I think, well, no, idon't have to because I know I
can run for a bus or I can runaway from a fire, and that's
kind of the main thing that Ineed to do.
But the same goes with, forexample just to slightly move on
a tangent things like upperbody strength.
Well, i train people to befunctional in their lives,
because if you had to rescueyour child from a burning
building and you had to push upover something whilst lifting
(21:16):
them, could you do that, andthose things are.
They seem sort of ridiculousbecause they're not part of
daily life, and yet having thestrength to be able to do that
could really serve you well atsome point.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
So, joking aside, no, i know, but yeah, you're right,
though I didn't think aboutsort of again the practicalities
, i suppose the real lifeapplication.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Exactly what we call it.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Oh, I didn't think what.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
We call it Real life, No that is actually what we
call it real life applicationExactly.
So when you get up off theground, you can do it in a
myriad of different ways.
One of the ways is called atripod transition, where you
have opposite hand and foot arepushing into the ground.
But you can also use that toget over something.
So if you can imagine leaningon a wall and then the central
leg transitions over now, icouldn't do that at all at the
(21:57):
beginning.
I really find it tough, and nowI have gained the mobility and
the strength to be able to dothat.
And being able to do it meansyou do it more And therefore
that keeps you more mobile andstrong.
So it's like all these things,the lovely cliche is very true
use it or lose it.
You do need to use thesepatterns that, particularly as
you age.
I do things like getting downtowards the floor to tie your
(22:20):
shoes, laces and so on, and Iwant my kids to see me being an
independent person.
I don't want to see themthinking, oh, we need to help
mum again.
I want to be that you know,strong, resilient, independent
person.
So, yeah, that's important tome as well that they see me that
way, and they see it online,clearly, because you know, they
see it on my social mediaaccounts and so on, so they know
(22:42):
what it's all about as well asseeing me do it, and then as
women of a certain age, as weare, so I approach approaching
that decade.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
That shall not be mentioned.
I don't know.
I'm quite happy about 50, short, don't mind, it's fine.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Most of my friends are there, well into it.
So yeah, i'm the youngy.
You're lagging behind.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
So for us as women, obviously now, menopause being
thankfully a subject beingtalked about a lot more again,
definitely, feeling as that isnow on the horizon or in it,
partly in it, is the differencein my body and the difference in
my knees and the more the neckquick every morning and the sort
of things starting to feelolder, and I don't think before
(23:20):
before menopause have beendiscussed so much more openly as
it is now.
I have not given it any kind ofthought as to actually how's it
going to impact me, not justemotionally but physically.
So what I suppose?
well again, what are your kindof insights and tips into?
how can we prepare for thatphysically so that when it does
happen, hopefully everythingdoesn't start actually falling
off?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Well, yes, definitely don't want it to fall off.
I mainly work with women whoare.
I work with men and women, butthe women that come to me tend
to be 50s, and then I have someearly 60s and some late 40s.
So it's we're right there, it'sall happening And it's all
about stiffness, where we arelosing that estrogen.
And one of the most beneficialthings that you can do for
(24:02):
menopausal symptoms, along withthe whole list of other things,
is to move, because when you do,you are firing up all those
systems and that helps tobalance out your hormones more.
Now, clearly, some people havemuch more significant shifts.
I was one of them.
So two years ago, i hadn'treally thought that menopause
was going to do anything to me.
I'd asked my mom.
She said, oh, i didn't reallynotice, if I'm not sure she
(24:24):
remembers well, but maybe shedidn't.
I stopped sleeping and, havingbeen incredibly heavy sleeper, i
literally was pacing the houseall night trying to run the
business and found that a bigstruggle trying to be patient
with the boys.
It hit me hard So I decided Idid my research into it.
It's vision to go on HRT, whichhas been a huge blessing, and so
(24:44):
I'm truly grateful, and thathas also helped joints.
So I was also getting creaky onknees, just that this, that
creakiness, that stiffness thatyou weren't expecting before.
But so there's the side whereyou do have to think about what
is happening with the hormonesand whether you want to make a
choice about that or not,whether you can or not.
But then there's also knowingthat when we do sit,
(25:05):
particularly for long periodsand don't have use our
musculoskeletal system regularly, that things are going to get
stiffer.
And I have clients who haveadded in the five minute
breathing breaks that I talkabout, which can be a mini
balance while you're boiling thekettle, that can be hopefully
getting down on the floor anddoing some reverses that I teach
that a whole variety of things,but just a few of those
(25:27):
throughout the day and perhapssome nice loosening things in
the morning and at night canreally really help to alleviate
those symptoms.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
So it's all about the regularity of movement and the
different shapes that we make,and I think you told me once
that, talking about the boys andagain, parenting, being a
working parent, being amenopausal working parent, if
we're going to add another,argument to that, and then the
difficulty of not only managingour own emotions during this
(25:57):
tumultuous time, but then havingto understand how your emotions
are impacting your kidsAbsolutely, as this is all new
to them too, obviously andhusband, partners, friends,
family, etc.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Completely And, given that the generation before
probably didn't really talkabout it very much, i have
clients who are five, 10 yearsolder than me who said it just
wasn't being discussed.
So I feel very, very gratefulthat I was in a community of
women who are all talking aboutit and supporting and helping
each other.
But then I realized that myfamily as you say, my boys had
no idea what this was about.
(26:30):
So I decided I've always beenvery open about everything I can
be with them And they certainlyare with me too much sometimes
too And I decided to educatethem about it and to say this is
what's happening.
And, to be honest, when timeswere tough And the insomnia was
a really tough point, because Iwould be very emotional and have
(26:51):
a very short fuse And I wouldexcuse it by saying I lack of
sleep because of my hormones,but I would always also say but
I'm trying, so please be patientwith me, and tomorrow will
hopefully be a better day, andso on.
And yeah, my poor husband gotthe worst end of the stick on
that one for sure.
But yeah, i think it's reallyimportant that we do educate our
children about menopause,because literally half the
(27:14):
population are going to gothrough it A huge proportion
with symptoms And, as you wellknow, it's really affecting
people in work, lots of womenhaving to take time off, and I
can think of men.
A lot of examples throughout myfriendship group and throughout
my husband's work where therehave been some really serious
situations where women have hadto take significant time off
(27:35):
because it has been very bad,because they haven't had the
awareness that it was coming,and then that's very hard for
particularly your own business.
If that's happening, you canreally only give the absolute
minimum and obviously for ifyou're working for someone else,
that can be really detrimental.
So it's absolutely ourresponsibility to talk to our
kids about it, but also to thencelebrate it as well.
(27:57):
I think there's been an awfullot of negativity about
menopause and although it can bea hard stage to go through,
it's a lovely sort of reset insome ways in a woman's life And
hopefully then, particularly ifthere have been symptoms, brings
a focus into that for thatwoman to their body, to say how
important it is to create thattime for yourself to move, to be
(28:18):
calm, to relax, to be mindful,to go out walking more, to share
the experience with friends.
All of these things are key,and if that can then set us up
for the rest of our lives,putting that time into ourselves
, then I think we'll all bebetter off.
And it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
I think, as you're saying that, i think we do that
in pregnancy.
We do So in pregnancy.
We obviously are responsiblefor something else, which is
where the focus goes, probablywhy we do it.
But we take more, we look afterourselves, we exercise, we do
gentle exercise, we obviously wedrink less, except for that
kind of thing.
But we spend, we focus in onour bodies and what our bodies
need and that well that babyneeds for that nine months, and
(28:54):
then we forget ourselves Andthen we forget exactly, and then
the baby comes out baby'splural And then that whole time
we forget about our bodies andwhat we need and what we're
putting into it and all thesekinds of things, until either
something happens, as in yourcase with your injury, and then
you have to, or you get to amenopause state where it's again
it's forced on you But it's along time in between kids and
(29:17):
something like that happening to, essentially, apart from doing
exercise in the kind of sort ofmagazine view, you know, go to
gym, go for a run, those sort ofthings.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
But actually forget about ourselves for such a long
period of time It is, and I dobelieve that at any age you can
make a huge improvement if youlike anything, are committed to
doing that and really want tosee a difference.
It's incredibly hard.
It's habit forming is a really,really hard thing to do.
As a human, we're drawn so manyother ways, but actually those
(29:47):
couple of decades particularlyif you've had your kids in your
30s, like I did then alreadyyour muscles are getting smaller
, your bone density isdecreasing And we need to really
be working against that on aregular basis.
It's not something that we canpark for the future, and I talk
about in one of my blogs.
You can't bank movement And Ithink the problem is it's like
(30:08):
I'll do lots and lots of theweekend And then that's me for
the week.
It doesn't park like that.
It really doesn't work likethat, and that's why allowing
ourselves to have five minuteshere and there And then
particularly tuning in to how wefeel after we've done it Do we
feel better than we did before?
Is the eight less?
Do we feel a little bitenergized?
And for productivity when you'reworking, that's a great thing.
(30:29):
So if you can go off, get awayfrom the desk and just do a few
sort of little bouncy, moves,twists and swings with the body,
some reaches and stretches,anything that makes lovely
shapes, shapes, but also reallygets you moving.
I don't mean in terms of sweatyjumpy up and down it or you
don't need to be doing that, butenough that you're just firing
up all your systems.
If you then go back to yourdesk, you will find your
(30:51):
productivity is better, because,you know, we all know that
feeling where our brains justkind of go a bit after a while
when we do something for toolong, and so action, movement,
can really help there.
So it's helping both with yourwork and productivity, but also
with your body, because you'readding in these little snacks of
movement throughout the day.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
I'm envisaging now a whole floor in an office or
having a five-minute break inthe lift lobby or something.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
And we need to normalize it.
We need to.
you know, in some factoriesthey will have a klaxon, will go
once in the middle of themorning, once in the middle of
the afternoon where there's amovement break.
This is not in this cup, by theway.
That's what I'm going to say.
It doesn't sound like you'retaking No, and they all move So
in whichever way that they can.
and a lot of the movementsessions are led and it can be
(31:35):
five or 10 minutes, just thatbreak.
that's needed And that'sobviously normally in a manual
job.
particularly when you've gotsomething you do very
repetitively.
It's really important that youbreak that as regularly as you
can.
But it's what we're doing whenwe're sitting and typing and
zooming.
That's repetitive.
That is, we get repetitivestrain of being in that chair
position with our neck, perhapsnot looking at the screen as
(31:57):
well as we should, and so on.
If we see that the same way andrealize we have to not do that
and break it up just too minuteshere, five minutes there then
we will be better off in thelong run.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
I have a standing desk for that reason.
Perfect.
After this I'll whiz my desk upto standing and then stand the
rest of the day.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
So I use my standing desk on the floor.
Well of course, of course.
So my standing desk I use atstanding at eye level.
Then I shift it down to chair,like we are now, and then I take
it down to the ground and I sitand I move my legs around the
standing desk.
I do quite a lot about that onmy social media and I always get
so many comments saying wheredid you get your floor desk?
(32:36):
And I always reply it's astanding desk, it's just on the
floor.
Oh, so think of thingsdifferently.
I've never been down that floor,but that's very interesting.
Yeah, it's a bit like you seethe world around, you question
it and do things differently.
Lots of people will see a lowwall and think that's a wall
that means that I can't go theother side of it.
Children will automaticallyjump on that wall and balance
(32:58):
along it.
Why don't adults?
So I do that and I look funny.
But I don't care anymorebecause I know it's good for me,
it's fun and I love it, and thekids love seeing you doing it.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
I'm already trying to sit straight a little bit.
So, Wendy, thank you so much inthere A raft of subjects I knew
we would cover.
So if people want to find outmore about you, about Reclaim
Movement, about movementgenerally, where's the best
place to find you?
Speaker 2 (33:25):
So my website that shows all that I have on offer
there's some lovely freeresources on there.
So information about mymembership and so on is
reclaimmovementcouk.
But I socially and I neverthought I'd say this before I
did my business, but socially Imainly live on Instagram and
that's at reclaimmovement.
And I've also recently put moreemphasis onto my YouTube
(33:48):
channel, which is the same atreclaimmovement.
So, yeah, there's lots outthere to use and to inspire and,
yeah, i'd love anyone toconnect with me if it has
resonated.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Perfect.
So definitely, well, definitelywill.
How can we but not resonate?
Hopefully, yes.
Thank you so much, wendy.
Have a great rest of day.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Thank you so much for having me.
I've really enjoyed it.
Welcome to the Parent Equation podcast with me, Aisha
Murray.
This podcast series is full ofinspiring stories from working
parents who are passionate aboutdesigning a life that works for
them and their families.
Working parents like you whowant a purposeful, rewarding
career alongside a balancedfamily life.
Today I'm joined by WendyWelton.
(00:28):
Wendy is the founder of ReclaimMovement, a mum of three.
One of those three has turnedinto an adult this week, which
is quite exciting.
It's a happy birthday, Wendyand Wendy welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Hi, thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Really pleased to be here.
I'm so happy to have you here.
This is a bit of a context.
Wendy and I work together.
We can't remember when,sometime in the late 90s, early
2000s, we think Can't remember,which is fine, it was good, fun
times.
It was good fun times Which isprobably why we can't remember
them.
Yes, wendy, your career journeyand through motherhood has been
(01:03):
led, i suppose, by your ownpersonal experiences as you've
gone through life.
Especially the business youhave now, which is all about
movement and natural movement,has come definitely from a place
of personal experience.
So maybe talk us through a bitabout where that started and how
that I suppose, where itcoincided with the kids coming
along.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yeah.
So I completely didn't expectto be doing the job I am doing
now, especially not being acoach And I used to.
I've always been a mover, i'veloved moving, i've always been a
bit of a gym bunny when I wasyounger and so on, we obviously
sat at our desks for eight plushours a day for a long time And
that was me as very sort ofnormal existence.
(01:41):
And then, when I was during mychildren, basically, i suddenly
decided that running would be agood thing for me.
Now, often people do thatbecause it's great, it's so easy
, you can go on your trainersout, you go and you can run
anywhere.
So you haven't got thelimitations of getting to the
gym etc.
And for me it was a greatsolution to get fitter again.
(02:03):
After my last child I gotcompletely and utterly addicted
to it.
So I had been only workingpart-time and very part-time And
I was thinking about it lastnight for pretty much a decade
of having my little guys, whichI hadn't planned at all.
I had completely expected towork the entire way through
having children, as my mum had,and I think that's we all looked
(02:26):
to our role models and so onAnd I didn't, because
geographically it didn't workout.
We moved around a lot, so whenI was had free time I really
focused on moving.
Moving has always been thething that centered me.
It's really helped me bothphysically but also really
mentally, to be honest to sortof cope with the stresses and
strains of three young boys.
(02:47):
So then when I got into running,i got really into running
because it was so easy to do.
I really enjoyed it.
But what I didn't realize wasthat I had a bit of a wobbly
body, so I am hyper mobile insome of my joints to a greater
or lesser extent.
When you run, you put a lot ofimpact force through your body,
as we all know, which is why youoften don't see lots of eight
year old runners.
(03:07):
And I got so into what Istarted doing longer and longer
distances.
My body started telling me thisis not happy and that's not
happy, until I got to halfmarathon distance, which I did.
And then later that year I wentout for a very normal training
run in the winter, and duringthe night after that training
run I woke up and had extremepain down back and legs and
(03:31):
couldn't walk.
And that was then the sift in mylife.
Everything changed And ratherthan being able to find out what
had gone wrong, unfortunately Ididn't get a lot of help And
that then turned into me tryingto discover what on earth was
going on with my body And, longstory short, it was four years
of chronic pain And thattherefore made me incredibly
(03:54):
frustrated because I didn't havethat sort of mental relief of
running that I needed to copewith bringing up a young family
and all of the rest that comeswith that.
I was really got quitedepressed, but I decided that
this was not my lot because Ifeared, at the age of 40,
feeling like I was 80 alreadyand very immobile, just not
being the person I was I reallyfeared for my future.
(04:16):
So I did lots of research Andthat's where I find natural
movement And that's again, longstory short, where I have come
to now.
So now, that was when I was 40,i've just turned 49.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
And I have been coaching now for nearly four
years And thinking about from aworking parent point of view,
with three young boys at thetime being immobile is not
something any of us needs in alife like that, and boys do have
a lot of energy.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
They also have a lot of energy too.
But boys do have a lot ofenergy And I had always seen
myself as that active parent Andyet when they asked me to do
certain things, i had to say no,i couldn't join in.
I couldn't help because I knewI would then have three days of
flair up afterwards and bemiserable with them.
That was the problem.
A lot of the time it was that Ijust didn't have the patience.
(05:04):
I would get very upset veryeasily And I was really upset
with myself.
But it's very hard when they'rereally pulling your strings not
to then take it out a bit onthem when you really don't want
to.
So yeah, it was really toughAnd I was juggling things, as
we'll do.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
And do you think then it gets hard to imagine a
different path when you've beendown this one.
I'm so embedded Do you think ifyou hadn't had, I suppose, that
catalyst of your injury andthen taking you down this path,
do you think you would havestayed in your, I suppose,
corporate office-based sittingdown career?
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Well, by that point I was doing part-time marketing
consultancy, so I was workingfrom home, all virtually.
We were using not the amazingtechnology we have now, but it
still worked, and I justrealized that after two or three
years of doing it that it justwasn't me And I didn't know what
was.
(05:56):
So it was very interestingbecause I've always wanted to be
an entrepreneur.
I've always wanted to buildsomething for myself and have
actually doubled with a fewsmall business ideas In the past
.
I don't know if you remember medabbling with a knee patches
idea because my boys, theclothes constantly had holes in
the knees And I thought theremust be some good patches out
(06:16):
there that are washable.
And I did a whole months andmonths of research, got to the
point where I found out that toresearch, to invest in getting a
good glue, was going to costthree grand or something, and
thought, well, that stops therethen And a couple of other
things.
So I was constantly lookingalongside for something else to
do.
And then suddenly this happenedAnd in so doing all the
learning that I did for it, ihad to really research what on
(06:39):
earth was happening to me, butalso the key part was working
out why this has happened to me,why over many years, had my
body got to a point that I couldsort of jump around in a gym
and yet then be so deeplyinjured?
And natural movement.
When I came across it, you know, via someone, via someone, all
the lights went on And I thoughtthis is exactly.
(06:59):
It is a missing part of ourlives.
Now, when you've got smallchildren, you're on the ground a
lot, you're having to get upand down to the ground a lot,
and that's great.
But then, when that passes, ofcourse, you get to the chair And
yet, because we miss out thatsort of I talk about the most
important meter you travel, whenyou miss out that, you start to
be less able to do it And youstart to use your hips in a very
(07:21):
similar way every day.
So, and the most importantthing about natural movement is
fitting in through your dailylife And again, when you have
got little kids and if you areat home, then you are doing that
more, but it all changes asthey grow up.
So lots of lights went on And Ijust thought, actually this is
a way of moving andunderstanding the way I move,
that I can do something withinthe future.
(07:44):
But also I realized throughtalking to people, i just I'd
learned a lot.
I'd learned so much that Ithought, hang on, i need to
share this with people.
And then it all came togetherAnd I thought, could I?
I didn't tell people for a longtime.
I trained to be the coach, igot my qualification And then I
went on a business course andthought actually I need to start
saying this out loud to peoplearound me to be accountable,
(08:05):
because I actually really wantto do this.
And it was that point as wellthat I realized that my boys had
never seen me working.
They've never actually seen thesort of product of my work at
all, always been when they wereeither at nursery or school.
And I had three boys And Ireally wanted them to have a
mother who as was a role modelthat was doing something for
herself.
(08:26):
And so and they are very proudof me now they talk about
reclaimed movement.
And when we're out on walks andbalancing on logs, as we do,
they talk about reclaiming theirmovement, which they shouldn't
be at their age.
But yeah, they're very, veryproud of it all.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
But you're embedding a mindset, obviously, in them,
not just with regards to runninga business and being an
entrepreneur successfully, butalso with the movement how to
look after your body actually atthe right time, which is, then,
not when it's too late for manyof us.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Exactly, we hope that when we say things to our kids,
even if they come back with analternative view, that actually
it is embedded and there's beenmany times with my kids where
I've heard them say to someoneelse something that we've said
to them, and that's always apride moment because you think,
yeah, they have listened deepdown, even when they're teens
and they really don't say thatthey are listening And also
(09:14):
because the business you'rerunning yes, the role modeling
is they can see you To work withme, find out more at
ishamariecom.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
They're also seeing you.
Help connect with me onLinkedIn or check out my free
resources and quizzes atishamariecom.
Versus my own perception,versus us sitting in our office
as we did in the 90s,potentially not seeing the
impact of our work Maybe wedidn't have any impact, i don't
know if it did, but suddenly itwasn't visible to us.
So that must be a huge shift,but so rewarding from a person
(09:46):
of view.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
It's really rewarding And I think that they can see
in me that I feel very fulfilledby what I'm doing.
And looking back, i don't thinkI was fulfilled in that way
when they were younger And Ihope that didn't come across to
them.
But at the same time now, themseeing this sort of all come
together, yes, i really hopethey can see that it's important
(10:07):
that you have different facetsto your life.
And with my husband, he hasalways worked outside the home.
So even in the pandemic he wentto the office because him and
his business partner sort of sattwo opposite ends of the office
.
So he's always gone out to workin that way that they could
sort of see it, even though theythen would occasionally say
what does that do?
(10:29):
Oh yeah, i don't really know,but they were seeing such
traditional roles happening, andnow, when dad comes home,
there's much more of a balanceof right well, there's this many
jobs to do, i'm still working,can you carry this bit of load?
and vice versa.
And so they're really seeing asa team.
I think that's a reallyimportant thing.
They're not necessarily copyingit themselves just yet.
(10:52):
We're trying our hardest Andthrough this exam period we've
just had, we've been veryrelaxed, but I've said to all of
them that as soon as thatfinishes, things are going to
change.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
They are not silent partners in this whole
foundation anymore.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Your story, i suppose , or your journey, is similar to
many mums of a certain age whohave a career of a structured
expected, i suppose career path,and then something happens to
give them that motivation,catalyst, whatever you want to
call it, to change and to do sofor themselves, or to change a
career, or to do whateverBelieve the country, who knows,
(11:28):
which is great, obviously.
How do you think we can, or onecan, make that change earlier,
find a catalyst before, isuppose, start to role model
these things actually, when thekids are younger, is there, i
don't know, is there some kindof trick that maybe we missed
when we were on that hamsterwheel rap race that we could
have looked at?
Speaker 2 (11:47):
I generally I really think the answer is no, because
to find the thing that is goingto really excite you and make
you feel passionate, genuinelypassionate, you need to have
been searching.
So I suppose, yes, you canstart searching earlier, but I
was and I went through a fewthings.
So I think my thoughts on thatwould be don't go into
(12:08):
everything thinking it's goingto be the thing.
Try a few different things, asI did, and then always be sort
of self analytical Is it reallydoing for you what you want it
to be doing?
Is it fitting in with your lifeAnd what are your goals in the
long term with it?
And I think then, when you comeacross something that you
really do enjoy even thoughthere's clearly going to be
(12:28):
downsides with that thinkingabout, is this something that
can sustain you for a long time?
And now, in my position, i kindof I can't imagine not doing
this now, and I'm about to turn50 next year, so you know how
long will I be working for?
Hopefully quite a long time.
And it has changed.
It has gone through lots ofdifferent iterations.
(12:49):
I've got, currently got amembership.
Before that I just didstandalone classes, didn't do so
much private coaching.
Now I do quite a bit more, butalso I'd like to start a podcast
, as you know, and I do a lot ofdifferent things And I write a
lot, so that might be squirreledaway for something in the
future.
And I like doing things, as Ilove the variety of it.
So I think it's got to be aboutfinding something that makes
(13:11):
that you really enjoy and thatfits.
It has to fit.
And for me, having three boysat three different schools the
last few years, with varioussort of school runs or them
getting out different times andso on, you know you are limited,
we're all limited in thoseschool hours And I like to try
to clock off when they're back.
Now, when they're older, theyjust go straight to their rooms.
(13:33):
And I was your day fine, is youknow?
we all know that.
So I can often do a little bitmore then.
But then, particularly when itcomes to food and sitting down
around a table, for me that'sabsolutely sacrosanctin, a
really important part of the dayto reconnect, whether it's to
fight or to laugh, but it's forme it's really really key And
(13:53):
then trying to be relaxed andhave me time or you know couple
time after that, where we walk alot.
So we'll often walk afterdinner just for half an hour,
and so on.
So it's got to fit And butyou're right, it is.
It would be lovely if we couldfind these things earlier.
It really would.
But I think life just has totake its path.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Yeah, and I suppose all the experience that we gain
over the years leads todifferent paths, different
opportunities, the rightconversations at the right time,
hopefully, rather than the youknow, etc.
Yeah, so talk about time,family time, busy households,
and thinking partly personallybut also from people I speak to,
is finding that time forourselves, especially with a
busy young kids household wherethey do need us a lot more, and
(14:35):
then link to the movement andnot doing enough of the movement
And I know I certainly don't,because my like, i support the
dog, yes, but it's still quite,quite functional.
So a lot of my me time will besitting down with a book or a
screen or something or other.
So I suppose where can we asparents and maybe younger kids
who do need us more, as a lotmore we haven't got as much time
(14:56):
, yeah, where can we start tointroduce this movement into our
lives?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
I think it's really important that we shift our
thinking about the how valuablejust moving is.
Everyone knows how importantexercise is and we use that word
It's a very loaded term forsome where actually they're
unable to do certain types ofexercise and therefore they feel
that they are marginalized,that they're not doing enough.
(15:22):
And that's just not true,because moving, every time we
move, we're firing up oursystems.
So one of the biggest problemsis actually when we're sat in an
office, you know hardly movingfor eight hours, zoom meeting
after zoom meeting, not gettingup and doing things in between,
and that can be really tough.
Even five minute movementbreaks can add a lot in.
So I talk a lot about thinkingabout the shapes we make with
(15:45):
our body during the day, becausewe can be very linear seat
based we're very chair opposed alot of the time and mixing up
those movements and reallymaking different patterns with
our body so that we becomeresilient in sort of 360 degrees
of movement, but also thinkingabout how you can stack on those
types of healthy movements ontothe things you're doing anyway
(16:07):
And that's how we add in withouthaving to think about it.
So I do, on my social mediaparticularly, i do a lot of sort
of examples, like when you'regetting the washing out of the
washing machine, which you'redoing how many times a week.
Then try to do a squat Easy forsome, not so easy for others.
Put something under your heelsif you need to, but if you start
(16:28):
to link the washing machinewith the place that you squat,
then every time you're there youdo a squat.
I do calf stretches when Ibrush my teeth.
I've got a foam half dome thatI have at my sink And then the
kids see you doing these thingstoo and they start to copy you,
which is, you know, can be fun.
But also thinking about am Ibending down, curving through my
(16:48):
spine, or can I get down usingmy hips on my legs, so putting
things in low cupboards?
all these little sort of hacksbecome really useful.
But it's the key thing is yourmindset around it.
So I used to stand there foldingthe washing and putting it into
the piles, folding it and kindof just be annoyed because this
is like 10, 15 minutes of time.
I wish I was doing somethingelse, whereas now I take the
(17:08):
washing to a space on the ground, so I have to lift it over, i
have to take it down weighted tothe ground.
So my body is going the hallwaydown to the ground And then
when I sit there I move througha variety of sitting positions
as I put the washing in thepiles around me And therefore
I'm getting a 10 minute movementbreak where I'm getting lots of
really healthy movement into myhips and my knees and my spine.
(17:31):
So then I'm thinking, oh, thisis good.
I feel I'm quite happy to dothe washing now because I know
I'm getting that movement in.
So I think it's twisting it allto say movement is a really
positive thing that we need.
How can we make it easy onourselves through the day?
I teach crawling.
So the best time for crawlingwhen you've got little ones is
clearly when you're clearing upthe Lego and shoving it all into
(17:52):
a box, but see that as a goodthing to do, and there's three
different ways you can crawl.
So learning different ways tomove.
That's obviously where I comein with my movement break videos
and so on.
That's what I teach.
So part of my teaching is aclass where you're just moving
with me.
But my real passion is gettingpeople moving outside of that
time.
So they're learning in thattime and then they're applying
(18:15):
it to those daily jobs that theyhave to do.
But also feeling good that youare getting those movements in
when you can is really, reallykey Two things I didn't think
I'd ever hear.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Well, one thing I didn't think I'd ever hear is
washing machine and do a squat.
So two things I wouldn'tnormally put together, but I can
see why.
And second is congratulationson folding your laundry, because
I certainly don't.
Thank you, thank you.
Thank you very kindly.
Yes, i don't even findsomething else to do.
Shop at the big pile in thewashing basket and hope it's not
something to yourself.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Oh, i know, And the interesting thing about having
three boys, who are all going tobe definitely taller than their
father, is that very early onthe clothes, you can get less
clothes.
In each wash They have thesevery large jumpers, the massive
hoodies and massive joggingbottoms.
So you're trying to shove itall in and it's like but hang on
, that means there's threewashes.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
And you talked a bit about guilt there.
I'm not, i suppose, exercise ornot the guilt, but the sort of
loaded nature of the word.
Exercise, yeah, which isabsolutely right, and I can't
run.
I have what's it called nowI've got to remember A cute
something syndrome, right, very,very Muscular compartment
syndrome.
That's what I have, okay, okay,in my legs.
(19:28):
I've had it for my whole lifeand I can't run because if I run
, my legs basically seize up andthe front shin It's not shin
splints, it's different, butit's a similar outcome I just
free my, literally if my legs goto fire and I can't move.
So I always had this massiveguilt and frustration that I'd
love.
When you're doing runningearlier, the sort of going for a
run, and it's beautiful weather, clear your mind.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Well, that's where walking comes in and you are
walking and another thing.
So again people are sort of, oh, it's just walking.
Walking is one of the mostbeneficial forms of exercise, if
you're needing to call it that.
For me, movement, particularlythat you can do, because again,
it's all the same advantages asrunning, but actually there are
(20:09):
more, because you can actuallystop and see the things around
you, you can really take thetime to talk with someone rather
than just through panting andbreath, and you can do it
anywhere.
You can do it loaded, you can.
It can be a strengthening thingby putting the name for that is
rocking, where you put someweight in your backpack.
So it's actually really becauseit is a weight bearing exercise
after all, bone on bone and youcan mix up your terrain, your
(20:33):
length of time you do it, thespeed you do it.
It can be an absolutelybrilliant form of exercise And
yet it's probably we take it forgranted.
It's just to get.
For me to be not as exciting,but the reality is I'm now
addicted to walking where I wasaddicted to running, and I'm
quite happy with the shift.
And I do see people out runninglike you and think, yeah, i
wish I could still do that maybeone day.
(20:54):
And then I think, well, no, idon't have to because I know I
can run for a bus or I can runaway from a fire, and that's
kind of the main thing that Ineed to do.
But the same goes with, forexample just to slightly move on
a tangent things like upperbody strength.
Well, i train people to befunctional in their lives,
because if you had to rescueyour child from a burning
building and you had to push upover something whilst lifting
(21:16):
them, could you do that, andthose things are.
They seem sort of ridiculousbecause they're not part of
daily life, and yet having thestrength to be able to do that
could really serve you well atsome point.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
So, joking aside, no, i know, but yeah, you're right,
though I didn't think aboutsort of again the practicalities
, i suppose the real lifeapplication.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Exactly what we call it.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Oh, I didn't think what.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
We call it Real life, No that is actually what we
call it real life applicationExactly.
So when you get up off theground, you can do it in a
myriad of different ways.
One of the ways is called atripod transition, where you
have opposite hand and foot arepushing into the ground.
But you can also use that toget over something.
So if you can imagine leaningon a wall and then the central
leg transitions over now, icouldn't do that at all at the
(21:57):
beginning.
I really find it tough, and nowI have gained the mobility and
the strength to be able to dothat.
And being able to do it meansyou do it more And therefore
that keeps you more mobile andstrong.
So it's like all these things,the lovely cliche is very true
use it or lose it.
You do need to use thesepatterns that, particularly as
you age.
I do things like getting downtowards the floor to tie your
(22:20):
shoes, laces and so on, and Iwant my kids to see me being an
independent person.
I don't want to see themthinking, oh, we need to help
mum again.
I want to be that you know,strong, resilient, independent
person.
So, yeah, that's important tome as well that they see me that
way, and they see it online,clearly, because you know, they
see it on my social mediaaccounts and so on, so they know
(22:42):
what it's all about as well asseeing me do it, and then as
women of a certain age, as weare, so I approach approaching
that decade.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
That shall not be mentioned.
I don't know.
I'm quite happy about 50, short, don't mind, it's fine.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Most of my friends are there, well into it.
So yeah, i'm the youngy.
You're lagging behind.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
So for us as women, obviously now, menopause being
thankfully a subject beingtalked about a lot more again,
definitely, feeling as that isnow on the horizon or in it,
partly in it, is the differencein my body and the difference in
my knees and the more the neckquick every morning and the sort
of things starting to feelolder, and I don't think before
(23:20):
before menopause have beendiscussed so much more openly as
it is now.
I have not given it any kind ofthought as to actually how's it
going to impact me, not justemotionally but physically.
So what I suppose?
well again, what are your kindof insights and tips into?
how can we prepare for thatphysically so that when it does
happen, hopefully everythingdoesn't start actually falling
off?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Well, yes, definitely don't want it to fall off.
I mainly work with women whoare.
I work with men and women, butthe women that come to me tend
to be 50s, and then I have someearly 60s and some late 40s.
So it's we're right there, it'sall happening And it's all
about stiffness, where we arelosing that estrogen.
And one of the most beneficialthings that you can do for
(24:02):
menopausal symptoms, along withthe whole list of other things,
is to move, because when you do,you are firing up all those
systems and that helps tobalance out your hormones more.
Now, clearly, some people havemuch more significant shifts.
I was one of them.
So two years ago, i hadn'treally thought that menopause
was going to do anything to me.
I'd asked my mom.
She said, oh, i didn't reallynotice, if I'm not sure she
(24:24):
remembers well, but maybe shedidn't.
I stopped sleeping and, havingbeen incredibly heavy sleeper, i
literally was pacing the houseall night trying to run the
business and found that a bigstruggle trying to be patient
with the boys.
It hit me hard So I decided Idid my research into it.
It's vision to go on HRT, whichhas been a huge blessing, and so
(24:44):
I'm truly grateful, and thathas also helped joints.
So I was also getting creaky onknees, just that this, that
creakiness, that stiffness thatyou weren't expecting before.
But so there's the side whereyou do have to think about what
is happening with the hormonesand whether you want to make a
choice about that or not,whether you can or not.
But then there's also knowingthat when we do sit,
(25:05):
particularly for long periodsand don't have use our
musculoskeletal system regularly, that things are going to get
stiffer.
And I have clients who haveadded in the five minute
breathing breaks that I talkabout, which can be a mini
balance while you're boiling thekettle, that can be hopefully
getting down on the floor anddoing some reverses that I teach
that a whole variety of things,but just a few of those
(25:27):
throughout the day and perhapssome nice loosening things in
the morning and at night canreally really help to alleviate
those symptoms.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
So it's all about the regularity of movement and the
different shapes that we make,and I think you told me once
that, talking about the boys andagain, parenting, being a
working parent, being amenopausal working parent, if
we're going to add another,argument to that, and then the
difficulty of not only managingour own emotions during this
(25:57):
tumultuous time, but then havingto understand how your emotions
are impacting your kidsAbsolutely, as this is all new
to them too, obviously andhusband, partners, friends,
family, etc.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Completely And, given that the generation before
probably didn't really talkabout it very much, i have
clients who are five, 10 yearsolder than me who said it just
wasn't being discussed.
So I feel very, very gratefulthat I was in a community of
women who are all talking aboutit and supporting and helping
each other.
But then I realized that myfamily as you say, my boys had
no idea what this was about.
(26:30):
So I decided I've always beenvery open about everything I can
be with them And they certainlyare with me too much sometimes
too And I decided to educatethem about it and to say this is
what's happening.
And, to be honest, when timeswere tough And the insomnia was
a really tough point, because Iwould be very emotional and have
(26:51):
a very short fuse And I wouldexcuse it by saying I lack of
sleep because of my hormones,but I would always also say but
I'm trying, so please be patientwith me, and tomorrow will
hopefully be a better day, andso on.
And yeah, my poor husband gotthe worst end of the stick on
that one for sure.
But yeah, i think it's reallyimportant that we do educate our
children about menopause,because literally half the
(27:14):
population are going to gothrough it A huge proportion
with symptoms And, as you wellknow, it's really affecting
people in work, lots of womenhaving to take time off, and I
can think of men.
A lot of examples throughout myfriendship group and throughout
my husband's work where therehave been some really serious
situations where women have hadto take significant time off
(27:35):
because it has been very bad,because they haven't had the
awareness that it was coming,and then that's very hard for
particularly your own business.
If that's happening, you canreally only give the absolute
minimum and obviously for ifyou're working for someone else,
that can be really detrimental.
So it's absolutely ourresponsibility to talk to our
kids about it, but also to thencelebrate it as well.
(27:57):
I think there's been an awfullot of negativity about
menopause and although it can bea hard stage to go through,
it's a lovely sort of reset insome ways in a woman's life And
hopefully then, particularly ifthere have been symptoms, brings
a focus into that for thatwoman to their body, to say how
important it is to create thattime for yourself to move, to be
(28:18):
calm, to relax, to be mindful,to go out walking more, to share
the experience with friends.
All of these things are key,and if that can then set us up
for the rest of our lives,putting that time into ourselves
, then I think we'll all bebetter off.
And it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
I think, as you're saying that, i think we do that
in pregnancy.
We do So in pregnancy.
We obviously are responsiblefor something else, which is
where the focus goes, probablywhy we do it.
But we take more, we look afterourselves, we exercise, we do
gentle exercise, we obviously wedrink less, except for that
kind of thing.
But we spend, we focus in onour bodies and what our bodies
need and that well that babyneeds for that nine months, and
(28:54):
then we forget ourselves Andthen we forget exactly, and then
the baby comes out baby'splural And then that whole time
we forget about our bodies andwhat we need and what we're
putting into it and all thesekinds of things, until either
something happens, as in yourcase with your injury, and then
you have to, or you get to amenopause state where it's again
it's forced on you But it's along time in between kids and
(29:17):
something like that happening to, essentially, apart from doing
exercise in the kind of sort ofmagazine view, you know, go to
gym, go for a run, those sort ofthings.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
But actually forget about ourselves for such a long
period of time It is, and I dobelieve that at any age you can
make a huge improvement if youlike anything, are committed to
doing that and really want tosee a difference.
It's incredibly hard.
It's habit forming is a really,really hard thing to do.
As a human, we're drawn so manyother ways, but actually those
(29:47):
couple of decades particularlyif you've had your kids in your
30s, like I did then alreadyyour muscles are getting smaller
, your bone density isdecreasing And we need to really
be working against that on aregular basis.
It's not something that we canpark for the future, and I talk
about in one of my blogs.
You can't bank movement And Ithink the problem is it's like
(30:08):
I'll do lots and lots of theweekend And then that's me for
the week.
It doesn't park like that.
It really doesn't work likethat, and that's why allowing
ourselves to have five minuteshere and there And then
particularly tuning in to how wefeel after we've done it Do we
feel better than we did before?
Is the eight less?
Do we feel a little bitenergized?
And for productivity when you'reworking, that's a great thing.
(30:29):
So if you can go off, get awayfrom the desk and just do a few
sort of little bouncy, moves,twists and swings with the body,
some reaches and stretches,anything that makes lovely
shapes, shapes, but also reallygets you moving.
I don't mean in terms of sweatyjumpy up and down it or you
don't need to be doing that, butenough that you're just firing
up all your systems.
If you then go back to yourdesk, you will find your
(30:51):
productivity is better, because,you know, we all know that
feeling where our brains justkind of go a bit after a while
when we do something for toolong, and so action, movement,
can really help there.
So it's helping both with yourwork and productivity, but also
with your body, because you'readding in these little snacks of
movement throughout the day.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
I'm envisaging now a whole floor in an office or
having a five-minute break inthe lift lobby or something.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
And we need to normalize it.
We need to.
you know, in some factoriesthey will have a klaxon, will go
once in the middle of themorning, once in the middle of
the afternoon where there's amovement break.
This is not in this cup, by theway.
That's what I'm going to say.
It doesn't sound like you'retaking No, and they all move So
in whichever way that they can.
and a lot of the movementsessions are led and it can be
(31:35):
five or 10 minutes, just thatbreak.
that's needed And that'sobviously normally in a manual
job.
particularly when you've gotsomething you do very
repetitively.
It's really important that youbreak that as regularly as you
can.
But it's what we're doing whenwe're sitting and typing and
zooming.
That's repetitive.
That is, we get repetitivestrain of being in that chair
position with our neck, perhapsnot looking at the screen as
(31:57):
well as we should, and so on.
If we see that the same way andrealize we have to not do that
and break it up just too minuteshere, five minutes there then
we will be better off in thelong run.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
I have a standing desk for that reason.
Perfect.
After this I'll whiz my desk upto standing and then stand the
rest of the day.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
So I use my standing desk on the floor.
Well of course, of course.
So my standing desk I use atstanding at eye level.
Then I shift it down to chair,like we are now, and then I take
it down to the ground and I sitand I move my legs around the
standing desk.
I do quite a lot about that onmy social media and I always get
so many comments saying wheredid you get your floor desk?
(32:36):
And I always reply it's astanding desk, it's just on the
floor.
Oh, so think of thingsdifferently.
I've never been down that floor,but that's very interesting.
Yeah, it's a bit like you seethe world around, you question
it and do things differently.
Lots of people will see a lowwall and think that's a wall
that means that I can't go theother side of it.
Children will automaticallyjump on that wall and balance
(32:58):
along it.
Why don't adults?
So I do that and I look funny.
But I don't care anymorebecause I know it's good for me,
it's fun and I love it, and thekids love seeing you doing it.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
I'm already trying to sit straight a little bit.
So, Wendy, thank you so much inthere A raft of subjects I knew
we would cover.
So if people want to find outmore about you, about Reclaim
Movement, about movementgenerally, where's the best
place to find you?
Speaker 2 (33:25):
So my website that shows all that I have on offer
there's some lovely freeresources on there.
So information about mymembership and so on is
reclaimmovementcouk.
But I socially and I neverthought I'd say this before I
did my business, but socially Imainly live on Instagram and
that's at reclaimmovement.
And I've also recently put moreemphasis onto my YouTube
(33:48):
channel, which is the same atreclaimmovement.
So, yeah, there's lots outthere to use and to inspire and,
yeah, i'd love anyone toconnect with me if it has
resonated.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Perfect.
So definitely, well, definitelywill.
How can we but not resonate?
Hopefully, yes.
Thank you so much, wendy.
Have a great rest of day.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Thank you so much for having me.
I've really enjoyed it.
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