Next up on our 'Talking Straight' series is the very talented Sam Bailey, the Digital Content Producer, Writer & resident yogi at Prevention
Since entering isolation during COVID-19, integrating healthy habits into our days has changed & we've been wondering how those in the health & wellness industry have been coping with the changes. Here's Sam.
SUPR: What does your morning routine look like?
SB: My morning routine, or ‘rituals’ (as I prefer to call them) are such a big part of my life! Without them I don’t know where I’d be - they really help ground me & start my day on a positive note! Most mornings it will look like: wake up at 7am, stretch, wander down to grab a coffee, walk to the local park, soak in the sun & quiet time, write in my gratitude journal & set intentions for the day then do a 10 min meditation, 30 mins of Pilates & 20 - 30 mins of yoga - on a good, sunshine-y day. For me I need a complete mind, body, soul practise to really feel connected & embodied. On a day where I don’t have much time - meditation, stretching & coffee are my non-negotiables! During covid I’ve been particularly rigid about sticking to the whole ritual as I have found that one hour brings so much calm, freedom in body & a sense of centre during what’s been uncertain times.
SUPR: What does ‘health’ mean to you?
SB: For me, health is a feeling of balance, harmony & equilibrium in mind, body, heart. I wholeheartedly believe that if your body is fit but your mind is ill or your heart is hurting, then you are not in complete health. The three are synonymous, & as a yoga teacher & lifelong student, this is part of our understanding. There isn’t just one pillar to good health, it’s about an all encompassing holistic lifestyle, & when one area of life is out of balance, then it needs to be lovingly tended to in order to bring you back to this notion of equilibrium or full health.
SUPR: What are five things you’ll always have in your fridge / pantry?
SB: I’m a big foodie so this is a fun question!
Mayvers crunchy peanut butter - I’m obsessed & am known to eat by the spoonful.
Almond milk
Brown rice
Woolworths greek yoghurt (so good!).
Chicken (I never get bored of it!).
SUPR: What’s your favourite form of movement?
SB: Well, naturally yoga, because it’s a complete mind, body, spirit practise. It’s shaped my life & brought true meaning & life purpose, as well as been a place of refuge when I’ve struggled & helped me find a sense of self love & acceptance. But, when I’m not vinyasa flowing, I have also been loving dabbling into Pilates for a more energising ‘yang’ burn element & yin for softening, slowing & tapping connecting into feminine energy.
SUPR: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be & why?
SB: I always say that if I could marry an English man & live an eternal summer I would! I lived in London for two years & love the city with all my heart but learned I’m not a Winter person. So if I could base myself there in Summer, enjoy picnics in the park & the good vibes, hop around Italy, Greece & the South of France then come back to Sydney for the rest of the year I would. Our beaches are pure magic, as is our lifestyle, so I wouldn’t trade it, I’d just be cheeky & have both!
SUPR: What is one fun fact most people wouldn’t know about you?
SB: I once bonded with Rita Ora over a guy I saw her checking out. I called her out on it & got a friendly slap on the ass & a ‘you know it girl!.’ Coolest chick ever! I don’t know why Beyonce gets all the hype, Rita is life goals - sassy, sexy af, authentic & a genuine legend.
SUPR: Why is it important to you to be Straight Up & authentic? Have you ever struggled in the past with being your true self? SB: Ohh, that’s a very deep question, but speaks straight to my pisces soul. Honestly, I would say my life journey has been dedicated to the path of finding acceptance within myself. It’s the reason I began yoga, & then took the yogi path, because I struggled so much with trying to accept, love & value myself. At the tender age of 24, I lost my first writing gig & went through the devastating reality of redundancy, when I was all but fresh out of uni, a year into my writing career at an amazing magazine. It felt like my whole world fell apart. I was so lost & felt so hopeless, it really ate away at my self worth, purpose, passion. At that same time, I found yoga & it soon became my refuge, a place to connect back to me, the essence of who I am outside of a ‘title’ that I was so attached to. It’s been a long & windy road, that saw me move overseas, switch career paths, train & become a yoga teacher, dive deep into self exploration, face a lot of tough emotions & hustle hard, but, six years on from that, I do finally feel like I love & accept my true self, I know who I am in my heart, outside of external labels or material things & I am grateful for my journey. Being authentic, honest, vulnerable, real & raw is everything to me - I can’t see life any other way. It strengthens your relationships, builds deeper connections & brings you inner peace. Once of my favourite quotes is from Marianne Williamson, that says, “As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence liberates others,” - this is something I try to come back to always, because when we are true to ourselves, we raise the bar & allow others in turn to do the same - which is a beautiful thing.”
SUPR: The health industry isn’t perfect. If you had the power to change one thing about it, what would it be & why SB: This is relevant to the ‘authenticity’ conversation. I think whether its a brand or a ‘health influencer’ (be it trainer, mummy blogger, yoga teacher, ‘fitfluencer’) I wish people in the social media sphere could show more ‘real’ portrayals of life, have more honest conversations & share vulnerabilities, bad days & more balanced living snapshots. I feel it’s all too common now to see the same influencers or brands posting the same generic content to spruke a product, & you can see right through their intentions & motivations, it feels so generic & bland, like vanilla sex. Give us the grit, the raw moments, the vulnerability. That’s the stuff I live for. We all have good days & bad, let’s show a mix of both. & also be more open about topics we never talk about - like mental health, men’s health, sexual health. I’m excited by the conversations that are slowly seeping out into the sphere, but we have a long way to go, & I believe both men’s health & sexual health are topics that are still not gaining the widestream love enough - let’s get real, let’s make everyone feel better & let’s get to a level of raising the bar where these topics are a part of the big health picture (as they so rightly deserve to be!).
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