Latest / DunkersPodcast / 🧘‍♀️🏄‍♀️ Yoga at sunrise, surfing by day, singing by night — living the rhythm of the coast

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🧘‍♀️🏄‍♀️ Yoga at sunrise, surfing by day, singing by night — living the rhythm of the coast · DunkersPodcast

0:10
Thanks for joining us here at The Dunker's Podcast, our weekly
0:14
deep dive into the lives of cold water swimmers, wherever you are
0:18
in the world. Before we start, I want to say a
0:21
thank you for three reasons. Firstly, because you don't have
0:25
to listen, but you do and you share it.
0:28
And that's absolutely brilliant because that's how our podcast
0:31
is gaining its its legs and taking a deep dive into other
0:35
people's lives. Secondly, I tried to make this
0:39
show as real as possible and close to alive as possible with
0:43
guests that I know you want to hear from.
0:46
And so those guests often have something that's revealing and
0:50
very honest to say. And so hopefully this podcast
0:54
will tease that out. And thirdly, I keep trying to
0:58
reach more people without gimmicks or fluff, just genuine
1:02
stories. So thanks a lot for being here
1:05
and let's see who's on the on the podcast today.
1:09
Well, some people dip their toes into life, but Annabelle dives
1:14
right in. Whether it's surfing waves
1:17
across the globe, leading sunrise yoga on Abasot Beach or
1:21
filling a room full with her soulful voice, Annabelle Lee
1:25
seems to weave magic into everything she touches.
1:29
From Liverpool to Berlin, from the shores of North Wales to the
1:33
surf of El Salvador, Annabelle's journey is one of music,
1:37
movement and a spirit that refuses to sit still.
1:41
She's a dunker, a singer, a surfer, a yoga teacher and soon,
1:46
well in a while, possibly, a physiotherapist.
1:50
And if that's not enough, she also She's also the one who
1:53
started the Abasot Christmas singing group that brought the
1:57
whole village together. So today was talking salty hair,
2:02
sandy yoga mats, sound baths, surfboards and songs that drift
2:07
across coastlines. This is Annabelle's Annabelle
2:10
Lee's world, and you're about to step right in it.
2:13
Morning, Annabelle. Good morning, Mark.
2:16
Wow, what an introduction. Well, if I could get any more
2:20
alliteration into it, I probably never try.
2:23
You remember everything I do better than me.
2:25
OK, so let's take it from the top.
2:28
Where do we start? Annabelle, you pick one, OK.
2:32
So travelling, travelling. Let's capture our audience's
2:35
imagination with your travels and where have you been and why?
2:39
Why? Yeah, I've been to quite a few
2:42
far-flung places, some really interesting places, always for
2:47
kind of longer periods of time as well.
2:48
So I'm not really a holiday person.
2:50
I would say I'm more of a traveller.
2:54
And yeah, I think I've been. I've been to India, I've been to
2:58
Central America, I've been to Mexico, Australia, Bali, lots of
3:02
Europe, mostly first serving and also for yoga as well.
3:08
So when I travel, there's, there often is a reason for it.
3:10
You know, like I say, not just a holiday, but to, to kind of do
3:13
something to, to see something or, or for an activity that I
3:16
love. Yeah, right.
3:17
OK, I'm, I'm going to ask because everybody else would.
3:21
Where's your favorite place? I think that's a really
3:23
difficult question. I I can't really pick one
3:27
favorite place. I feel like I have lots for
3:29
different reasons. It would be between India and El
3:33
Salvador, and I can't pick my favorite, but I think India's
3:37
probably the most interesting place and diverse place that I
3:40
visited and one that really, really captured me, you know,
3:46
and, and one that I'll never forget.
3:48
And obviously places like El Salvador, I mean, the headlines
3:51
tell us that El Salvador or effectively South America
3:55
generally is not the safest place in the world.
3:58
Yeah. Were you ever, sort of, did you
4:00
ever feel as though you were on your back foot over there?
4:02
No, I think obviously it is risky going travelling to these
4:07
places and I don't go with an agenda, a plan or kind of just
4:12
go at all. No, I go with a one way ticket
4:15
most of the time. I hope for the best.
4:18
But, and obviously, yeah, I'm travelling on my own as a, as a
4:23
solo female traveller, it, it can be quite scary.
4:26
But I don't know, I've never really felt scared.
4:29
I've always felt quite relaxed. And you meet people along the
4:32
way. So every, everywhere you go can
4:35
be dangerous, like anywhere you go in the world can be
4:39
dangerous. You know that everywhere, every
4:40
country has its risks. But you meet people and you find
4:45
out what they've done, what they found worked, what didn't work,
4:48
you know, and, and you just kind of, we're all vulnerable,
4:51
travelling on our own and we link up together and you make
4:55
amazing friends. You know, some people I'm still
4:57
friends with now and then it doesn't feel scary or unsafe
5:01
anymore because you've made friends with people who are also
5:05
doing the same thing, and you and you travel together.
5:07
And I guess you even, you'll even meet these people at the
5:10
airport on your way out and then just keep bumping into them.
5:13
And that's my. Thought no, literally that
5:15
happened. Yeah, on my first solo trip that
5:17
exact thing happened. I met a guy in the airport, He
5:21
was German. And then we parted ways and then
5:24
we ended up being in the same hostel for the first night in
5:28
San Jose in in Costa Rica. And then we realized we were
5:31
actually going to the same town in Costa Rica.
5:33
So then we ended up like surfing together for the first week of
5:36
my trip. And yeah, it was kind of like
5:38
the universe giving me a sign that everything was going to be
5:41
OK because of course I was a little bit apprehensive
5:44
travelling on my own for the first time, you know, going that
5:48
far, yeah. Yeah, so.
5:50
And I mean, The thing is, if you're going to travel on your
5:52
own, you might as well, just as you say, just put a pin in the
5:55
map and just think. I'll go, yeah.
5:57
It's a little bit like, where's the furthest place that I can go
6:00
that's the most interesting and the most different to what we
6:02
have here. Yeah, I'll go there.
6:03
Sure. Why not?
6:04
And it really was like that for my Central America trip.
6:07
I I knew that I wanted to go to that part of the world.
6:10
And I honestly can't tell you how I made it dump in Costa
6:12
Rica. I just did do.
6:14
You take your surfboard with you.
6:16
Yeah, Right. OK.
6:17
So you see, that's a level. It's a bit like when you go
6:19
skiing, I remember. Yeah.
6:21
You automatically start to connect to people even if
6:24
they're not on your resort. Yeah, like, along with the ski
6:27
bag and the pair of skis and. And people know what you're up
6:29
to. That's it.
6:30
And you find the like minded people by carrying your, your
6:33
board. Definitely.
6:34
And yeah, I, I, I tend to travel with my board on the longer
6:37
trips. OK, if I was going for maybe a
6:39
week, I might not because it would probably be cheaper just
6:41
to, to rent one. But yeah, most of the time I
6:44
travel with it and it's not easy.
6:47
No, no, no. It's.
6:48
Slightly bigger than a backpack. Absolutely, God, just put it
6:52
over your shoulder. No, no, no, no.
6:54
No. But as a conversation starter,
6:56
sure. Yes, yeah, they don't think
6:59
you're going out on a knitting holiday.
7:00
That's. No, and I love hearing what
7:02
people think's in the bag and you can make plenty of, you
7:05
know, it's a dead body to see how people respond.
7:08
Or are you going kayaking? No, I'm not going kayaking
7:12
surfing. You see, that's how little idea
7:15
that most of us have got about things that are hidden inside
7:18
these canvas bags. Australia.
7:21
Did you surf out there? Yeah, I did.
7:23
I went on like a family trip there for a a couple of weeks
7:26
and I said I wasn't gonna go in the water because I think
7:29
probably my only fear in life is sharks.
7:32
Yeah, I think I'm. Fairly grounded.
7:34
Yeah, yeah, and there's a lot of them there.
7:37
I just don't wanna be more to death by shark.
7:41
But when I got there, I realized that actually your chances of
7:45
being in a a car accident or something else are higher than
7:49
being bitten by a shark. And I thought, I can't come all
7:53
the way to the other side of the world, to this beautiful country
7:56
that's renowned for incredible surf and not, not go surfing.
7:59
So yeah, so I went for it. As you know, son Ryan, he lives
8:02
out there. He's a big surfer.
8:04
And we did and we still do. Be honest with you, have
8:07
apprehensions and sort of thing, you know, are you in the water?
8:10
Especially because about a month ago there was a a big white that
8:14
sort of jumped out of the water and took a guy off the board.
8:18
He didn't just have the board, he took the guy off the board.
8:21
And left the board. And left the board and just one
8:24
straight off and and. But as Ryan said, exactly the
8:28
same as you statistically it's you know, the amount of times
8:32
that wherever you travel, you can get yourself into a pickle.
8:36
Yeah. And surfing is a quite a sort of
8:39
a, a quantifiable space, yeah, so.
8:41
You know, that's it. Yeah.
8:42
I always just make sure I'm closer to the shore and the
8:47
other ones can be sharp baked. I was gonna.
8:50
Say you've got about 10 other people around you.
8:53
I'm not the meteus, let's be honest.
8:55
So they're not the shark that's not gonna pick me.
8:57
So you just don't go for the surfer type just because he
9:01
looks good. You go because he's bigger, He's
9:03
a, he's a better meal than you are.
9:05
Exactly. Yeah, OK.
9:09
So, so II I mean, India's got some great, some great
9:13
coastlines, I would imagine. I haven't a place I'd like to
9:16
go, but I haven't. Do you surf over there or was
9:19
this for a different reason? Yeah.
9:21
So in India, I didn't surf at all.
9:23
And it was the first time that I've been on a trip where I
9:25
actually wasn't thinking about the sea and wasn't thinking
9:28
about surf, which was a big thing for me because surfing is
9:32
your life. My life.
9:33
Yeah. My, it really feels often like a
9:35
reason for living and that's what I dedicate my life to.
9:38
So to be somewhere and not be thinking about it, not checking
9:42
a forecast all the time, looking for where the nearest surf is
9:45
was really interesting. But it was because I was there
9:48
for a different reason. I was there to qualify as a yoga
9:51
instructor and then go travelling afterwards, you know,
9:54
with a backpack this time, not a surfboard, and just see the
9:58
country, the culture and and practice lots of yoga.
10:02
Yeah. So that was that trip.
10:04
And did you have lots of sort of yoga destinations mapped out, or
10:08
was it a case of you'd go to one destination, you'd practice
10:12
yoga, you'd understand the culture of those people there
10:15
and then just ask them for recommendations?
10:17
Or was this again another well, I'll just get on the bus and
10:21
wander off. I mean, sort of, yeah.
10:23
This one was more planned before I left.
10:26
I had the place on the yoga teacher training course.
10:28
So it's a 200 hour course which it was really intensive for a
10:32
full month and but I went with a one way ticket.
10:35
My plan was to travel India afterwards for as long as I
10:39
wanted to, provided that I met someone or some people to travel
10:43
with. It was a country that I felt
10:45
that I would, I feel more comfortable travelling with
10:48
someone, not just on my own. So yeah, so I came back.
10:51
So I started, I think because there's the tourism is a lot
10:56
less there and it's very, very highly populated country and
11:02
it's just completely, it's like it's like a whole of the world,
11:04
you know, like it's really, really different.
11:06
And it's not as easy to travel on your own there.
11:10
I think I just felt more comfortable being with someone.
11:14
Yeah. Yeah.
11:15
Because, you know, you get on a train and it's completely packed
11:18
and everybody's, like, stroking my hair because they've never
11:21
seen blonde hair and white skin before.
11:23
And it's, you know, so it's a really, really interesting
11:26
experience, but one that I'm glad that I had someone with me.
11:31
I had AI made friends with a Canadian guy who I'm still
11:34
friends with now. Actually.
11:35
I met him this year in Germany, and he had bright orange ginger
11:40
hair. So you can imagine the two of
11:41
them just drew attention everywhere we went.
11:44
But because I met him, I felt comfortable enough to travel.
11:49
And and yeah, we travelled together for for a month
11:51
afterwards. But yeah, I started in
11:54
Rishikesh, which is kind of known as the yoga capital of the
11:58
world. Obviously yoga originates from
12:00
India and that's what they they, they coin Rishikesh as the as
12:06
the yoga capital of the world. So I started there with my
12:07
course. I knew that's where I wanted to
12:09
go, to be away from the beach as well for a bit because I'm
12:13
always at the beach. So to be in kind of surrounded
12:17
by the mountains was what I wanted to do.
12:19
And then after that it was just a case of going with the flow,
12:21
see who you meet and see where where looks interesting.
12:25
And the yoga, the sugar aspect of it was just my personal
12:28
practice then when I was travelling around India.
12:30
So I would just start and end each day with my own practice
12:33
and try to consolidate a lot of the knowledge and the
12:36
information that I was given during the course.
12:39
Yeah. Do you find that yoga is for you
12:42
spiritual or is it more sort of is it more of an internal
12:47
levelling that you? Because not everybody, when you
12:49
mentioned the word spiritual, people think that it's a bit
12:52
edgy sometimes. Yeah.
12:55
But there again, on the other, on the positive side, some
12:57
people find yoga because it is so spiritual.
13:00
It allows you to get so deep into yourself.
13:03
Absolutely I. Just wondered what it was.
13:05
What? Where's your driver when it
13:07
comes to? Yeah, I love yoga for the fact
13:10
that it can resonate so differently with everybody and
13:13
everybody can to kind of get different things out of it and
13:17
maybe go into it thinking that they're getting something out of
13:20
it and then coming out out of the class or the, you know,
13:23
whole journey with something completely different.
13:25
And every instructor and everyone that you meet who
13:30
practices yoga or shares the practice, they all, yeah, they
13:34
all do it from, from a different place.
13:36
Some people are very spiritual. You know, there's, there's a
13:38
definitely a level of woo woo involved.
13:41
I would say I'm medium level woo woo right now anyway.
13:45
I'm. Woo woo for those that don't
13:48
understand. It, well, just the spiritual
13:50
side of things, you know, hippie dippie, that kind of thing.
13:54
Yeah, yeah, I'm probably getting more hippie dippie woo woo as I
13:57
get old, but I'm, I'm, I'm a medium level now.
14:01
Let me tell you, somebody who practices yoga every day at my
14:05
age, you're pretty woo woo. I'll take it.
14:10
But yeah, I mean, I, yeah, I started yoga as a thinking it
14:14
was a physical form of exercise, which obviously it is.
14:18
But that's not really the goal of yoga.
14:21
The goal of yoga is actually to be able to meditate, to be able
14:26
to connect the body and the mind and the breath.
14:30
So to do that we go, we work through Asthana, which is the
14:34
poses, the movements to essentially condition the body
14:37
to be able to sit for long periods and meditate.
14:40
And the long periods is because the, the kind of the longer you
14:43
can sit, the deeper you can go emotionally, spiritually,
14:47
accessing, you know, things about yourself that you didn't
14:51
know or things come to the surface.
14:52
You, you sit with, of what they, they call actually in India,
14:55
your monkey mind. And you let it go and you see
14:57
what happens and, and you just find out things about yourself
15:00
through meditation. And that is actually what yoga
15:03
is all about. It's more you know it it
15:06
traditionally, but in the Western world.
15:08
It isn't just fitness because in the Western.
15:11
World yeah, exactly mobility. And that was a really hard
15:14
adjustment for me when I came back from India having this
15:17
incredible immersive month of really understanding what yoga
15:21
means and yoga as a way of life, which I always it always was for
15:24
me anyway, but really understanding the meaning and
15:27
the the reason for practising. Not like, you know, I'm going to
15:30
go put some some lycra on and and throw some moves on a mat.
15:33
It's not that, but unfortunately I had to make that adjustment
15:36
when I came back from India and started teaching because you
15:41
also need to give people what they want and what they need.
15:43
And so for me, I try to weave a lot of the traditional things
15:48
that I learnt from my course into my teachings, but also make
15:52
sure I'm giving the people what they want and what they need.
15:54
And obviously in the Western world, you know, we do think of
15:58
it as a yeah, as a form of exercise.
15:59
And of course it is as well. We are conditioning the body.
16:02
We are like, you know, we work so much on the hips, which is so
16:06
important. And I'm not taking away from all
16:08
of the the movement aspect, you know, but as I go on my own
16:12
journey as a yoga instructor, kind of working out what's
16:14
important for me and what's important for people, it
16:17
changes, you know, but that movement will always remain.
16:21
But maybe my classes might bring in something a little bit more
16:24
spiritual or a little bit gentler, depending on the time
16:26
of the year. You know, I want to always
16:28
adjust to the seasons and to what what I think people need
16:31
It's. And certainly the feedback that
16:33
I've, I've heard and we've heard from the classes that you do
16:37
here in Abasol, especially when you do them on the beach, I know
16:40
you still continue to do them in the in the hall on a Sunday,
16:43
isn't it? But when you're on the beach,
16:47
people who we've come across before have said that it's a,
16:51
it's a very flowing, easy yoga and their expectations are
16:56
definitely met. I think it's really, as you say,
17:00
it's really important. You have to.
17:02
You have to turn everything into the environment that you're in.
17:06
And I'm there for the people. I'm not there for myself.
17:08
You know, obviously I enjoy it and that's why I do it.
17:11
But I'm there to share something that helps other people.
17:14
And, you know, you have to, to see what's or who's in front of
17:18
you and what they need. And as a yoga instructor, you do
17:22
feel the pressure you want to, to please and help everybody.
17:25
And you, you know, I walk out of every class and I reflect on
17:28
what I've offered and if that's met the needs of what everybody
17:31
wanted that day. But like, I'm not a mind reader,
17:34
so I just have to go with what I, what I can read.
17:36
The energy of the room, you know, you really feel the energy
17:39
of the room and the people. Every week it's different.
17:42
You know, some weeks I might only have four people.
17:44
Some weeks I've got 12 people. And that really changes
17:47
everything. And, you know, yeah, you've got
17:49
to look at the age of people, how they're moving.
17:51
And so I I go in with this plan, you know, every week I plan a
17:55
class and. Actually.
17:56
I barely look at my notebook. Yeah, I do.
17:59
I do plan some things. You heard it first here, isn't
18:03
it? She does.
18:04
Plan you should see my notebook is so organised but then I don't
18:07
look at it, OK. Well, by the time you've written
18:11
it down, it's done, isn't it? Yeah, that's it.
18:13
You've internalised it by by writing it down and for me
18:15
that's it. That's a comfort as well, a
18:17
safety net to have. Have it there, yeah.
18:20
Yeah. So it's nice that it's nice that
18:21
there are, for example, online apps that people can access
18:25
because they can then almost sort of take away that learning
18:28
that you've you've introduced to them.
18:31
And that is to do it at their own pace, at their own speed, at
18:34
their own level of comfort. And although they can't actually
18:37
have you in front of them then, then at least they can sort of
18:41
relate to what they've learnt. That's it, Yeah.
18:43
I think you don't have to attend a lot of classes to have a
18:46
really basic understanding of yoga.
18:48
But I always say to people, you know, do attend physical classes
18:51
because you need that instructor in front of you making sure your
18:54
alignment is correct. That's the most important thing.
18:56
Something that really I value hugely is, is alignment, getting
18:59
things in the right position so you're not injuring yourself.
19:03
And obviously this is something I will be looking at more when I
19:06
go to study physiotherapy in January and hopefully I'll be
19:10
able to tie everything in together and my yoga classes
19:12
will become really physiotherapy informed as well.
19:16
Which would be a really nice angle that yeah, yeah, yeah.
19:19
Because you can sort of take somebody's condition injury,
19:22
call it what you will, and you can actually sort of tailor
19:25
almost tailor a plan of rehab to them because on the back of your
19:30
yoga. Kind of Exactly.
19:31
I've always been someone who believes in a holistic approach.
19:34
Yeah. I don't believe anything that
19:35
needs healing or repairing, that there's just one way to do it or
19:39
one thing that's gonna work. You know the body needs a
19:42
holistic. Approach because.
19:44
You know how I feel about painkillers.
19:47
I have to be desperate times. Yoga is my painkiller.
19:51
OK, well, that's good. So with that sort of with that
19:55
sense, that holistic sense and that sort of sense of well-being
19:59
in in in yoga. And obviously you've got to have
20:02
that I guess with surfing, I'm not a surfer, but you've got to
20:05
be completely at one with your with yourself.
20:08
How does that translate into singing?
20:12
Because. Singing this, it feels as though
20:15
it's quite an opposite set of of values and emotions and actions.
20:21
It's singing came before yoga. Take it.
20:23
For me, yeah, yeah, it did. Yeah, yeah.
20:26
Yeah, and music. Music before even singing.
20:30
Yeah. Oh, maybe.
20:32
No. I think singing was how I began
20:34
with music. I think I began with music in
20:36
secondary school, actually. Oh, no.
20:38
I started playing violin in primary school and then tried
20:42
lots of different teachers and realized actually, it wasn't the
20:44
teachers, it was the instrument. No offence, The violin is
20:47
fantastic, but I was no good at it.
20:49
And then I switched the saxophone and then I, I don't
20:52
think I realized I could sing until I was about 15, actually.
20:55
Yeah. And then I started singing
20:57
because I was really into dancing when I was younger.
20:59
And actually, that's how I transitioned into yoga, because
21:02
as I got older, I stopped dancing and then I picked up
21:05
yoga instead. But yeah, music was always
21:08
there. That was first.
21:09
So were you were sort of a, I'm gonna say precocious 345 year
21:13
old that used to to to dance in front of 22. 2 1/2 I was on the
21:19
stage in my Tutu, gorgeous and singing as well, to be fair, I
21:24
think when I was, yeah, when I was really young.
21:26
I've always been on the stage. Yes, I love it.
21:28
I love performing. Yeah, I still love dancing.
21:31
I just don't do it as much as not, you know.
21:33
Yeah, you like being in front of people.
21:34
Yeah, I think I like sharing things with people.
21:37
That's what it is. It's about sharing.
21:39
It's about I've got a lot of energy and a lot of love to
21:42
share and give and so why not? And I've never had a any of that
21:47
fear being in front of people. I think it's just the natural
21:51
place for me. Yeah.
21:53
Which is interesting because obviously that to a lot of
21:55
people brings a lot of fear. And I'm confident enough.
21:58
Yeah, and I think I just, I've always felt that ease being with
22:02
people and and in front of them and performing.
22:05
Yeah, yeah. And, and believe it or not,
22:07
there's a number of people that I've asked over the last eight
22:10
or nine months to, to join me on the podcast and they won't,
22:14
because even even a microphone is a fearful thing for me.
22:19
They're they're just, you know, it's a, Oh well, a I'm not
22:21
interesting BI don't really know how to what to say.
22:25
And, and you can tell it's there's a big barrier, so.
22:28
Yeah. I mean, I, I probably feel more
22:30
nervous for this in front of a microphone than I do hundreds of
22:36
people performing. I don't know know that it's
22:38
permanent. Make it an easier, I'll get onto
22:41
the table and a few back backdrops.
22:45
Yeah, that might help, yeah. Yeah, OK.
22:47
Something about it being recorded and permanent that is
22:50
more scary than performing in front of people.
22:52
The moments there and then it's gone, right?
22:54
Yeah. Absolutely You'll never.
22:56
You'll never lose. This.
22:57
I have to listen to this now for the rest of my life.
23:00
And I'm sure still with many, many other people as.
23:02
Well. So and singing, I mean,
23:04
obviously you, you started the, the singing club, the, the
23:08
avatar singing club, which I'm very proud, I mean this
23:11
sincerely, very proud to take over from you.
23:14
And but still, you know, this is really a land to a slaughter.
23:17
And I'm very glad that you were there last night.
23:20
The lamb was being slaughtered a little bit, as you probably
23:23
know. Anyway, you got me out of that
23:25
one. But so why now is that?
23:28
Was that just another expression of, well, I've got this love,
23:31
I've got this sharing mentality, Let's sing together?
23:35
Yeah, I think I'd always wanted to have my own choir or singing
23:41
group and I never really felt good enough.
23:43
And I also never felt, I wasn't really sure where I was going to
23:48
settle or, you know, I didn't know if it was definitely going
23:50
to be avoc. So I was a bit apprehensive
23:52
about starting on here because I lived here for eight years and
23:55
then, yeah, moved back to the world and now I'm back again.
23:59
So I felt like Christmas was a good opportunity to do
24:02
something, see how it goes, see if if I have the confidence and
24:06
the skill set to do it. And, you know, I just wanted to
24:10
share music and singing with anyone who wanted to come and
24:14
sing with me. And that was how it started.
24:17
Honestly, I can't really remember.
24:18
It was probably just one day woke up and went, yeah, I'm
24:20
going to do that. Let.
24:22
Me tell you from the other chair we were all sitting around you
24:26
in a Crescent 1/2 Crescent moon looking thinking on Earth.
24:30
Have we got ourselves into because especially in Wales,
24:33
because everybody can sing, can't they to start with
24:36
inherently and they've all got good voices and they all very,
24:39
you know, there's a lot of collegiate this about it.
24:41
And we all, I think however many of the eight or ten of us, we
24:44
just sort of thought this is a bit, yeah.
24:47
But I mean, I think the first session we got about, I got
24:49
about 20-3 people. And yeah, it was, it was really,
24:55
really lovely just to get people singing together.
24:58
And obviously, as you've seen, now that you've carried it on
25:00
and that consistency is there, the numbers have stuck.
25:02
You've got like 20 odd people every week because it's just
25:06
that joy from singing is infectious.
25:09
And the more people are there, the better it is because the
25:14
people, the person next to you makes you feel confident that
25:16
you can sing. You know, sometimes I've been to
25:19
singing groups where people want to be there, they want to sing,
25:21
but they almost feel that they need permission to.
25:24
And that group that I established was, although I did
25:28
call it the Christmas Choir, which I kind of wish I hadn't
25:30
now because I didn't want it to feel that pressure.
25:33
It's. Almost.
25:34
It's almost metamorphosed into the Avatop singing.
25:37
Yeah, the singing group is exactly right.
25:38
Because I never wanted it to be a rehearsal.
25:41
I never wanted it to be. Here's the part that we're going
25:43
to learn together. And I never did that.
25:44
And you haven't either, right? And we want that to carry on.
25:47
It's there's no pressure. It's show up, come as you are
25:50
and just sing to feel good and have a laugh.
25:54
And. And didn't we laugh last night?
25:56
Like, you know, it was first, first session back and the joy
26:01
in the room was just infectious. And everybody went home smiling.
26:04
And that's what I wanted. And I just, when I established
26:07
it, I had a word with myself and was like, stop thinking that
26:10
you're not good enough to do this because I'm definitely good
26:13
enough to lead people in a room singing to make them feel good.
26:17
And. An equal.
26:19
I think the one thing from from my side is you didn't give me a
26:23
framework of formality to follow.
26:26
I think if the 2 words that sort of spring to mind is chaos and
26:29
random random randomness. If I could even say because it
26:33
is, it is random and it is. Chaotic.
26:35
Maybe that's how you lead it. Back.
26:38
OK, isn't that, wasn't that your intention?
26:41
No Christmas chaos. No I, of course.
26:45
Yeah, there's an element of chaos, but I think it's just
26:48
about, yeah, fun, isn't it? Sense.
26:50
Near Chaos. Ally Yeah, Yeah, no.
26:52
You're still you're. Leading the group, I don't think
26:55
you give yourself quite enough credit for how how well you
26:57
lead. Well, maybe because I don't
26:59
understand music. I can't read music I've never
27:01
played in. It.
27:02
But isn't that so nice? Isn't that a message to everyone
27:05
that you can lead a singing group despite having next to No,
27:09
no, that's not what I was going to say.
27:12
Next to no formal musical education, right.
27:14
Your formal musical education was in this lounge last year,
27:18
two years ago or three years ago.
27:20
Me telling you what to do, handing the baton of the choir
27:24
over with 25 vocal exercises, which, by the way, Mark is doing
27:28
very well. Spare.
27:30
My blushes spare my blushes so. But abersoch, yeah, 'cause
27:35
abersoch is that sort of place, isn't it?
27:37
You know, let's face it, it's, it's a sort of place that
27:39
encourages participation. People, you know, anything that
27:45
you sort of seem to start down here seems to once it's got some
27:49
momentum, people commit, commit to it.
27:52
So I'm, I can't go any further without saying so dunking.
27:56
Where does dunking play a part in your life?
27:59
Oh well, I have to say I'm so happy to be back here because
28:03
obviously I was living on the world for a couple of years and
28:05
then I've moved back here this year and I'm so happy to be able
28:09
to be dunking again. I because of my job, I can only
28:12
come twice a week, but even that just makes such a difference to
28:16
my mental health. And it's everything about it,
28:19
isn't it? It's not just the cold therapy
28:22
or being on the beach in the morning or getting up bright and
28:25
early. It's also being with everybody,
28:27
the social aspect, the encouragement and the motivation
28:32
and knowing that whatever happens for the rest of your
28:34
day, you've survived, survived this trauma.
28:39
It's not, no, it's not, but it is to start with it.
28:47
I think maybe the first couple of sessions you think war we're
28:49
doing this for and then that high that you feel is incredible
28:53
and it's it's like nothing else. And you carry it with you for
28:55
the rest of the day. Yeah.
28:57
And it's, it's addictive. It's really addictive, isn't it?
28:59
Obviously. And.
29:01
And certainly if we go back to the very first podcast that we
29:04
did with Hattie and Emma, Hattie made the the observation that
29:09
it's very much or it's been very much likened, full immersion has
29:13
been very much likened to a hit of cocaine.
29:15
It's illegal. I've heard that.
29:17
I think they don't. They talk about it, that
29:20
actually being that your body undergoes a similar process or.
29:24
Feels the same high. Yeah.
29:26
The endorphins. Yeah, yeah.
29:27
It get exactly the same from the, the, the, the spirituality
29:31
of, of being with other people. And there's a real I, I always
29:35
like to think there's a real rhythm to Abisoc and there's a
29:38
rhythm to dunking because you know it, it doesn't, it's not
29:41
just staged. There's a flow as soon as you
29:44
get onto the beach. It flows until you get off the
29:46
beach. Yeah, it doesn't.
29:47
And it's a very special community.
29:49
And I think obviously since the pandemic, there's been a lot of
29:52
cold water communities popping up.
29:54
But I mean, maybe we're biased, but there's something very
29:57
special about the other sort of dunkers.
29:59
It's the location, everything about it, the fact that we can
30:02
go to the same spot every day, see the same people, you know,
30:06
it's really, it really brings routine into your life, which is
30:10
really, really important as well.
30:12
And you know, when I was back on, on the Wirral, I did some
30:15
cold water swimming when I could, but the tides were so big
30:19
that I couldn't just go when I needed to or at the same time
30:22
every day. And I found that really
30:23
difficult. And I lived just 5 minutes away
30:25
from the sea. I was living near Liso Bay,
30:28
which is really lovely. And it was great for swimming
30:31
when the tide was in, but that was not when I needed it.
30:34
You know, I wanted to go every morning and you couldn't if the
30:37
tide was out. It was 10 meters of tide, so it
30:39
was too, too far away. So I think, yeah, I've never
30:42
taken for granted how wonderful and special the Avastock Dunkers
30:47
community is it? It really is and it, I think it
30:50
goes from strength to strength. And certainly if we look at how
30:53
the how people have taken to the podcast, it's it's very
30:56
encouraging because they listen because they want to know about,
31:00
you know, about us all, I guess, in a, in a deeper way.
31:04
And that's the other thing about the dunking is, and I
31:07
continually say this to anybody who does dunk is whenever you'd
31:11
go dunking, always put a walk in there after because that 1520
31:16
minutes of walking as we do go up to Jeff's growing them back.
31:20
It's it's absolutely revealing you really different person,
31:24
different day, real. Leveller, yeah, masses of
31:26
benefit for that. I mean, I started doing that
31:29
because I just needed form up afterwards.
31:35
No, but it is, it's, and it's a really open environment and I
31:37
think, you know, it's first thing in the morning.
31:40
So however you've woken up is how you appear when you go and
31:43
dip. And some people are morning
31:45
people and they don't want to talk and they think they don't
31:46
want to talk, but they get there and they've got something on
31:49
their mind and we'll find a way to, to get you to talk about it,
31:52
you know, and in a really safe space.
31:55
And then maybe afterwards with a coffee or something.
31:57
And it's just such a friendly, the atmosphere and I mean, I'm
32:00
sure lots of dipping communities around the country are like
32:02
that. But yeah, it's just a really,
32:05
it's such you get to know people so quickly as well.
32:09
And it's like 20 minutes of, of walking together every day and,
32:13
and. Who just heard people's?
32:14
Stories. Before you go down, who on earth
32:17
would get undressed in front of other people on the beach and
32:20
then they freeze your watches off, get out of the water, then
32:24
get undressed again? Yeah, then.
32:26
Walk. It's so funny.
32:28
My favorite, yeah, my favorite line that dunkers say to each
32:31
other in public is I didn't recognise you with your clothes
32:34
on. Well, exactly, exactly that.
32:37
I think that's such an under such a full stop for the
32:40
dunking. Yeah, absolutely.
32:42
So before we wrap up, I'm going to ask you a question which I
32:47
ask everybody, and I might even ask you too.
32:49
I've got somebody else's in my mind.
32:51
But if you could dunk anywhere with anybody, who would it be
32:54
and where? Oh no, that's that's such a big
33:00
question. I actually, I would really like
33:07
to dunk with my dad. Yeah, I've, he's never tried it
33:14
and always just thought I'm a complete lunatic when I do it.
33:18
You know, he's like #1 fan when I do dunk.
33:20
But I would really like to see my dad dunk and I would love to
33:23
go for a dip with him anywhere that I could do it.
33:28
Is it too cheesy to just say right here?
33:31
No, no. Not.
33:32
Not at all, actually. The sand's dead easy to get in
33:35
and out of. Yeah.
33:36
Yeah, the tide's great everything.
33:38
And yeah, there's there's no better place to to dip than
33:41
obviously. And I am going to ask you
33:42
another question because and when we go off air, I'm going to
33:45
ask you to give me a question for the next person because
33:48
that's that's how I try and do it.
33:49
And they'll never reveal who who has asked the question.
33:52
So, but it's just, you know, just let your mind soar a
33:55
little. The, the, the question I've got
33:58
for you is, would your former self, if you're, if you look
34:02
back at your former self, would your former self be proud to see
34:06
you where you are now? I I would hope so, yeah.
34:10
I think she would be. I think she'd be.
34:13
I don't think she'd be surprised.
34:14
She wouldn't be surprised. Not one bit at all.
34:16
The things that I've done, because I think I've always been
34:19
like this, you know? And I think, yeah, she'd be
34:23
really proud that I've taken a different route, that I've never
34:26
let any of the kind of negativity or, I don't know, the
34:31
norms like suppress me. Yeah, yeah.
34:35
I, I, I just have done things my way always.
34:39
And yeah, I think she'd be proud of that.
34:43
Well, can I just say thank you very much indeed.
34:46
Had a lot of fun doing this. And as I say to anybody who
34:50
comes on the podcast, may the spirit of the dunkers go with
34:53
you. Thank you so much.
34:54
Thank you.