Episode #15. Building Community & Well-being by Embracing Outdoor Movement at Every Age with Gill Erskine & Andrew Telfer of Wildstrong
Getting outdoors, meeting and moving in a wide range of ways, with a wide range of people and learning about yourself in the process, is a really special combination.
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing this week’s podcast guests; Gill Erskine & Andrew Telfer, for a while now. I’ve even been fortunate enough to experience some of their magic, at a Wildstrong certification weekend. I came away having had my knowledge challenged, movement and coaching skills improved and having had warm conversations and made lovely connections. I wished there was a Wildstrong nearer me!
Gill & Andrew are a great combination, as they have different backgrounds, giving them different perspectives and I managed to get a little of Andrew’s wisdom before technical difficulties, sadly, got in the way!
In the conversation we explored the barriers people have about moving outdoors, as well as the benefits of being in nature. We look at the challenge of incorporating outdoor time into daily life, the role a community can have in bringing social support through outdoor activities. Gill and I discussed the benefits of intergenerational movement and the importance of play in adult fitness as well as the impact of movement on ageing and the role of genetics and lifestyle on mobility. We touch on fear of movement and the need for permission to explore and be curious.
Chapters
Shifting Interest in Outdoor Activities Post-Pandemic
Benefits of Being Outdoors and Community Connection
Impact of Weather on Outdoor Experiences
The Benefits of Being Outside and Embracing Discomfort
Permission to Play and Challenging Societal Norms
The Role of Community and Social Support in Outdoor Activities
Intergenerational Movement and the Importance of Play
The Impact of Movement on Aging and Mobility
Overcoming the Fear of Movement
The Role of Genetics and Lifestyle in Mobility
Wild Strong: Creating a Movement Community
Exploring Movement in Green Spaces
About this week’s guests:
Gill Erskine
Co-Founder & Director, WildStrong
Gill is the Director of WildStrong. Before starting WildStrong, Gill founded, scaled and sold a food production business and prior to that she was Managing Director of a locally grown baby food company in Sierra Leone.
Gill holds a Masters in Environmental Politics from King's College London and during her early career worked in communications for environmental NGOs in Brussels the London.
Gill was brought up mostly outdoors in the east neuk of Fife. A natural community builder, Gill started WildStrong as she wanted to create space for people to spend more time outdoors and meet others who lived very locally.
She has always been a mover rather than an exerciser and wanted to create a space for those that will never go to a gym but do want to move more and get stronger.
In 2023, Gill was recognised as one of the UK’s most inspirational and dynamic female entrepreneurs by the f:Entrepreneur ‘#ialso100’ campaign.
Andrew Telfer
Head Coach, WildStrong
Andrew is a public health professional who is passionate about health promotion and creating communal opportunities for physical activity.
Andrew holds a Masters in Public Health and has over 15 year’s experience of strength & conditioning, personal training, CrossFit and course development.
Through WildStrong, Andrew has enjoyed the process of unlearning old assumptions about movement, community, play and physical activity.
Andrew hopes WildStrong can help others to embed movement in their community via a peer-lead, distributed model of health practice.
“I think, in some ways, the entire idea of a ‘fitness industry’ is a deadend. We’ve had this top-down, exclusive model of physical activity for over 40 years and I think we can agree it’s not working for most people. There’s value in challenging our assumptions about accessible physical activity. There’s too much emphasis on individually performing abstract movements in isolating environments. Wildstrong is an attempt to embed practical movement in a community setting, while also building local connections.”
Additional info:
Masters in Public Health
As a personal trainer worked with both professional athletes and the general population.
Over 10 years as a CrossFit coach, Olympic weightlifting, and competitive fitness.
Co-founded WildStrong in 2021 to bridge the gap between public health and local, community-based physical activity.
Believes that the key to health and longevity lies in building community-based cross connections.
Connect here:
Website: https://wildstrong.co
Instagram: https://instagram.com/@wearewildstrong
More about your host, Wendy
Wendy (49) founded Reclaim Movement after a running injury at 40 turned into 4 years of chronic pain. In her search for answers and to reclaim her own movement again she discovered natural movement. The philosophy of training real life practical movements to be able to keep using them as we age, coupled with the benefit of using strengthening and mobilising whole-body movement patterns that are underused in today’s modern world made her realise she had found a way to move for life.
Wendy’s aim is to help people embrace a movement-rich life, at any age, to improve mobility, strength and confidence to keep moving well and doing the things they love for as long as they want.
MovNat Level 1 certified & Functional Range Conditioning certified, she coaches online group classes live & by replay in the Reclaim Movement membership as well as online and in-person private coaching in Oxford.
Find out more about Reclaim Movement:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/reclaim.movement
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@reclaim.movement
Facebook: https://facebook.com/reclaim.movement
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