How to survive the silly season!

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With the silly season well and truly in full-swing, it can sometimes be challenging to stay on track with your health goals. While we recognise the importance of balance and enjoying the holidays and time spent with friends and family, we want to help everyone stay as healthy as possible.

Here are our top tricks and tips:

  • Be kind to others and yourself. Bringing joy to others is proven to improve our mood. However most important of all is to be kind to yourself! Don’t feel guilty for enjoying quality time with friends and good food. Often the worst symptom of the holidays is the guilt we feel for what we ate or drank etc. Obviously, we want to make healthy choices for our bodies, but remember that taking care of your mental health and not punishing yourself is also key.
  • Stay hydrated. It is very easy to forget to drink water when life gets busy. Keep a water bottle on hand and drink from it regularly. If you are at a party, try to have a glass of water every hour
  • Be realistic. Set small health goals for yourself that will help you stay positive and feel a sense of accomplishment. During such a busy time, it is easy to feel like our regular exercise routine is overwhelming and hence do nothing. Instead, scale it back and set out something that is achievable. For example, aiming to go to the gym once a week (rather than your usual 3 times) or getting out for a short walk every second day
  • Give yourself appropriate rest and recovery. Often it feels like there is something on every day and you never have a moment to yourself. Try to have some quieter days where you can give your mind and body time to rest and recover (and maybe even nap!). Remember you don’t have to go to everything you are invited to – its ok to put your health first
  • Take care of your musculoskeletal health – there is nothing worse than being too uncomfortable to enjoy time with family and friends. Avoid uncomfortable positions, or any one position for too long and warm-up if you’re moving an esky or playing backyard cricket for the first time in 12 months. It is also important to make sure you keep up regular self-releases and physio check-ups to keep your body moving and feeling good.

    Did you know that Barefoot will be open over the Christmas and New Year period, closing only for the public holidays. Don’t leave your New Years Resolutions to next year – why not start the new year with happy nerves, muscles & joints!

    To book an appointment click here.

The underwater adventures of Alida!

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This Barefooter story takes a different setting to some of our previous stories . . . as it’s set underwater!! Alida is a passionate scuba diver with impressive qualifications and experience doing Open Water Diving, Rescue Diving and a Dive-master and Instructor course!

 

How did you get into scuba diving and what is it about being underwater that you love?

As a little girl I cannot remember ever throwing a tantrum for not getting a chocolate or a toy.  I do remember very well though that I LOVED swimming so much that my parents had to drag me away from pools kicking and screaming.  I’ve always had a longing to do scuba diving and although there are endless opportunities living in Brisbane I never got around to doing it.  I was invited by friends to join them on a sailing holiday in Thailand, the opportunity arose to go diving on one of the days . .  I jumped onto Dr. Google to find out about dive courses here!  I decided then and there to book an Open Water Diving Course!!!  After finishing an Advanced Open Water course I decided to do a Rescue Diver Course, followed by a Dive-master and Instructor Course.

From the moment I took my first breath underwater a whole new wonderful world came alive.   I love the silence, and hearing only my own breathing, the sense of weightlessness and the absolute beauty of the ocean.  Every dive is different.   You might dive at the same spot and experience something different every time.  From a big sleeping sea turtle to a colourful fish darting centimetres from your mask, beautiful sea stars, anemones and stingrays.  I am yet to encounter a shark!

 

What are your favourite places to dive locally and if you could jump on a plane and dive anywhere around the world where would it be and why?

I am still a “baby” diver.  Only have 15 logged dives.  Every diver will be able to tell you exactly how many dives they’ve done.  To become a Master Scuba Diver you have to have 50 logged dives.   I’ve dived at Nine Mile and Cook Island just off Tweed Heads.  The possibilities of places to dive in Australia are endless.  On my bucket list is to dive at Moreton Island, Townsville, Byron Bay, Great Barrier Reef, rainbow beach, Lady Elliot Island and North Stradbroke Island.  All these places have multiple dive spots.  In January I’ll be diving the Ex-HMAS at Mooloolaba!  Excited!!!

 

Jumping on a plane I’d love to dive in the Red Sea.   A spot with significant history, reefs, sea life and wrecks!  If I had the finances I would jump on a plane tomorrow!  Bag already packed! I love being underwater!

 

For any Barefooters who may want to get started in scuba diving, any recommendations on how to get started?

There are various places in Brisbane who have Padi qualified instructors.  The Brisbane Dive Academy has an amazing instructor team who can take you from a recreational diver on to a professional diver.  Best place to start is doing an Open Water Recreational Diving course.  With an Open Water qualification you can dive to 18 meters.  That was my starting point and of course I completely got hooked!

I love the following quote from C.S. Lewis.  “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream…….” Want to start living your Barefoot Lifestyle? Feel free to book an appointment online by clicking this link. 

Basketball. . . the game, performance & recovery!

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Barefoot Physio Cam is our ‘go-to’ guy to discuss all things Basketball. He has played professional basketball for several years and loves to chat about the best way to keep your body happy before, during and after the season! This blog will be centered around some of the things you can do to help with game performance and recovery.

Pre-Game

Before a game there are two things that are very important; nutrition and hydration. Both of these factors play an important role in your ability to perform during the game. Lack of pre-game nutrition has been shown to distract players during the game, and poor pre-game hydration has been shown to decrease shooting percentage.

So what to eat pre-game?

It’s a good idea to have your last substantial meal around 3-4 hours before tip-off, and then if you need to have a snack you can do so around 1-2 hours before the game.

Your pre-game meal should contain carbohydrates for energy, and a small amount of protein to protect you against hunger during the game. A couple of ideas might be a chicken salad wrap, pasta with beef mince in a tomato-based sauce.

Now your pre-game snack should be something that is light, low in fat (making it easy to digest) and full of carbohydrates for energy! A good option would be yoghurt with fruit salad or a piece of toast with vegemite on it. If you’re the type of person that doesn’t like having solids before a game, another good idea for your snack would be to have a fruit smoothie instead.

Along with making sure that all your nutritional needs are met, it is also important to ensure your hydration levels pre-game are going to hold you through the game. It is recommended that you consume around 300-600ml of fluid 3-4 hours before the game, slowly. While avoiding caffeinated drinks, as they have a diuretic effect. Then a further 200-400ml of fluid within 2 hrs of tip-off.

Warm up

Your pre-game warm-up can consist of many different things, although there are a few key aspects that are recommended to be apart of the warm-up.

Light cardio – jog/skip forward and backward

Footwork drill – shuffle/carioca

Dynamic stretch – hip/hamstring, quads/calves

Balance drill – single leg balance +/- passes

Light strength – pushup, bodyweight squats

The combination of these drills allows the body to gradually increase in mobility and temperature, decreasing the risk of injury, and improving initial game performance.

In Game

Play hard. Make plays on both ends. Shoot with confidence! And enjoy the time spent competing – it’s such a quick game, sometimes as a spectator it can be hard to keep up!

Cool down

This aspect of the game is often overlooked, but is just as important for your performance as the warm up. An effective cool down allows the body to cool down slowly and prevent injuries in the future.

  • Light cardio – jog back to a walk
  • Dynamic stretching – arms and legs
  • Muscle releases – foam roller or lacrosse ball
  • Static stretching

Post game

After the game, the most important thing to is replace the fluid and electrolytes that were lost during the game. The most accurate way to know how much fluid was lost is to weigh yourself pre- and post-game, however, most people don’t do this because it takes too much time. An easier way to get your fluid intake right, is to consume twice as much fluid post-game as your did pre-game. The post-game fluids should also contain an element of sodium, to help replace the sodium that was lost in sweat during the game.

So now you have more understanding of how you can get out there and play to win, with a healthy body. Stay tuned for more Basketball blogs!

Do you enjoy playing basketball? Leave a comment below to let us know what you favourite sport is!

A letter from Sal – Barefoot Wellness Summit

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You may have heard that we have our first ever Barefoot Wellness Summit tomorrow ( Saturday the 2nd of December!) We can’t wait to see you all there! If you haven’t had a chance to get your tickets yet, don’t worry they are still on sale!

You may be thinking why would the Barefoot Wellness Summit be relevant or beneficial for me? Our fearless leader Sal sat down to let you know why she think it will totally change your life!

Ok superstars…

Why would you want to go to a Barefoot Wellness Summit?

Do you even have time for that?

Is it worth giving up half your Saturday for? And paying for a ticket?!

Well if you’ve ever felt confused by where you need to start with your health.

Or you’re overwhelmed by all the information out there on what to eat, what not to eat, how to move, how not to move, how to meditate (it’s hard to stick to right!) and just have that sense of ‘it’s all too much’ well we’re simplifying it for you.

We’re going to cover 3 main areas
– The mind
– The gut
– The body

And the people talking about these amazing things are experts in their respective fields:
– a performance psychologist talking about the mind
– a nutritionist (and women’s health physio) covering the gut and a
– musculoskeletal physio talking all things body.

To simplify something is a skill and only a person that truly understands a topic can simplify and teach it with vigour…. we’re having a crack! Get ready to get vigorous 🙂

We’ll be talking inspiring big concepts as well as tangible takeaways. Things you can do immediately for your mind, your gut and your body. You’re also going to feel clear about where you can turn for help if you need it.

Pretty flat strap at the moment?!

Of course you are, you’ve got a freaking rockin life!
Don’t think you have the time?
Maybe you’re right… but let’s make it happen!
We’ve thought of everything!

The day kicks off at a leisurely 9am and finishes at 2.30pm.
Morning tea and are lunch provided! And you get a goody bag!!!

So you can fill up your Friday and Saturday nights with fun and we’ll be there to give you the stories in between. Who doesn’t want to head out on a date Saturday night and be able to say “you wouldn’t believe what I did today, I went to a super cool event at the QLD Tennis Centre overlooking Pat Rafter arena!” – see you later Tinder that person will want you forever . This line will also impress your partner of 20 years!

In saying that, we have found that most people we meet are looking for some like minded souls to make friends with, and what better way than through an express learning session! Followed by drinks on the lawn at Barefoot of course! You are all welcome to kick on with us in the afternoon.

Yes we have a beer, yes it’s healthy… it’s our Summit of Wellness being on the lawn having a drink with friends
We love meeting new people and we love bringing amazing people together.

If it feels a bit out of your comfort zone I implore you to take the leap, lean in to the discomfort and if in doubt: bring a friend!

I look forward to giving you a big as hug!

Geovana Regular

To buy your tickets, or to find out more . . click here.

Pilates Guru, World Traveller and Mum – meet the incredible Maria!

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Barefooter Maria is as passionate and vivacious as it gets. She is a mum of 3 and Pilates instructor who is always on the move! We sat down with her to learn more about the things she loves most in life!

You are a Pilates guru – what makes you so passionate about it and how did you first get started with Pilates?

I found Pilates 14 years ago in a Fitness centre in Denver, Colorado USA. It was a big mat class and I just LOVED it straight away. After a few months practicing we moved overseas back to our home country, Venezuela, where there was certainly no Pilates classes available at the time, so I bought a DVD and practiced almost every single day.

Back then my husband had a job with an international company and every two years we had to move countries to a new assignment. Every time we moved, my top-2 priorities upon arrival to our new location were to find a good school for the kids and good Pilates classes for myself.

I loved our journey as a relocating family and amongst other things it allowed me to have many great Pilates experiences in different countries. I practiced in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, Romania and finally Australia. It was in Brazil were my curiosity to know more about Pilates reached the peak. I was fortunate enough to be in Brazil and become inspired by two great instructors. In 2009 I started dreaming about becoming a Pilates Instructor and opening my own Pilates Studio one day.

It wasn’t until 3 years later when my family and I arrived in Australia to settle for good that I started to make my dream a reality. Just a few months after our arrival I started a program to obtain my Polestar Pilates Diploma.

 

For those that don’t know – you studied Pilates in English and in Spanish. Tell us more about your South American heritage and your favourite parts of Venezuelan culture.

I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. I left 16 years ago and since then have lived in different countries. Spanish is our mother language and we eat the most delicious food. Lots of meat, corn, beans and great desserts! This is the bit I miss the most. Venezuelans are known for partying all the time and sad news is quickly transformed into a laughing matter to shoo away sadness. We dance, we talk, we laugh and we consider everybody a good “Friend” by default.       I completed my Pilates diploma in English, which is my second language, but I have since equipped my library with some manuals in Spanish as well. I studied them and gained confidence with all the Pilates terminology in both languages, so now I run classes in both English and Spanish.

You are a busy lady with 3 children – how do you find time to fit everything in and keep learning and developing your skills? Is there anything special you are working on right now?

I have a great team between my husband and kids. They understand Pilates makes me HAPPY so they are very patient and supportive. I (tried to) organise myself and aim to allocate all my work / study time inside school hours so that after 3 pm I can be just a mum. Nonetheless, often there are certain events, training and workshops of interest on weekends, so I try (still trying) to be more organised than usual then… pre-planning meals is a big one so that no one is starving or cranky  when I get back. There are usually planned activities for that weekend, so the kids can have fun with Daddy while I am not around. I must say I am really blessed with a very supportive family.

Yes, I have a few new projects in the making for next year…The biggest one, and I am sure the one that will keep me busiest, is that I am going to go back to study to become a Pilates Mentor. I am really looking forward to it … More knowledge, more Pilates practice, more Pilates friends for me next year 😉

Anything Interesting you want to share?

Here are 10 facts about me:

1. I am only 150cm tall.

2. I ran ½ Marathon before my 40th

3. The ocean gives me peace.

4. I have moved houses 17 times in 41 years across 8 countries.

5. I speak 4 languages fluently…Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and English.

6. My favorite food is Pizza (Italian style).

7. My favorite part of my body are my arms.

8. I don’t like cold water, so I haven’t dare to have a swim in the Australian beaches.

9. I LOVE surprises.

10. My daily goal is to be a better version of me for the day.

To find out how you can start living your barefoot lifestyle pain free, click here.

 

Climbers . . . this ones for you!

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Following the warmer weather ( and the rain finally clearing up) it seems like a great time to discuss shoulder injury and pain in climbing now that the conditions seem just right! Physio Kirsten is an avid climber, when she isn’t treating our incredible clients you will most likely find her on a rock wall somewhere, or scaling the cliffs at Kangaroo Point in Brisbane. 

Kirsten has given us her top tips for climbers, and sat down to let us know about shoulder injury and how physiotherapy can help.

One of my favourite things about treating climbers is that we are super keen on figuring out why things are happening and how we can self treat ourselves to keep climbing. 

Where does shoulder pain come from?

With shoulder pain there are several things to consider. We always want to assess the neck and thoracic spine as pain can commonly originate at these areas. Looking at both the spine and shoulder positioning with movement and climbing often will highlight a dysfunction in the movement. This dysfunction at the joints can lead to nerve irritation or compound soft tissue injuries of the muscle, tendons or labrum.

Treatment for Climbing Shoulder Injury/ Pain

Often treatment will involve the physiotherapist treating the joint dysfunction, nerve irritation, the soft tissue injury and work on correcting the dysfunctional movement.

There are some common areas that frequently need physiotherapy treatment in climbers. In general we need to treat some area in the neck and thoracic joints with manual therapy, strengthen the rotator cuff, middle and lower traps, serratus and lats as well as lengthen the pecs, biceps and lats and train appropriate neck and shoulder positioning for climbing and belaying.

Strengthening antagonist muscles and training should be done in good positioning and control so that:

1. when climbing in not the most ideal positions at least some of the positioning training will transfer and

2. We aren’t overloading ourselves in poor positions leading to injury

Treatment areas and proper cueing are very specific to the individual and often we as climbers deal with some level of pain until it gets to the point we can’t continue climbing. The key to quick recovery is catching the issue early, booking in with a professional who can assess where and what your pain is coming from and start treating what is specific to you.

Nutrition and Pelvic Health

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A lot of pelvic health issues (Women’s health / Men’s Health) are tied in some degree to the digestive system. When you think about the postures you take when you have an upset tummy, the strain your pelvic floor muscles take when you are having difficulty with a bowel movement and the close proximity of the pelvis and digestive system you can see why.
Therefore, in conjunction with musculoskeletal assessment and treatment, nutrition and gut health should also be addressed when looking at pelvic floor pain and/or dysfunction ie// prolapse, stress incontinence, urgency, back pain, pelvic floor pain, pubic pain, SIJ pain, Scrotal pain.

Does Nutrition Play a role for you?

1. Are you getting enough nutrients in your diet? Are you absorbing them?
– You should be eating 8-10 fruit and veg servings
– Eating in a stressful environment, on the go or while talking can inhibit absorption
– Chewing less than ~20-40x can inhibit absorption nutrients, reduce feeling of fullness and minimise normal hormonal responses
– Certain medications can change absorption
How this affects you physically: muscle spasm, fatigue, tight-ropey muscles

2. Are your stomach and intestines working as they should?
– Are you producing enough stomach acid to help digest food?
– Signs you aren’t: bloat/belch following a meal, feeling overly full, undigested food in stools
– Changes in intestinal permeability meaning not just good things getting out ‘leaky gut’

How can this affect you physically? You may feel bloating and gas which can leave you feeling yucky, and cause us to hold ourselves in bad positions to combat this “icky” feeling. This also can hypersensitize our body.

3. Do you have gut inflammation?
Chronic stress and pain can lead to low digestive enzymes as energy to make these is directed elsewhere. It also activates hormones that can lead to an inflammatory response. This inflammation in the gut can then propagate musculoskeletal symptoms further.

What to Do:
Assessment and treatment for prolapse, stress incontinence, urgency, back pain, pelvic floor pain, pubic pain, SIJ pain, Scrotal pain should include:
– Seeing a nutritionist to tackle this component of the picture
– See a physiotherapist/s who can perform a physical assessment of your condition.

At Barefoot we are a musculoskeletal physiotherapy clinic who looks at your whole body to fix the problem. We will look at your muscles, joints and nerves and together we can work towards stronger a stronger pelvic floor.

Want to learn more or book in to see the Barefoot Physio team? Click here.

Functional training, here’s what you need to know!

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Here at Barefoot we’re often asked about buzzwords in the fitness space and a phrase that regularly comes up is functional training. You’ve probably seen the term used in fitness advertising and many trainers offer it as a part of their exercise programming. So we want to discus the functional approach to exercise, the benefit it provides, and give you a few tips on how to ensure your exercise involves a functional component.

 

Let’s begin with the term functional.

 

adjective

  1. having a special activity, purpose, or task.

“a functional role”

  1. designed to be practical and useful, rather than attractive.

“a small, functional bathroom”

 

With this definition in mind, the concept of functional training involves performing exercise that has purpose and will be useful to the exerciser. To assess the practicality of the exercise you are currently doing it is worth considering the kinds of movements that are purposeful to you. Or to put it another way, what movements are you required to do everyday in your environment? This varies from person to person and depends on variables such as work, sport, life stage, and personal goals and hobbies. Programming exercise with a functional approach, therefore, must take into account such variables in order to be practical and useful. As it turns out, a majority of the time, the complexity of human movement can be broken down into just a few basic fundamental movements – pulling, pushing, squatting, lifting, and walking/running. When you see “functional training” offered as a part of a fitness service generally speaking it is offering an exercise program that involves training these fundamental human movements. It should also be considering your individual goals and lifestyle.

In many cases exercises that could be considered as “functional” involve movement of multiple joints, action of multiple muscles and ultimately has a basis in fundamental human movement. The reason for this is that this reflects many of the movements of day to day life – think carrying groceries in from the car, picking up and holding children, placing objects up on an overhead shelf, even running to catch a train – each example involves movements of multiple joints and muscles, and has a basis in one of the fundamental human movements – sound familiar?

By performing exercise with a functional approach not only do you receive the benefits of exercise and gain strength but the movements and moments of day-to-day life become easier. If you can train what it is going to be useful to you in the real world environment your ability to carry out physical tasks improves.

This also means your resilience to injury improves too!

 

Want to make your training more functional? Here are some things to consider.

  1. Ensure your trainer understands the sort of physical activities you do regularly. This will give them an idea of your movement profile and whether you need to train for strength, power, or endurance.
  2. If you’re already doing certain exercises ask yourself how the exercise will be useful to you. If you’re told an exercise is functional consider asking “functional for what?”. Often times, exercises involving multiple joints and muscles will be more practical since they mimic the movements of day to day life.
  3. Keep in mind that not everything we do in our day to day lives needs to be trained in the gym. For example, the best way to train your good sitting posture and build endurance in your postural muscles, is to use your time in the office to practice!

Regardless of the term you use to describe your exercise just remember to move often in a variety of ways and above all find something that you enjoy. Exercise can come in many forms. There’s lifting weights, rock climbing, martial arts, yoga, running, gardening, barefoot bowls…the list goes on. Just be sure to move often and if you find this difficult find something you enjoy as this will make your movement habits easier and set yourself up for success.

Want to know more? Or meet with one of the physios to discuss how you can get your body moving again? Click here.

Our Tough Mudder Mags

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It comes as no surprise that our incredible Barefooters are constantly out doing what they love & helping others. Maggie ( or as we like to call her ‘lil mags’) is no exception, her year is filled up with incredible volunteering, fundraising and organising to help others.

She is off on an incredible adventure next year to Ethiopia to help those in need . . so Sal recently sat down with Maggie to hear all about it, and to share it with you!

So Maggie, you volunteer with Red Frogs during Schoolies on the Gold Coast, how many years have you been doing this? And what is involved?

Red Frogs has been going for 20 years and this will be my 7th year of being part of the Red Frog Crew, first three years I was in the hotel chaplaincy team, and for the next four years I have and will be part of the walk home crew. There are five different areas that you can be a part of and they are: Hotel Chaplains, Walk home crew, Red Frog Hotline crew, Support Crew and Entertainment Crew.

Red Frogs

Visiting and hanging out with Schoolies in their hotel rooms to provide a positive peer role-model, cooking more than 50,000 pancakes, walking over 3,000 young people back to their accommodation, answering over 10,000 calls on the Red Frogs 24/7 Hotline, providing positive part entertainment on 5 stages around Australia!

The main question we as RedFrogs get asked is why? why do you pay to do red frogs, and take time off work to look after the schoolies.. for me the answer is: I do it to show them unconditional love no matter what choices they make, no matter what happens to them or their friends, they are our future, our future leaders, teachers, drs. As Red Frogs we are not there to judge the schoolies, we are there to safeguard a generation , to be their best friend in times that they may not have anyone. i know at the end of each schoolies week that I have help make a difference in a least one person’s life.

When Tough Mudder comes around every year we know you’ll be in amongst it! What made you give it a go? What training do you do to be able to complete the course? 

Yes for four years I’ve been getting muddy, climbing walls, going through ice . . . among other things.

Originally I wanted to give Tough Mudder a go as a goal I set myself, to cross the finish line. I knew it would be a challenging obstacle course. For those of you who don’t know what Tough Mudder is: It’s 10-12 miles of mud and 20+ obstacles designed to drag you out of your comfort zone. The ordinary will always be there. Why not try for something extra? With no podiums, winners, or clocks to race against, Tough Mudder isn’t about how fast you can cross the finish line. It’s about pushing yourself.

Maggie completing tough mudder

After my first year I caught the Tough Mudder bug similar to when people catch the travel bug, I found myself wanting to go back for more, though this time it wasn’t just about getting across that finish line, it was about the atmosphere. Tough Mudder has team work and camaraderie even if you start the event as a team of one, that team grows as the people around you become your team as you go through the course everyone helps everyone get through each obstacle.

I also created an opportunity to fundraise for an organisation that is close to my heart.  Each time I create a fundraiser I am blown away by the donations that come in from family and friends who help make a difference to the place I am fundraising for. Next year in May  I have chosen an organisation that has been on my heart for a while to create a fundraiser for a while Grace Centre for Children and Families in Ethiopia. When I mentioned who i was planning on fundraising for, to a few of my friends 7 of them jumped on board and registered to join the team and help me fundraise.

 

And very excitingly you have a trip planned to Ethiopia next year! Tell us more – what will you be doing there?

Yes I am so excited to be heading over to Ethiopia next year, I have wanted to head over to this country for a while so that I could visit Grace Centre for Children and Families, which is who my tough mudder team are fundraising for next year. Just recently, in July, I was offered the amazing opportunity to be the  Australian Sponsorship Coordinator for Grace Centre.

Maggie’s sponsor child holding a teddy she gave him.

Grace Centre is an organisation that focuses on holistically meeting the needs of families at risk in the town of Bahir Dar, in the central north of Ethiopia. We focus of orphan prevention and keeping families together. We achieve this through Child Sponsorship, day care, temporary care, After school care, offering free medical care. We also offer a special needs program, small business , Women’s empowerment and Prison Outreach to connect with children incarcerated with their mothers.

While in Ethiopia I will be using my current qualification in childcare to assist in Grace Centre’s daycare facilities, specifically in areas of best practice, learning through play and hygiene. I will also have the opportunity to meet the children sponsored through Australia, and meet the child I currently sponsor.

We are so excited to see what Lil Mags gets up to over the next year – and to see her compete again at Tough Mudder! Our Barefooters are truly incredible. To read more of our Barefooter stories, click here.

To book in to see one of our team, click here.

Brothers Reid ‘Hard Way Round’

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For those of you that haven’t heard (and I admit that would be pretty difficult as I haven’t stopped talking about it!) I ‘MC’d’ the Brothers Reid homecoming party last Friday on the roof top at Brisbane State High. We chose this incredible  location with views over the city as it was our high school and an appropriate landing place for the boys after 2 and half years on dirt. That’s right, 2.5 years overlanding round the world on DR650s raising money and awareness for Mental Health research at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute.  Brothers Reid are 2 brothers; Dylan and Lawson Reid, both engineers and friends of mine that set out to find a silver lining on their trip around the world.

The stats:

  • 100,000km,
  • 50 countries,
  • 938 days
  • 6 continents
  • No arguments (with each other anyway)
  • Just a couple of broken bones

As for the dollar stats – as of right now (Monday afternoon) I think it is around:

  • $75,000 raised for QIMR
  • >$110,000 worth of media attention for QIMR and
  • A $75,000 scholarship for QIMR
  • And the boys are officially broke and need to find jobs

So that was enough for the journalist from the Courier Mail to call this adventure “not just a self indulgent joy ride” – and the boys breathed a collective sigh of relief “we’ve gotten away with it” they said sarcastically.

There is so much more to this trip than the stats, and in fact I think the boys avoid the stats when talking about it as they are true overlanders at heart… the rest of us are happy to hear the stories… as it is difficult to even comprehend embarking on such a journey.

Friday night was a great way for the boys to officially end their trip – talks from Dr Michael Breakspear (the lead researcher where the Brothers Reid money is going) and the boys were fantastic, topped off by the fact we had 3 bikes there – 1 setup ready to ride, 1 set up in camp mode (complete with jocks ‘drying’ on the handlebars) and 1 new 2018 DR650 from Olivers Motorcycles to compare the shininess (or lack thereof to ‘Bent and Buoyant’ as the bikes are now affectionately called). And really we were lucky to pull it all together on time (we had 3 hours to set up but managed to have it all come down to the wire in the end 😊 )

This is part of my introduction speech of the night that I thought you would enjoy to read:

“I’d like to set the scene of what happened just before these guys left Brisbane 2.5 years ago.

It was March 2015 – a Friday night – We were all at the Archive bar down the road here in west end for the send off. A big group of friends and family just like tonight, 2 big shiny new DR650s in the pub and  the boys with their eyes falling out of their heads tired trying to get everything done last minute – they were about to embark on the Hard way round. Overlanding round the world East to West over 6 continents, 50 countries and 100,000km. 

Laws was still in his 20s and getting away with being the baby bro and Dyl had only broken 4 bones in his body and Dylan gets up to explain some of the reasoning behind planning this epic adventure: he says: we lost Heidi in 2011 to suicide and people kept telling us it would get better, or that there’d be some kind of silver lining. And I can say for sure, even now almost 4 years later there isn’t. So we’re going to go make our silver lining and see if we have an epiphany on the the way. Who knows, if we don’t have one we might just need go for another lap.

Then he said one of the most brothers reid things ever: I don’t know why everyone’s congratulating us, we haven’t even done anything yet. 

At that moment I knew they would make it. What I wanted to first acknowledge is what in my opinion brothers reid have really done. . . they have made a significant step in making mental health ok to talk about.  By sharing their story of Heidi over and over again they have made an incredible way for the rest of us to open up dialogue on this very difficult subject. Over the past 2.5 years I have had countless conversations with people about mental health because I could say: I’ve got 2 ratbag mates riding round the world on dirt bikes raising money and awareness for mental health and from there the conversation would just flow. So thank you, you made it ok to talk about.”

We partied into the night and you’ll be happy to hear we managed to pack up in much less time than it took to set up. With the bikes on display in full authenticity all the boys clothes were in bags or ‘drying’ on their bikes, which had to be left under State High until Monday morning… Dylan had the foresight to grab his bag of clothes off the bike, Laws didn’t… so spent all weekend in the same outfit. Suffice to say he’s adjusting well to ‘normality’.

Enjoy the photos and check Brothers Reid out on facebook if you’d like to watch videos and find out more.