When The Time Is Right - Curiosity, Self-Trust and Moving on Your Own Terms With Sooraya Walker

What happens when something finds you — exactly when you need it most?

Sooraya Walker is a 46 year old mum of two. Two years ago, she spotted a poster on her way out of her children' gymnastics class. A free women's kickboxing session. That same evening. She went and hasn't stopped going since.

Now she trains weekly under a former European Champion and her instructor thinks she's ready to compete.

But this conversation goes way beyond fitness. Sooraya opens up about saying no to the things you want, trusting your instincts in minus six degrees in Oslo with nothing but a printed map, and why stillness and rest are just as powerful as any training session.

This is an episode about confidence built quietly, over time. About trying something new at an age when most people stop.

What you'll learn:

• How to recognise the right moment, and the wrong one
• Why the most self-aware decision you make might surprise you
• How to build and trust your intuition at any age
• Why slowing down might be the most productive thing you do
• How movement shapes so much more than just your body

 This is the episode that will make you stop waiting for the right time and realise you're already in it. 

Find out more about Sooraya:

Linkedin @Soorayawalker and Instagram @msooraya

Follow the podcast on Instagram  @unshrinkablemidlfemoves

Find out more about Onika on Instagram @lifeopenedup

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hi Soraya, lovely to see you today. How are you? Hi, Anika. Good to see you. So today you are going to share your movement journey with us, and it is a little bit different, which is why I wanted to speak to you. So before we get started, tell us a bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

So my name is Sarah Walker. I'm 46. I'm a mum of two kids, six and seven, and I'm also head of brand development at the London School of Economics and Political Science. I love to move, I love to do sport. You'll share what you do shortly, but have you always done sport or is it something that you've come into later in life? So I've always done sports since I was young. My mum describes me as a very energetic child. And it started on the football pitch in the playground at primary school. I'd play football with boys before school, lunch times, play times. And then my mum enrolled us, my sister and I, into gymnastics when I think I was about seven or eight. And I did gymnastics from age seven till about age 15, where I competed locally, got a gold medal when I was 15. And then when I went into secondary school, I discovered athletics and hockey, where I also competed in hurdles at the London Youth Games a very, very long time ago. When I was in my 20s, I was at the gym quite a lot. And in my 30s, I discovered yoga, which I now cannot live without. In my 40s, I've discovered walking, but for the last two years, I've also done kickboxing as well, which I just absolutely love.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

So that is what I want to talk to you about today because that is such an unusual sport for somebody who's older. How did you get into it and what do you love about it?

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Well, you know, it's really interesting because I say that I found certain things, but I also think that things found me. I literally saw a poster a couple of years ago in my local gym for gymnastics. So my son and daughter go gymnastics in the same place that I now go gymnastics, the same club, which is really wonderful. And I was taking them to gymnastics class and I saw a poster, and it was a women's self-defense class at the same leisure center. And I think it was that same evening, and I was like, oh, this makes sense. And it was freeze by a local charity, and it's for women only. And I was like, okay, this actually makes sense. So I went along and I absolutely loved it. It's run by a former European white-eyed champion, she's amazing, Jackie, and her sister, Nicole. And they run this weekly self-defense class for women, and it's like an hour class, and then afterwards we have a bit of a chat. It's not just the physical aspect as well, but it's the community aspect. We have a little chat afterwards about what's been going well, what's not been going well. It's a very supportive group, and I just absolutely love it.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

What about it do you love? Is it the movement? Because my type is particularly physical.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

But it's a combination of boxing, that particular class is a combination of self-defense techniques because you can't self-defend unless you can fight, right? It's a combination of boxing techniques, kickboxing, grappling, which is absolutely amazing. So you don't only just feel empowered. I've never been in a particular situation, thankfully, where I've had to defend myself. But if I was to do it, then I think I'd have the confidence to know what to do. But it's the physical aspect of it as well. I think because I've got the background in gymnastics and all the sport that I've done while I was in secondary school, and I think that that core fitness level is there, but I think it's where it takes me physically because that class really does push me hard beyond my comfort level. And I'm doing things that I've never done before, you know, and it's pushing me, and I don't feel great the next day. How's it pushing you? Well, physically, it's a lot. The drills that we're doing, these are things that I've never done before. But I think there's something in me that's probably wanted to fight, or I'm not quite sure what it is. It's it just feels intrinsic. I there's just something that I love. There's something that when you can go beyond what you think you can do, what you're capable of, it gives you confidence, right? So you keep going every week and you build your confidence, and then you can do something again, and you build your confidence. I think because my hips are generally quite loose from yoga as well in gymnastics. I can obviously move in a certain way. I just can't describe it. I just absolutely love the physical aspect, but also the mental aspect of it as well, because you have to think you can do it. You can't go into the class thinking, oh, you know, I don't know. I think you have to come to the class with okay, what is going to be given to me today and how am I going to smash this? When our teacher pushes us hard, especially on the bags, the boxing bags, like she really pushes us hard. So we have no hostages. Yeah. So it's brilliant.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

And that's exactly what I was just going to ask, but I think you've answered it in terms of what did you think the first time that you went in there? I know you were quite interested, but were you nervous? Did you go in with it with a bit of trepidation?

SPEAKER_00 4:51

No, do you know what? I always go into anything with a really open mind. I'm not really scared of anything. So I'm like, okay, what's this about? And I think when I went at the time, I was actually dealing with something personal and emotional. So the kickboxing actually helped me to channel those emotions in a positive way. So that's why I think it found me at the time. I just went in, I didn't know anybody. I went in with a very open mind. I was like, okay, well, let's just see what this is all about. Let's see what I'll learn here. I'll go once. If I don't like it, I don't have to come again. So I went once, really enjoyed it. And then I kept going and I kept going, and then it just suddenly became a year, then became two years. So I think with anything in life, you just have to go into it with an incredibly open mind, just be curious, just to see what happens. And if you don't like something, just stop. It's really that simple. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

But you know, I think for some people, just the thought of doing and physically doing something new for the first time can be so intimidating and can put them off doing on trying that thing. And that's what I find really interesting and important, which is why I'm doing this to expose a range of different types of movement for people who could be interested but are a little bit cautious about trying something new. And it's about sharing these experiences. So they tried and see what it is. And as you said, if you don't like it, stop. And that's and that's one of those things I think is quite interesting because some people we say we're going to do something maybe publicly or to close friends and family, and then you feel you have to follow it through when you don't.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Well, it's really interesting that you say that because I know that you have gently been trying to get me to do high rocks. And when you approached me initially, I was very excited about the idea of doing high rocks because a year before, a friend of mine who does it regularly, she had actually mentioned it to me. She said, You would really love this. And so it was already on my radar. And then you mentioned it to me. And I was like, Oh, is this supposed to be something that I'm doing? It's coming up regularly in my conversations. And the thing is, what I've noticed now, if something comes to me like excited, that for me is an indication that I need to do it. So at the time of the year that you came to me, I had just taken on a new role at work, and I've also been going through quite a lot in the background just with some family stuff. And I wanted to do it, but I also knew I had to really think about the reason why I would be doing it, because I knew that it would take a large commitment of my time, as well as doing this new job, as well as looking after my family. When I really honed down on it, I knew that the reason I would be doing it is to make you happy. And as much as that would be amazing, I knew at that particular point it wouldn't make me happy because I knew that I'd be doing too much at that particular time of year. And I think I mentioned to you as well that we were going into winter and autumn, and I naturally just needed to slow down. I think you have to really trust yourself, trust your instinct, and just know when something feels right, but if it's at the right time for you in your life. Because I know Hyrox is something that I would probably do in the future. Like I went for a walk the other day, so I walk at least 10 kilometres a day. And I just went for a walk, but I happened to park into the supermarket, and then I obviously bought too many things. I ended up walking, I actually had to walk home, but I ended up carrying these two bags that are really heavy and I thought with you because I was like, gosh, I guess this is one of the tasks, right? In high rocks, you're having to carry two large weights. And I was like, if I can do this going home, like walking 1.5 kilometers, I'm sure I can do high rocks. So the thing about highs as well is that it's something that I'm considering, and I know you've you've gently asked me a few times whether I should do this. And I know that I came to a training session with you in the summer, which I really enjoyed. And you did something very special. You bring something out very special in me that day because I am not a long distance runner. Back at school, when I did athletics, I was a sprinter, I was a hurdler, I was in the four by one relay. And that particular day, I ran 6K non-stop. And I don't think I would have been able to do that without you by my side on that particular day at that particular time, because I haven't run more than 5k for about 10 years, just because I'm naturally not a long distance runner. So I think that if I do decide to do high rocks and I do it with you, I know that something very special is going to happen because you brought out something very special for me on that day.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Oh, thank you. And you know what? That makes me so happy. And this is why I say encouraging people to do it because that's what it's done for me. It's brought something out of me that I didn't know was there and I didn't know was possible. And if I can do it, anybody else can do it. And there's something so special about tapping into the potential and our possibilities at this age.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

I don't think I have scratched the surface of my potential. I think that there is so much more that I am capable of. So that's why I am considering doing high rocks, and I think I'd love to be on a team because I think that there is so much more that I can do and discover about myself doing high rocks. And also, I still am considering competing in the kickboxing as well, because I still think there's something special there as well for me. Maybe there is a little bit of fear in me. Maybe there is a little bit of fear actually saying, Can I actually do this? But I think you just have to trust yourself, give it a go, see what happens. And also, I mean, I enjoy it so much, and I seem to have a natural inclination towards kickboxing that the lady that teaches us has been trying to get me to compete. She thinks I need to be competing. She says I have the mental strength for this walk, but I just need to understand the technique now. And again, she's gently been trying to tell me, Sarah, I think you should be doing this, I think you're ready. And but I know when the time is right, the teacher will appear. And I think in both those instances, you've both appeared. So we're gonna have to see what happens with that. But I think for me, it's just the timing because one of the reasons why I just held back on it for a few months because every time I was walking out the door, it's at 7:30 in the evening. My daughter was saying to me, Mommy, please don't go. You know, can you put me to sleep? And I was like, Okay, that is more important to me at the moment is making sure that my daughter has me, she feels secure that I'm around, and it's only going to be for a short time, and I can come back to it. So, yeah, you just have to listen to yourself essentially.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

And I think what you're saying about timing is so important because that's something I'm always saying that I'm able to train the way I do for high rocks because my kids are older. I don't know how I would have managed that when they were younger with all the activities and things that they needed. So that's definitely something that does play into how we train and move at any time. But going back to what you said earlier, you were just talking about pulling back a bit depending on the season, what you need. Talk to us a bit more about that, because I think that's actually a really interesting and important point that we don't always talk about, where we have side because we have seasons and we need to adjust our movement and lifestyle to reflect that.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Absolutely. I think I I found anyway, I've started to really listen to my body. And I think it especially as you know, women in our 40s and above, I think we become better at listening to ourselves. I think in our 20s, our 30s, we're just go, go, go. We're trying to do our career, we're trying to do a business, we're trying to look after our kids, our family. We're committed to our jobs and everything else that's going on our lives. And we can always just be saying yes to this, yes to this, yes to this. But actually, as much as I move a lot, I also rest a lot. This year in particular, I think so much has happened that I've had to just take a step back and say, actually, I've got to say no to this. Or this isn't working, need to step away from that. Actually, I'd like to do a little bit more of that. And so I've been doing that. And I think that's really important because then how do you remain balanced? You know, if you're continuously tipped on the go, go, go. And actually, what I realize as well is just working around my cycle. I just think it's really important that we listen to ourselves and how we feel, not just at the particular time of the month, but how your year is. So I think if you work hard, play hard as well. So I've just had two and a half weeks off of work, which I've purposely taken. And I previously you asked me, What are you doing? And people have asked, What are you doing? And I'm like, as little as possible. It has been an incredibly, especially since my new role, which started in August. It has just mentally and physically been so much. And I think for me to just remain balanced, I've just had to take a step back a bit and been like, actually, I've just got to look after myself a little bit at the moment. And also, that means that I can be a good role model and parent for my children. You know, I can't preach about being healthy mentally and physically if I'm not doing it myself. So that's something I always tell my son and daughter is have balance. I think it's really, you know, we want them to be able to work hard and do well at school, but we also want them just to relax and play with their cousins and do the things that they really like as well. So I think that's something that I've definitely learned this year is just, you know, have to have your foot on the gas 24-7. Give yourself the space, the breathing space to do that. Not everything has to be done now, now, now. Just doesn't even have to be done in a month. Just listen to your intuition and just listen to whether it feels right or not. And I think it's really important to take that time out. And that's something I've really been doing this year.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

And that that again, I just think is so important for us at this time. And personally, myself, it's something I've been working on for a few years. And as you were saying, it's about understanding what's driving decisions. I love that you were able to look at that and say, Well, actually, it and I put my hands up, I am just so enthusiastic, probably too much. My husband's literally like, don't look in her eyes when she starts talking about high rocks. And for you to say, Well, actually, it was my enthusiasm that you would have said yes, I think is so powerful. Some people would find it difficult to identify what it was that they weren't quite ready. But you knowing that straight away, I think is so, so powerful. But how do you kind of refine that ability? How do you get in tune with yourself and home your intuition or just the self-knowing? Because that's something I think a lot of us are still discovering and understanding, even at this age.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

Yeah, I think it's experience. I don't necessarily say it's an age thing, it might be. I think as we do get older, we just start to listen to ourselves a lot more. Oh, I've definitely found that in my 40s. I think for me, I've always been incredibly self-aware. I think since a teenager, actually, which my parents might argue that I might have been a difficult teenager just because I knew myself so well and I was deeply in touch with what I felt was right and wrong for me, I'd say from about 12, 13. Actually, I think just through experience, every experience that I've gone through, whether it's a thing or an event or a person I've shared something with, I think I always concentrate on how it makes me feel, right? So if something doesn't feel good, just keep it simple, just stop. Yeah, if something feels good, continue to do it. There are always going to be situations where you don't feel comfortable doing something, but I think you have to learn to step back and I think I'm very good at reflecting actually. I think I'm very good at taking time to myself. I spend quite a lot of time by myself, actually. So I love being around my family and love being around my children and my friends, but I also really value my time alone because that's where I get to analyse my thoughts, feel what's going through my body, and just get to reflect on things. And I think the more you spend time with yourself, the more you get to know yourself because you're not being influenced by other voices or other people. And I find that I need to spend a lot of time by myself. And I think that's probably what it is actually, because I've spent so much time by myself, and I lived by myself for 10 years as well. So I really got to understand myself very well what it is I like, what I don't like, what my strengths are, what I still need to work on, right? And just not being afraid to listen to your own voice. Because some I think sometimes what we can do, and I think I've done this when I was younger, and I think we've maybe we've all been guilty of this, is keeping ourselves busy to deflect what's really going on inside. So whether that's shopping, whether that's going out excessively, whether that's traveling a lot, are you really just trying to escape something that's going on at home, you know, or what's going on inside? So it's just pausing and reflecting, coming back to yourself and just really understand yourself and get to know yourself.

SPEAKER_01 17:41

Yeah. And how do you manage that with a younger family when the kids are younger? Is it harder to have that time away? And what do you do?

SPEAKER_00 17:48

For me personally, my time is very precious, right? I'm very intentional about how I spend my time and who I spend it with and what I'm doing. So obviously I work full-time, so that takes up a lot of my week, but I'm very structured with the kids so they eat and they're down at say 7:30, 8 o'clock maximum. So from 8 till 11, that's my time. So as long as I keep that routine, which I feel is important for us as a family, then that's when I get my time. And during that time, sometimes I'm just reading, or sometimes I've gone to a class, or sometimes I'm catching up with friends. So that works for me. And also I walk at least 10,000, at least 10,000 kilometers a day. So 10k you mean. Yeah, so we would say so. Yeah, I walk because in my head I've got like 14,000 steps, which is about 10k a day. And so I would do that before work, at lunchtime, early evening. So I'm very intentional with my time, and I just don't waste time if I can try whatsoever. So I think you can do it. I think you can spend time on whatever you want to spend time on. You can spend an hour on social media scrolling, you can spend time doing something else. I choose not to try and spend time on social media. One of the reasons why I don't create a lot of social media content because I know how much time it takes, right? It takes a long time. So I'd rather be having in-person experiences, or I'm still somebody who really loves to talk on the phone and hear somebody's voice. So I'd rather spend half an hour talking to a friend rather than WhatsApp them. I think it can be done. It just depends what you want to spend your time doing.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

Yeah, definitely. So thank you for sharing. So I know something else that we kind of touched on when we spoke initially was your love of travels. Talk to us about that because you do something quite special, which I think is something we should talk about and share.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Well, I mean, I love traveling. I think I've been to it doesn't sound a lot, but it might sound a lot. I've been to about 26 countries. I absolutely love travelling to somewhere I've never been before, meeting new people, sampling new food, understanding new cultures. I love traveling by myself. I think I first travelled by myself when I was 21. So 25 years ago now, actually. I flew to New York by myself, but I met friends there. I've done weekends in Barcelona by myself. I've flown to Dubai by myself, I've flown to Jamaica by myself. I'm usually just meeting friends, but sometimes I'm just going for a weekend last January. I three weeks before I was just like, I want to go to Oslo. And I it was mine, so I really hate the cold, like viscerally hate the cold. I wanted to go to Oslo because the Nordic countries is somewhere I haven't really visited before. I was like, well, okay, well, we've never been to Norway, let's go to Norway. Don't know nothing about Norway, so just booked a couple of nights, three days, two nights, and a flight. And I just literally printed off a map. I'm really old school. I didn't print because it's quite a small city, Oslo. So I literally printed off a map, and it was just me, and it was minus six. So it was totally outside my comfort zone. But I just went there and my hotel was quite near the station, I was saying, but it's very central. So I knew I was really safe. I was gonna be okay, as long as I always hold the same principles that I do at home when I travel as well. So, for example, I do all of my main sightseeing, everything during the day. I try not to go out after 9 p.m. by myself because that's when I find that people start a bit weird and just doesn't feel safe. And I'll apply the same principles here, unless, but obviously in the UK, I've got my car, so I feel a lot safer. But yeah, I just looked at the map and I was like, right, where do I want to travel? Where do I want to go? What looks interesting? And I just literally spent two days walking around Oslo, and it was snowing and it was cold, but I was layered up, and I just had the best experience. I think I walked 50,000 steps over those few days, and I think I mentioned to you that it now holds a very special place for me because I got to spend that time just me and Oslo and just walking around and getting to know the city, and yeah, it was a really beautiful experience.

SPEAKER_01 21:56

Yeah, I think we share a lot of similarities because it was the place. I went for the first time on my own a few years ago and for the same reason it was just amazing. And for me, it was that realization of I've got time on my own and I can do what I want. And like you say, just wander without an aim, without a destination, which was so exciting. You know, in a way, like you don't have to get something done and just do the things that you like. And same thing as you, I hate the cold, but it didn't matter. Once you're dressed, you're good to go.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

Yeah, I think what I'm quite good is throwing myself completely outside my comfort zone. I think I've realized that now. I do that at work quite a lot as well. I apply for roles that have just been created. So there's no handover notes. You just kind of make it up as you go along and what feels right, working closely with your team. And I think that's what traveling does for me as well. It takes you completely outside your comfort zone. You're in a country where you might not necessarily know the language, you don't know where you're going initially. You know, and again, this is how you build confidence when you do things that you've never done before. And I think because I continuously do that very, very regularly, continuously do things that I've never done. But then it comes back to this having the confidence to walk into somewhere and be like, okay, well, let's just see how this goes. Might work, it might not work. So I think just having a really open mind and being really curious and being open to your mind being changed as well, I think is really important in terms of self-growth and development and just being human, just learning. Coming back to traveling by myself. So a couple of times a year, I go to a spa a couple of times a year by myself. I go to reset. So I'm actually going on Sunday for a couple of days to champagne. I don't have to cook, I don't have to do anything. I can wait, but when I want the food's there, it's great food, it's healthy food, and it's made for me, so I don't have to worry about anything. And obviously, I get to use all the facilities and I just get to mentally unwind as well. I think it's really important that we're not just physically moving, we're not just physically fit, but we also rest physically, we also rest mentally. I think it's so important to because I don't just focus on my physical health, I really take the time to focus on my mental health as well. Because, you know, we go through life and it's not all rosy, right? It's not all great positive things that always happen and they're always going to be challenges, but it's how you deal with those challenges that I think is really important. And I think again, it's just giving yourself the space to feel the emotions that are going through your body. I think if we try to suppress them, that's when I think issues can start. And I think if we're constantly at dis-ease, then we will get disease, right? And especially for women, we I think more women are diagnosed with autoimmune disease, right? So, and I think I I'm not I'm not an expert on this, but I think that's partly because we might not necessarily have dealt with certain emotions. That's why I think it's really important to to process them, process your emotions.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

And I think that's really important because, as you say, autoimmune diseases where we, as you say, women are not processing, that then inadvertently takes away our ability to move. Exactly. And that is a full circle thing that when we can't move, it affects us. I mean, it affects everybody, both genders, but us particularly, I think, especially in this age where movement is really powerful for managing the transition. For me personally, my symptoms have been a lot less since I've been training. And if I couldn't move, I do know I would not be in a great way mentally, physically, or just in terms of mood and outlook. So that's a really important point. And just going back to what you were saying about the travel and building confidence and doing things that show you you're capable. Again, it seems like we've got so many similarities. My second solo trip, I went to Barcelona and I got lost there. Okay. I got lost. My phone died. I'd gone to the the church, I can't remember what it's called. And my hotel was an hour's walk away. And I was like, I've got nowhere to be, I'm gonna walk it because it was a beautiful day. I went in September, it was still hot. And about 15 minutes in, my phone died. And I will never forget the panic. I also panic, it was just like, how am I gonna do this? But what I realize is I'm somebody who I'm quite good at remembering where I've been and and figuring out landmarks, and I somehow managed to get myself back without a map, without talking to anybody, based on the route in from the bus from the airport. I'm that person when I'm on a bus, any vehicle I'm always looking fascinated. This is why I think it's so important to pay attention to your surroundings. And that's what saved me. And there was that feeling when I got back of accomplishment and relief, obviously. I just did that. I don't speak Spanish. It was my first day out there, and my husband's like, just call me when you get back. And I'm like, Yeah. So when I called and told him, I felt like I was five again.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

I was like, look what I did. I mean, that's fantastic. I think I'm like you. So before I go anywhere to a city, I study, I actually study the city. So I look at what is where, and I'm very good at direction, so good at knowing what's in the north, what's in the south. So I really have a visual map of where things are. So I'm like you. If you kind of have an understanding of where your hotel is compared to where you've just been, as long as you're going in that direction, you're fine, right? And you'll find your way. But that's the whole great thing about getting lost because then you can find your way again. And I think that's a great way to live life because we don't really have a guidebook and say, well, you know, you're going to do this, and this is how things are going to be for you. There are going to be plenty of times in life where we get lost and we don't necessarily know what we're feeling, or we don't know 100% of the time if we're doing something right, but you can get lost, and then you can come back again and find yourself. Again, it comes back to that thing of you can try something out and it doesn't work. But you just come back to the middle. And I think that's the great thing is that life is not perfect, but trying something new, getting lost, maybe it didn't go quite right, but you can try again. I think there's a real beauty in that.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

Yeah. And I was just gonna say it goes back to what you were saying earlier, actually, as I think about what was going through my mind at that time of that sense of knowing what's right. I knew, I don't know how I knew, but I knew I was going in the right direction. I just there was something inside of me like just keep going that way. And I've got nothing to base it on, but I did listen to that and it was quite loud. So yeah. Maybe it's faith, maybe it's actually faith. But I feel, as I said to you, and you mentioned, I'm very careful about how we use the word intuition because I know it can be misconstrued sometimes, but I think there is that element that we need to be able to tap into, and I'm getting better at that as I've gotten older. And that was definitely a time where that was coming through. Just keep going as you feel you're going in the right direction.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

And I think you know what, movement is something that just shouldn't be taken advantage of. Movement has always been part of my life, and for me, it's something that's non-negotiable, but also I think it's such a privilege to be able to move. We live in a country where there's some great points but some bad points, but the landscape outside hasn't been affected by a hurricane. I can just walk outside and the infrastructure is still there. There are no bombs going off. We don't have a curfew. I'm not being held at gunpoint if I walk out, you know, necessarily. So I think that there is a feeling of empowerment and control that comes with being able to just walk out your house and be able to exercise and move so freely. And that's what I think doing sport and moving gives me a feeling of control. It gives me a feeling of absolute freedom, just having been able to breathe, being able to breathe unaided, right? Being able to get up, being able to breathe unaided, being able to move in whichever way I want. I'm very fortunate in that I can move my body pretty much how I want. I don't have any injuries, I don't have any illnesses. So I'm also very grateful for that as well. And that's also why I really take care of my body as well. I think it's so important, especially as we get older, we do have more responsibilities, especially as we're going into our 40s and 50s. We're not only looking after our children, but we also may be looking after parents, we may be looking after family members. And so that's why I think it's even more important that you try and take at least, you know, if you can, take half an hour a day just to do something that makes you feel good, to walk, to run, to do some kind of stretching, to do some yoga, anything that makes you feel good. So I think yeah, there's a real privilege in being able to move.

SPEAKER_01 30:31

Yeah, you are absolutely right. So I think you've just answered my last question for you, which was how would you describe what movement means to you in one or two words?

SPEAKER_00 30:40

I think freedom, just life force going through my body. I think to be able to have that privilege is just so, so important. It just makes me feel so empowered as well. And to be a positive role model, not just for myself and for my children, but for people around me as well.

SPEAKER_01 30:57

Yeah, I love that. Well, thank you so much, Soraya, for your time today. I really appreciate speaking with you.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

Thank you, Anika, and thanks for inviting me to speak on your podcast.