Running back to health with Rae-Anna Wright

In this episode of Creating Active Lives, Sarah Bolitho speaks with Rae-Anna Wright, a wellbeing advocate and light language healer, about her transformative journey from struggling with mental health issues to becoming a running leader. Rae-Anna shares her experiences with agoraphobia, anxiety, and depression, and how running played a crucial role in her recovery. 

The conversation emphasises the importance of community, accountability, and the shift from focusing on how the body looks to celebrating what the body can do. Rae-Anna also discusses her holistic approach to health and fitness through her program, Whole Health and Fitness.

Find out more about Rae-Anna at www.wholehealthandfitness.co.uk

For more about the training and support Sarah offers, visit www.sarahbolitho.com or contact her at admin@sarahbolitho.com.

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Transcript

Sarah Bolitho (00:01)

Hello, and you are listening to Creating Active Lives with me, Sarah Bolitho, and my guests. And we're here to share the research, the science, the strategies, and sometimes just simple solutions to help you to create a more active life. 

Today, I'm really, really pleased to be joined by Rae-Anna Wright from Whole Health and Fitness. Rae-Anna is a wellbeing advocate and a light language healer, who leads from Experience First. We'll talk about that in a bit.

Rayanna's background, she's been clinically obese, anxious, depressed, and at her worst, she was agoraphobic. And this was throughout her teens and twenties. But she committed to changing both her physical and mental health by adopting lifestyle changes and creating healthy habits that were sustainable, that would stand the test of time. And now, 11 years on, Rayanna mentors other people to find their own wellbeing success through carefully constructed courses, through workshops, through talks but with the clear message that we have the power to change our physical and mental health from the inside out. And this is one of the reasons I'm so excited to talk to you. And I know we're to talk about running predominantly, but running is part of whole health and wellbeing. But for me, it's all about what's inside, both physically and psychologically. And the more we can change that, the more the outside sort of changes, or the more we accept the outside sometimes. So...

Tell us a little bit about your background. have mentioned kind of, you know, your worst times, if you like, but just briefly touching on that and then we can move on to what helped.

Rae-Anna (01:32)

Yeah, so you are right through my teens, in fact, my earliest memory is being 15 at school and it was flagged up by one of my teachers that I just wasn't the same bubbly self that I had been. ⁓ And so when I was 15, my mum was spoken to and as a result, was the first time I went to see a hypnotherapist. I saw a hypnotherapist and that was really helpful but I didn't really know what was going on. Nobody said, you are, you are experiencing depression or anything like that. I don't know whether that's a good thing or if that's a bad thing, not being labeled, but I didn't really know what was going on. I just went to this hypnotherapist and I did find it relaxing and calming. And that period of my life passed. Couple of years later, when I was 17, I

I just suddenly really struggled with my mental health. I ⁓ became very anxious, but I didn't know again, I didn't know what was happening to me. I didn't know what it was. ⁓ So we went to the doctors and they prescribe you stuff, but they don't tell you what is going on. Nobody says I'm giving you this for anxiety or nobody did to me anyway. Nobody said this is for depression. I didn't know what was happening. I was just telling them this is how I'm feeling and they were saying take this. So I was put on some medication, not antidepressants. So initially I think it was beta blockers to start with. But I would say I then experienced functioning anxiety. Maybe, no, it was dysfunctional, but I still got through my college course. So I guess because I kept going through it, there wasn't there wasn't an additional kind of an emergency support. was kind of a glaze over drug. And I didn't realize the different ways I did not know the different ways that I could support myself at that point. I didn't know that I was able to take responsibility for my own health and well being. I thought you go to the doctors, they tell you what's wrong and they cure it. That is what I genuinely thought.

Sarah Bolitho (03:36)

Yeah.

And I think that was a very common belief in those days. was, know, the doctor will tell me what to do. And that the awareness we've got now of all the different ways we can support ourselves, particularly around health and activity, just wasn't, it wasn't there. And I think as well, people got in habit of wanting the quick fix the pill, which mostly they're not designed to fix you. They're designed to support you while you fix yourself. but we're not given the extra bit of being able to fix ourselves. So it kind of ends up a little bit of a, like a plaster rather than a cure. Yeah.

Rae-Anna (04:28)

Yeah. Exactly that.

And that was exactly my experience. And it did continue to spiral. I became agoraphobic. I struggled enormously to leave the house. My husband literally held my hand when we were out and about to leave the house. Sometimes my body would freeze and I physically couldn't move anywhere else. And I'd have to get back in the car and we'd have to go home. if it was, I remember this one particular year, we were Christmas shopping and I got to the top of the stairs in the multi-story car park and my legs buckled underneath me and I couldn't go any further and he had to take me back to the car, take me back home and he did our Christmas shopping with his friend that year because I couldn't leave the house. things got worse before they got better and there were a lot of years where when they did start to get better, I wasn't better.  I just was able to get in the car and get somewhere but the panic attacks were still regular. Every journey was hard and scary. And it took a lot of years to be able to go anywhere independently. And I would say that

That went on all through the remainder of my teens and then all through my twenties. And in my thirties, when I was turning 30, I decided to go to a women's only running club. was learn to run women's only beginners.

Sarah Bolitho (06:15)

What was the trigger? What made you go from the genuine agoraphobia is horrendous in so many different ways people think it's open spaces it's not it's any space it's it's it's being feeling unsafe but what made you go from really not being able to leave the house and it I mean it's so hard when you have anything like that it's just so hard to actually say right I'm gonna go running

Rae-Anna (06:41)

Yeah. So it's not as quick as that. It's not like I can't leave the house and the next day, you know what, I'm going to go running. Definitely a long, long, long drawn out process. But I had learned what I call now my stepping stones to success. But at the time I would probably say they were more like safety behaviors. know, safety behaviors are rooted in fear. Stepping stones to success are rooted in hope and positivity and determination to get somewhere. So I had learned that if I went somewhere with someone that I trusted, then I would feel ⁓ more able to do things. And by the time this running club had come around, I was wanting to go so that I had already got this desire to try it. I, as I say, I was clinically obese. I, I tried so many things to shift the weight and I was desperate to shift that weight still. And this running opportunity felt like an opportunity that I couldn't let me pass by. And I'd actually tried that same running group twice before once where I hadn't done what they call your homework runs. You go every week to group and then you have to do two runs by yourself. I hadn't achieved the runs by myself. So I didn't actually finish the couch to 5K. And then the second time I felt pregnant while I was on that running course. So I had to stop. So I didn't reach it that time either. But this third time round, there was a neighbor who really recently moved into our road. She had a baby the same time as I'd had that baby. And I said to her, I'm interested in going to this running club. you want to come with me? She didn't know anybody in the area and she was up for it. And that made all the difference for me having an accountability buddy. And we really committed to holding each other to account and really not letting each other down. So we did our runs to group every single week, which I think was at half seven in the evening. And then our homework runs, we committed to every single week. And we actually ran together three times a week, half past seven on those three evenings a week for two years.

 Sarah Bolitho (09:16)

And I think this is something that's often missing in when we want to change our behaviors, when we want to improve lifestyles is the support, the accountability. And in some cases, the, can't let that person down, even if I don't want to, I can't let them down. And they're probably thinking the same thing, but it's something and know, behavior change is my thing, most people know about it, but there's what we call the intention behavior gap, the intention to do something and the doing it, it might be the next day, the next hour for some people, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna start now. It might be months or years for some people, is I'm gonna do it soon. And I'm sure we all know people who are gonna change whatever in their lives, but soon, after the holiday, at the end of the month, and start of next month, start of the year. And it's that intention behavior gap. Having the right thing at the right time can close it, but it's got to be right for you, because if it's not right for you, there's still that resistance, there's still that kind of no. So finding somebody in the same position as you and who was up for it must have been such a kind of powerful boost to really get going.

Rae-Anna (10:29)

Yeah, exactly that. And she was, you know, when I first saw her and I thought about saying it, I could see she was an athletic build. I got this, this feeling that she liked sports and she was probably quite good at it. And I was right. She was good at it and she was, she was sporty and she liked things like netball. But of course she'd just had a baby. She didn't know anybody in the area. So she was ready to get back into it. If I'd have tried to get a friend to come along who wasn't necessarily in it for themselves, but they thought, you know, I'll go along to support Rayanna. It wouldn't have worked. It wouldn't have worked. It's because we both wanted it and we both had our own reasons why it was supporting us. For me, it was hugely about weight loss. For her, it was never about weight loss. For her, I mean, I've never asked her actually what it was about, but I would say it was about getting back into fitness and ⁓ getting out of the house with two young children to have some of her time for her ⁓ as a woman rather than as a mother. ⁓ But for me...

Sarah Bolitho (11:42)

I was going say it's really interesting you say that actually, sorry to interrupt, but it's really interesting to say that because I meet so many people in different, I mean with different conditions and things like that and exercise, fitness, running, the gym, whatever, is kind of almost their step away from whatever else is going on. It's like a time where they're just in their own heads because they can't be in their own heads the rest of the time because there's everybody else's heads to take care of. And it is, sometimes it is almost literally an escape and just a little, always like having a little fantasy land ⁓ where, you know, there's no pressure on you for anything except the next step, the next set, the next posture or whatever. Yeah.

Rae-Anna (12:25)

Yeah, I think that is exactly it. you know, running is so methodical. It's one foot in front of another foot in front of the other foot. It's not a dance routine. I mean, you can change your pace, your speed, you can tweak your technique, but at the end of the day, it's just like walking one foot in front of the other foot. And that is so primal, so methodical.  the grounding action of your foot hitting the pavement and that vibration coming up through your body, that ⁓ helps to reset the vagal nerve to stimulate it, reset it, calm it down. It just has a real calming effect. And that is something that you're not necessarily gonna get while you're trying to load the dishwasher, change the nappies think about what's for tea, reply to your emails, all those things. They're not there when you're running.

Sarah Bolitho (13:29)

It's just freedom. Freedom for your mind, yeah. So you said it was, what was it about the running group in particular? Because I mean, you could have just said to your neighbour, let's go for a run. What was it about having the group that made it different?

Rae-Anna (13:30)

Freedom. Yeah, that's a great question. Well, first of all, I already knew the instructor, I'd been to some aerobics classes in one of my many bids to lose weight. So I liked the instructor. But also it really appealed to me that it was a woman's only group because of my body image. I felt uncomfortable to be around men that to, you know, the way my body bounces when I move, it felt uncomfortable to be doing that I felt that I mean, obviously this is a generalization but I am slower than a man, know, to say women are slower than men, that's a massive generalization but you know what I'm saying, my male counterparts will be faster than me because you know, the way that men's muscles are and things like that and so to have an unfit overweight man at the group, and he would still be faster than me very quickly. Very quickly.

Sarah Bolitho (14:44)

Yeah. And that's something, again, that I think a lot of people, you know, they are afraid of not keeping up in whatever reason. And I think when it's, you know, if you've got a specific group, group of women, I mean, and I know there are lots of men's groups that support each other as well. It isn't just about this, but sometimes it's just that kind of, they won't leave me behind. Whereas sometimes in a mixed group, naturally the faster ones go off ahead. But...

Rae-Anna (14:52)

All right.

Sarah Bolitho (15:13)

Did you find that there was a little bit more, you know, there was always someone with you, was always someone kind of...

Rae-Anna (15:18)

Yeah, I mean, my neighbour who I'd gone with, she was wonderful. She could have gone faster than me, but she always ran with me. She was like a gazelle kind of floating along the pavements. ⁓ And I was more like coyote ugly. ⁓ But she stayed with me all the time, which was a huge morale booster. The pack did really split off actually. are fast women. they were women who maybe were getting back into something that they were already quite comfortable with. But this is I've never run this distance. I dabbled with trying to run before, I had never run five kilometres ever, not never run a solid five kilometres. So if you don't already know you can do that, you are learning that as well. Whereas there'll be some people at that group who already knew that they have being capable of running five kilometres, maybe 10, maybe a half marathon, and they're getting back into it. So they've already got this confidence of, I've done this before. I didn't have that. Mine was absolutely the unknown. And I was scared that I'd get left behind. I was scared that I'd be too out of puff to keep going. But my need, my want, desire, to become a healthy weight was greater than that fear. And it wasn't until it became greater than that fear that I could move myself into taking that action.

Sarah Bolitho (16:52)

And that's a really, really important point is it's kind of, there's got to be a value on what you are trying to do that outweighs the kind of the value or the ease of staying where you are. There's a point, isn't there, where you just think, cannot stay here anymore. know, however much it hurts, however it feels, actually doing something about it, however hard it is, is much more valuable to me than staying where I am.

Rae-Anna (17:07)

Yeah.

Sarah Bolitho (17:21)

And that point is different for everybody, isn't it? For some people, it's a real snap moment. Right, that's it, I'm gonna do it. I'm just thinking of a friend of mine who fell in love, husband smoked, and she said, I'm sorry, I can't go out with someone who smokes. And he never had another cigarette because he wanted to be with her more than that. But for others, something like giving up smoking is a months, years, lifetime long process. it's when you hit that moment.

Rae-Anna (17:40)

Wow.

Sarah Bolitho (17:51)

It's having the right thing in place to support you rather than going, this is really, really important to me, but I don't know what to do. It's, this is important to me. I'm going running because I've got this group. So it's, it's, it is like a jigsaw, isn't it? You've got to have the right pieces in the right place at the right time in order to really make those changes. Because behavior change, and I say this on all my courses, and if you've listened to my courses, you'll have heard me say this. Behavior change is not rocket science It is way more complicated than that, way more complicated because you've got emotions involved. Rocket science is, you know, facts. Behaviour changes emotions.

Rae-Anna (18:27)

All environment. You know, like I say, I tried so many times to shift the weight that was on my body. And I would do the things like, right, I'm never going to eat another chocolate bar again. And by 11. I had a sugar craving. So I ate it, you know, there was, and none of those attempts were fails. Every single attempt taught me something. And that every single fail failed attempt, even though they're not fails, failed attempt just for, you know, generic wording.

Sarah Bolitho (19:03)

Everything that didn't work, every attempt that didn't work out the way you'd hoped. It's not a fail.

Rae-Anna (19:07)

Yes, yes. Every attempt that didn't get me to where I wanted to go, it taught me a lesson and it gave me determination as well to try again. And it taught me that I wasn't a quitter, that I could keep trying again. I did get knocked down, but I got up again.

And this was another of those attempts. And I could not, like I say, I'd done this same group twice before. I didn't know this was going to work, but I was determined to give it another go.

Sarah Bolitho (19:51)

this was again this is something that I mean the first time you ran it was probably I can't do this it's too hard and yet you do it what is it particularly with the group that you think no I'm gonna give it another go and I'll give it another go because it's not like you go out start running and go whoa I'm good at this it's kind of like my goodness this hurts I can't get the breathing right it's I can't go fast I can't go far but there's what was it that kept you going with this what was it that this attempt was the one that that you're stuck with.

Rae-Anna (20:23)

So definitely my neighbour who I went with was a huge part of that success. The other women who you speak to when you realize their stories or why they're there, or the fact that people are rooting for you as well, they want you to do well. They don't want you to fall off and not complete it. They say, well done if you've completed that section. That really helped to keep me on track. Yeah.

Sarah Bolitho (20:56)

Yeah. And is this why, you know, I know you've, you've actually organized and run running groups yourself. ⁓ and I know we have a mutual acquaintance who's done your running group and things and it is a runner. And so is this what made you go on and set up groups for women who want to run together?

Rae-Anna (21:14)

Yes, that's a funny story actually. because I'd completed the Couch to 5K with this amazing instructor and my wonderful neighbour, ⁓ people were asking me how had I shifted the weight. And I said, I did this course with this woman just in the village next door. I said, I'll find out the next time she's doing a group. So I messaged her and I said, when's your next running group? And she said, there's not going to be one.  She said, I've got nodules and I can continue to do my exercise classes indoors with a mic, but I can't teach any outdoor exercise classes now. And I was thinking, ⁓ my gosh, this life-changing thing that I've accessed. I have to go back and tell all these people, sorry, I don't know anyone who does it. And so I went back to the mums who had asked me, because at that point my eldest had just started school. So we all saw each other really regularly on school drop-offs and pickups. You know, everyone's on the school run at that point. And I said, look, I am not qualified in anything, but if you want, I'll lead us. And 14 women started that couch to 5K with me and 14 women completed it.

Sarah Bolitho (22:35)

Wow. Gosh, that must have been such a moment for you to pause and say, do know what? I am extraordinary.

Rae-Anna (22:47)

that it was, it was an incredible feeling. And I, it was such an incredible feeling that I decided there and then that I would go and find out how to be a running leader. And I found this course, which is called leader in running fitness. It was I think a two day course over a weekend that all over the country, leader in running fitness or love as they call it with ⁓ UK athletics or England athletics.

and you become a registered run leader. And you can teach beyond 5K, you can lead running groups, but that inspired me to do that because I loved it so much. one of the biggest kind of feelings of achievement was we were about to go into the last week, which was when, you know, you run five kilometers and there was a lady who had been at the back of the pack each and every week. I always, when I'm with the group, I always run at the back of the pack because the people at the front, they're flying, they're loving it. They're excited, they're exhilarated. And I don't need to show anybody how fast I am because for me it's never been about how fast I am. So I always run with the people at the back because for me it's about helping people to achieve something they didn't think they could. They maybe hoped they could, but not necessarily believed they could.

So was running at the back with this lady and her friend who had stayed with her by her side. And on the last week I said, right, you're coming to group tomorrow. And she said, no, Rayanna, don't think I'm coming tomorrow. And I said, what, why not? And she said, come on, let's be honest. I'm not gonna get round that whole loop, that five kilometers. And I said, it doesn't matter. Just show up anyway and we'll go the shortcut.

I said, we'll let everyone else do the 5k loop. We'll cut the same bit off and we'll run the same lap that we did last week. And she said, are you sure? And I said, I am positive. And it was getting that person to come to that last week to show that I had faith in them, to show that they were not a burden, but an asset to the group and for them to show up and to complete that.

They then went on to complete their five kilometres. They just didn't do it the same week as everybody else. And that doesn't matter.

Sarah Bolitho (25:18)

I think that's what's so important, isn't it? Is having somebody who gets you, who gets that sometimes you just need to be told, do you know what? We'll take the shortcut. Sometimes it's, you can do this, I'll be with you. Sometimes it's, go on, run off ahead, fly, fly my pretty, fly. A little bit of a wicked reference there for some of you. But it's, you know, and I think this is where people sometimes don't achieve what they set out to achieve and it isn't because they can't, it's because they haven't got that that kind of little voice on their shoulder saying you can and having

Rae-Anna (25:56)

Yeah. And also because you think you have to do it in a timeframe, but whose timeframe is that? You know, it was a, I think it was a eight week, nine week course. was an eight week course that I initially did. Um, and since then, when I run with people, I make it 12 weeks. And that is because I was finding that people were completing their couch to 5k in nine weeks.

I was absolutely shocked at how many people then just stopped running. Like they'd achieved the goal. Okay, done that now and they stopped. So I made the program for my runners 12 weeks long because once you have completed your 5k, you need to make that habit. I am a 5k runner and I run it three times a week. And it doesn't, as I say, it doesn't need to be on somebody else's timeframe. If you need the 12 weeks to reach your 5k, that is just as valid as somebody who's managed it by week five.

Sarah Bolitho (26:30)

Really? 

Yeah, and this is it as well, isn't it? We're all different. We all have different bodies. We've all got different levels of fitness. We've all got different, sorry, physiology, the way our bodies actually work. People have different stride lengths and there's so many different things going on that it's not like we're all starting here, we're all finishing here together. It's we will all get there in our own time. And I think that for me, if they're all doing it, if some are doing it in nine, but they're still

It's those three weeks that are going to start to create the joy of running for the sake of running rather than for the sake of achieving the 5k. Because you're right, sometimes we have a goal in mind and when we hit it, we stop. But actually, the goal is to run the 5k. The next steps are to actually start to run for the joy of running or to keep running for the joy of running. ⁓

Rae-Anna (27:39)

Yeah. Absolutely that, absolutely. And the joy of running is huge. The chemicals that it releases, it's a natural dopamine here. My mental health, I did not realize how much running would ⁓ have an effect on that.

So I started to run for my physical health to shift the body weight and it worked, it happened. But the effect it had on my mental health was huge. My self confidence grew. I felt more confident, more comfortable in my own skin and my own body. Had more faith in my body. We're like, wow, look what my body can do. I, yeah, I had this self-esteem that I hadn't had before where I felt like I could put on some running clothes and I didn't look like I was just putting on some running clothes but I wouldn't be able to get anywhere. I felt like I, I felt like I belonged in this new body and in this new community.

Sarah Bolitho (29:08)

That's something that people often say, isn't it? Whether it's running or any kind of exercise or things like that is a lot of people start with a fixed image of the body they want in mind. I will be this weight, I will be this size, I will be this shape. But actually once they start to realize what their body can do, it changes from this is how I'm celebrating the way my body looks to I'm celebrating the way my body works.

Rae-Anna (29:34)

Right, exactly that.

Sarah Bolitho (29:35)

And I think once you let go of the image, if you like, you once you let go of the image of your body, your body image changes. It becomes more positive because you think I'm going to write that down. Yeah, I'm to write that down. That's going to the tagline for this episode. But it's something that the way you view your body changes, you appreciate it for what it does rather than how it looks. And once you do that,

Rae-Anna (29:44)

Yes, do!  Absolutely that.

Sarah Bolitho (30:04)

It's almost like actually the way it looks changes. It's a weird, it's a weird thing, isn't it? It's a weird thing.

Rae-Anna (30:09)

Yeah, it is absolutely that and you know, it does change how it looks, you know, the muscles change in your body. And with running, one of the amazing, wonderful things about running is if you are running regularly, three times a week, 5k three times a week, let's say, then the rest of your days, you are still burning more calories because that muscle is burning the calories throughout your week.

Sarah Bolitho (30:43)

Also, if your muscles are stronger, there's a little bit more force going through your bones. you're benefiting as well as the running, benefiting your bones, the fact that your muscles are stronger benefits your bones. So win, win, win. Yeah.

Rae-Anna (30:53)

Yes, and that the impact that you have when you're running, that also strengthens the bones. you know, as women, as we age, osteoporosis is a very real threat, a very real threat. And that impact of running actually is really supportive. It kind of sends a signal to keep your bones healthy. It tells your body, we still need those. And you keep producing what you need to produce in order to keep that bone healthy for longer.

Sarah Bolitho (31:25)

So, you know, what would your advice be to any women out there? I mean, obviously there are men's running groups as well and this advice would apply equally to men. We just happen to be talking specifically about your experience. What would be your advice about women who are listening and thinking, gosh, I actually like, I want to do the counts to 5k, but I can't do it on my own. I just don't stick with it. What would be your advice about finding a group?

Rae-Anna (31:32)

Yeah, that's a great question. There are, it's not an easy answer because you know, I couldn't have predicted that my neighbour would have been the person that I didn't think to myself, I'm going to join this running club and this neighbour is going to come with me and we're going to run together three times a week for two years. You cannot predict that, but you can take the positive steps towards finding that community. So,  you know, first of all, decide if you want to run, decide that you're going to do it. And I always say you do not need all the gear. You need a supportive bra and a supportive pair of trainers. That's all you need and you can get started. And you're old joggers. It really doesn't matter. You do not need to look any sort of part. And then start talking about it. You know, I said to the neighbour, I'm going to go to running group. Would you like to come put it out there? Say to your friends, I'm going to start it. That can feel quite uncomfortable, but just telling people you're going to do it actually gives yourself some more accountability as well, because you think, okay, people are going to be watching me now. Am I going to get this thing done? But it also gives people the opportunity to say, do you know what? I've been thinking I want to do that for ages. Or it gives somebody to say, do you know what? My friend so-and-so is doing that. I could set you up. You might not know so-and-so. You might never have met so-and-so, but so-and-so might be your accountability buddy for two years. You just don't know. There are, by having the conversation with people on the school run, know, at least a year before I knew anything about it, one of the school mums had a WhatsApp group where she was setting running challenges. And since 2020, I have been part of that running group. And the wonderful thing about

Well, the wonderful thing about running is it is absolutely so versatile, but this running group, because it was in lockdown, you couldn't run with anybody. You were not allowed to meet up with anybody. You were allowed out for your specific allocation of time every day, but you were not allowed to meet up with anybody. Yet we had a running group and that worked because she would put up challenges like, how far can you run today?

⁓ or she would do, and she still does this now, this group's still going six years later and this running group is still going super strong. ⁓ and it's not a paid running group. is a group run for fun by a wonderful, a wonderful fellow mom who, who just loves the community and is so community spirited. ⁓ and she might say, ⁓ okay, now it's summer bingo and she might put up a grid of bingo and it will, like one of the grids will be run past sheep.

Rae-Anna (34:34)

One of it will be run past a point of interest. One of it will be run over a body of water. And so you tick off the squares and then you are part of this running group, this running community, but you're running by yourself. But you're checking in and saying, I've run today and everyone's going, well done. I mean, right now we're in a challenge. We're in something which she calls the accumulated challenge. and we're split off into teams. This group's grown so much since I joined it. There's now over 30 of us. And at the minute we've got three groups of 10 who were all part of this challenge. And each team is competing to run the most amount of kilometers as a group. And half time we tell each other where we are. So, but other than that, it's all completely secret. You're in your team. You have you like break out WhatsApp groups. You have a different team leader each time. I happen to be a team leader of one of the groups this time. And you say, how are we doing team? Who's running today? And you've got this amazing community group feeling and this accountability that's holding you super strong and encouraging you to get out and giving you something to be part of that's bigger than just yourself. But still I'm a solo runner.

Rae-Anna (35:59)

So the flexibility that gives me where I don't have to be at certain time somewhere, a certain place. So I guess that's really something that you need to ask yourself when you're looking for a run community. Are you looking for something that gives you a certain time and a certain place to be? Like, do you know that you can run Monday evenings at half past seven? Because that's how I started. And that worked for me because I had young children. So I was at home with them during the day, particularly the youngest my husband was at work. So a daytime run wouldn't have worked for me. So it was an evening group when he could be at home with the children. Now my children are older. For me, I am my work is flexible, my working hours are flexible for me, it's the school run, and then I run. So you'll need to have the group, the accountability that works for you for your schedule, there might be times of the day where you run and you feel more able to run and there'll be times where you feel more fatigued. So now I actually feel quite fatigued to run in an evening. So first of all, decide that you're going to run. Second of all, tell people about it. And thirdly, join what's right for you. Because what is right for your friend who goes to run club might not be the same for you who wants the village group.

Rae-Anna (37:26)

And run clubs are amazing. You know, I see people achieve fantastic times and fantastic distances and that they are incredible and inspirational, but actually that's not what I want or need in my running. I need a consistent practice that keeps my physical health healthy, keeps me at a physical healthy way and keeps my, my brain getting the mental health benefits that it needs on a consistent daily weekly pattern. So ask yourself what are you running for you running because you want to achieve a particular distance maybe you know you used to run as a in your younger days and then you think you know I really want to give myself a challenge I'm booking into a half marathon ⁓ and that's another way of doing it of course book yourself into a an event.

If you book yourself into an event, you will then have to create yourself an action plan of getting there. So there's ways of creating accountability for yourself with your joining a group that's paid, joining a group that meets at a certain time, joining a group that just gives you ⁓ like a competitive ⁓ accountability and determination. you have entered an event, whether you're running with somebody you don't want to let down like a friend or a neighbour. There are so many different ways you can do it. And if one way hasn't worked for you, don't give up, try a different way.

Sarah Bolitho (39:06)

And I think that's the message that is really coming across from you is just because something doesn't work, it's not a failure. It's just that didn't work for me. I'm going to try something else now. And, you know, if you think about it, when we think about food, if you some people don't like Brussels sprouts, they don't think, oh, my God, I failed. I failed vegetable test. They just think that they're not for me. I'm going to stick with this.

Rae-Anna (39:18)

Yeah or even cook the Brussels sprout a different way, you oven bake it, it's a totally different taste.

Sarah Bolitho (39:32)

Exactly, Exactly.

But this is the thing, I think we're too quick to fail, instead of saying, tried that, it didn't work, tick for actually success in that I realize it didn't work and I'm moving on to something that will. And I think...

Rae-Anna (39:39)

Right.  Exactly that.

And even with the types of running that you do, there's such running is just so versatile, so diverse. You know, are you a track runner? Are you a road runner or pavement runner? Are you a cross country runner? You know, there are so many different ways you can run so many, so many different mindsets towards running, you know, up for me, I'm because I'm a wellbeing runner, I run with a wellbeing focus. So when I'm running, I'm looking for the plants that are different colours. I'm looking at the trees and the way the leaves are changing. I'm a slower, gentler pace because I'm using it for my wellbeing. And I will use that as part of my mindfulness practice. Maybe you're somebody who wants to increase your speed. So you're doing,

Sarah Bolitho (40:24)

Yeah.  Lovely.

Rae-Anna (40:45)

like there's a particular style called FARTLEK training and you

Sarah Bolitho (40:49)

Yeah, those of that aren't familiar, it's Swedish for speed play.

Rae-Anna (40:56)

There you go, and you can just play with your run then. So you might say to this lamppost, I'm gonna run as fast as I can, but then from this lamppost to that bush, I'm going to just run at my ordinary pace. And you can do that to slow yourself down as well. If you're not getting to your end of your 5K, because you're going too fast, you say, you know what, I'm gonna go extra slow from this bush to that lamppost.

Sarah Bolitho (41:20)

Yeah  and it is it's I think it's something that a lot of people would like to run but there's a competitiveness sometimes that puts people off they want to run like you for time out for well-being just almost meditative running and it's a way of okay while I'm running everything else is just out there it's still out there but it's not here right now and that's really important.

Rae-Anna (41:44)

It's all right.

Sarah Bolitho (41:46)

Thank you so much for talking about that, especially the fact that your journey has been so personal to you, but also so inspirational. You really are inspirational because you've overcome a lot and you talk about it, which is hopefully there'll be someone listening that thinks, do you know what, maybe I'll give it a go and it will change their lives in the way it's changed yours, which is amazing. So just tell us a little, I'm going to get you back to talk about light language because we haven't got time, but tell us a little bit about whole health and fitness.

Rae-Anna (41:56)

Thank you.

So, whole health and fitness, as you say, it's totally born from my own experience and it has shifted with my experience over the years. So it started as my run leader skills, as part of my run leader skills. So I was leading a couch to 5K group for women. I was running one-to-one with women.

And then it developed and I created a program called the 12 Week Lifestyle Reset Program. And that started incorporating other elements because it wasn't the end of my mental and physical health journey when I learned to run. It was the start of something. It was the start of something. And I won't go into it now, but there were some hard times that as part of that journey. And then I discovered more things. So the 12 week lifestyle reset program that incorporated a yoga practice, a meditation practice, a mindful run, and a nutrition element as well, which was all about ⁓ like beautiful, mindful eating, no diet plans, no calorie counting, just what can I eat, not what can't I eat. So it went into those areas as well and had a standalone nutrition program as well called the Be in the Know Nutrition Program, which I worked very closely with a fantastic bank registered, qualified nutritionist to create that with. And I always say, if I can cook something, anyone can. She taught me to cook some beautifully healthy, delicious dishes. And it all started with chocolate because I said to her, I love chocolate. I'm a chocoholic. And she said, if you get the right percentage, chocolate is a super food. And I said, you had me at hello. And so that's what it went into and developed into. And it's going to keep growing and keep developing. And, ⁓ now it's really my platform for my wellbeing advocacy as well. So as I have my YouTube channel, which has got my happy, healthy hacks on, and really that is all little snippets of things I've learned over time, things I've adopted, incorporated that have helped me with my mindset, my mental health, my physical health, my overall wellbeing, and been sustainable, helped me to sustain it now for over 11 years.

Sarah Bolitho (45:01)

And that's just amazing. And people can find you at wholehealthandfitness.com and what's the name of your YouTube channel? dotco.uk. Sorry, I will make sure it's the right one in, just change that now. I will make sure it's the right one ⁓ in the links. Typical me, just assuming. Where's your, what's your YouTube channel?

Rae-Anna (45:08)

wholehealthandfitness.co.uk

That is called, I believe, Whole Health and Fitness. No, I'd have to tell, I'm going to have to send you the link on that one. Yes, have a double check. Because I'm sure they put numbers at the end of your, it should just be called Whole Health and Fitness or like on Instagram, I'm Whole Health and Fitness HQ. So it has the headquarters at the end of it. And the and is always an and, it's never an ampersand.

Sarah Bolitho (45:33)

⁓ I'll double check it and I will make sure it's right here. Yeah, I know, mine's...

Brilliant. Well, Rayanna, thank you so much for coming in to talk to us because, you know, your story is so inspirational. And like I say, you know, there may well be people listening who think, do you know what? Maybe I can do this. And yeah, absolutely. You can do this. If you want more information, as always, get in touch with me, get in touch with Rayanna. 

Rae-Anna (46:07)

Yeah, and they're right, they can.

Sarah Bolitho (46:21)

Thank you for listening to Creative Active Lives with Sarah Belyso. That's me and with my guest this week, Rheanna Wright. And join me each week or at the moment, it's kind of every two or three weeks for more on how to create safe, sustainable, but most importantly, enjoyable activity in your lives. Thank you very much and we will see you soon.