YesTribe Weekly: Walk it off

What a beautiful week on the Tribe – so many new members joining, everyone saying hello, sharing their photos of where they are and making friendly acquaintances straight away! Great stuff and so positive.

You’ve all seemed to have been enjoying the benefit of nature on our doorsteps by getting out and about this past week – many of you guys posted that you had been walking and cycling in some wonderful places!

How nice it is to get outside, be mobile, and breathe in the fresh air – I believe that going for a walk is both an adventure and a remedy. When we take ourselves outside, I think we naturally feel better.

One member said about her walk with a fellow YesTriber;

“We talked adventures and ideas what we could do next as part of the Yes Tribe and enjoyed the delights of the wildlife singing to us and the beautiful turquoise water of the river Arun”

What a perfect example of the benefits of getting out for a walk, especially with a friend!

Sometimes when I have a low day, getting myself out for a walk is guaranteed to release the feelings of anxiety or stress, and is my little quick getaway when I need it. I just walk, breathe in the fresh air and breathe out my busy thoughts – and however silly it sounds, those low feelings seem to just release into the clouds and get carried away. My top tip? Take some cake for the journey!

Natural remedy

Slacking off

One of our members posted that she had tried her hand (well, foot…) at slacklining this week! Grace’s video of her walking and balancing on a slackline was awesome and received a big response from other members who loved it! Some wanted to give it a go, and some wanted to dig out and dust off their own slacklines again! 

From what I understand, slacklining requires a lot of focus and good practice. Things like that can easily put you off and make you want to give up. I can often feel defeated when I try to achieve certain things, but if we were all immediately great at everything then we’d lose out on the fun of the journey – the challenges and learning, the laughs in between, the joy of progress, and the final feeling of ultimate pride when you do achieve that new skill!

I’m not the most patient person when it comes to myself, but it’s always easier to try something new with the help of friends, and here in the YesTribe you have plenty! 

Dream on

I loved one of the posts this week from a lady who had sketched her ‘dream life’ vision! This is a brilliant way of envisioning the life you want and we should all give it a go at some point. Rachel’s post brought around questions of what motivates us and what our dream visions would be like. 

What would your dream life vision look like?

We all love to dream, so if you were to put pencil to paper and sketch out a little vision from your head, what would it be like?? It’s healthy to think about what you want from life and the future, so maybe if you put this into an image then it would make those dreams seem more real and more importantly, possible.

Be like Gran

In relation to our abilities to dream and achieve, there was an absolutely outstanding video shared of one of our member’s taking his 99 year-old gran rock climbing! Tim had persuaded his gran (aka Spider-Gran!) to say yes to giving her best shot at climbing with him, and she did it!

When asked what she wants to do for her 100th birthday, Tim’s life-loving Gran stated that she’d quite like to do a skydive!

Age should not stop you from trying new things, and neither should much else either! As you get older I bet your dreams do not disappear, right? So neither should your opportunities. Don’t let something like age stop you from doing something you’ve always wanted to try, and if you need a little advice and encouragement? Well, you know where to find it…

YesTribe Weekly: Inside Out

Some of you shared some photos of a real need to bring the outdoors indoors this week – we saw some very clever little setups of miniature toy people travelling about in some home-made ‘outdoor’ settings! Bringing those places we can’t get to closer to home, and on an entirely different scale! 

I naturally love the outdoors and I can feel a little claustrophobic if the natural lighting is low indoors during the day – my mum thinks I’m a little strange for constantly turning the lights on when it’s ‘not even dark’, and my partner battles with the fact that I MUST have the curtains open first thing in the morning until the very last trickle of light has disappeared at night! I think a lot of people need to have the connection to the outdoors and nature to feel better in their mental state, and it’s pretty clear that many of you do too. 

Sitting in the conservatory, looking out to the garden and the grey skies, listening to the rain on the roof – I came here to enjoy the outside, inside, while I write. Despite the dull yet natural light and the ‘miserable’ weather, I find it very refreshing! 

After reading over some of my notes from this week’s YesTribe posts, I got the vibe that many of you are craving that same ‘refreshing’ feeling…

It’s all in your head

There has been a lot of talk amongst us this week of questioning your current path or finding/creating a new one. 

One lady opened up to the group about the fact that she has decided to build her own business, and the sense of achievement she felt just from making that decision. 

Alison’s post (https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10159408341934179&set=gm.1466002960249794) showed that by simply shifting your mindset from, “I’d love to do that” to, “I am going to do this”, makes a big difference in how you feel, and is the first simple step to getting you started on that path you’ve always wanted to walk down. As Alison said – you will feel you have achieved something just by changing something in your head.

Many of us are looking for new horizons

Another member also spoke about how she’d been questioning her path for months, before finally taking the first step in making a change. In Alessandra’s post she shared her belief that doing what you love can pave the way for everything else, but that we can also often face difficulties when trying to follow our hearts.

I can relate to this completely. Feeling stuck in no-man’s land when it comes to what is priority and what is important to you personally, finding the balance, and often thinking you’re the only one who feels stuck, while everyone else appears to know exactly what path they’re on and are confidently skipping down it while you’re still trying to figure out which way up the map is!

What is it they say? One day, or day one…you decide. We all have ideas and dreams in our heads – if you followed your head and your heart, where would you go? What would you do? What is possible? You may think all this stuff needs or deserves to be on the back burner when actually, if you combed through all your piles of lists and ideas, you may find something that is indeed possible.

Adventurous souls

I think we can all agree that we all have a little soft spot for adventure…okay a massive soft spot! Maybe even a little obsession?!

You guys have had a big case of itchy feet recently and have been trying to incorporate adventure into your everyday lives, which is undoubtedly a great way to be! I think it’s safe to say we all need it right now.

One lovely lady has set herself a mission of having ‘an adventure a day’ – sometimes this means walking barefoot in the rain, sometimes it means having a little self-made spa day at home! Ola’s daily acts have been reminding us that adventures come in all shapes and sizes. 

Another lady put her life in your hands by asking for your adventure ideas to throw in a hat, from which she would randomly pick a couple to go ahead with! We also had someone asking for some suggestions on how to shake things up a bit when feeling stuck in a rut trying to keep things adventurous with her 2-year-old.

You see, we all have that need for adventure in what becomes everyday life, and sometimes we need a little help in keeping the dust off our souls – something to keep life exciting and keep us on our toes! 

Incredible beach art

We had an incredible photo from one of our members this week who had managed to create a giant pattern in the sand on a beach…using just a rake and some rope!! I was amazed at what he’d done, and it did make me think; if this man can go out for a stroll and make a piece of art like that with just some basic things from the back of the shed, then I think we can all make something beautiful with what we have.

YesTribe Quiz Questions

Everyone loves a pub quiz - what an awesome way to have a laugh with your friends, family and colleagues over a video call and who knows - you might even learn something! But maybe you’ve never put one together or written the questions before. Seems like too much work, right?!

Well Quizmasters, have no fear! YesTribe Hampshire Leader Gilo Ward has done all the hard work for you - click on the links below to download question and answer sheets for a mixture of games nights.

Each week during lockdown Gilo has been writing a different set of questions so once you’ve done one set, come back and there’ll be more the following week. There’s all sorts in there from True or False, General Knowledge, Music Rounds, even Who Wants To Be A Millionaire!

Enjoy and why not post on The YesTribe wall with a photo and how you got on :)

YesTribe Weekly: Birthday suit

It’s birthday week guys!! Five years of growth and bonding, and of course five years of saying that little three letter word. Just look how far we’ve come together!

This week I think everyone is mentally suited up to celebrate the 5th birthday of The YesTribe – whether you say it, think it or show it, I’m pretty sure we’re all wishing a happy birthday to the YesTribe with the feeling of gladness and appreciation in our hearts that this group exists.

The ‘19 strangers meeting under a clock’ moment is what captures my excitement every single time I hear it. When I first heard it, I thought it sounded so wonderfully adventurous, like the start of an exciting story…and of course, it totally was.

Imagine where we’d all be if Dave had decided to get out of the city on his own that weekend, or even worse – if the poor guy was left stood under the clock alone! Heartbreaking thought! Although, I believe he would have found another way to find us… 

Dave summed up this group so perfectly with his words on Friday and a couple of phrases he used really stood out for me from two different angles…

We all have an impact

The ripples of life

“Everyone in the YesTribe finds themselves as a ripple”

These words from Dave were very poetic I must say! The ripple effect is one of my favourite terms; when one person does one thing, it affects someone or something. In this case, you. All of you. 

This tribe started with one person, Dave, who threw an invite out into the universe where 19 people responded, then 25, 50…and so the ripple began. Fast-forward 5 years and it’s 13’000 and still growing – that’s a ripple into a wave!

Each one of you who has posted or commented in the tribe, offered thoughts or ideas, joined virtual or real-life events – you have sent a ripple out to at least one person, and I bet most often it has been more than just the one. Don’t ever think that you don’t have an impact!

A YesTribe group stand up paddle boarding down the Thames in 2015

We float your boat!

“Put up your sail, and we’ll be your tailwind”

As I’ve mentioned before, it can be real tough to step up and speak out in a large group, or even in a small one! So when you think of this phrase it just speaks volumes for what this group does for people.

You can put up your sail, however small you think it is and however calm you think the winds of possibility may be, and I will bet you that people in this tribe will start blowing it for you. 

With efforts to avoid a sing-song of ‘Wind Beneath Your Wings’ I guess what I’m trying to say is that when you want to say ‘yes’ to something and don’t feel you have the strength, skill, or confidence, we will be there to push you on your dreamy little way with words of encouragement, helpful ideas, and a ship full of positivity. There’s no pressure – just a kind and gentle push – and no expectations other than for you to feel supported, that your dreams feel possible, and to believe that your goals are within reach. 

So why not think about lining up all your little boats on that list we all know you have, and picking one to set sail in – because how nice it is to finally feel the boat set sail, believe me…

YesTribe Weekly: Wonderfully Wild

I often think I should keep my silly side a little on the down-low when in the company of others such as, you know, 13’000 people on social media...but it seems I have nothing to fear, going by some of the things I see shared among this group!

We had a marvellous moment this week of watching one of our members attempt to get into her hammock…and fail several times. It even made the news! Shameless, full of joy, and completely relentless – Geraldine and her hammock brought a lot of laughs for sure!

We also had someone share their ‘culinary adventure’ of peanut butter and quiche on toast…yes, you did read that right! Now I’m not sure if Jen meant her breakfast to be so silly, in fact she took it quite seriously! However, the reactions which ensued were again of laughter.

The elephant in the room

This week we had a very random request within the group; “Does anyone own an elephant costume I can borrow?!”

Who would have an elephant costume?! Well, it may have been a random request , but the lovely Esther explained that she plans to do a 100-mile walk to raise money for elephants in Thailand...dressed as an elephant! She’s definitely one of us!

Being the helpful souls that you are, the tribe stepped up with suggestions of how to make your own elephant costume. Why on earth you lot have got the knowledge, and possible experience, of dressing up as an elephant I don’t know…but my god did it make me feel at home amongst you! There was even someone who offered up their flamingo costume or zebra suit – definitely a costume enthusiast! My conclusion? You’re all as wild as each other!! Or should I say WE are all as wild as each other.

I like to dress up too sometimes, no judgement right?

Our kind of crazy

In reference to the elephant costume request, one member wrote this week;

 “One of the many things I love about this group is not only do people think doing stuff like this is totally normal…there's usually more than one person who has already done something similar.”

This couldn’t be closer to the truth. Although I’m not sure many, if any, found Jen’s quiche and peanut butter on toast normal…! You never know, some of you may even be trying out this new breakfast idea!

The truth is; being that little bit wild is normal – I truly believe that everyone has their own secret wild side and although we love to share ours with each other, others may feel more comfortable keeping it behind closed doors (dancing in front of the mirror for example...not me of course!).

So, when you enter a room of people you may feel like keeping cool calm and collected, but always know that when you enter our room full of ‘yes’ people, you have nothing to hide - we’re all a little crazy here.