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Speaker 1: Hi there, friends, listeners, fans of this podcast, Well, I

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Speaker 1: hope you're a fan of this podcast called healthy Ish.

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Speaker 1: I am your host, Felicity Hawley. Of course, this is

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Speaker 1: the podcast from Body and Soul. Today we're speaking to

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Speaker 1: Elira Potter. She is a proud Yorda yoder woman, empowerment

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Speaker 1: coach and author, and she has made it well one

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Speaker 1: of her missions to inspire people of all body shapes

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Speaker 1: and sizes to work out. Today she shares how she

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Speaker 1: pushes past the mental barriers of weight stigma and how

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Speaker 1: she gets herself inside the gym or POLARATEI studio. Now,

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Speaker 1: if you do like what you hear from Elira, make

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Speaker 1: sure you're listening to Extra Healthy Ish, where she gives

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Speaker 1: us a snapshot into her daily self care rituals. Can

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Speaker 1: catch that wherever you get your podcasts, Alarah, nice to

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Speaker 1: have you back on healthy Ish. Thank you for joining

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Speaker 1: us today.

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me.

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Speaker 1: Yes, listeners, we were saying the last time we ch

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Speaker 1: had it was in Covid, so it's nice that we're

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Speaker 1: out and about and you are living in a new city.

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Speaker 1: I am.

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Speaker 2: I've moved from Geelong to Adelaide and South Australia. Oh

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Speaker 2: my gosh, it is the most underrated stage in our country.

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Speaker 2: There is so much to do here. So I'm pretty

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Speaker 2: grateful to be living in Adelaide at the moment.

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Speaker 1: Oh a new ambassador. Hey, I can see it coming.

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Speaker 2: I know if anyone's out there listening.

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Speaker 1: Now, I'm talking about fitness and exercise and movement and

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Speaker 1: the role of this in your life, Like why, why

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Speaker 1: is it important for you? And what do you do

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Speaker 1: around fitness and movement each week?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? So, I guess in terms of fitness and movement,

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Speaker 2: I mean, growing up, I always sort of use fitness

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Speaker 2: and movement as a sort of like in a negative way,

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Speaker 2: where it was to like change my body and things

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Speaker 2: like that. Whereas now as an adult, I've switched my

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Speaker 2: mindset to be like, if I don't move my body today,

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Speaker 2: health will suffer. So I have this mindset around move daily,

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Speaker 2: whether that's like a walk or a hit session or

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Speaker 2: a pilates class, because I know at the end of

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Speaker 2: that session I'm going to feel mentally refreshed and probably

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Speaker 2: balanced as well too.

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Speaker 1: Has it been a huge motivator for you, this new mindset,

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Speaker 1: I mean just getting it?

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Speaker 2: Are you?

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Speaker 1: I suppose it's a bit of a rhetorical question, but

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Speaker 1: is it easier for you to get out the door

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Speaker 1: now than it was when you used to center your

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Speaker 1: fitness around what you look like rather than how you feel.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, big time. It doesn't feel like a chore anymore

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Speaker 2: because I'm excited to go to that class or go

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Speaker 2: and just challenge my body. So I'm more motivated to

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Speaker 2: be like, yeah, I'm going to get up at this

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Speaker 2: time and I'm going to go to the gym and

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Speaker 2: that's how I'm going to start my day. So definitely

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Speaker 2: it's more of a positive mindset instead of feeling as

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Speaker 2: a negative and a chore.

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Speaker 1: What do you actually do? What are you doing at

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Speaker 1: the moment for fitness?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? So I mean, well, because I've just moved to Adelaide,

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Speaker 2: I've had to start fresh, which is kind of scary

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Speaker 2: but exciting at the same time. Time, So I've been

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Speaker 2: doing a little bit of pilates, which has been nice,

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Speaker 2: and then I've signed up to a few little hit

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Speaker 2: classes and then I genuinely do weight training. That's like

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Speaker 2: my day to day thing at the gym, just go

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Speaker 2: in their headphones on, do my little program and that's

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Speaker 2: what I love doing pretty much most days.

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Speaker 1: It's funny, isn't it? Like as an adult, like I

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Speaker 1: also get a bit nervous sometimes when I try something

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Speaker 1: new or go into a new class or a new

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Speaker 1: studio or gym, because you just you feel like a

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Speaker 1: new kid at school because you don't know where everything

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Speaker 1: is or what's going on.

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Speaker 2: Oh my god, that's exactly how it's felt it, I

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Speaker 2: said to my fiance. It feels like exposure therapy in

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Speaker 2: the sense where I kind of have no choice to

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Speaker 2: go into these classes and be like, I don't know

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Speaker 2: what I'm doing. I don't know how you're running your classes.

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Speaker 2: I don't even know the people that I'm training with.

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Speaker 2: But I've had to be like, go and do it

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Speaker 2: because it's scary, but there is space for me to

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Speaker 2: sort of step into these spaces as well too.

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Speaker 1: How is your change in mindset becoming more positive about

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Speaker 1: exercise also changed your relationship with your body?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, I guess in that sort of sense,

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Speaker 2: it's made me more accepting of my body because it's

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Speaker 2: made me realize that I'm not training to number one,

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Speaker 2: lose weight or change parts of my body. I'm just

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Speaker 2: I'm going into movement, knowing that it's a positive thing

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Speaker 2: because it's helping my brain and it's helping me sort

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Speaker 2: of stay positive, where like I said before, it just

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Speaker 2: doesn't feel like this rigorous chore.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. One thing that I love about your social

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Speaker 1: media is that you do regularly post gym selfies, PILARATEI selfies.

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Speaker 1: I think there are a few in there as well.

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Speaker 1: Why is it important for you to post these?

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Speaker 2: It is so important, I guess for me being not

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Speaker 2: only you know, a First Nations woman, but not fitting

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Speaker 2: that typical I guess wellness body size, so I hop

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Speaker 2: it between a size sixteen and eighteen, and I think

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Speaker 2: that holds a lot of women back. They think that

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Speaker 2: they need to be a certain size to step into

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Speaker 2: gyms or do a polaratees class. Where I just wanted

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Speaker 2: to be that point of difference in posts that by saying, hey,

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Speaker 2: like I'm showing up to this space as this size,

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Speaker 2: like I'm just going to give it a crack. That

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Speaker 2: there is space for other women to be able to

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Speaker 2: do that and we shouldn't hold ourselves back. So I

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Speaker 2: think that's why it's so important for me to sort

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Speaker 2: of be like, yeah, this is like a size eighteen

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Speaker 2: body on a polarates reformer, and I guess we don't

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Speaker 2: really get to see a lot of that. I think

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Speaker 2: a lot of the wellness space shows a lot of

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Speaker 2: you know, thinner women, and that's okay, but I feel

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Speaker 2: like the space needs to change in the sense of

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Speaker 2: there is other different types of bodies out there that

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Speaker 2: have the ability to be able to do these certain things,

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Speaker 2: but it's just not advertised.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh look, I think it's wonderful and I absolutely

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Speaker 1: agree with you. I think, you know, wellness has been

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Speaker 1: sold to us, as you know, dare I say, privileged

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Speaker 1: white women who are really skinny and the all different

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Speaker 1: body shapes we can see in our own classes on

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Speaker 1: social media, the better. What about anyone who's listening and thinking,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's all right for you. You have a

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Speaker 1: level of confidence to attend these classes. What's your advice

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Speaker 1: if women are struggling with that confidence to get to

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Speaker 1: the class?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean definitely, don't look at me thinking that

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Speaker 2: I have this confidence all the time, because I certainly don't.

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Speaker 2: I have moments where I actually don't enjoy training with

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Speaker 2: my partner because she's a size ten, she's six foot, blonde.

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Speaker 1: And she's beautiful. Yes, I have my moments.

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Speaker 2: Where I'm like, I'm like, oh my god, I don't

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Speaker 2: want to train with her, like that makes me feel

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Speaker 2: so uncomfortable. But I think you have to just back

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Speaker 2: yourself and just be like, this is my body. I

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Speaker 2: may not be able to change certain things, but I

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Speaker 2: just want to give it a red hot go and gosh,

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Speaker 2: if you fail in these classes, who cares? Like at

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Speaker 2: least you step into their knowing that I'm just going

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Speaker 2: to give it a crack and the confidence thing it

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Speaker 2: will come. It will one hundred percent come. But you

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Speaker 2: will have days where it feels like you're having this

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Speaker 2: constant battle with your brain to just affirm to yourself

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Speaker 2: that you just yeah, you just I don't know. I

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Speaker 2: feel like for me, it's affirmations. I have to affirm

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Speaker 2: to myself, No, you're beautiful, like yeah, you don't need

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Speaker 2: to change and things like that.

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Speaker 1: And you're worthy being here whatever shape.

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Speaker 2: You are correct.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, how are you with the old push up? How

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Speaker 1: many can can you bash out?

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Speaker 2: I mean, look, definitely, push ups are probably like my

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Speaker 2: weakest thing in the gym. It's so funny because I

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Speaker 2: have upper body strength. When it comes to lifting weights,

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Speaker 2: but when it comes to push ups, I'm like, oh,

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Speaker 2: this is a really big challenge and a big challenge

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Speaker 2: that we both know that I'm about to step into.

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Speaker 1: Yes, tell us a bit more about the Push Up

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Speaker 1: Challenge and why you're raising money for Lifeline Australia.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So I am, yeah, an ambassador for the Push

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Speaker 2: Up Challenge and Lifeline And this sounds scary, but I'm

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Speaker 2: going to be sort of for the month of June

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Speaker 2: or over that three week period, I'm going to be

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Speaker 2: taking on this challenge of three thousand, two hundred and

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Speaker 2: forty nine push ups. That is a lot, but it's Yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's to raise money for mental health charities across Australia

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Speaker 2: and raise awareness I guess for people who have sadly

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Speaker 2: lost their lives to suicides. So I'm overwhelmed by the

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Speaker 2: thought of doing that, but I know that this is

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Speaker 2: going to be such a good cause and such a

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Speaker 2: good way for me to spread those stigmas around mental

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Speaker 2: health and how we can really be kind to ourselves.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, we look forward to watching your journey roll

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Speaker 1: out on social media. Eleira, thank you for joining us

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Speaker 1: on Healthy Ish.

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Speaker 2: Thank you.

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Speaker 1: If you keen on joining Eleira in the Push Up Challenge.

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Speaker 1: It kicks off nationwide on June five. I will leave

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Speaker 1: a link to it in the show notes. I will

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Speaker 1: also leave a link to Elira's last chat on Healthy

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Speaker 1: Ish where we discuss the three types of love in

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Speaker 1: a lifetime. Anything else an know where to go bodyansoul

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Speaker 1: dot com dot You can also rate and review this podcast,

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Speaker 1: subscribe as well, and then you know exactly when we

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Speaker 1: drop a new WEP jump on our socials. Grab our

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Speaker 1: print edition which is out in your local Sunday paper,

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Speaker 1: and until tomorrow, stay healthy ish