I’m not usually that keen on going to London because it’s such a faff; I hate trains and I’m a country bum. Buuut when I got invited to the Secret London event that involved getting my hair done, Alp products and yoga on a stand up paddle board, well I was convinced!
The location of the event was a mystery until 24 hours beforehand (hence the “secret” part), though I was told it would be around Oxford Street so I could at least plan my parkrun into the equation!
It was actually really easy to get to and was set in the lovely location of Merchant Square.
I was greeted straight away by the very friendly people from Secret London and Collective Two (the organisers of the event) and shown the cool set-up they had.
I got to choose a pair of SuperDry flip flops and sipped on a delicious Alpro Berry and Coconut Smoothie while I waited to get my hair done by the guys from Headmasters.
Charlie (from TheRunnerBeans blog) and Bex (from TwinsInTrainers blog) were already getting their hair done so I went and said hi.
It was a bit like meeting the cool kids from school to be honest as their blogs are a lot more popular and known about than my iddy biddy one. They were lovely, of course.
I can’t tell you how nice it was to have someone do my hair for me. I am the girl who has my hair cut once a year and the most exciting thing I do with it is put it in plaits (braids) or a pony tail because my capability to do anything else is beyond me. We were all having braids done and in cool styles. I literally said to the hair stylist, do as you wish!
In the end it looked fantastic (if I do say so myself!). It’s definitely not a style I’d be able to recreate at home or that I’d normally choose. While we were all chatting and enjoying ourselves there was a camera crew hovering around and a photographer snapping away. It felt very glam but made me a little insecure…There I was, fresh from parkrun with no make up on. Bex and Charlie looked so effortlessly glamorous in comparison, clearly more used to this sort of thing than me!
And then we headed to the water area to begin our stand up paddle board yoga. We were all fairly nervous because there was a genuine risk of falling in. I’d brought spare clothes and a towel but still! The instructor, Jen, from Pure Yoga Zone was lovely though. And she had the most adorable little dog, Clyde, with her too (yes, he went on the SUP with her too!).
We got on board and headed out onto the main bit of the water. It was fairly windy so our SUPs clustered together but this meant we could chatter and giggle together while trying to master the yoga moves.
The yoga moves weren’t tricky at all in themselves. It was fairly ‘entry level’. But on a paddle board it was a different story. Even moving from your knees to your bum was a dodgy episode that required balance and strategic navigation.
And yet as the time went on we all became more and more confident. It required us to think carefully when doing the moves and to use our core to keep us balanced on the board.
It was actually quite a tough session! I’ve done yoga before but sometimes you can ‘sleepwalk’ through it. Despite the tranquil surroundings there was no sleeping through this session!
At the end we got our boards together in a line (no easy feat in the wind I assure you) and posed together like the yoga buffs we’d become.
Then after safely getting back onto dry land we headed for some vital refuelling (I hadn’t eaten breakfast or eaten post parkrun so I was definitely ready for food!).
We were treated to a smoothie bar that was stocked with the toppings you could imagine (OK, relatively healthy toppings you could imagine) and smoothie flavours.
I went for a berry smoothie with just about everything in it from chia seeds, to fruit, to nuts and almond butter. Delicious. Now I’m not usually a smoothie lover but I was very happy to chomp this down.
The three of us then had a little interview to talk about our session and were chuffed to hear that we sounded almost like we’d had media training with the answers we gave and our ease in front of the camera. Dahhhhhling we’re bloggers, don’t you know? This is what we do. (<—Ummm, yeah I’m about the most awkward person in life ever).
It was a fantastic experience and I fully recommend SUP yoga (and now want to go SUP’ing again asap). If you get the chance to go to a Secret London session I’d definitely give it a go. It was a fun experience. And we got lots of cool goodies to take away with us too.
You can buy tickets to these events, it wasn’t purely invite only, so keep your eyes open if this is your thing!
Have you ever been SUP’ing before?
Do you do yoga?
What’s your perfect smoothie creation?
Hi, good post! Thanks and good luck…
OMG what a super fun experience!! I’ve always wanted to go paddle boarding but Im not sure about the yoga part. Haha I would for sure fall off. And your hair is super cute!
kat recently posted…Thinking Out Loud #99 – Instagram stories, toast obsession & more
I know, same. But when I heard it was yoga I was like, “ermmm oh dear”. Hehe.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Training currently
This sounds like an awesome event! I would have been so nervous about staying upright on the paddle board though!
Your hair looks really good. I struggle with jazzing mine up for when I’m working out as basically I just want it out of my face, so tend to stick to a french plait or high ponytail, but both are fairly plain.
Mary recently posted…The Liebster Award
Luckily most of the session was on our knees or bums. We briefly stood up before sitting back down again quickly.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Training currently
I can’t believe you got to meet Charlie and Becks!! I love their blogs! If I’d have even attempted to get on that paddle board I’d have been in the water for sure! I keep seeing people posting pictures of them paddle boarding at Gosport Creek and it looks so fun but I literally have zero balance!
I’m really keen to go to Gosport and do it now! Just need to find the time while marathon training (because no doubt I’d injure myself somehow…).
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Training currently
You can rent the stuff from Andy Biggs at Gosport and apparently at the weekends over Summer they set up at the creek.
Your hair looks so pretty! I love styles like that but I have too much hair for anything really, even two plaits are so fat that they look like sheep tails.
That sup would have terrified me, I have such poor balance and am so nervous around water. We’ve been kayaking on holiday and I have just about got the nerve to inch my phone out of my pocket for a photo! Although the lakes here are so cold that if you fall in hypothermia kicks in very quickly so that’s an added worry!
Maria recently posted…London hokey-cokey
Normally I don’t really like my hair completely of my face as I don’t think I have a “strong” enough face if you know what I mean but it was a nice change.
Oh ouch yeah, avoid swimming!!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Training currently
Auwww I was already booked into a race or I would have come to this event..
I love your hair, and the whole idea/concept of these event’s is fantastic – Although, I’m not going to lie, I think I would have been the one person who fell off, its just in my nature!
wow i love your hair style , that’s a nice experience. i wish i was there, it must be so fun. nice post !!
larry recently posted…Things You Should Know When Cleaning An Outdoor Trampoline
This likes wonderful event. I love your hair style, I don’t create my hair style. Hic. Thanks for sharing.
Brad Davis recently posted…Importance of Yoga for Runners