body: the power of movement with kim hartwell
Kim Hartwell lives to move. From Rock Climbing to Yoga, Boxing to Surfing, she is happiest when found colliding with natures elements. Having first met Kim at an event for The North Face, her beaming smile and love for what she does shone through whenever our paths crossed. From launch events in East London to Paragliding in the Dolomites at 6am in the morning, her commitment to her craft has shaped her name as a respected and trusted voice within her field.
With Gyms and Health Clubs currently closed, so many of us feel limited to the way that we can move so it’s time to get creative. Our favourite instructors are busier than ever and you don’t have to travel to them or wait on overcrowded class waiting lists to get in on the action. Follow Kim online and you can jump in to her world from virtual online sessions to immersive retreats. With many of us training from home currently, she offers Movement classes direct to your front room bringing direction and diversity to your workouts.
Picture credit: Tom Young
When did you first decide to build a career within fitness?
I’ve always been pretty sporty from a young age. A complete tom boy I did everything from Karate to playing Basketball for South England under sixteens. I’m annoyingly energetic so I think my Mum was smart enough to send me in the direction of sports. Even though I didn’t continue to play basketball once boys, make up and uni came along I did keep up training both at the gym and running. After uni (even though I has resisted the idea for so long) I was scouted by my agent Storm Models in London and started my modelling career.
There I became more aware of the aesthetics of “looking in shape” but never lost my love for movement. Keeping in shape for my modelling work, models naturally gravitated to me for advice on how to keep fit. It wasn’t really until I moved to New York (with my partners work) where I modelled for three years with Wilhelmina models did I start to really feel my passion for teaching come through. New York was then as it is now; a hugely competitive modelling environment. There I stepped up my training game and was super fortunate to experience developments at the forefront of the fitness industry. I met the most inspiring trainers, trained at the most forward thinking studios and continued to cement my love of health, fitness and being in that world. I joined Wilhelmina's Fitness division and worked alongside some of my idol coaches in big fitness brand shoots and campaigns like Nike, Asics and Reebok.
I was a sponge for learning (and still am), I adopted mentors in the city and eventually made the decision to want to connect my love of people and wellbeing. I studied to become a Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer. When our time had come to leave Manhattan and head back to London I knew that’s exactly what I wanted to continue doing. Since then I also trained to become a Yoga teacher; as something that has always been a pretty big influence on my life I wanted to show others how they can incorporate it into their wellbeing.
I’ve been a Personal Trainer for more than seven years and now teach yoga and movement classes which merge the disciplines of mindfulness and my learnings of body mechanics. Having always been a huge lover of the outdoors and nature, and an advocate of how that can hugely influence our well being. I now run adventure retreats across the globe under my brand Rock and Soul Adventures. With the foundations of my two greatest passions Rock Climbing and Yoga, we take our retreat guests all over the world to experience the magic and wonders of using nature as our gym. We also make use of what’s on offer away from the rocks on our down days from climbing with activities like surfing (which I’m also pretty obsessed with!).
How has it changed your life?
It honestly makes me quite emotional to think how grateful and lucky I am to be able to do my greatest passions for my work. Every day I get to work on projects and with brands that absolutely get me fired up and jumping out of bed in the morning. I love connecting to communities of clients, class and retreat goers, teachers, mentors from all walks of life and through my social media channels.
The people that I’m fortunate enough to surround myself with daily never fail to brighten my day. My career has not only had a profound impact on my livelihood in terms of my mental and physical health but also in having the ability to manage my own schedule. I’m so lucky to be able to travel and explore the world as my career and to be able to manage my own schedule between modelling, working on my own and other brand projects and teaching. It also means that I have the freedom to continue educating myself on my disciplines which is so crucial in our industry that’s always changing.
You blend so many different disciplines from rock climbing to surfing, boxing to yoga. How do they compliment one another?
It’s so fun to be able to train in different disciplines. It means that wherever you are in the world you get the amazing opportunity to use nature as your gym, which for me is ALWAYS the best (not to mention most fun) option. My passion is rock climbing and this is hugely complemented by my yoga and movement practices. The movements that we do on the rock are undoubtedly improved by the ability to control our range of motion, balance and focus that we develop in yoga. We can also help to counter common imbalances in the body caused by climbing like pushing movements vs pulling movements used when we climb, which will make us a more rounded athlete and less susceptible to injuries. I’m very excitingly actually about to launch my Yoga for Climbers course online to help people with just this. Stay tuned at RockandSoulAdventures.com
Picture credit: Tom Young
Your posts over the past few weeks have been really inspiring watching how you switched your face to face classes to online sessions. How have you found the leap? What’s changed?
Ahh that’s so kind of you to say. In all honestly I think we’re all slowly trying to navigate this wild online world. It’s something I had been meaning to do for years now so it’s definitely given me the kick I needed to do it. I’d be lying if I’d say it’s been without problems. From navigating new technologies to just changing your teaching techniques. It’s definitely been a steep learning curve (one that I’m very much still on) but I’ve been so fortunate that my community understands this. It’s been so wonderful to be able to impact peoples lives even when we’re not physically able to be together. My students have been so wonderful and receptive to both my Instagram workouts and Zoom classes. The Zooms for me are my favourite as I get to see their wonderful faces and coach them through their movements interactively. My Mum’s also taken every single one of my Zoom classes which is super cute.
““Our bodies are so much smarter than we sometimes give them credit for. They want to move but they also want to be still and tune out the noise of day to day life.””
Many of us are exercising at home right now, what can movement and yoga offer someone who is thinking about trying them for the first time?
More than any of the aesthetic benefits associated with movement and yoga, both can be hugely impactful for our mindset. I can’t overstate the profound impact it has on my mood and ability to focus. It’s so crucial for this time where our worlds have been turned upside down. I always like people to feel super included in my sessions. I honestly believe if you have a body you can start to move and flow with it. The body and more over the mind is such an incredibly powerful tool. Often being brave enough to just sign up for one class or follow along to one video can be the toughest part. Just know that no one is judging you, have compassion to yourself and your body, give yourself permission to be a beginner. You have absolutely everything to gain and nothing to lose.
For anyone that is more advanced and may be finding it difficult at home, how can they take what they are doing to the next level?
Both the beauty and the beast of the internet is that there is so much choice out there. It can be tough to know where to start, particularly if you’re used to being in a class room. The amazing thing now is that we have the ability to connect to the most inspiring teachers all across the globe, not just in our cities. I would suggest finding the teachers you love from your studios or further afield that have sparked some inspiration in you. Instagram for all its woes is full of incredible coaches, athletes and yogis. Find the ones that speak to you and to be afraid to mix things up, try new disciplines, learn new skills, it will only serve to enhance your development, both mind and body.
What are three go to exercises that you couldn’t live without?
Rock climbing. Yoga. Surfing. I honestly couldn’t care less if they make me fitter, I just really love doing them and I’m a girl that is all about the fun and enjoying the adventures of life.
If you come to my yoga classes you know that I love a Wild Thing and Skandasana. I teach a creative movement flow that takes you 360 around the body (for me it makes so much sense to work our bodies around all of the ranges, not just with a frontal dominance as seen in traditional yoga). So these are big transition moves for me. They also work wonders for opening and strengthening the hips and glutes.
Thirdly basically any single leg balance movements that strengthen your brain and body. No matter what class we are in together I will most definitely work your legs and butt. Not anything to do with how they look as a result (that’s just a nice bonus) but because particularly now as we’re more desk bound than ever, we need to keep our glutes functioning efficiently as this will impact every other move we make.
Movement is not only incredible for your body, it also has a huge impact on your mental wellbeing. How do you believe the two to be linked?
I actually think the two can’t be separated. I know if I’ve had a down day what I need is to get my body moving. It doesn’t mean smashing my body around like a mad thing, it means tuning in, listening to both the mind and body. Our bodies are so much smarter than we sometimes give them credit for. They want to move but they also want to be still and tune out the noise of day to day life. Both my Movement, Yoga and Climbing practices help me come into the present moment, tune into my mind, my body and my breath. This is what grounds me, focuses me and allows me to see the sunshine on the rainy days. The positive mindset you can get from just moving the body for even ten minutes is remarkable.
connect with kim and find out more…
visit her website: https://kimhartwell.com
& her company: rockandsouladventures.com
follow her on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimhartwell/ & https://www.instagram.com/rockandsouladventures
Join her online Zoom classes here: http://kimhartwell.com/online-classes/
Main image credit: Adam Corbett
