Meet FRÉ Ambassador Ruth Steel, Yoga Instructor & Mom-to-be

@ruthsteel_
youtube.com/ruthsteel

About me: I was born in Grantham and live in Northampton. I'm easy going and approachable. I try to be as inclusive as I can with yoga.

My fitness journey

I started working as a fitness instructor in Greece, in 104℉ degree heat. I would do 8 classes per day, 6 days a week. It was nuts. I really threw myself into the deep end after losing my mom to cancer in 2015. A year down the line I realized I had been pushing my body nonstop and ignoring my mental health and that I was approaching a meltdown. This is where yoga came in.

I started yoga for myself, but it turned out I was a natural at teaching it. I've now been teaching yoga since 2017. I’m currently self-employed and will be teaching online classes on moviing.co. I teach Vinyasa, restorative and pregnancy yoga. But right now, I've taken a step back, because I'm 34 weeks pregnant.

Fitness tip

I used to work in gyms, but I prefer working in yoga studios or one-on-one. It's a mindset thing. In gyms, people tend to workout with a purely aesthetic goal in mind. Often, they are punishing their body rather than loving their body. My biggest tip is whatever movement you do—have a goal that is deeper than aesthetic. Move for your mental health or move to feel alive; find a reason to be active that is meaningful to you.

Find a reason to be active that is meaningful to you.

Life during Covid-19

The past year has been interesting. Leading up to the pandemic, I was experiencing feelings of distance and loss of connection from those I care about. I think these feelings were due to us living in Scotland and working in social media for the last year. I love social media for many reasons, but it does encourage our world to be disconnected from the physically present part of life. At the end of the day, you can’t put a price on community and the energy of yoga is different in in-person classes.

Tips for resilience

Meditation and mindfulness have been so useful for me personally with my mental health struggles. I was used to practicing both before the pandemic and they've also been useful with pregnancy. It's about doing nothing with our time or activating our imagination though this can be difficult without a sense of community. Getting involved in online programs and having an accountability buddy can help.

Skincare

My skin is quite dry and sensitive, and I had eczema as a child. Sometimes, I have a flare up, but not since I started using FRÉ. When I did my 300 hour yoga training in Thailand, it was very humid which made my skin drier than ever, so using FRÉ really helped. Throughout my pregnancy, I've had more breakouts than usual. I use PURIFY ME and DETOX ME a lot to combat the blemishes. I love PURIFY ME; it's moisturizing and doesn't dry out my skin.

I love PURIFY ME; it's moisturizing and doesn't dry out my skin.

My daily routine

In the morning, I use PURIFY ME, and then I use a facial mist, either I AM JOY or REFRESH ME. After hydrating my face, I apply GLOW ME which evens out my skin. I use 100% Organic Argan Oil every night and my husband uses it in his beard, too!

Rapid Fire:

• Favorite exercise? A trusty downward dog
• What does sweat mean to you? Moving and releasing energy
• What comes to mind when you think of FRÉ? Community
• What are you most excited about in life right now? Having a baby. I'm also scared!
• What’s something you’d still love to learn? I love to learn anything new, but I always still think of myself as a student of yoga.
• If you were a hashtag, what would you be? #grateful
• What is your mantra? “For a positive person, anything is possible.”
• What’s the best advice that you’ve ever received in your life? You are enough.
• What is an issue that you wish we spoke about more often? Mental health, especially because suicide rates have been increasing during the pandemic.
• What does women’s empowerment mean in 2020? To me, it means being your own cheerleader and best friend as well as being there for the women around you.
• What are your dreams for the FRÉ community? To keep welcoming new members and to have more active users, so that FRÉ can keep giving back to the women who harvest argan.