Emma Sutherland

I spent the weekend bodyboarding in Cornwall earlier this month. It's my third year going back to Newquay and joining the "Women & Waves" team, because I love bodyboarding. Being in the water, catching a wave? There's no feeling like it! 1. Resistance Isn't Always a Sign You're Going the Wrong Way The first challenge wasn't catching waves. It was getting out to them. Every step into the water was met with resistance. Waves pushed back. Currents pulled sideways. Progress felt slow and...

What Pilates, recovery, and nervous system healing taught me about safety. It started in a reformer Pilates class. Four-point kneeling on a box, trying to lift one leg while keeping my hips stable and my weight level. One of those movements that looks deceptively simple until you are the one trying to do it. Ever since recovering from a herniated disc, I’ve become aware of how much strength disappeared while I was protecting myself from pain. Especially the small stabilising muscles — the...

On Saturday, I lost someone at ParkRun. That’s not a sentence I ever expected to write—especially as a tail walker. If you’ve never volunteered at ParkRun, the tail walkers are the people at the back. The safety net. The ones who make sure no one is last, because someone is always behind them. It’s a role I genuinely love. There’s just something about being there to enable others—to take the pressure off, make participation feel safe, and hold the space rather than take it. And, if I’m...