Monthly Archives: June 2018

Woodward West Girls Week- Yoga and Kicking Off Feed The Need

After three days of crazy, non stop skating it was time to take a small break and refresh our minds and bodies with yoga.

Thanks to Bridget (aka Yoga for Skateboarders) everyone had the chance to work on partner yoga this morning.

Bridget focused on partner yoga to stress the importance of knowing that you can’t do everything alone. It’s okay to ask for help and to work with others to accomplish your goals. Positivity grows when we work together.

Once we got into the groove things started to get wild!

Head stands had their own personal twists.  Above someone knows the advantage of a Triple8 helmet and 187 Pads when doing handstands and below a personal touch headstand.

With our stretching complete and our minds cleared, we were ready to go skate.  I’ve always thought of skateboarding as rolling yoga because balance is key in both and both have the ability to clear your minds and put you in the zone.

Later in the afternoon everyone had the opportunity to learn about and participate in Feed the Need 2018 Tour

The Skate Rising “Feed the Need 2018 Tour” brought to you by @tactics will give girls in five cities the opportunity to understand needs in their community, commit to kindness (anti-bullying message), build 1K supply kits for the homeless and take part in skate clinics run by @stompsessions ❤

Staff and campers came together to build kits for the homeless.

Kits consisted of granola bars, socks, a toothbrush and toothpaste, other snacks, and a note.

Over 50 kits were made with love here at Girls Week Woodward West!

Skate Rising’s purpose is to develop girls by showing them

Compassion through service and empowerment through skateboarding.

I love that the girls not only learn about homelessness, but are given the opportunity to do something about it.  Knowing a problem exists is certainly the beginning but doing something about the problem leads to a solution.

Thank you to everyone who helped put some kits together today! Fifty kits might be a small number compare to the number of homeless in the world but every kit has the ability to inspire someone else to make a kit.

If you are in any of the following 5 cities on the dates of the Feed the Need 2018 Tour – you can make a kit.  I highly encourage you to participate and if you can bring a new sock donation.  As Bombas taught me

Socks remain the #1 most requested clothing item at homeless shelters.

They donate a pair for every pair purchased but there are still so many in need.

If you don’t have anything to bring, still come because the note you write for one of the kits will truly mean something to the person receiving it. Taking time to write a note, listening to someone, acknowledging someone with a smile are huge acts of kindness.

Plus on July 14th which is Girls Serve and Skate Day there will be events in addition to the Eugene, Oregon flagship event.

Above is a flyer for the Toronto event and there will be events in:

  • Encinitas, California
  • Phoenix, Arizona
  • Sarasota, FL
  • Sydney, Australia

Check out this video for more info.

Till tomorrow – Friday the last full day of Girls Week 2018 with Skate Rising at Woodward West – keep it stylish on & off the board.

 

Woodward West Girls Week- Skate Rising Learn to Skate Clinic & Water Balloon Fight

Woodward West is known for its large variety of action sports facilities.

Plus it offers camps in

People come from all around the world to visit Woodward West and learn from the best.

Usually campers focus on their action sport, but this week all campers had an opportunity to participate in a Learn to Skate Clinic with  Skate Rising,

Several pro skateboarders participated in the clinic.

Above Allysha Le and below Meagan Guy

I love to see people try new things.  Trying new things is the true spirit of the Growth Mindset because all new things can be scary.

We each have the choice to power through the fear because as we heard from Nina on Tuesday fear is not real.  We all start as beginners and with willingness to practice and learn from mistakes we have the ability to achieve our goals.

Everyone’s goals are unique to them.  If you’re having fun skateboarding, you should keep skateboarding and set goals that you are comfortable with.

It’s better to be the girl who tried skateboarding and did not like it then the girl who just wondered because she was afraid to try.

I hope that whatever it is you are going to try, you have the benefit of those who will “hold your hand” and cheer you on.  Yes, you have to believe in yourself but it’s so much easier to do that when you surround yourself with those who believe in you.  And please pay it forward by encouraging others.  It’s so inspiring to see pros take time to help beginners.

Woodward West might also be known for it’s weather.  It gets HOT during the day. So there’s tons of sun screen application and drinking water plus there’s time for water balloon fights!  It’s so hot the water dries super quick!

Fighting is not the answer unless it’s water balloon fighting in the heat.

It’s hard to believe Wednesday is over.  This week is going fast and next week is the start of

Hope you are enjoying the posts as much as I am enjoying writing them. For more pictures click below.

 

 

 

 

Skate Rising 2018 Feed the Need Tour

Skate Rising 2018 “Feed the Need Tour” presented by @tactics! is just a week away.

Come join us at one, or more, of the events for an opportunity to have a positive impact on the world around you and participate in free learn-to-skate clinics with @stompsessionsprofessionals.

Click on the pictures above to learn more.

Skate Rising is “Compassion through service, empowerment through skateboarding.”  Each of the events includes education, community service, and skateboarding – you’re never done learning on or off the board and everyone benefits when we support and encourage each other.

For information on the parks:

Sky Park in Scotts Valley, CA

Sutter’s Landing in Sacramento, CA

Hilltop Skatepark in San Francisco, CA

Kennedy Skate Park in Napa, CA

Washington-Jefferson Skatepark in Eugene, OR

I’m on a mission to hit the CA locations and I’d love if you shared your stories of the stops you hit (tag or email me to have your story shared in a blog post).

 

Woodward West Girls Week – Creating Vision Boards and Powering Through Fear

Monday night at Woodward West with Skate Rising saw the girls pull out the glue, magazines, and stickers to create vision boards.

Before the creating, the girls learned what a vision board is and how it helps you be your best. A vision board is a tool used to help visualize and concur goals. Vision boards have worked for many.

Studies show that visualization increases athletic performance by improving motivation, coordination and concentration. It also aids in relaxation and helps reduce fear and anxiety.

There is no wrong or right way to create a vision board. Every person’s vision board is unique because it consists of their hopes, dreams, goals, and things they love. The key is being creative and capturing what you want your future to be.

Below are a few of the vision boards.

Personally, I am a big fan of vision boards. I use them and have blogged about how Skate Rising encourages their use.

I love seeing my vision board become reality. My board helps keep me on a path that allows me to achieve my goals. Creating vision boards is not a one time event. As you grow your vision grows and you create new vision boards.

For behind the scene commentary on my vision board Dreams, Goals & Love & why learning is important to me click here.

After completing our vision boards, we headed off to sleep so we would be bright eyed and bushy tailed for the next morning.

In the morning, we talked about the importance of powering through our fears.

To show that everyone has fears and that fears do not have to stop you, we shared memories of how we conquered our past fears. Sometimes we forget that things we used to fear are things we now do normally.  How did something go from being a fear to normal? We faced the fear and even when we fell we did not give up.  Falling is not failing, it is an opportunity to learn from our mistakes.

To further inspire the girls to believe that they could power through their fears, we heard from guest speaker Nina Buitrago, an accomplished BMX rider.  She talked to us about how she handles fear and gave us tips on how to power through our own fears.

The message I heard was that fear is not real, it’s the self-talk that your mind creates.  Fear causes you to second guess yourself.  She, like everyone else, still has fear.  Some people are just better at hiding their fear.  She handles fear by breathing, centering herself, preparing/training, and surrounding her self with friends.  To hear her click below.

Full of inspiration, we headed off to skate.

How do you face your fears?  For me it helps to realize that they stand between where I am and where I want to be. The vision board makes it clear as to where I want to be. So then it’s my choice to pursue the vision or let the fear stop me from achieving my vision.

Fear can be healthy.  Let fear be the motivation to wear safety gear, practice, learn from mistakes, listen to good advice, but don’t let fear stop you.

If you can believe, visualize, and work you will succeed on & off the board!

So far Girls Week has been amazing – what do Skate Rising and Woodward West have in store for the rest of the week?  With Calli as our leader, I’m sure there’s much, much, more to come so stay tuned!

Woodward West Girls Week – My Growth Journal & Pledge to Kindness

 Woodward West Week 4 has started off with a bang!

This week is all about spreading girl power and kindness through action. Skate Rising founder Calli Kelsey is working with us to create daily service projects.

Today’s project was

Learning the Power of a Growth Mindset

A growth mindset enables you to believe that you are capable of anything you set your mind to. With a growth mindset you are kind to yourself and others as you practice. Even when you fail, you stay kind knowing that failure is an opportunity to learn.

Progress might be slow, but if you keep practicing, believing, and learning from your mistakes you will succeed.

Girls created growth journals. Each girl’s journal is a place to write her goals and her progress towards them. The journal is for camp week and life after camp.

A growth mindset becomes a way of life when you have  a journal to help you remember to focus on the positive and keep working towards progress.

Each goal you achieve is an inspiration to try the next goal.

In addition to the Growth Journal the staff and girls were challenged to Commit to Kindness by pledging to:

  • Speak up and say no when they see bullying
  • Report intimidation of all kinds
  • Not join gossip
  • Help anyone they see that is sad or hurt
  • Be a good friend and example

To show how Committing to Kindness is Contagious every person that pledged got to put their name on the Kind is Cool Tree and

received Random Acts of Kindness Cards.

The cards are physical reminders that each of us has the power to spread kindness and that kindness comes in all sizes.  Something as small as a smile might be exactly the thing that can turn someone’s day around.

Day one has been amazing!  I’m excited for the upcoming projects and will post them as soon as they are completed. I encourage everyone reading this to take the time to make your own Growth Journal and Commit to Kindness.

For now we are off to skateboard with our new tools.  A Growth Mindset, to know every trick is a trick we can work towards and a kindness reminder to encourage ourselves and our fellow skaters with words & smiles both on & off the board.

For more photos click below.

 

 

Skate Kitchen Film out August 10th

SKATE KITCHEN made its premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

Magnolia Pictures will begin to release it on August 10, 2018.

The film is directed by Crystal Moselle with a screenplay by her,  Aslihan Unaldi, and Jennifer Silverman.  It tells the story of

Camille, an introverted teenage skateboarder (newcomer Rachelle Vinberg) from Long Island, meets and befriends an all-girl, New York City-based skateboarding crew called Skate Kitchen. She falls in with the in-crowd, has a falling-out with her mother, and falls for a mysterious skateboarder guy (Jaden Smith), but a relationship with him proves to be trickier to navigate than a kickflip.

I’m excited to see the film because the world needs to see that women can succeed in any field and that with camaraderie anything is possible.  Jealousy is an evil and it is eradicated where their is encouragement to be your best.

For a sneak peek check out the trailer below.

You can also check out Skate Kitchen the movie on IG.

and The Skate Kitchen

Where are you seeing empowered women?  Hope you share soon.

Skateboarding & Physics

While I worked hard in Chemistry, my little brother took 8th grade Physics.  Throughout the class they had problems that referenced skateboarding. This post is about how he used one of my old skateboard decks in his Rube Goldberg Project.

A Rube Goldberg machine is a machineintentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and overcomplicated fashion. … The expression is named after the American cartoonist, Rube Goldberg, whose cartoons often depicted such machines.

Below is his explanation of how it worked.

It did work!

I decided to share this because I love when things can be recycled and more importantly because I want to encourage everyone to not let their fears of math or science stop them.

I was plenty afraid of Chemistry. I believe that the persistence I’ve learned through skateboarding helped me just keep trying until I learned it.

Math and science can be scary and intimidating, but they are for anyone who is willing to work at it. What are you working at and want to encourage others to try? I signed up for Physics next year because I was inspired by all my brother learned and I’m eager to find out about the physics behind skateboarding.

Till next time keep having fun skateboarding and surround yourself on & off the board with people who inspire and encourage you to be your best.

Helmet Motivation

I’m a loyalist to Triple 8 because I’ve worn their helmets for years and know they work. I needed extra motivation to work on roller skating more – so I ordered a new helmet in a jaunty color.

Above is my Mint Green Certified Sweat Saver by Triple 8 – it’s certified by U.S. CPSC Bike and ASTM Skate safety standards plus because it’s a Sweat Saver the lining is moisture-wicking & stink-proof!

After testing my helmet while skateboarding, I was ready to put on my roller skates.

After many hours at the park, I’m excited to say I can finally roller skate some ramps and do shoot the duck.

Here’s the truth about my roller skating – I fall all the time and usually land on my head.  I’m not sure why because when I fall skateboarding, it’s sometimes on my head, but not all the time.  My roller skates are heavy so you’d think I’d land feet down, but my experience has been head first.

After all the falls, I am 110% sure the Triple 8 helmet works! I’m also sure that anything you want is worth working for. Falling is not a pleasant feeling, but it can hurt less with safety gear. Learning the life lesson that falling is not failing will help you on and off your wheels.

What are your tips to keep it safe & stylish?  You only get one head so we should all wear helmets more!

I’m packing my Triple 8 helmet for Camp Woodward West Girls’ Week with Skate Rising. Hope you share where you’re taking your helmet this summer because sharing inspires all of us to keep having fun skating.

Nothing Can Keep You Down

Loved Hailey’s caption

Even a “hipper” can’t keep me down?⚡
•
•??????

In skateboarding like life there are things that can slow you down.  An injury can keep you off your board.  But only you can keep yourself down. Your attitude and how you face falling and any other setbacks really will make the difference on what you accomplish.

The patience and persistence that you learn through skateboarding helps you face any adversity. As I’m entering the last week of Chemistry, I know that facing it with a positive attitude and an ability to try new ways to learn the material saved me.

You can do this! Maybe you can’t do it this minute, but if you keep at it you can do it!

Thanks to all the girls like Hailey who keep on trying & encourage others to do the same. Positivity and encouragement grow so keep sharing.

If Hailey looks familiar, you might have seen her at Skatelab, skating with her dog, or on set.  Yes, with a positive attitude & hard work you can achieve many goals.