Wellbeing extends beyond the physical. If there’s anyone that understands this notion, it’s lululemon. Committed to supporting its community in their pursuit of holistic wellbeing, the brand recognises the vital role that mental and social wellbeing plays in enabling each person to become their best—and most confident—self.
Embracing inclusivity and diversity, lululemon empowers women by building up communities and creating platforms to inspire. An invitation to discover the movements that bring us joy, solidarity and strength, the brand’s Get Into It campaign is a celebration of confidence in both self and community.
To commemorate International Women’s Day, lululemon partnered with Vogue Singapore to bring together four inspiring women for an insightful discussion on their own personal pursuits of wellbeing. Below, find a video highlight of the session’s most noteworthy moments.
Moderated by yoga and meditation guide, presenter and voiceover artist Stephanie Bovis, the panel featured lululemon ambassadors Naomi Yeo and Bebe Ding. The former is a yogi, actress and host, and the latter, the co-founder of fitness studio Cru. Accompanying them and lending their own perspectives were writer and content strategist Faz Gaffa-Marsh, and content creator and freelance creative Maddy Breteche-Lo.
Reflecting on the challenges they faced and sharing their best advice, the panellists uncovered the multitude of ways in which wellbeing can take shape in our lives. Alongside the discussion, the new colourways for lululemon’s beloved Align collection—designed for complete freedom of movement and boundless versatility—were also unveiled. Below, see all the highlights from the event.
Going beyond physical wellbeing
“Personally, my physical wellbeing is very much tied to my mental wellbeing,” Breteche-Lo shares. “If I’m feeling good mentally, I’ll feel good physically as well. On the other hand, I could be at the peak of my health, and I still wouldn’t feel complete unless I was in tune with myself mentally.”
In addition to mental health, there’s also the aspect of social wellbeing to consider, Ding points out. “Everything is connected when it comes to wellbeing. If I don’t feel like I’m supported by my community, my family and my friends, then my physical wellbeing will suffer too.”
It’s also important to remember that wellbeing is a personal journey. Yeo notes, “When I first got into yoga, I could barely climb a flight of stairs, and I was so embarrassed. I’ve been told, ‘Comparison is the thief of joy’, and thinking back now, I needed to stop comparing myself to other people and instead focus on what I could do for myself. My biggest takeaway was learning that I needed to take control of my own wellbeing.”
Motivation to keep fit
“As a mother, what gets me out of bed is usually my five-year-old. He’s my biggest motivation. I want to be able to run after my child and carry him even when he weighs 30 kilos. That’s a big part of why I work out and why I do the things I do,” Gaffa-Marsh reflects. “We do yoga together at home, and I think that’s important—teaching him to breathe and sharing all these little things we need to do for our bodies.”
Breteche-Lo adds, “I am a pretty competitive person, but the only person I compete with is myself. Getting out of bed early to go for yoga or fitness classes is a personal challenge I set for myself. It’s still hard, but the sense of accomplishment that comes with achieving it makes me feel really good.”
For Yeo, it’s her father that inspires her. “He would spend two hours working out after work every day, and it was only when I got much older that I realised he was teaching me a thing or two about consistency. It’s inspiring to watch him continuously do that, even at 67. A few months ago, he fractured his elbow, and he still tried to get the exercise he needed while being careful to take care of his body—and at no point was he upset at himself for not being able to do as much. That pushes me to keep going even when the chips are down. No matter how old you are, or how much you can do on a particular day, consistency is key.”
Embracing mental wellbeing
“Mental wellbeing has taken precedence for me especially in the last few years because of Covid-19, because of the invisible load of motherhood and because I lost my father to cancer,” Gaffa-Marsh shares, “I went through grief therapy during that period, and as someone who is constantly juggling so many responsibilities and rarely has time to take a pause and process my feelings, that was a very hard thing to do. I feel like our society always pushes away the notion of seeking help for mental health issues, and I champion the idea that everybody carries some sort of trauma that you need unfolding to become a better you.”
“During the Covid-19 period, I lost my job, my long-distance relationship ended and I couldn’t see my family because they were in Malaysia. I was just stuck—both physically and mentally,” Breteche-Lo reflects, “Creating content on TikTok offered me some escape, because that was a change of rhythm. I wasn’t just scrolling through my feed endlessly, I was actually starting to come up with new ideas. And I also started going to therapy. For me, that period of time really helped me understand the importance of mental health. Taking the time and effort to work on your mental wellbeing is just as important as working out physically.”
Learning to reach out to others is also something she’s learned the importance of, Yeo notes. “Just being able to pick up the phone and call someone and say, ‘Hey, I’m feeling really down today, can we chat?’ is something that can make a big difference. I tend to lean into the negatives and it’s easy for me to spiral, so having friends who are able to pull me out of that mental space has helped a lot.”
Cultivating confidence
Gaffa-Marsh adds, “Going back to mental health, confidence is the ability to carry whatever weight is put on me—be it the stress of a full-time job or the strain of all the roles that you have to play as a woman. On a more personal level, as a person who tends to say ‘yes’ to everything, confidence is also being able to say ‘no’.”
Thinking back on her personal journey with running her business, Ding shares, “When I co-founded Cru, I was the youngest person on the team and the least fit person in the first training batch—so I had a lot to prove. Over time, I’ve come to realise that it’s not a competition against anyone else. You are your own biggest competition. A lot of the lessons I learned along the way were on how to be more assertive and definitive in the way I ran the company—and how I gave answers especially to men who were way older than me. Confidence isn’t gained overnight. It took many years, and I’m way more confident in my own skin now, but there’s still a long way to go.”
The value of social wellbeing
“As a freelancer, I’ve always hoped that I would be able to build a career out of working with like-minded individuals who are fully supportive of each other. Yet, I could not have foreseen all the bright, talented and sincere people that I’ve gotten the chance to work with—and I’m so grateful for that,” Yeo reflects. “A good support system, I think, will stay and grow with you regardless of what happens.”
“Community has always been the heartbeat of what we do at Cru. We believe in sharing experiences with our community and we hope that everyone has as much fun being a part of it as we do,” Ding shares, “Community shouldn’t be transactional or touch-and-go. It should be a symbiotic relationship that stems from supporting one another—and that’s so important, because it’s always the people behind us and around us that keep us inspired.”
To support guests as they Get Into It, lululemon has launched a microsite where guests can generate their own Get Into It image, complete with inspirational wellbeing quotes. Share the image on Instagram with a caption on how the quote resonates with you, and stand a chance to be one of five lucky winners to receive a $350 lululemon gift card. The contest ends on 29 March 2023. Visit getintoit-lululemon.com to take part.
