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Jo Moseley - "a Warrior not a worrier"
Jo Moseley is a single Mum of two grown up sons, living on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.
She is the author of the bestselling book Stand Up Paddleboarding in Great Britain - Beautiful Places to Paddleboard in England, Scotland and Wales which was published in 2022 with Vertebrate Publishing and includes over 30 stunning locations she was fortunate enough to visit with her beloved paddleboard, Grace.
Link to the book! https://bit.ly/3h23Zxh
Jo calls herself a joy encourager, beach cleaner and midlife adventurer. During a difficult perimenopause, juggling life with her teenage boys, work and with both her parents going through chemotherapy, Jo began indoor rowing in 2013 aged 48 as a way to help her sleep and ease her anxiety.
When her Mum died, she rowed a fundraising million metres and marathon for Macmillan Cancer Support in her memory, discovering how movement helped her grief and made her feel more positive about the future.
Jo began to realise the power of exercise to make her feel good and returned to many of the activities she had loved as a child and in her 20s before work, miscarriages and divorce had dulled her sense of freedom and happiness.
Returning to the sea was one of her greatest joys. In her 20s Jo had been a very keen sub-aqua diver, exploring the beautiful underwater world of Scotland, the north east of England, the Mediterranean and the Philippines. She spent a month kayaking in Alaska, sleeping by icebergs and studying seals. After university Jo was camp leader for a 3 month ornithological research team in Tanzania and spent time swimming in the gorgeous waters on her travels. In 2018 she qualified as a pool lifeguard and Aqua Fit instructor, sharing the benefits of moving in water (yes, even a chlorinated pool!) for all ages.
As well as returning to her love of snorkelling, bodyboarding and dipping in the North Sea, in 2016 Jo took her first paddleboarding lesson on Derwentwater in the Lake District. She was recovering from a knee injury and says that for the first time in months she felt “like a warrior not a worrier.” Jo fell in love with SUP - an opportunity to “walk on water” as well as dip and swim in it.
In 2019, aged 54, she became the first woman to paddleboard coast to coast picking up litter and fundraising for the 2MinuteBeachClean Foundation for whom she is an Ambassador and The Wave Project. A film about her adventure called Brave Enough - A Journey Home to Joy, by award winning filmmaker Frit Tam of Passion Fruit Pictures, was released in spring 2021 to critical acclaim and a very warm reception by audiences.
Film trailer:
Having always loved the sea, Jo now also loves swimming in her local lido and river, always doing a litter pick after to say thank you for the joy it brings. Her favourite is to dip with her sons!
The cold water continues to help her manage her post menopause symptoms, especially her anxiety and is a place to find calm and peace in a busy life.
Jo loves the versatility of her Swim Secure dry bag. She uses it on her paddleboard to keep spare kit and valuables dry as well as sometimes for her litter pick haul. She loves the reassurance it gives dipping in the sea and river. Safety is key to her enjoyment whatever she is doing.
Jo is in awe of the other Swim Secure ambassadors and their amazing feats of courage and endurance - Cath Pendleton is one of her swimming inspirations. She is very much more of a dipper and joyful swimmer in comparison and hopes to show that whether you are on or in the water, it can be a place of health and happiness.
You can find Jo on Twitter and Instagram @healthyhappy50 and Facebook Jo Moseley and The Joy of SUP Podcast or www.jomoseley.com. She has a podcast called The Joy of SUP - the Paddleboarding Sunshine Podcast and speaks at outdoor and boating festivals. Her email is healthyhappyfifty@yahoo.com.