How I Move Jo Moseley
The 54-year-old found her life spiralling out of control during the perimenopause. But exercise came to her rescue as she jumped on a paddleboard from the Leeds to Liverpool canals. This is her inspiring story.
In May 2013, I found myself sobbing in the biscuit aisle of my local Tesco with my sons.
In hindsight, I realise I was experiencing perimenopause. I was 48 at the time, but I didn’t know anything about the menopause. Both my parents were going through chemotherapy, I was juggling a lot as a single working mum and I was anxious and overwhelmed. I was desperate for a good night’s sleep. A friend of mine lent me an indoor rowing machine that was destined for the tip after suggesting that exercise might help me sleep.
My generation grew up thinking that exercise was about winning things or to lose weight.
I still don’t think many people quite grasp that it can be fun and something that can make them feel good. I hadn’t really exercised since my late 20s apart from walking, holiday swimming and the odd aerobics classes. After a couple of weeks of indoor rowing, I was sleeping through the night. I started to feel better and brighter about life, so I decided to join a gym.
I was heartbroken when my mum died of lymphoma in December but rowing helped me with my grief.
In May 2014, I decided to row a million metres marathon for Macmillan Cancer Support in her memory. For eight months I rowed 10,000 metres every other night after work at the gym and on the first anniversary of her death and five days before my 50th birthday, I rowed a marathon in front of family and friends. We raised over £10,000 with Gift Aid. After that, I knew how much exercise helped me physically and, above all, mentally, so I began sea swimming, body boarding and cycling. I then started paddle boarding in September 2016.
I paddleboarded all 162 miles of the Leeds and Liverpool canal last month because I wanted to show that you are never too old to have an adventure.
I believe I’m the first woman to go through the Thundridge tunnel in Lancashire. It’s a mile-long tunnel in the dark and I’ve never paddled so fast. I was sounding my hooter the whole way through, just in case somebody in a narrowboat jumped the lights at the other end and came towards me. I picked up litter along the way to raise awareness of the problems of plastic pollution in our beautiful canals, while raising money for The Wave Project and the 2 Minute beach clean community. Whenever I was feeling a little exhausted, a dragonfly seemed to appear to help boost my spirits.
I’m going to become a paddleboard instructor because I love that feeling of helping women to be confident on the water.
We’re now making a film about my paddleboard adventure and I’m planning to return to the canal to clean some of the worst areas. I feel like I’ve got a new lease of life. “Paddleboard the north” – as I call it – was like a dream to pull me towards the future. I’ve always been a worrier, but now I feel so much stronger and more confident. I’m such a fearful person, I worry about every single thing and I feel much less fearful. I’m not fearless, but I fear less.
‘I wanted to show you are never too old to have an adventure’