Pride of England: What You May Not Know

Throughout this tournament the nation has shown unity and a strong sense of sportsmanship. It is safe to say the England team can return with their heads held high, knowing that we still ‘believe’. It is times like this we are truly proud to be British.

Southgate you’re still’ the one.

The football may have taken the limelight, however, there is a lot to be proud of this July. We want to give a shout out to all the amazing events taking place and the people involved!

Get a unique look at these prideful England events with a list of our favourite facts.

World Cup

It’s Coming Home! Well almost… The World Cup is the most captivating international football tournament, and only comes once every 4 years. 1990 marks the year we last made it to the semi-finals…let’s hope we don’t have to wait as long for our next shot.

Over one billion fans across the globe tune into this anticipated event and are brought together through a sense of pride. Think you know everything there is to know about the World Cup? Let’s see if you know these top 5 football fanatic facts:

  1. In 1966, the World Cup trophy went missing for 7 days.

  2. Brazil holds the most titles in the World Cup, with 5 wins total.

  3. During the 2010 South Africa World Cup, over 750,000 liters of beer were sold in stadiums, equivalent to 3,170,064 beers!

  4. Oleg Salenko has scored the most goals (5) by one player in a World Cup match.

  5. The winning team of the World Cup takes home 35 million dollars whilst the runner up takes home 25 million!

Wimbledon

Wimbledon takes place at the All England Club in London and is one of the most celebrated tennis events in the world. Not only is this the perfect event to indulge in the famous strawberries and cream, but it’s the place to see Novak Djokovic become the Wimbledon champion against Kevin Anderson for this year!  Here are 5 top facts you may not know about the world’s oldest tennis tournament:

  1. The most recent male British player to win the singles events was Andy Murray in 2013.

  2. Wimbledon has a strict dress code, stating that all players must be dressed in white and players will be asked to change if they do not meet the requirements.

  3. Ball Boys and Ball Girls keep track of the fast-moving tennis balls during a game, and months before Wimbledon, they go through intense training sessions to thoroughly prepare.

  4. The longest match lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes, taking place at the 2010 tournament and lasting over 3 days!

  5. During a game, lots of grunting takes place, and the loudest grunt came in 2009 from Maria Sharapova, reaching around 105 decibels.

Pride

#LoveisLove! Pride is a celebration of the LGBT community and has returned to London this summer. It is one of the biggest parades in the UK and draws nearly a million people. How much do you really know about this rainbow movement? Test your pride knowledge with 5 exclusive facts about this iconic movement.

  1. The original pride flag, made up of 8 different colours, was created in the 1970s and designed by an artist named Gilbert Baker in San Francisco.

  2. Brenda Howard, a bisexual activist, organised the first pride parade a month after the Stonewall Inn Riots in 1969.

  3. The world’s largest flag, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, was the rainbow pride flag and measured a mile long!

  4. Amsterdam hosts a pride parade where the floats float on water, the only pride parade in the world to be in water.

  5. The only pride celebrations on the continent of Africa take place in South Africa, and the first parade was held in 1990 with less than 1,000 people showing up.

We hope you have enjoyed these unique facts about these 3 significant July events and it inspires you to get outside and show your pride for beautiful England. Looking to work off all your indulgences you’ve had whilst watching either the World Cup or Wimbledon? Our trainers and therapists are here for you and ready to help challenge you. Book with us today!

Happy Celebrating!

Your TruBe Team

 

The Past Souls of Meditation

We are extremely excited to announce a new discipline we have added to TruBe: meditation!

We believe meditation is extremely important for understanding one’s own mind, becoming more peaceful, and more mindful. The history of meditation is an extremely interesting one. The earliest records of meditation dates back to over 1,000 years ago.

Early forms of the practice were developed by notable souls, some of which are not popular in today’s modern age. In honour of our new discipline, we are celebrating the peaceful past souls we have to thank for meditation.

Philo of Alexandria

“Learning is by nature, curiosity.” – Philo of Alexandria

Philo was a Hellenistic philosopher born in 20 BC. He had a strong belief and main goal in life: to live free without unnecessary emotions such as anxiety. Philo would only focus on positive emotions, known as eupathia, such as happiness and serenity.  He believed that by living like this and focusing on self-control, one can remain rational. Philo was one of the first people to start meditating, as he believed it was a serene practice, helping him achieve his goal of a stress-free and joyous life.

Floral Image by: Georgianna Lane 

The Desert Fathers of the Middle East

“Having withdrawn to the solitary life he made the same prayer again and he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Arsenius, flee, be silent, pray always, for these are the sources of sinlessness.” -Patristics

During the early Middle Ages, a group of hermits lived in the wilderness and were known as the Desert Fathers of the Middle East. The purpose of their isolation was to devote their life to God and live in peace away from civilization. The Desert Fathers would practice meditation daily, as it was one of their essential purposes. The meditation practices and rules they lived by had a strong similarity to the East, which they were thought to have either borrowed from or happened to rediscover.  It was a time of great experimentation when it came to meditation with the Desert Fathers, and their practices and findings are those in which we use today.

Floral Image by: Georgianna Lane 

Gandhi

“I have so much to accomplish today that I must meditate for two hours instead of one.” -Gandhi

Can you write about meditation without mentioning Gandhi? Gandhi drew much of his strength from his spiritual life and growing up, he truly embraced solitude and peacefulness. Gandhi learned the practice of meditation from Paramahansa Yogananda, an Indian yogi and guru. Yogananda believed that Gandhi would most appreciate a meditation practice called ‘Kriya yoga’ and it was this practice that Gandhi grew a strong passion for and practiced every morning and night. Meditation helped Gandhi remain calm and in a relaxed state of mind.

Floral Image by: Georgianna Lane 

We hope these notable souls have inspired you to start your meditation journey. We at TruBe would love to help you start  and our meditation specialists are here for you anytime. Book the new discipline today!

Happy Meditating.

Your TruBe Team