Meet the GKA team

Meet the GKA team © GKA

We're living through difficult times, with so many of us on a global COVID-19 lockdown, staying safe and healthy has become our primary concern, checking the wind forecast has suddenly dropped right down on the list of priorities.

One beautiful thing emerging from the situation is the closeness and support that kitesurfers are showing each other around the world. The GKA athletes have been helping spread the #globalkitelove with messages of support, isolation tips and home workouts have been shared across our media platforms. Now we'd like to introduce the people that work behind the scenes here at the GKA and share some of their stories and how they are coping with life right now. In the coming weeks you'll get to meet the GKA team starting with the kitesurfing wellness women Janne Vollert, Rasa Iselionyte and Kate Chandler. These ladies know how to keep you sane, fit and well fed in a crisis!

Meet the GKA wellness women, together they can help you stay nourished, sane and fit during the global pandemic. First up is Janne Vollert, the GKA Media & Communications Manager. When Janne isn't kiting or heading comms at the GKA she can be found in the kitchen whippin up a healthy food storm, as she's also a plant based chef and nutritionist. Janne shares lots of healthy eating tips and recipes online and has an immune boosting juice recipe just for GKA fans.

Recipe for immune boosting shots

3 oranges
2 lemons
3 pieces of turmeric root (or 1 tbs of turmeric powder)
1 large piece of ginger root (at least the length of your thumb, but more is even better)
1 chili
¼ tsp ground black pepper (for better absorption of the turmeric)
Splash of cold water

Instructions

• Peel the oranges and lemons, make sure to get as much of the white skin off as possible, otherwise the drink will be quite bitter.
• Roughly chop the ginger, turmeric and chili.
• Add everything to your blender and blend until you have a smoothie without chunks.
• If you like it thicker, add less water, or add more water if you want it thinner.
• If you don't have a juicer and prefer juice over the smoothie consistency, you can strain the liquid through a nutmilk bag, sieve or kitchen towel (careful, turmeric will stain permanently!)

Enjoy and stay healthy!

Next up meet Rasa Iselionyte, another salty kite soul sister who was living the kite/marketing/desert life in Dakhla until she joined the GKA team. Rasa is a marketing whizz, she keeps the GKA social channels buzzing with the freshest stories and news, but she's also into her health and fitness in a big way. She's been sharing home workouts from her instagram since the start of the pandemic, with the aim to help people stay fit and healthy, and get those odd endorphins flowing, and she's always smiling no matter how tough the workout! Check out her latest video here.

Kate Chandler is our PR and press lady. When Kate isn't writing press releases she's writing about or advocating wellness and healthy living. Kate lived the kitelife in Brazil for years, during that time she learnt the importance of keeping a happy mind, in order to keep life in balance. Here she shares her tips for keeping a calm head in a crisis situation, with some simple breathing and meditation techniques.

Keep calm in a crisis

There are so many things out of our control right now which can lead to a feeling that we are spiralling scarily into the unknown. We can't leave the house and get on the water, which for so many of us, is the best way to shut off our minds and create some inner peace but one thing we can control and is the key to keeping calm is our breath. Breathing is the key to regulating our nervous system and keeping calm when things get difficult.

Set a timer for between 10-20 minutes, maybe set the alarm sound to something that won't shock you when it rings! Find somewhere quiet where you can sit comfortably, with your back straight, and your eyes closed. Start repeating steps 1-4 for the duration of your set time.

1. Take a deep breath in through your nose counting to five as you do.
2. Hold the breath and count to five
3. Slowly start breathing out through your mouth, try and count to ten as you do
4. Hold and count to five (if you can) before breathing in, then start at step one again Do this once a day everyday for month to see the best results from this exercise.

   We hope this has helped you find a moment of calm during these uncertain times.