10 Minutes With Shona Verue

Personal Trainer and Yoga Instructor Shona Vertue radiates good vibes. The Aussie babe has over thirty thousand followers on Instagram and after having a quick scroll through her feed, it's not hard to see why. Photographs of vibrant and nourishing meals are interspersed with impressive handstands and selfies taken in exotic locations all finished off with a large dose of realism. Her straight-talking, honest approach to health and wellbeing makes her posts all the more engaging. 

Please could you tell us a little about your background, what you do for a living, and how you came to do this?

I am a qualified Yoga Teacher and Personal Trainer. My background is in Competitive Gymnastics and Dance, because of this it was very natural for me to move into the health industry as a profession.

Do you have any daily rituals? If so, what are they?

Every morning, as soon as I wake up, I stretch and meditate - I make a conscious effort to avoid picking up my phone, and my alarm clock is actually a sound file of Wayne Dyer speaking about the power of thought. It puts me in the perfect mind frame! After all that, I have apple cider vinegar in warm water with Lemon and Manuka Honey and eat protein for breakfast. Not only are these my daily rituals, London living means they have become absolute necessities. After breakfast, literally anything is possible... 

What does a day in the life of Shona Vertue look like in terms of eating and exercising?

After a few years of Body Building and strict dieting I don't follow a structured plan (it's just not good for the body or mind in my opinion - variety is the spice of life!) 

I do however live by a couple of diet rules:

1. Protein for breakfast - Always

2. Delicious starchy carbohydrates with dinner (to stimulate serotonin to help me sleep)

3. Lots of greens

4. Blends, not juices (to maintain the fiber content of the fruit and veg)

5. I always hydrate before I caffeinate (so no coffee until I've had a sufficient amount of water)

Exercise is usually three days of weight training a week, three days of yoga and HIIT sprints and one day of rest.

You have a huge Instagram following, why do you think your account has become so popular with followers?

I really try to make it educational, rather than just motivational. In my opinion, education is the best motivation anyway as it provides people with a "why" e.g.” Why am I doing this yoga pose", "Why should I lift weight", "Why should I eat more chocolate?". I aim for it to be as inspirational as possible, rather than aspirational by which I mean I'd rather people feel inspired to live a healthier life by understanding how they can (and see that it is attainable) rather than to just feel like they should aspire to be like someone they've seen on Instagram. 

What mantras do you live by?

In every cloud there is a silver lining, that every painful experience I've ever had in my life, has had the purpose of helping me to grow and expand - so we shouldn't fear negativity or discomfort - it's often where the magic happens.

How do you find balance in your daily life?

I have let go of guilt. A lot of the fitness and 'health' industry is about shaming you for your choices, or guilting you into making 'healthy' choices. I feel as though this is just so damaging and is often the cause of the 'dieting to bingeing' vicious cycle that so many of us fall victim to. If I want chocolate or crème brûlée I just eat it - I recognise that I am just partaking in one of the many joys of life and there is nothing wrong with that. I train hard and because of that I actually want to choose healthy food most of the time, otherwise I will just feel rubbish and my workouts will be heavy and uncomfortable.

Do you have any exciting projects in the pipeline?

I have been working on the exercise component of an App for Madeleine Shaw which is launching in January. 

I am launching a new exercise class called the Vertue Method in central London which is a fusion of yoga; weighted circuit training and meditation, designed to both uplift your soul and your butt. I will be announcing where I'll be teaching it soon. 

What’s the best piece of advice you can give someone who is looking to lead a healthier lifestyle?

Self-Love is the key ingredient to a healthier, happier life. You can't out train or out-diet a low self-esteem, you need to find a way to truly value your life in order to see the value in eating clean and training hard. This is why I always encourage people to train towards a skill rather than aesthetics. When you train for the sole reason of looking leaner or better your motivation will always be at the mercy of your self esteem (which we know can waiver based on life circumstances, relationships, jobs etc). However if you base your training goals on achieving a skill, like a push up or chin up, you will feel happy after every training session, knowing that with each abs burning movement, you are getting closer and closer to achieving those goals. Obviously the benefit of being able to do chin ups and push-ups are abs, toned arms and a skinnier body anyway! It's a win-win situation.

What does it mean to you to live a joyful life?

Authenticity is a great start. But I believe it's also living in harmony with my surroundings by not causing harm to myself or anyone around me. I haven't totally perfected it, but it's about the journey not just the destination right? 

Find out more at www.shonavertue.com  @shona_vertue