Ellyse Perry has been in the headlines recently for her outstanding performance in the Women's Ashes Cricket against England - last week she made record-breaking 213 not out! Ellyse played cricket and soccer for Australia at the age of 16 and was the youngest female to play international cricket in the country. She represented Australia in both sports until a few years ago when she chose to continue with her cricket career. Women's sport in Australia has never been so popular. If you're not quite up to Ellye's standard, why not play for a local team and get your body moving. You never know, with a bit of drive and determination, you might represent Australia one day.

Summer is almost here and for some of you the thought of putting on a pair of bathers is enough to bring you out in a cold sweat. Lindsay Kite from Beauty Redefined tackled the issue of body image disruption in her recent TED Talk. Body image disruption can be sparked by a painful experience that magnifies body shame, such as trying on bathers. Women and girls respond to this by taking one of three paths:

• harmful coping mechanisms such as self-harming, eating disorders or drugs and alcohol
• hiding/fixing - e.g. avoiding social gatherings that involve swimming or trying to fix your body with extreme diets etc.
• developing body image resilience by recognising that your body is an instrument, not an ornament.

This song has beautiful lyrics but no resolution:
How many souls can be crowded together
And all of us feeling alone?
All of us longing for hope.
If you're looking for your purpose, I read these helpful words once: 
be kind to yourself, kind to others and kind to the planet. 

Some brilliant lyrics:
Wish I didn't think I had the answers
Wish I didn't drink all of that flask first
Wish I made it to homecoming
Got up the courage to ask her
Wish I would've gotten out of my shell
Wish I put the bottle back on the shelf
Wish I wouldn't have worried about what other people thought
And felt comfortable in myself

Been scared of the future, thinking' about the past
While missing out on now.