Hello! I’m Jax.
For as long as I can remember I have turned to nature for comfort. When my life appears meaningless. When my pain is too deep to bear. When I can’t seem to find any space or peace or clarity. I find nature. Specifically, being underwater is my safe place. My escape. My home.
In 2012 I created the North East Skinny Dip to share my favourite wellness practice and the unrivalled healing properties of swimming naked.
The North East Skinny Dip is more than just a skinny dip. It is a truly magical and unique experience. It provides a rare opportunity to step into our vulnerability, eliminate shame, smash the beauty myth, celebrate life, the bodies we live in and ultimately embrace a fleeting moment of pure joy and freedom. Moreover, by making a pledge and taking part we can promote a deeper awareness of the mental health epidemic and the importance of prioritising our mental wellbeing.
I identify as an empath, an introvert and a highly sensitive person (HSP). However, despite years of personal struggle, I was never formally diagnosed with a mental illness. At the age of 22 I suffered a serious head injury in an accident that almost ended my life and compounded all of my symptoms. I live with a cognitive impairment which means I find simple daily tasks more challenging than someone with a fully-functioning, uninjured brain.
Things like problem-solving, memory, concentration, regulating my emotions (and even my temperature!) are more difficult for me. Processing everyday thoughts and feelings can prove a monumental task. On top of this, chronic fatigue and an increased sensitivity to light and noise make even the most ordinary social situations near unbearable. When I do find the spoons to join in I rarely manage to keep up with conversation and have spent a lot of time feeling frustrated, unheard and grossly disconnected. This has plagued me with guilt and sadness.
In 2018 I finally agreed to be medicated. And although SSRI’s are by no means a cure-all, for the most part they did put a stop to my systematic disintegrations and improved my daily life. I still live with exhaustion, overwhelm and dis-ease and yet over the last few years, with the support of many wonderful beings and a truckload of surrender, I have been building a life that does not make me want to die.
Not least because once a year hundreds of courageous humans rock up at dawn, strip down to skin and run wild and free into the North Sea! NESD brings me a real sense of purpose and achievement. A sense of purpose I have been unable to find in literally any other area of my life. I am so very grateful to all those who have supported my little event and raised over £160,000 for mental health! Every dipper, every volunteer, every donator, every single champion. Thank you. All ways. From the heart of my bottom!
And so I say to you…
Sign up and show up. Without expectation. Take a risk. Come as you are. Stand naked and present. Feel the energy. Create it. Bask in it. Drink it like nectar. Breathe it deep into your lungs. And pray, as I do, that this experience will nourish you in the days ahead…
Jax x