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Maya Tank

@represent__us

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The untold stories of athleticism and achievements in fitness
#representationmatters

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Don’t know if you know but I pulled a damn bus. Again.

#TankTrains™
#emptythetank #whatsinthetank #changethestereotype #representationmatters
#strongwoman #buspull #chickswholift #bejuststrong
#2021goals #trainharder #compday #impressyourself #committosomething #strongerfitterfaster
#strongman

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It's still #EDAW / #NEDAweek & I've posted a lot about my recovery from eating disorders in the past. Today I want to talk about therapy! I LOVED seeing therapy featured in @neverhaveiever
! Because It's something that is never talked about in our culture! I don't understand why It's associated with shame because therapy - It's working on yourself? It's a form of self care & development. If anything it should be applauded 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
I think everybody could benefit from some form of therapy 😊
I hope for future generations support/therapy will be more accessible & in our culture it will be talked about more.
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... So we've established that a lot of us brown lasses had very strict upbringings + missed out on a lot of parties, had to study a lot + please our families. I don't really mind that I didn't get to party to be honest! I did okay in school as a result. What gets to me is the lack of trust + almost lack of relationship between children + dictating adults. I guess every generation is different + I am happy to see a shift where parents have better relationships with their kids now. However when I was younger it felt like you couldn't speak your mind + if you had a mental health illness you had to hide it. It was almost taboo to mention depression + anxiety. What would people think?? My child depressed?? We'll just say she has a cold. I'm glad times are changing because my mental health didn't improve until I started to TALK about it! To be open + not to hide things + bottle them up. It's not healthy to keep things pent up but hey if that's what you get bought up around it's hard to break the pattern. I LOVE that therapy was normalised in this show! Nobody should feel ashamed for getting the support that they need + I hope it becomes more + more accepted in my culture 💖
Let's continue to break taboos + boundaries. Don't get me wrong! I appreciate where I come from + my culture. I am not ashamed of being Indian! I say OWN IT 💃🏾 💃🏾 💃🏾 💃🏾 I just can't stand to see backwards taboos continue to affect the mental health of young people. Adults too! Culturally fuelled sexism! It's not necessary + not part of being a south asian person 💖

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Reposting as I want to post more about my culture on this account. It has become more personal since launching @happielifters 😊
I would like to note that I think "Aunties" are often demonised nowadays. What about the uncles? A lot of people comment & gossip - It's definitely not just "Aunties". Personally growing up it was my Uncles that had the most to say & the voices/opinions have mainly been male dominated. Telling me I can't wear a skirt & giving unsolicited opinions about my body 🤷🏾‍♀️ I enjoyed seeing SA representation on TV! Didn't see much of it when I was younver & It's refreshing to see 😊

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Inspired by @brownsurvivors post on the new Netflix show @neverhaveiever I wanted to share how I related to growing up as a brown girl with family from a different country/culture. The fabulous @browngirltherapy shared a wonderful quote about this "Growing up in a country that's different from where your parents and extended family are from can be hard. You can be grateful for your parent's sacrifices/choices and know that you're not selfish for feeling frustrated and misunderstood"
+ I couldn't agree more. However this doesn't mean it wasn't hard growing up with such strict rules, expectations + this feeling of "you're going to be judged by these aunties + uncles (that aren't actually blood relatives)". What really hit home was seeing these tik toks of "when I was 14" + you see people dancing to one of these tik tok songs then it goes "back when I was 14 in the 90s" cue rave music! Smoking! Drinking! Having fun. MEANWHILE some (most) of us brown lasses were at home, not allowed out, not allowed to drink, not allowed to talk to boys, not allowed to wear excessive make up (can't attract boys you see), if we were caught smoking we'd be grounded for life or heck! Disowned! So we never had fun ☹ We missed out! As I grew older I do remember being given more freedom + I knew some relatives that hadn't + I felt really bad. Why can't we be trusted + given a bit more freedom? To be continued...

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🌻
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Reposting because it could help somebody with their mobility 💪🏾😁 Keep an eye out for more content like this. Also how is my hair nearly this long again?! I need the hairdressers to open 😆
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- M O B I L I T Y || - Just uploading the 1st video as it was an IGTV upload the first time round. I decided to upload this to my YouTube account too. I have avoided using it for quite some time as the keyboard warriors can be intimidating but it's the best place to upload videos that can be helpful. So I sucked it up and just did it 😂 I best get a wiggle on and film the second of the series! My name on YT is the same as on here - Happie lifts 💪🏾💥

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It's another #IndianGirlLifts post 😁
Following on from my piece for @you.look.like.a.man 🥰
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I'll be posting a series of posts about what It's been like for a south asian lass in the fitness industry. Both as a competitor, athlete & a coach 😊👍🏾
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I'm always way too honest but hey ho! In the name of raising awareness, breaking taboos & normalising talking about all these issues. LET'S DO IT!
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I've been inspired by @oneelementdocklands
Too! Head over to this account & have a read of their latest post! It's brilliant 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
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An account to keep an eye on is @represent__us 👀 👀 👀
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I will also be touching on what It's been like as a female coach in the fitness industry too & especially in the world of strongman or as I like to put strong(wo)man. I will briefly touch on the bullying that @coachedbykezz & I had to endure with if that is okay with you Kezz? 🥰 because it wasn't alright & in this day/age we shouldn't be having to put up with such sexist BS 🙅🏾‍♀️ I've felt that being a female coach has been a bit of a barrier too but they're there to be broken! Let's tear them up 💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾🔥
Also obviously check out Kezz's page because she is a badass coach who has smashed through so many obstacles! She's an awesome friend, businesswoman & role model 💖
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📷 Photography is by @rennisonraephotography 📷

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A little rusty but a lot of fun

#TankTrains™
#emptythetank #whatsinthetank #changethestereotype #representationmatters #relativelyfit #thetryouts
#strongwoman #conditioning #chickswholift #bejuststrong
#2020goals #trainharder #impressyourself #committosomething #strongerfitterfaster

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Training through the 2020 apocalypse, rather than for a zombie one

#TankTrains™
#emptythetank #whatsinthetank #changethestereotype #representationmatters
#strongwoman #conditioning #chickswholift #bejuststrong
#2020goals #trainharder #impressyourself #committosomething #strongerfitterfaster

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