Meet Virginia Bartolome, an inspiring 28-year old surfer from Guatemala!
@virchibg on Instagram
“Since I was a child, I was always a very active and sporty kid, playing in teams of volleyball, basketball and football. In high school I was the typical athletic girl, always hanging out with boys, and when I turned 12 and started skateboarding, my mom told me I should surf for the summer in a local surfing school. From the first moment I tried it, I got hooked. I started practicing more and more, helping myself by looking at videos from the best surfers in the world like Lisa Anderson, Silvana Lima and others.
I understood I wanted to become a professional surfer and that was my dream. During the week I would go to school and go to the beach during the whole weekend because it takes me 2 hours from the city. I would have to convince my parents to drive me there or go with a surfer friend. I felt loved and protected by the guys, always keen to push me and motivate me in the water. I learned a lot from how strong and carefree they were in the water. Surfing with the guys also gave me a lot of courage and conviction.
From there I started competing in national events where at that time there was no category for females, so I was mainly competing against the guys. I would still get a trophy even if I was the only girl in the competition. After my first competitions, I took things more seriously. Surfing became my main focus. I would wake up at 3 am in order to get to the beach on time and have morning training. I have had the great opportunity of being supported by my parents since day 1, and I know that a lot of young people in my country don’t have that opportunity.”
What is your training process like?
“I train both in the water and on land. I go to the gym where I have different training programs that are specialized for surfing and in addition I do yoga as well. When I go surfing I study what I want to practice and focus on what I want to improve before a session. I take photos and videos where I can then analyze them and see what needs improvement and also watch many youtube videos of professional surfers."
What do you do next to surfing?
"Apart from that, I own a small CBD business named CSolutions Guatemala, which keeps me busy most of the time. It’s interesting for me to be part of this movement, because the laws against CBD in Guatemala are still in place but I see that it’s helping a lot of people. Guatemalan citizens deserve alternative medicines and that’s why we are trying our best to get it legalized. The only way I can sell supplies now is by having a client’s written consent declaring their type of condition, so from there I need to get the government’s permission to hand them the product.
In addition, me and other girlfriends started this surf academy named El Ride and at the same time I give yoga and training lessons to people. The only office job I have done in my life was when I was pregnant (laughs).”
What is an important characteristic to have in life in your experience?
“For me, the most important thing is to have awareness. I think it's the first main step for whatever change you want to make in your life, whether it’s regarding your health or anything else you want to achieve. Be aware of what you want to do and of where you are in that particular moment (physically and mentally). To be conscious and real with yourself before anyone else and not do it for others but genuinely for yourself.
You need to work hard on this, especially if you are an athlete and want to win competitions. You have to have a strategic plan and work towards it day by day. You have to improve but remind yourself to rest. For me it's a natural human process. Meditation helps, but it's not the meditation everyone knows about where you sit down and try to put your mind in the blank. I sit down, breathe and accept the present moment.
I accept my emotions, my thoughts, my breath, everything. By doing this you maintain the frequency that drives you. Things get clearer and you manage to understand what the reasons are for your negative frequencies. To be attentive of what's going on in your body, mind and soul. It's about being conscious of who you are, who you want to be, and what I have to do in order to arrive where I want.”
On Instragram: @virchibg