http://www.achieving-momentum.com.com/for-families/

Human Momentum, Exeter (2025)

29/10/2025

My 15 year old son met Ashley for the first time a couple of weeks ago. After a discovery session on the tennis court, he commented how it had been helpful for him (not something he says regularly!).

The following day he reported that he felt more confidence in himself and felt ready to do things he would have been unsure of before the tennis session.

I’ve not had any formal sessions with Ashley but I have listened to how he has been working with my boy and we have had several informal discussions about how to uplift my son. Despite it only being a few brief conversations my son has commented both to my wife and to my face that I seem to be getting better as a Dad.

It’s early days but my awareness of how to work with my son has already improved and I’m immensely grateful for the support Ashley has given us.

Andy W

06/10/2025

A few paragraphs of my experiences with the Human Beings Club so far:

I have recently began working with Ashley as a Mum of 3 children aged 14, 9 and 3. Without much background knowledge on what it was all about, I was pleasantly surprised at what I took from my first conversation with Ashley. This showed as later that week when texting my 14yr old, she replied "You've changed! Have you been reading a parenting book?". I was able to explain to her how I had met Ashley and a bit about the work he does with families.

I first met Ashley in person with my 14yr old daughter a week later on the courts and we enjoyed our first tennis discovery session. Something new for us both. I came away feeling liberated as I was able to see changes in my thoughts and feelings towards myself and my relationship with my daughter. She was able to see similarities between us that when Ashley highlighted these in me, she could relate to herself and vice versa.

We enjoyed the time together and I am excited to see her become more confident as she learns more about what HBC can do for her, myself, our relationship and ultimately bringing the harmony back into our family life.

We look forward to our next meet :-)
Vickie G

18/09/2025

Recently I joined Ashley from the Humans Being Club for a sea kayaking discovery session — and it turned out to be so much more than just paddling.

In just a couple of hours I picked up new skills on the water, but more importantly I found a sense of calm and perspective I didn’t expect. Being surrounded by wildlife and guided with Ashley’s insight left me feeling centred, positive, and excited about the future.

I’m already looking forward to getting back out there and seeing how these lessons keep shaping my journey.

Josh

16/09/2025

How HBC tennis discovery session has improved my personal development:

I decided to fly to the UK from the NL for a Humans Being Club discovery tennis session in Devon with Ashley and Adoni. It was a truly transformative experience. I walked away feeling re-energised, with new perspective on my personal growth and a deeper connection to myself.

I was surprised how Ashley could see what I was doing in my life from my initial approach to playing tennis. One of the clearest lessons came on the tennis court: I used to think that in tennis being explosive was the goal, but this weekend showed me that gentleness can be more powerful than brute strength. It was such a simple shift, but it’s already changed how I approach my personal improvement, being more gentle with myself and building up my capability as time goes by.

Even before leaving the UK I discussed plans for my next visit. I’m really looking forward to getting back on the tennis court to practice the tennis skills I’ve learnt and discover how else I can use tennis insights to improve my quality of life.

Davide

09/09/2025

How HBC is bringing me and my daughter closer together:

My recent kayaking experience with the Human Beings’ Club has really improved the closeness between myself and my daughter. Prior to this experience, I felt the distance growing between myself and my daughter and the frequency of disagreements were causing me some concern.

Throughout this experience, my awareness was raised to enable more space for my daughter to develop her own ideas and think for herself. I rapidly saw change within just one day – my daughter enjoyed making decisions, of these; - some pretty good ones too! During the journey home – my daughter mentioned that she had really enjoyed the experience and even commented that she felt it had made us become closer like we once were.

Michelle G

06/09/2025

How HBC is strengthening my relationship with my daughter:

HBC Tennis

An opportunity for myself and my daughter during our first discovery tennis session led by the Human Beings Club created quite a significant realisation; - I had anticipated that given I had no experience at tennis and during my schooling nothing had ever been mentioned to suggest that I was any good when as it turns out I was able to rally with my daughter within an hour where she also didn’t have a lot of accuracy.

We split the time between tennis for me and tennis for my daughter. It was interesting for me to see how well my daughter responded when she could be in charge of learning through her own process. Another significant realisation was how important it is to my daughter to be able to influence the way she learns, and this seemed to generate a much happier personality.

The journey we have begun with the Human Being’s Club has already elevated both my understanding and my daughters on how we can best work together at peace and with happiness.

Our family heritage has a strong motivational desire to continually succeed which is as many would describe a huge strength. It is however important to also recognise that – not everything in life requires such a direct or strong approach.

The Human Beings Club provides opportunities for me and my daughter to work out together how we make intelligent decisions that enhance our lives and be happy successful human beings. The most significant part is – after each activity – we improve things by at least one more step.

Michelle G

24/12/2024

How Human Beings Club ski trip has helped me build greater peace of mind:

"Staying at the house in the Dolomites opened my heart towards everyone on the trip. I felt truly happy as Kayla, Jayda and I built caves and tunnels in the snow on the end of the hill where we had been skiing. The interactions with everyone felt free of expectations and based on appreciation towards each other.

Doni and Ashley taught me how to ski and to feel okay, independent of my performance. I could see how I had used performance, for example at the university, as a strategy to build up my self-esteem. This strategy had left me stressed and pressured. After the conversations with Ashley, I felt more freedom than I had experienced in months. I can now see that I am a good person, independent of performance."

Katharina, University student.

21/12/2024

How can you use skiing to improve your confidence and composure and be a more capable person?

Kayla
"When I was uncertain in the chair lift I learnt instead of worrying in my mind I could make myself feel grounded. I learnt how to be assertive rather than grumpy when I decided I had done enough skiing for one day. I was happy to get the award for most composed person on the ski trip."

Jayda
"I felt proud to get the award for encouragement which I got for encouraging my mum when she felt nervous. And by the end of the week she felt proud because she had got braver. In the evenings we played loads of chess and I had a lovely time playing with my sister to make snow metaphors (stories out of snow). And one evening we learned how to develop our own happiness, composure and purposefulness as well as encouragement, thoughtfulness and contribution to others."

Amy
"I am a personal trainer and a boxing coach. I was surprised how profoundly hesitant I was to let go of control and steer the skis. I learnt how to not over indulge in my feelings but to focus on really delivering on my own ambitions. In this case get to the bottom of the slope in less than 45 minutes rather than the 5-10 minutes my children took. This mental skill will help me so much when I lack self belief at work or in my relationships. I have been really developing my relationship with my children. We get on very well but I am understanding how to make a deeper friendship connection with them as they are often so grown up for their age."

Alex
"This week I was ambitious to enhance the self-belief that I developed during the last 2 ski trips I have been on with HBC. I found I was having disproportionate stress reactions to the idea that I couldn't stay in control of the skis but repeatedly I found I had the skills I needed so the feelings of stress were unnecessary. Now I can use my ability to regulate my stress to approach presentations, job interviews and other things at work. With help from Ashley & Adoni, who were patient and calibrated well to the initial uncertainty I was feeling, I was pleased to find that it only took a few hours of acclimatisation to get to the ski level I had reached in February. I suddenly found that I was feeling confident on the skis for the first time and even though I had my doubts about my ability to learn to ski I've really realised that persistence pays off."

If you’re interested in finding out more about how we use activities to develop a healthy and productive approach to life in young people, message us here or take a look at www.momentumgb.com/society-2

19/12/2024

We have started our pre-Christmas development through skiing. The theme of this trip has been developing purposefulness, it’s been so uplifting seeing the children set their ambitions and then get so much satisfaction from doing what they said they were gunna do on the slopes.

Everyone has been helping us create a vision for Human Being Clubs future, and on this trip Franzi and I have set out to understanding the mind and skillset required to take people, young and old, from novice skier to leader on the 40km ski tour - the Selloronda massif.

I have been impressed with Ashley, who has been progressing my ski coaching skills, showing me how to use the learners insight to improve their skill-set, as opposed to the rather rigid ski school approach in which I was previously trained, and reading students paradigms which meant everyone seemed to learn so much faster and build their self-confidence in their ability to handle their situation.

I heard one of the 10 year old girls tell her dad on the phone how she was so pleased with skiing that she gave skiing a 10 out of 10. I’m looking forward to being back on the snow tomorrow morning.

Adoni

16/12/2024

Today has been an ‘acclimatisation and refreshing’ day to familiarise those who are new to Human Beings Club trips with the practical skills of starting their skiing endeavours and let those who have joined us before get the feel of their skis again.

It's great to have a qualified instructor for skiing and also a personal fitness coach on the trip as well as someone to inspire us through their experience of slalom racing.

Over dinner everyone set their ambitions for the trip and offered their personal contributions to making a success of both team practicalities and the encouragement which everyone benefits from if they are seeking to achieve their potential.

Ashley Bookman.

17/10/2024

How Human Beings Club principles brought our family closer together:

I decided to take the girls bowling on a Sunday afternoon to have some family time.

We had been a few times before and they love it and were excited as always to see who was going to win. Starting out they were being very competitive and laughing at each other when they didn’t hit any bowling pins, which was turning into a not so nice experience. When things deteriorated K kept saying she was rubbish and then J would quickly follow with the same word. I asked them both why they thought they were rubbish. Both said that they were not good enough, which really made me think about how to approach the situation.

I decided to bring in some of the tools that Ashley and the Human Beings Club had taught me. I really wanted them to understand that you do not need to be great at something straight away - that practice is how you become better and through believing in yourself.

I asked them to start saying out load “I can do this” as they picked up their ball and walked to the lane. I said it too and scored a strike straight away.

Their mindset quickly changed as they started to speak positively to themselves. They started to high five, show respect, and encourage each other.

By the time the two games had finished we were all enjoying ourselves, laughing and celebrating, I realised that we had just turned a negative start into a positive experience.

I’m starting to get the hang of turning situations around to make the family stick together better.

Amy W.

30/09/2024

As a HBC ski instructor I’m used to showing people how to develop feel on the snow, I had no idea when I started my second sea kayak session I would be learning how to develop feel on the water.

I was impressed with the uncomplicated structure and clear communication which Nils used to build paddling skills. By breaking them down and then linking the constituent parts together it all seemed so natural, I was surprised at how quickly I progressed.

I was also impressed that Nils took me into a few different environments for my paddling development including:

1. Out of an estuary so that I could acclimatise to the swell and build my confidence on moving water.
2. Some very shallow water on which I could practice the support strokes which you use to keep you upright if things get a bit ‘tippy’.
3. And then because I wanted to know what it would feel like to roll a kayak he accommodated me and took me to some protected deeper water. I discovered that rolling is not quite as easy as it looks.

We had a great time on the water and then went for supper together. By the end of the meal the conversation had developed into the possibility of setting up an expedition for young people’s development which involved sea kayaks, skiing and dog sleds.

I have always been interested in sports and the idea of getting better, but as we began to have conversation about expeditions I could feel that the skill building and fitness I would need to do helped build my focus and sense of purpose.

I was in Exeter for a few days which gave me the chance to have my professional development coaching with Ashley. During our conversations I became clearer about why I haven’t achieved my ambitions on the timescales I choose, I am much clearer now than ever before about my personal vision and I’m already finding that I am more proactive and my determination to succeed is deeper and more stable.

I’ll be back on the water early next month and will update you on my progress steps.

Adoni Mais

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