The Art of Pilgrimage

August 4, 2024

Alice Sainsbury is an inclusive design consultant, specialising in adaptive wear for the outdoors. Her work explores the interconnectedness between our bodies, movement and the natural world.

Having worked as a successful activewear designer for global sports brands, Ali suffered a spinal cord injury in 2015. Her lengthy journey of physical recovery and the process of adapting to life with a neurological illness have informed her increased connection to nature and led her to establish her own sustainable clothing line TAO, to launch a podcast ’The Path Unknown’, to embark on public speaking and work alongside inspirational charity Millimetres 2 Mountains and Berghaus.

I had the pleasure of photographing her latest artworks in the rugged landscape of her homeland which formed the backdrop to her recent pilgrimage walk along the Cornish Celtic Way. I also had the opportunity to learn more about her ever-growing mission to break down barriers to the outdoors whilst raising awareness around illness and disability. Her work addresses many important issues that resonate in today’s climate which we explore in our chat below – including the emergence of the ‘Inclusion Revolution’, the benefits of working slow, life lessons and inspirations. If you have a spare 10 mins, grab a brew and enjoy the read!

The last time I saw you Ali, we were being chased by a herd of cows as I was trying to capture images of your beautiful textiles in the great outdoors! There is never a dull moment when working with you.

And yet look at the beautiful serenity of the images you managed to capture! All thanks to the way in which you throw yourself into a shoot. It’s such a fun and magical process working with you on film. Analogue lends itself so well to the rawness and beauty of the moment. Especially the many unknown happy accidents that could never be recreated on digital.

I’d love to learn more about your recent Pilgrim work – how this weaves into your other current pursuits and what’s lead you to where you are today?

The quote below really sums up the last 8 years for me (also applicable to being chased down by cows!) – but mainly in learning to walk again, learning to live in a new way with this neurological disease and finding ways to navigate the many complications it has brought.

‘The word adventure has gotten overused. For me, when everything goes wrong – that’s when adventure starts.’
– Yvon Chouinard

Whether it was a few steps during the initial part of my recovery, to walking around the garden or eventually taking on longer hikes – walking became my daily purpose. Pilgrimage routes offered the natural next step, to keep walking in a slow, considered way and to gain a different perspective of my Cornish homeland. So many of the learnings and the experiences of walking a pilgrimage are a deeper metaphor – not only for recovery, but also for life in general. It’s not about disconnecting, its about re-connecting to ourselves and the natural environment that we are a part of.

TAO studio is all about the art of moving in harmony with ourselves and nature. The clothing that I design, being natural and adaptive to our body as we move and rest, are an extension of us and our environment, not a separation. I wear them when I’m walking on pilgrimages as they are so comfortable and temperature-regulating. During last winter (and a long flare-up) I felt the need to bring together the physicality of the land that we pass through on a pilgrimage, with the fabrics we wear. The artworks I created (that you see pictured), seek to break down that separation further by using offcuts to create representations of the walks through textiles; from the valleys and contours of the land, to the deeply ancient standing stones of the moors. I started to reflect this physically back into the cloth itself.

Pilgrimage also weaves its way into how I approach my work as a writer, speaker and consultant of inclusive and accessible design. The outdoors is so important to me, yet I have felt like an outsider in the industry in which I work as a sports and outdoor clothing designer, for so long. I realised I was working for and being in a world not designed for people like me with illness and disability. Slowly walking these ancient routes immersed in nature has shown me how to adapt, and shown me how we need to holistically include the whole ecosystem – including all humans. Without true inclusion we don’t actually have sustainable businesses, brands or organisations. It has helped me to pivot into the work I do now whilst bringing this knowledge of regeneration, co-operation, collaboration and a need to work as more of an organism than corporation.

I know you’ve faced some pretty big challenges over the past years since your spinal injury. Can you describe what have been the most impactful learnings you’ve taken from your journey so far?

‘Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.’
– Lao Tzu

Nothing about this journey has been linear – which is a lesson about life in itself. It has been full of set-backs, treatments, procedures going very wrong, operations and continual debilitating flare-ups, forcing me to to surrender and accept. There seems to be a misconception about ‘surrender’ as being about ‘giving up’, but true surrender and acceptance is about getting rid of the ‘shoulds’ and acknowledging what is and seeing the opportunities in this. Nature has become my greatest teacher in this respect; lying in the garden on days when I am unwell, moving with the frequency of nature I feel fully supported. There is a complete sense that I am ‘where I’m meant to be’ and I try to just let things unfold the way they are meant to.

‘As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.’
– Rumi

When you’re walking slowly and are open to whatever may happen, strange synchronicities occur – conversations and coincidences take place that wouldn’t have previously been allowed time or space under the dogma of challenge. I think this is metaphorical of life. Becoming more in tune with this, you gain a sense of being guided and supported through the interconnectedness of nature. This has been further deepened by walking the pilgrimages as it teaches you to just let the paths unfold and to be completely open to every experience and every being. This creates a huge amount of expansion. Whenever I’m feeling stuck in life (especially after a long flare-up) I head out on a pilgrimage to shake off the stagnancy, to feel that expansion and gain clarity. Whilst cultivating a deep inner trust of ourselves, our intuition and a trust of the outer world makes us more open. As Satish Kumar says ‘A pilgrim of life is a lover of life, and a lover of life is a pilgrim of life’. Embracing every part of the journey, every interaction and small moment with joy and openness is so important.

Nature shows us how to adapt. It isn’t survival of the fittest – it works in symbiosis – it communicates, collaborates, adapts and moves in harmony together. I have had to really adapt the way that I live my life and how I even go about a pilgrimage. Allowing and embracing this as part of my story has taken time. I needed to let go of the shame I felt around it. So much of that shame came from the narratives created in society around illness and disability. Breaking down many of these narratives has been what ‘The Path Unknown’ podcast is about. Becoming a beneficiary with Millimetres to Mountains has also been hugely motivating and empowering – helping cultivate a feeling of confidence and strength within me when talking about my condition and owning it.

What inspires you?

Learning more about ancient and deeply-rooted philosophies. They knew how to be connected to themselves, their bodies, their intuition, their relationships to each other and the land. They understood the cycles of nature and energies that are so deeply a part of us. I feel it’s where many of our answers to repeated issues in modern life lie, and have always been.

During flare-ups when I don’t even have the energy to read, I listen to audio books and at the moment I have a hunger to find out more about the women’s stories of our lands that have been written out of history – a couple of current reads include ‘If Women Rose Rooted’ by Sharon Blackie and ‘The Britannias: An Archipelago’s Tale’ by Alice Albinia. I’m also very much enjoying the ‘Weird Walk’ journal.

So much of design is about understanding psychology, behaviour and anthropology. I am obsessed with sports documentaries at the moment as I find the psychology and neuroscience so interesting. The work that I’m doing requires empathy, curiosity and a questioning of fixed beliefs and the status quo. So much of what I research is about different systems and behavioural change. I would also recommend everyone read ‘Conscious Inclusion: How to ‘do’ EDI, One Decision at a Time’ by Catherine Garrod.

A lot of your work focuses on striving to make the world a more inclusive and accessible place. What would be the most amazing changes you’d like to see happening over the next 5 years in your field?

We are moving into what has been called the ‘Inclusion Revolution’ which you can already feel is gaining a lot of momentum. I think there will be many changes in the next few years. I have been speaking a lot on how ‘Inclusion is the new sustainability’ in terms of the seriousness with which it needs to be taken and valued.

Nearly 25% of the population are living with a condition or impairment, so my hope is to see this market catered for and valued properly, instead of being devalued, left out or viewed as a charity. Companies, brands and organisations need to realise that without true inclusion you do not have a sustainable business model.

With that, I would also hope to see proper regulation around this. Just like when brands carry out ‘green washing’ instead of true authentic sustainable practice, we are already seeing ‘diversity-washing’, in which people from minority groups are exploited for brand image and instances of ‘virtue signalling’ instead of authentic inclusion.

We have spoken before about the language around it, and unfortunately a lot of the language, whilst there is nothing ‘wrong’ with it, for example the word ‘disabled’, just holds so many pre-conceptions that are hard to shake and creates a feeling of division. It’s all about breaking down these narratives and creating new ones. Other instances such as ‘trauma porn’ and ‘inspirational’ stories about people ‘overcoming’ disability or hardship need to change – everyone living with any condition or impairment is worthy and no-one should have ‘overcome’ anything to be valued and included in society.

I am campaigning to see the landscape of inclusion in the sports and outdoor industries change. I have experienced a lot of discrimination working in this arena as someone with disability, and even more so with regard to my hidden disabilities. Organisations need to make space for people with hidden / invisible disabilities and conditions that perhaps need flexible working, or who are highly qualified in what they do, but require part-time positions. The industry needs to adapt to make this happen. ‘Able-splaining’ is also something I encounter all the time – again there are experts in this field, with lived experience, so bring them in too as the experts. The employment and value of people needs to become properly inclusive.

The media has great power and potential to change the narratives and reach around the subject of inclusivity – from the coverage and engagement of para sports, to article publications, brand content and the ambassadors they work with. This would not only help to change the narratives, but also the engagement of sponsorship and circulation of money. The pay gap for disabled people and athletes is awful. This needs to change and I believe that the media has a responsibility and key role to play in helping to bring this about.

Ultimately I would like to see a world in which our systems and narratives are designed for everyone and is inclusive of everyone.

Before we close, tell me – what’s up next for Alice Sainsbury?

Well it’s shaping up to be an interesting second half of the year as I’m heading out to Paris for the Paralympics in September and then finishing filming the ‘Adapts’ project in Scotland with Berghaus, which will première at Kendal Mountain Festival at the end of November. In between this and other projects, I have been charting and walking some of the most ancient energy lines through Cornwall and Devon following in the footsteps of Hamish Miller. I am keen to start taking others living with conditions on slow adapted pilgrimages – there will be more on this to come! But for now there are new episodes of ‘The Path Unknown’ podcast and the ‘Pilgrim’ collection of artworks will be touring around Cornwall – upcoming dates and venues to be announced @active_alice_design.

See the collection of images here

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