Community and the Covid Crazies
As a personal trainer, I have primarily worked out of our home gym, the Whine Cellar, in our basement for the past 16 years. Once Greensboro was asked to shelter-in-place due to the coronavirus, I knew exercise, sunshine and the outdoors would be important for our mental and physical health. So I began outdoor, distanced workouts in our neighborhood. The purpose was to keep our sanity through camaraderie, laughter, and sunlight, while also helping our community. The classes offered each day were “free” to participants, as long as they donated back into our community in some way. My goal was also to keep some semblance of normalcy for the children, for our neighborhood doctors and for our morale as a community. It was a sliver of time in our day where we sweat, sang, smiled, laughed (sometimes cried), and took time to share stories and breathe. Some of the classes offered were: Sanity Stretch, Corona Core, Hood HiiT, Covid Camaraderie and Senior Sanity.
At the end of each class, each participant was asked what they were thankful for that day. It was amazing to hear the wide array of gratitude from all ages, but hands down, the number one answer that I received week after week was community. The beautiful spring weather was a close second, but everyone mentioned the importance of community when trying to maintain sanity during these very different times.
When I finally got back to work in the Whine Cellar, it was quickly determined that the outdoor classes must continue as well. In order to make my life a bit easier, I ran out and bought a little red wagon to hold all of my toys for these classes, hence, the Lil’ Red Wagon Krewe was born. Everyday it gets rolled out to our cul-de-sac and out come the jump ropes, balance domes, weights, resistance bands, agility rings and ladders, and of course, sanitizer!
As covid carried on (and on), my husband, Edmond, and I quickly realized our upcoming empty nesting adventure trips were to be canceled. Travel is such an integral component for our family to connect with different cultures, nature and the immense outdoors; we were in need of a sanctuary. The covid crazies got us good; in July, Edmond and I spontaneously bought a mountain house in Lake Toxaway, NC; something we said we’d never do. We fell so hard for this special area in NC many years ago, and have shared so many family memories. For years, I’ve had people ask me about doing health and wellness retreats and it dawned on me; what better place than the land of waterfalls and shear beauty.
So here we are; never in a million years did I ever think that I would ever have a website and be “advertising”; putting myself and business “out there”. But during these past 6 months, I’ve had plenty of time to contemplate, learn, grow and listen (and be told by my more mature and golden clients that it was time to join this century). What I continue to learn is the dire need for community and what better way to do it than through moving with your tribe, or even a wellness retreat where we get to share our passion for all things outdoors, healthy living and most importantly, a sense of community.
One more nugget I’ve learned is to never say, “never”, especially during the covid crazies! I hope you will enjoy this new Health & Fitz-ness website and I will get to share my passion with some of you. Stay healthy, stay positive, breathe and smile ;-)
~Thea