When personal training feels trivial
Throughout my career I’ve had several moments when personal training has felt enormously trivial compared to the problems of our world. Lately, that feeling has tripled. Between school shootings, attacks on BIPOC and LBTQIA+ communities, climate injustice, and so much more… why is teaching exercise important? This question is what spurred me to study meditation and yoga philosophy, but although those spaces are healing and transformative, they haven’t filled the void for me. My “wellness'“ work is not tackling the monumental problems of the world and that really bothers me.
But when my publisher finally said my book was completed and sent off to the printer, after 6 years (from idea to completion and everything in between), I felt like I had contributed positively in some way. I wrote the book for a certain reason but it quickly turned into much more. There are many things that I didn’t fully realize about the world until I researched Thurgood Marshall, Joy Harjo, Black Thought, Awkwafina, and Maggie Aderin-Pocock. That’s why banning books is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of and why it’s great that we have the internet, in some cases, so we can access the information and stories that have been taken away from us.
Exercise is trivial compared to everything else going on in the world. And exercise makes people feel good. Exercise and sports of all kinds connects people, too. A new family moved in around the corner from us. They are from central Africa and spent 10 years in a refugee camp. They are a family of nine. I don’t speak their language, but we can connect through playing basketball, skateboarding, running, soccer… you get the picture. Although I think exercise is trivial, I also think it can be powerful.
Because I live in this constant AND place, I will continue to teach exercise. If you are one of those people who wants to work with someone that can help support your body through life’s changes, challenges, and beauty, then please reach out. I’m here. :)
