Maintaining your health – physical, emotional and mental – is important during this time of heightened uncertainty and stress. While we social distance to protect the health of our most vulnerable neighbors and family members, it’s a good time to reinforce, maintain or start some healthy habits like exercise. This guest blog comes from the Michigan Municipal League’s Membership Engagement Specialist, Emily Kieliszewski, who also works as a fitness instructor on the side. She has a story about how she has been helping others keep fit, for free, at home.
By day, most people know me professionally through the membership work I do here at the League. By night, I moonlight as a fitness instructor – a side hustle I’ve loved for nearly ten years that means I’m equal parts DJ, motivator, and teammate. Amid a global pandemic and Michigan’s Stay Home Stay Safe order, the job requirements have quickly transformed to include “set designer,” “equipment manager,” and “live video producer.” Let me explain.
Over the past four weeks, Spartan Fit Center in the greater-Lansing area has been leading people through full-body workouts from our carpeted living rooms, entryways, or in my own case, a tiny studio apartment. There’s nothing quite like realizing you’ve neglected the vacuuming for too long while in the middle of a push-up set streaming live on Facebook. Twice a week, I shove most of my furniture to the outer edges of my apartment and strap my phone to a window to instruct classes live from my living room. In true amateur fashion, the tape once came unsecured mid-class, leaving my “camera” swinging wildly: a real live-action experience for those at home.
The surroundings and equipment substitutions – like cans of soup for weights, and cleaning rags for gliding movements – are a far cry from our normal studio setting. Despite the challenges, the pivot to all-digital class formats was instinctual: our members are our family. Taking care of them is what we do.
Prioritizing our own care makes us better able to show up in meaningful ways in our personal and professional lives.
For many people, we recognize fitness goes beyond the physical: it keeps us strong to embrace the people we love; it gives us energy to keep up with our children or grandchildren; and it teaches us perseverance to face life’s many challenges – we know we can do hard things because we’ve done them before. Prioritizing our own care makes us better able to show up in meaningful ways in our personal and professional lives. During this unprecedented global situation, we know we have the opportunity and responsibility to support our members – right when we all need release and connection most.
In these times of stress and uncertainty, we’ve opened our digital doors to welcome anyone to the fitness experience free of charge with a clear message: You are welcome here. You have teammates in your corner. We care about you and want to help. Come as you are. In democratizing fitness, we’ve extended our community far beyond the faces we’re used to seeing within the walls of our physical space. People across the U.S. have tuned into our classes and whole families are joining us from their living rooms – physically distant, but socially connected and united in movement.
What does it mean to be a community? Two months ago, our answer at Spartan Fit Center may have been different. Holding true has been our commitment to putting people first and empowering others to be their best and strongest selves both physically and mentally. These are undoubtedly scary, uncertain times – and within this crisis, people are rising to the occasion. Whether through the work our studio has done, the people who’ve joined us for a class at home, or our League members standing on the front lines of our communities, hope abounds – what a privilege it is to be serving all of you.
The Michigan Municipal League is providing resources, hosing informational webinars, and advocating on behalf of Michigan’s communities during the COVID-19 crisis. More information can be found at www.mml.org/coronavirus.