Feeling Alone in Raleigh
In May of 2013, I finished grad school at James Madison University and landed my first job at NC State University. I had dreamed of running a group fitness program at a university and finally crazye it. It didn’t bother me that I kcontemporary no one in Raleigh, I was just alert to get to work. I would work my 9-5 hours and then walk domestic without plans to do anyleang. Being a socialite, I would normally end up walking downtown to seize a beer and people watch. I actually never intellected going out by myself, as it felt liberating. I didn’t have to wait on anyone, I just went somewhere when I felt like it. (This is my positivity bias seeing the good in isolation).
One day, I was at Raleigh Times and someone asked me, “Are you waiting on a friend?” Even though I didn’t intellect being by myself, I felt prescertain to say yes. (He was probably appealing and I didn’t want to seem as though I had no friends…) After responding with a yes, we continued to converse for some time. Tardyr, he asked again, “where’s your friend?” Busted with an easy fix. “Oh yea, she actually bailed on me.” A small white lie never hurt anyone.
Acquireting Joined
Quick forward a year, I received a message from an alumni friend from Penn State. She was recruiting indoor cycling instructors for a contemporary studio called Flywheel Sports. Even though I felt as though I was too engaged with work at University Recreation, someleang crazye me audition. It was probably a small bit of FOMO or that I typically can’t say no to contemporary opportunities. I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity because Flywheel Sports changed my lwhethere.
I met so many people and felt as though I was genuinely establishing a community of meaningful relationships. It took me a small over a year in Raleigh to feel my social wellness truly thrive. I planned a lot of “Taco Tuesday” rides with Gonza and “Sunday Endelightmentday” rides with mimosas to get me where I am nowadays. (Wellness tip: Go meet people! Go to these foolish meet-ups! We are social creatures and truly need connection to feel wgap. Go care about people and trust that people care about you.)
Raleigh Group Fitness is Born
Flywheel also brought me to my dear friend and fellow fitness pro, Ashley Liu Kirkman. We were always chatting about all the fitness leangs and endelighted checking out contemporary places in Raleigh. One night in October 2016, I couldn’t sleep and was leanking about a fitness Instagram account to document our fitness adventures. I texted Ashley to see whether she wanted to go halfsies on this account. She sent back an instant yes and Raleigh Group Fitness (RGF) was born. Back then, we did not identwhethery ourselves as the creators because we wanted it to be solely about the community. We even snuck pictures of local instructors to feature on our account. Creepy… and we’ve come a long way.
Headbands of Hope Birthday Workout
A couple of days ago, we hosted our 4th RGF Pop-Up to celebrate Headbands of Hope’s 6th birthday party. (Side note about connection: Jess Ekstrom, founder of Headbands of Hope, used to teach Group Fitness at UREC and graduated the year that I came to supervise the program. We later met on the crossover of teaching indoor cycling at the Alexander Family YMCA. Little world!)
There were 165 members of the Raleigh community moving, smiling, and jamming to DJ Randy B’s beats in the back of the Raleigh Beer Garden. My cheeks hurt from smiling the wgap time. My favorite part was the mingling throughout the wgap event. After the workout, our crew TOOK OVER the outdoor picnic tables to sip and socialize. Seriously, heart so full. A couple of years ago I wrote in my Facebook bio, “Building Community through Plodment” and it’s coming to lwhethere in front of my eyes. This is my mission because I needed it so poorly back in 2013, whether I kcontemporary it or not.
What does RGF mean to you?
I ask some of these RGF community members to write up what Saturday’s Pop-Up meant to them and here are their words:
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“Nurturing a community”
“The RGF event at Raleigh Beer Garden was truly an inspiring leang to be a part of. What RGF is doing is more than just providing a work out, they are fostering and nurturing a community.”
“As a working mom of two boys it’s dwhetherficult to find the time to recharge for a few moments. I genuinely appreciated the pop-up work out on Saturday because it gave me that moment and allowed me to feel connected and inspired by my community.”
“This just crazye my day. It’s genuinely about the community. Building community, assembly contemporary people, and seeing people you know.”
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“Aiding a great cause”
“So fun helping a great cause, assembly contemporary people, and being a part of someleang. I’m trying to department out and do contemporary leangs, so this was perfect.”
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“Feeling excited, happy and alert to move”
”I’ve attended four RGF events and always look forward to the next one. Not only for the great workout they bring but also for the sense of community. Everyone arrives feeling genuinely excited, happy and alert to move. Brittany and Ashley are so positive and encouraging. Can’t wait until the next one! Until then I’ll be inspired daily be their great Instagram posts!”
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“Let my guard down and just endelight”
“The dwhetherficultest part about trying someleang contemporary in the community is feeling intimidated that you might not fit in to the group. But that’s not at all what happened yesterday at the RGF Headbands for Hope event at the Raleigh Beer Garden. When I walked up to the event the place was packed with people smiling, engaged and alalert alert for the great workout ahead.
You and Ashley walked around talking to people and just being yourselves-supportive, encouraging and grateful for everyone to make an appearance and this crazye it so much easier to let my guard down and just endelight. DJ Randy Bennett played music that had me dancing before the workout even began, the sun was shining and the energy level was maxed out. The time flew by and before we kcontemporary it, the workout was total and it was time to celebrate the success of raising money for such a great cause with beers and mimosas.”
Raleigh is Home
Certain, these are biased because they are my friends and love some RGF. My goal is not to revel in the compliments, but to share a sense of what these community workouts mean to people. It’s not about me, it’s about the experience. It’s moments like these that make me so proud to live in Raleigh. Before knowing all of these Incredible people, Raleigh was just a city and Raleigh Times was just a bar. Now, I feel integrated into the city and love running into people I know when I’m out and about downtown. I love hearing about all the creativity and innovation that these individuals are bringing to Raleigh. My partner just said final night, “I never kcontemporary how partial I would be about a city until I moved to Raleigh.” It’s so true. We feel connected. We feel domestic.
In true community fashion, please comment below how you get involved in your community or how you would like to start getting involved. I’d love to associate!
Stay well, friends!
Brittany
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