I’ve always taken great pride in teaching group fitness. That term—group fitness—is not confined to gyms and boutique studios. The essence of the concept comes from evolutionary biology: survival depends on the fitness of the group.
Fitness is how we became the dominant animal on this planet, for better and worse. And not only physical prowess. Humans are quite slow and weak compared to many other mammals. Our vision is lackluster; our sense of smell is horrendous. We have a tendency to kill others of our own species, sometimes in great numbers. And we’re prone to conspiratorial thinking, which picks apart the threads of the group.
Fortunately for us, we have this thing we call “mind.” Our imagination, and our ability to work together as a community, is what helped us ascend. What keeps us together today.
Fitness has never just been about physical flexibility, strength, and mobility. All of those qualities apply equally to mental pursuits and emotional states.
I learned early that a yoga studio is a playground—a room with infinite possibilities. The same is true of any fitness studio. They’re not places to disconnect from your brain to focus on your body. They’re arenas of exploration and possibility that involve your whole being.
When quarantine started, I, like many of my colleagues, began teaching online. It’s all we had; it’s all many of us still have. And like many of my colleagues, I became burnt out teaching that way.
I recorded roughly 60 free yoga classes on YouTube and held a number of Zoom workshops. With each passing month, I felt less motivated. Filming myself has never been fulfilling; Zoom afforded me an opportunity to see some of you, which was awesome. It helped. But we all know it’s not the same.
(I still record on Yogis Anonymous; code DEREK30 gets you a free 30-day trial.)
It’s strange, not teaching, but everything is strange. And that’s okay. We all know that life is transient and change inevitable, yet every time we’re reminded of that fact, we still seem surprised.
The subscription level of this newsletter included a Monday newsletter featuring reporting on a variety of topics that deal with health and fitness—physical, mental, emotional. That will continue.
I’m sorry to announce that I’m no longer offering Zoom workshops. It’s just not where my head is at, and I can’t force what I don’t feel.
I hope to return to teaching in person one day, and let’s be honest: there will be in-person classes again. I’ve moved on a bit in my career, working for my third start-up in as many years (one I truly love), but if there’s a chance to pick up a weekly class come Spring or early Summer (when group fitness will likely be a thing again), I will.
I’ve dropped the subscription price of my weekly newsletter to $5/month or $50/year. If you subscribe for the workshops, I totally understand your reason for dropping your membership. If you enjoy the weekly writing that arrives in your inbox, I would appreciate your continued support.
And if you subscribe at the free level, awesome. I’ll still send transmissions once or twice a month. I appreciate your interest in my work at any level.
Quarantine afforded me an opportunity to write one book, and I’m sketching out my next now. Sponsorship has always been a fact of life for many writers, and if you’d like to receive a weekly email featuring original reporting and writing, you can subscribe here:
Thanks, as always, for reading. To catch up on some recent work, I published this piece on the connection between psychedelics and schizophrenia, as well as this look at the dangers of vaccines by press release.
ahhhahahah while i take the article on LSD and schizophrenia seriously, seriously, i had a good laugh out loud thanks to that Sartre + Lacan bit. always love me some french theorist/philosopher/psycho (true) gossip
i won’t say congratulations because you made all that awesome stuff happen and i will say thank you always for guiding by doing.