Transitions-How I became a Spin Instructor

Transitions are difficult for everyone. I have had some lucky and unlucky transitions throughout my life. I have moved from the west coast to the east coast, from America to Africa and back (twice), and from north of the Mason Dixon to the “South”. Although some people couldn’t imagine moving so many miles from everything they know, moving my physical location has always been an easy transition for me. I’ve found a sense of confidence in my moves, each one allowing me to grow, learn, and process my past.

The transitions I find difficult are not dictated by geography, they are transitions in roles. The ways that I define myself continue to evolve as my life evolves and transitioning to teaching Spin was difficult. It took time to reconcile what I was trying to accomplish. I had to ask myself what I would gain by taking on a second job, besides the free gym membership and extra cash. Designing and choregraphing a class takes time and effort, as does ensuring I am injury-free in order to teach.

When I first considered moving from the front row in the spin studio onto the stage I was super nervous. Despite having a significant amount of experience training others in mental health, I was unsure how to apply this experience. Teaching spin involves movement, coordination, attention to musical ques, attention to physical cues of the class in front of you and listening to your own body at the same time. I was daunted and defeated after tearing my left calf during the final sprint of my certification training. It took me a few months to recover from the muscle tear. I couldn’t start teaching until a spot opened up at my gym anyway, so I nursed the injury and started working on class design.

I decided that I would teach 6 weeks of classes called Sessions. Each Session would build upon each other, teaching riders more skills and correcting common form mistakes. I chose 6 weeks because I get bored of the same music and believe that if you are consistently training and building your spin workouts of a similar type, within 6 weeks you will be much more confident at the workout and ready to move on to new skills and harder workouts. Every class brings new riders and loyal riders, making it difficult to balance a workout for beginners and experienced riders. I infuse skill building in each class so new riders can learn for a period of time before moving onto the more advanced moves and classes. The first three classes of the Sessions are typically less difficult, building up to a “race day” in the 6^th class where all the skills of the prior 6 weeks are practiced in one intense class.

Nine months into teaching and a year after my certification I have decided to continue exploring mind-body connection trough blogging and sharing workouts with others. Each workout has a theme that I will connect to a reading or resource about my wellness journey. Blogging this experience will allow others to follow my workouts, teach my workouts, and share in this mind/body work. Although I have much more experience at teaching indoor cycling than I did last year, I am still learning and growing in my craft. I search for inspiration from other instructors, from other bloggers, and workouts that others have shared online. Class choreography and discovering new music is a new favorite hobby and I look forward to hearing feedback about how these workouts will inspire others.

These workouts are posted as free-ware. My intent in sharing them is that others will use them and alter them. At home riders, fellow instructors, those looking for inspiration for their own rides- all are welcome to the Wellness Grind. The artists and songs are shared to inspire readers to explore using different genres of music for physical activity. We honor the artists by downloading and purchasing their music. I use iTunes/Apple Music for my playlists and that is just what works for me. You are welcome to modify the playlists and use the workouts as you are inspired to.

As I transition from an instructor to a blogger, I invite others to share their stories, thoughts, feedback and positive vibes.

#BeWell and happy 4th of July everyone