This fall semester, University employees have the opportunity to partake in a ten-week fitness program consisting of guided group exercises and health education.
According to Department of Recreation and Wellness website, “Each weekly session features a 30 minute group informational session followed by a 30 minute group exercise class. Participants receive a program workbook to help on their mindful health journey. Multiple sessions are offered to accommodate a variety of schedules.”
The instructors of the program are two doctoral students, Kristin Horan and Maija Taylor. Horan is studying Industrial Organizational Psychology with a specialization in Occupational Health Psychology and is a seasoned group fitness instructor. Taylor studies Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Health Psychology. She has helped lead three long term weight loss programs, one healthy eating program and a sugar reduction workshop.
The guided group exercises may seem like quite an incentive to join. Participants can expect a variety of kickboxing, yoga, circuit-training, weight-training and dance-based cardiovascular activity.
“There is actually research suggesting that people who’ve switched up their routine and include more than one type of exercise format, ultimately exercise more often and more consistently, which is really important to making long term health style changes, which was our rationale,” Horan said.
The main philosophy behind the program is the idea of “Mindfulness and Self-Compassion.” Mindfulness means being fully aware of your thoughts, feelings and sensations in the present moment, without judging them. Self-compassion means being kind to yourself even when you feel like you haven’t measured up to expectations of yourself and others.
When asked why the idea of mindfulness is so crucial, Horan said, “I’ve noticed in talking to people about their exercise habits that people have a tendency to go on auto pilot when they exercise. They think ‘Oh, if I can just distract myself with the TV screen long enough or my iPod long enough, basically if I can just turn my brain off long enough I can make it through this work out.’ Ultimately, you don’t enjoy it as much when you treat it as something you have to get through. I’ve found that applying mindfulness to my exercise program helps me enjoy it more.”
With such a stress reducing underline within the program, it is a focus that schedules will be accommodated for employees, as the program doesn’t want to add to the busy lives of University employees, but instead help take away some of the stress. However, scheduling seems to be the biggest challenge thus far.
“I think we actually have experienced the biggest challenge already, and that’s scheduling because we’re both graduate students with very different schedules. And then, we are also dealing with the availability of the Student Recreation Center, so trying to offer classes to people who work has been the most difficult part,” Horan said.
Challenges aside, the duo of instructors are hopeful for the program, and want to see their future clients succeed.
“I guess I want people to just get more in touch with their bodies and with nourishing themselves through spending time with loved ones, moving their bodies, eating nourishing foods, engaging in peaceful activities, so really connecting in a different way with the world,” said Taylor.
