Why I Created The Garden: A Home for Slow, Supportive, Feel-Good Movement

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A home for slow, supportive, and feel-good movement to change the industry one stretch at time

When I restarted my fitness journey in 2017, I was always excited when I saw people who were in similar bodies to mine or people who voiced their injuries in fitness classes. I’m not in this alone, I’d think. In these classes, I remember not being offered modifications, being told to keep pushing forward regardless of our body signals, and even remember one instructor calling out, “Remember, winter is when summer bodies are made” (gross).

While I knew this was unfortunately the norm, I knew there were instructors out there who offered modifications, understood how a plus-size body moved, or how to give options for people who have trauma or chronic pain. But I either couldn’t find them, or they only taught in person in a different city.

When the pandemic shut everything down, including my certification to become a pole dance instructor, I began to question what a space where you could simply feel good in your body could look like.

The Problem With Most Fitness Spaces

Quick fixes, shame-based messaging, punishing workouts and centring changing the body over caring for it is what I often saw on my search. When having that light on these fitness spaces, I realized that, of course, this is why I saw fitness as punishment my whole life – these spaces are encouraging it to be just that.

Once I became a trainer, I signed up for a big box gym, and that’s when I really started noticing all the things wrong with traditional fitness spaces. Bikes with weight limits capping at 220lbs – an awfully low number for equipment that is meant to be for ‘everyone’. The brightest overhead lights were overstimulating on their own without the sounds of weights constantly being dropped without a care. A major lack of cleaning wipes, so you could only hope the person before you was able to snag one, and imagery that promoted before and afters throughout the club.

I remember a few times going in and seeing a person in a wheelchair in personal training sessions, with many of the resistance machines so close together that the only machines they could use were on the outskirts. The personal trainer was obviously frustrated by the lack of accessibility for a space that claims to be accessible.

It’s really no surprise at all that so many people don’t work out because they feel it’s not for them.

What I Wanted Instead: A Garden

What I wanted was far from what I experienced.. I wanted a garden.

When I started my online library, I didn’t know what to call it, but at the same time I was building it up, I was also building my collection of plants. That’s when I started to notice all the similarities and visual metaphors:

growth takes time, sometimes years, and never all at once
movement can be soft, nourishing, and non-linear
There is variety, moments of rest and dormancy, blooms, and set backs

The Garden started to take shape, and behind it all was a want, and a need, for a space that could feel empowering, supportive, and joyful. I wanted to back my videos with my education, never pushing people into pain and reminding that we can all take breaks, or adjust our movements to work for our bodies.

Who The Garden Is For

The Garden is a place for people who never felt “at home” in gym settings, or even in-person group classes. For people who want to feel supported, not shamed, in gently building a movement practice. And for those who are restarting their fitness journey, whether it be from injury, burnout, or trauma. People with chronic pain, parents, plus-size bodies, aging bodies, beginners, and caretakers are all welcome in this space. We cheer each other on from our own homes, knowing we are doing something for our bodies that has nothing to do with aesthetics, but for so many more important reasons.

What Makes It Different (And Why That Matters)

This space is about making it your own. On-demand videos that you can do wherever you are, whenever you want. Classes that vary in style, use of props, and a range of lengths so you’re not tied to a full hour class. Playlists that focus on specific needs like Pain Points, Energy Break, or Sleep Tight. Now with Pathways, so you can add just a tiny bit of movement in every day to create long term results in small ways. This is about moving at your own pace with compassion at the forefront, without any diet culture sneaking in.

This Is More Than Just Workouts – It’s community care

While many people call those who sign up for these spaces “users” or “clients”, I prefer to call my students Gardeners, as they cultivate a movement practice that best fits their lives. Over the time running The Garden, I’ve had many of them reach out to me just to let me know what they’ve been doing:

I’ve gotten reminders of the importance of movement for our mental health:

And even appreciation for showing up as I am to show people that fitness doesn’t have one look:

A Movement Routine That Fits You Starts Here

This little corner of the internet isn’t just for workouts though. It’s community care at its core. The Garden is a place where we can explore movement with safety and joy. Where we can come together with our monthly live classes, quarterly workshops, or with our gentle challenges.