Moving From Pain to Freedom: Robin's Member Journey

Meet Robin. She has completed 129 (and counting) live classes.. Robin came to us with Chronic pain. She found that training steel mace in private sessions led to her recovery from pain.

Training under light load (with a mace) can help activate stabilizers and deep inner core muscles. And when you train mace with a private coach, this can help you pinpointing the actual issues you may be having faster.

What’s amazing is what other benefits Robin has discovered from training as a Flow Shala member. She notes that training consistently has not only benefitted her body, but also her mental well-being.

We are stoked to share our member’s wins. From pain to freedom!

Read Robin’s Member Journey below and learn what it’s really like to train at the Flow Shala

Why did you start training at Flow Shala initially? What’s your story for how and why you started this journey?

I started training at Flow Shala when I finally accepted that I had a chronic running injury (it hurt all the time, not just when running), and needed to take a break to treat it.

Strength training on my own wasn't helping, but yoga seemed to feel pretty good. I had to wait several weeks to see a physical therapist, but a fitness expert and mentor familiar with Summer Huntington's approach had recommended Flow Shala, so I decided to check it out.

What results have you had so far, and how did you achieve them?

I wasn't sure I was ready to commit to anything, and the pandemic was underway, so I did a video consultation with Coach Renna. I've interviewed movement experts for my day job, so I was really impressed when Renna was able to identify possible contributors to my injury by watching me over Zoom. (A physical therapist confirmed the issues Renna spotted.)

Renna designed a plan to work on neurological and physical compensation patterns with bodyweight and steel mace movement. I had no idea that working with a steel mace could address both, or that mobility practice and fascial tissue release could make such a difference.

Within months the constant pain I'd had for years was gone, which was fantastic, and I'm stronger, to be sure. But besides teaching me how to move in ways that are both safer AND more challenging, training at Flow Shala with Renna and in classes has made other things accessible and tangible that otherwise seemed out of reach or "woo woo."

My day job has me working “in my head” all the time, which makes it easy to compartmentalize or ignore my physical self as well as my feelings and relationships.

Working with Renna and Flow Shala has given me a physical point of entry to mental self-care practices that I just wouldn’t do in the past (too busy, can’t sit still for 10 minutes, etc.).

All of this is helping me build a physical connection to my mental and emotional state so that I can live as a whole person.

What is your favorite thing about training at Flow Shala as a member? What do you love about the new membership?

I love that Flow Shala membership offers so many ways to get moving, through live classes, recorded classes, and recorded comprehensive modules on head-to-toe fascial release and basic movement that I can follow. I don’t have to worry about being motivated to work out, because there’s always an option that feels like the right thing, including when I want to exercise by myself.

I love that Flow Shala membership offers so many formats, meaning classes that use different types of movement for specific outcomes. From classes using bodyweight steel mace or clubs for physical and mental training or intensity, to classes that get to the foundation of strength and ease of movement by teaching mechanics, mobility or spinal release and postural alignment.

And I love that the new membership is unlimited. For the price I would expect to pay for two classes a week, I can take as many classes as I’d like. I have access to all of the coaches through all of the class options and formats. The coaches have different styles, but they have in common such depth of knowledge and such skill at observing, cueing and correcting form – in person and via Zoom – that I’m always learning—and the coaches make every class interesting and rewarding with new cues or a more advanced way to do a movement.

What would you tell someone considering getting started? If they were on the fence?

If you have no training experience or a lot, if you have movement restrictions or not, if you’re young or “old,” if you want to sweat or you want to achieve a different mental state, and especially if you’re not convinced that this is the right thing for you, try it for a month.

Sign up, do an assessment with a coach to find out more about your body, and try one of each class: a steel mace class, a movement mechanics class, a Foundations (release and alignment) class, and a bodyweight class. Try them live, virtual and pre-recorded. The coaches are adept at coaching modifications, explaining and answering questions, and helping you find ways to experience what they’re teaching even if you’re taking a virtual class and don’t have the same equipment.

You’ll get a sense from just one of each class what the coaching is like and what works best for your needs. You don’t have to think about trying to achieve a goal – as long as you participate, the physical and mental changes will follow.
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We specialize in helping our members gain meaningful movement practices and gain a mind and body connection. Coaches at the Flow Shala know how to help you link your movement training with emotional/ mental well-being.

It’s amazing how much can shift inside when we learn the tools to change.

You may not know what that missing link is until you start a training somatic awareness. Somatic awareness is the term to describe the introspection of our body experience and can lead to deep healing of subconscious patterns.

Keep an open mind of what may need to be discovered.

If you are ready to take a deeper dive, we recommend a coaching connection call with Renna- you can request one here via the contact form.

Or try out one month unlimited membership to explore the full-breadth of Flow Shala live & virtual training.