Wow!! I can’t even begin to tell you what an emotionally charged week it’s been!! Just to give you the short version…the week was jammed with meetings, including our monthly manager meeting and our bi-annual staff meeting. I experienced my first ever Cacao Ceremony, I attended one of my dearest friend’s son’s wedding, and I kicked off our yoga teacher training program. Oh, not to mention an overdue meeting with my landlord. Ugh. So many highs…a few lows, but over all just a jam packed run of good stuff. But one of the stand out BL highs was definitely the staff meeting. It was so good to have this group come together in person and re-connect. This crew has certainly been instrumental in BL’s ability to continue to fight and be UNSTOPPABLE!! As part of the meeting, Chris and I assigned a bit of homework. Each staff member was asked to come prepared with one thing they thought BL was doing really well; something that sets us apart and would make others want to come here. We also asked them to also come up with one area that they felt we could do better at or needs improvement. There was lots of great input and suggestions but the one that really stood out was regarding BL’s strong sense of community. Many staff mentioned our community as one of the things that is really special about BL and something that they said they really hadn’t experienced at this level. I know is SO true for me and so many of you as well. BUT…one staff shared that she had brought a friend to a class and that she felt like our strong community actually made her feel like she didn’t belong. Like everyone knew each other and she was an outsider. WOW!! This made such an impression on me and, of course, is the last thing I would want to hear as we work so hard to foster this sense of community to make students feel included not excluded. But the reality is this was her experience and I’m sure if one person has felt this way, others have as well.
So what do we do about that?? Well, if you were in my class the next day, I shared this experience and in response to it had everyone pick up their mat, move to a new spot and introduce themselves to at least one person around them. It was great fun (well at least for me) and students seemed to understand the value in shaking things up a bit in order to meet someone new. The next morning I was in Tanci’s class and she had us each introduce ourselves to one person we didn’t know. Love this!! Just a couple of tangible ways we can foster a sense of inclusivity. Would love your help in doing so! Maybe you’ve been coming to BL for a few years or a few decades…maybe you’ve established a great network of workout buddies. I couldn’t be happier about all the friendships that have been made because we all come together at BL. We even created the area we call the LINK to provide a space for all of us to chat and connect and get to know one another. But, maybe you could be a part of our attempt to make EVERY body feel included by reaching out and introducing yourself or by helping a newcomer figure out where the weights are. I know many of you already doing this, but just encouraging us all to make a bit more of a conscious effort to make the strong community at BL something that is perceived as a positive and inclusive to all.
So there you go! Your mission if you choose to accept!! Just putting a smile on someone else’s face and making them feel included. Doesn’t get any better than that!! Good Stuff!!
