Navigating an Upcoming Change to My Routine

This essay originally appeared in the Monday morning newsletter on 4/25/22.

Do you have a favorite group fitness class or workout? For me, it’s a workout called The Bar Method. 

In fact, looking up Bar Method studio locations was one of the first things I did when I moved to Chicago almost six (!) years ago. I had started doing the workout in college while I was home interning in the summers. During those summer internships, I learned not only technical skills in my field, but also figured some of the ins and outs of being a working professional (a very valuable aspect of an internship, in my opinion). I learned how to navigate being in an office setting, figured out what I liked to pack for lunch, and realized because I was sitting at a desk for most of the day, I felt better and more focused when I did some kind of movement in the morning. When I moved to Chicago after college, I knew I wanted to replicate my routine of taking an early morning Bar Method class a couple times a week before work. 

I started working the Chicago studio’s front desk on Saturday mornings in exchange for free classes (could not afford the cost of membership at 22!) and the rest is history. Frequenting the 6 or 7 am classes on weekday mornings has become as familiar to me as my route to the grocery store or the way I get ready in the morning. In fact, breaking the routine of going to those early morning classes and seeing the other 6-am’ers during the beginning of the pandemic was one of my biggest transitions of that upside down time.

I think there is something unique about group workout classes, and specifically early morning workout classes. I roll out of bed and show up with my hair pulled back and no makeup on, as do the other regulars too. We move together as the sun comes up and feed off one another’s energy. We all go our separate ways outside of the studio – in a way we’re mostly strangers – but we’ve also become part of each other’s daily routines. A couple times a week, we get snapshots of what’s going on in each other’s lives. We witness ebbs and flows and love and loss and everything in between. It’s a really special feeling. 

When I think about the last six years and how much has changed in my life – personally and professionally – I realize I’ve clung to this haven of a studio as a constant. Through my own ups and downs, starting my days with this workout and a sense of community has been lifegiving. 

Sadly, my Bar Method studio is closing at the end of this week. The studio is unable to make up the economic gap that grew over the past two years and be healthy enough to absorb raising rent prices, among other factors. I sadly understand it all, but I’m just devastated.

I went back and forth if I should write about this today because in the grand scheme of things, I know this is a small thing. It also feels very specific to my circumstances. But what I love about this newsletter is that it encapsulates a moment in time, and right now, this change is what I can’t stop thinking about. 

The more I thought about it, I realized this situation is specific to my circumstances, but the underlying theme isn’t. From time to time we all deal with changes where we’re on the receiving end and not the dispensing end, like when a co-worker changes jobs or a friend moves away or a project abruptly stops or an apartment building gets sold. The changes are (thankfully) not life-altering, but still feel seismic. It’s not something you sought out, yet your equilibrium is off-kilter, your routine distorted. It can feel unsettling, which is pretty much how I’m feeling today. 

…But what I also know is that changes like this make room for something new too. 

As one of my favorite Oprah quotes goes: “you cannot receive anything if your hands are full.”

I find the sentiment of this quote so reassuring in terms of thinking about changes like this one (not life-altering changes… but rather life-“tweaking”). Yes, something in my life is changing. Yes, I’m having to let go of something I’ve held onto for a long time. But in return, I’m also making room for something new.  

Something else that makes me feel reassured is feeling gratitude for the time I did have The Bar Method in my routine. Six years ago, I was navigating a lot of new and a lot of change and finding something constant and steady (even if it was in the form of a workout studio) was incredible. But in the time since then, I’ve settled into this city, my job, picked up different forms of workouts – like running and Sculpt Society – and built a really special community around me. Things are different now. 

So thankful things that are put in our path at just the right time, for things we didn’t even know we needed. Reminding myself of this helps me look forward to finding out what that next thing will be. 

If you’re also navigating a life-tweaking kind of change right now, I hope some of this resonates with you. I feel you. And if you have something else that helps you with things like this, I’d love to hear. (Would also love any group fitness class recs!!)  

Onward we go! 

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