Dear World,

No matter if you can or can’t do all the exercises, just get your body moving, get your joints moving.

︎

No matter if you can or can’t do all the exercises, just get your body moving, get your joints moving. One day, my ex-boyfriend brought me to my first yoga class, and after that I started going everyday.

When I first came to the States from Switzerland, I wasn’t allowed to teach yoga, I was only on a tourist visa. After a while I was able to get a sports visa, for three years and then got married, I was a bit upset as I felt, even though I was in a relationship and was happy, I didn’t want to get married that quickly in my life, I was forced to do something just to be able to be in the place that I wanted to be. Being forced can be a very big subject in terms of taking classes.

I started Action Team fitness with my partner Chris back in 2016, we were so busy with work that we didn’t have time to focus on it. When the studio that I worked at closed, we had everything set up. I felt very lonely teaching through Instagram and Zoom. You don’t get a response from people, on Zoom you at least see people, you know someone is there but you’re kind of talking to yourself. One of the challenges now that we’re all doing a work-out from home, with distractions around you the entire time, is keeping the energy up.

What has helped me is taking classes from other people, and reading a lot about pilates, about yoga, listening to audio books, it keeps me committed to keep going. That space on a mat allows you to be wild and to move your body in a way you usually don’t do during the day. Especially pilates HIIT or hot pilates, you push yourself so hard to a point where you don’t get pushed elsewhere, not physically at least. It’s a combination of being on the mat and really letting it out. I practiced yoga, bikram yoga, which is a very intense sequence. After a few years I kind of realized that everything you do in that room, being mindful and pushing yourself in a healthy way, not getting hurt, I notice that everything is possible outside that room. If I push myself a little hard on my mat where I’m actually having control, and not actually getting forced, from the outside world to do it, then I can walk into any situation and be ready for it.

Because you know how to control your power, and that’s why I often say to work for a goal, have something in your mind, a vision to focus on something you want, because you begin to put your attention to it, and when you step off the mat, that attention stays very clear most of the time. 


Sincerely,

You Only Know If You Experience It With Your Own Body

Three days before this photoshoot, my mom and I started getting very sick and were advised by my doctor to go into quarantine. I work with analog photography, and my entire plan with this was to be able to support both people like Sarah, from my community, and local businesses that are still open, like the photo lab in my neighborhood.

That plan went down the drain as I couldn't leave my house for my own safety and for everyone else’s. I still wanted to do something with Sarah, so I decided to experiment doing a photoshoot from home, it was very fun and interesting. Both my parents helped out with the photoshoot and it was great to still be able to connect with someone, even from a distance. I still took analog photographs, which as soon as I am better I will go get developed!