Putting the professional back in the fit pro
“If you want to level up your career satisfaction and your bottom line, lean in to something that you love and make it what YOU are known for. Not only can this be lucrative but it is a sure fire way to inoculate yourself against imposter syndrome.”
- Ericka Thomas
Transcript
Ep 184 Putting the professional back in the fit pro
Don't be a Wellness wackadoodle
Let’s face it, the fitness and wellness industry attracts all kinds of people and there are all kinds of ways to succeed in it. The assumption is that people who work in wellness, from instructors and trainers to studio and gym owners, are well. That these folks have already done their work and they are grounded, compassionate entrepreneurs who have their ego in check and the best interest of their students and employees at heart. Sadly that isn’t always the case. In fact I would suggest that many of us are in the wellness and fitness community because while that’s who we are striving to be, we aren’t there yet and we know it. Without strong and grounded mentors and collaborators who are willing to tell the truth about this industry we can spend a lot of time floundering around trying to be something and someone we are not. To fit the woo woo wellness cookie cutter insisting we want to help others yet refusing to help ourselves first. The truth is we can’t help anyone if we aren’t in business, we can’t stay in business if we don’t get paid, and we can’t get paid if we don’t give people results beyond the woo woo wackadoodle world of wellness. Our work IN today is a look at how we as fit pros can find a balanced approach to the business of the body by grounding our business in the body.
Today’s episode was triggered by a random sales email that showed up in my inbox the other day. I didn’t even open it. Basically I got triggered by the subject line. It was full of overused wackadoodle wellness words that have lost all their meaning. Words like “transformation” and “healing”. Lots of wellness professionals promise transformation and healing without any kind of context. Frankly, it's annoying. Then there are the B2B coaches who want to help us all get better at offering transformation and healing to our students as a way to break 6 figures or whatever.
Look, I know yoga is healing and transformative I believe all fitness and wellness related modalities CAN be healing and transformative but that doesn’t mean they all ARE. Nor does it mean that everyone is looking for healing and transformation. And I also think that fit pros in any niche who want to cultivate a sustainable career would be better off avoiding the woo woo like transformation in favor of tangible results that movement and mind body modalities can give. Especially if you are a new instructor or are breaking into a new demographic.
Yoga Alliance just sent out something titled “Can you measure healing?”. Turns out you can.
“Yoga Alliance provided impact evaluation tools and services to Prison Yoga Project - Mexico to better understand how participants at six correctional facilities rated their mental and physical well-being before and after starting a yoga practice. “ Yoga Alliance
The results were impressive. You can find them in the show notes.
I don’t want to get bogged down in only the yoga side of things because I believe all exercise and movement works to improve physical, mental and emotional health. BUT There’s nothing magical in asanas or following a particular diet or exercise plan and definitely nothing magical about specific guru’s. The magic is in making the internal connection. It doesn’t matter if I am doing 108 sun salutations or Cardio Kickboxing class if I approach them with the same body awareness and purpose they both can give me what I’m looking for. Assuming I know what I’m looking for.
That’s where the professional in fitness professional comes in. People come to fitness professionals for all kinds of reasons. Some are very clear and realistic, others not so much so. The professional part means staying in the body using co regulation cuing, directed attention and hopefully a body knowledge that goes beyond a google search so that we can help students find that awareness. It’s up to the fit pro to explain the benefits to moving this way, doing this series, adding these weights, using this prop. Is it necessary to explain every little thing we do for clients? No not always, but it makes a difference and between you and me it shows your students and clients that you are present with them and that you care about their success. That goes a long way to building relationships and trust one on one or in a class setting.
My focus with my studio and clients is trauma informed yoga and specifically trauma release yoga. Not a lot of people know what that is or why they should maybe give it a try. So rather that talk about transformation and healing I focus on how living in chronic stress and overdrive for too long can cause insomnia and insulin resistance with or without obesity because digestion and sleep are both influenced by the state of our nervous system. I want people to understand that while stress by itself can be good, too much for too long can cause enough dis-ease in the body that in turn creates the perfect environment for all kinds of other diseases like metabolic syndrome, autoimmune dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, chronic pain and inflammation, as well as anxiety and depression.
I teach non yoga group classes as well and it’s even more important to educate students about what it is that they’re doing. For me that means explaining the importance of recovery to my spin classes, the reason women should pick up bigger dumbbells in my strength classes, and how the last 5 minutes of every workout should be spent simply lying still and doing box breathing.
Now I’m not a doctor, I'm not any kind of therapist or counselor. I don’t diagnose or treat or prescribe for any of those things. But I want my students, clients and anyone else who hires me to be able to see clearly the results that are possible for them when they start working with their body and how to get those results in the real world.
If we can clearly articulate both the benefits and results we set ourselves up as actual fitness professionals rather than just another woo woo guru. There’s a different level of respect there not only from the outside looking in but also from the inside looking out.
If you’re an instructor, teacher or coach and you’ve never thought about yourself as a fitness professional then maybe it’s time. I know it took me a while to think about myself that way because I had ideas about what that meant that were based in fallacies. (Like the full time fitness fallacy, that I’ll be discussing in an upcoming episode.) Better late than never though.
I want to share a couple things that helped me fully embrace my profession.
Stop trying to be everything to everyone.
-This is challenging for group fitness, personal trainers who work in the big box gyms, and all the perfectionist people pleasers out there. Narrow down your scope. If your passion is young athletes then don’t take on the post menopausal mommas. They’ll be disappointed and you’ll be frustrated. It’s ok to say no. Trust me this can be so hard to resist but I guarantee you will be making space for more of your people. It’s better for your business and your bottom line. (Not to say this can never change, you are allowed to evolve like everyone else, but don't get caught serving everyone but yourself.)
Stand out. Set yourself apart with your passion.
You don’t need to know everything about everything. But go deep into YOUR thing. The fitness industry is saturated with Jack and Jill of all trades instructors and coaches. A mile wide and an inch deep. That is exactly how I felt when I first got certified. If you want to level up your career satisfaction and your bottom line, lean in to something that you love and make it what YOU are known for.
Not only can this be lucrative but it is a sure fire way to inoculate yourself against imposter syndrome. It’s also a way to direct your continuing education beyond simply collecting credits and random certifications. That stuff can get expensive. And it’s confusing to potential employers.
Create your personal mission statement
and let that inform your choices personally and professionally. This can be a quiet mantra just for you or a tagline for your website or instagram bio. For me it has been really helpful not only in what I do to earn a living but also what I do in my spare time. It’s a reminder that we are whole 3 dimensional human beings and deserve the same compassion and care that we offer to everyone else. If you don’t set this boundary for yourself no one else will. The fitness industry will chew you up and spit you out. Fresh faced coaches are a dime a dozen. Younger, stronger and better at social media. So showing up in this wellness world with depth of character will set you apart. This is exactly how we build our business backbone.
Whether we know it or not, fit pros are health professionals. We are the boots on the ground in the real world where students get scary diagnoses, where job environments can be toxic to the point of violence and where trite mental health solutions are hidden behind insurance paywalls. There is no doubt that what we offer can be dramatic, transformative and healing. But before that can happen we need to come down to earth and speak the language of the people on Main Street. Language that lets our students see themselves in what we have to offer. We do that by staying grounded in the body benefits of what we offer and out of the woo woo world of wellness.
Thanks for listening today!
If you're looking for ways to handle the effects of stress, physically, mentally and emotionally through the body head over to savagegracecoaching.com/theworkin you’ll find all the show notes for this and other episodes plus lots of free resources. And if you’re in a place where you are ready for more and you live in the Dayton Ohio area I’m taking private clients for trauma informed yoga and trauma release exercise in person and online. So you can book a discovery call and we can have a real life conversation. And of course I’d be ever so grateful if you would take a moment to like and subscribe to this podcast wherever you’re listening.
Thanks again everyone and as always stop working out and start working IN.
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Hey there!
I’m your host Ericka Thomas. I'm a health coach and trauma informed yoga professional bringing real world resilience and healing to main street USA.
I offer trauma release + yoga + wellness education for groups and individuals…regular people like you.
Book a call to learn how I can help.