SPENGA CREW Spotlight: Courtney.
If you've been in a session with Courtney, you cannot help but smile. Her excitement and love for
SPENGA overflows in all that she does. Read on to hear her story.
Growing up, I was never very athletic. I played soccer like most 5-year-old kids do, but that was about it. I was a chubby kid, so the only running I did was to the fridge. In school, I would skip gym class any chance I got. Whenever there was a blood drive at my high school, my best friend and I would sign up to donate during our P.E. class so that we didn’t have to participate for the day. In my late teens and early adult years, I always treated working out as a punishment – I’d “have to” run an extra mile because I ate too many cookies the day before. Like many women experience, it was a constant “calories in vs. calories out” comparison.
I saw Facebook ads for SPENGA for many months before actually trying a session. I was intrigued by the format of the class (bonus that it didn’t involve running to torture myself!) but was always too afraid to sign up. After all, I wasn’t athletic, I hadn’t been exercising much during that time, and I didn’t want to be judged.
I took my first SPENGA session in July of 2019 during a time I needed it most. The month prior, my life was turned upside down when I lost a pregnancy. My husband Dominic and I had been trying to conceive for a while and when we finally had, the thought of a miscarriage didn’t even cross my mind. Everything had been going well at our checkups, the baby had a heartbeat, the ultrasound looked great, etc. I first realized I was losing the pregnancy while we were out of town. We desperately drove home to get to the hospital where, after waiting for hours, we were given the most devastating news of our lives. The following day was spent in crippling pain in the emergency room, and for days after that, I was pretty much immobile on my couch. I struggled to walk to the back door to let my dog outside, or even to stand at the counter to prepare myself a snack. Finally, a week later, I was able to stand, walk, and move freely again. The physical and emotional pain was something I could have never imagined prior. Maybe it was the fluctuating hormones, but over the course of the coming weeks, I spent a lot of time both appreciative of my body and incredibly mad at it. After not being able to function for almost a week, I realized how much I had always taken having a healthy, well body for granted. At the same time though, I was so frustrated with the lack of control I had over my body. Why couldn’t it continue to grow that baby when I had done everything right?!
When I completely healed, I decided I needed to do something to allow myself to feel empowered. I needed to step out of my comfort zone and I needed my body to feel appreciated and strong. I called up a friend (the same one who I would skip gym class with) and asked her to try SPENGA with me because I was terrified to go alone. I drove 30 minutes to the Geneva studio, saw my name on the welcome sign, smelled the signature SPENGA scent, met the most positive people I had ever interacted with and already knew I was going to be hooked. I remember that first RIDE like it was yesterday. We were mid-climb, a lot of us were losing steam, and the instructor simply said into her microphone, “I promise you can make it through this. I promise you can make it through anything in your life” and those words brought me to literal tears. Something came over me and I was simultaneously crying while pushing myself harder than I ever had before…and it felt AWESOME! (I’ve since discovered this is called a “spincry” and I still do it often at SPENGA. There’s no shame in my spincry game). I got off that bike dripping in sweat and tears and I think the endorphins caused me to black out for most of strength and yoga. I just remember all of the fear of being there melting away. It was so apparent that every member in that studio felt strong and positive and that everyone was there to support one another.
I immediately signed up for a membership and left feeling exactly how I needed to feel – like I could conquer anything. I signed up for 8 sessions per month, but the moment I’d leave the studio each day, I was dying to return as soon as I could. Within two weeks, I upgraded to unlimited sessions because I was addicted to those 60 minutes in the studio each day. No longer did I have to workout, but I wanted to. Before SPENGA Bloomingdale opened, I was driving an hour round trip to the closest SPENGA studio. I’d wake up so early for a session before work, but I rarely needed an alarm because I was so excited to get up and go. Those 60 minutes of SPENGA each day were the only 60 minutes of peace I felt with myself for many months to come. It was time I could be alone with my thoughts and my body while having a daily dose of positive mental attitude placed upon me, whether I was feeling positive walking in that morning or not. My family and close friends deserve so much credit for my healing process, but I truly believe, so does SPENGA.
When I first saw SPENGA offering a SpinPower® Certification course, I half joked with my family about signing up so that I could become a SPENGA instructor. I have a full-time job as an optometrist that I started just about two years ago, so my husband thought I was crazy for wanting to take on part time work on top of that. I justified it though that this wouldn’t be work for me. It honestly was an excuse for me to spend even more of my time at a place I love. I was terrified, once again, to step out of my comfort zone, and this time there weren’t any friends I could recruit to take this plunge with me. I forced myself to go and was so happy I did. A lot of spinning (and spincrying) occurred that day – it was magical, and again I left feeling on top of the world.
After gaining my certification, attending the SPENGA instructor training and audition was the next hurdle for me to tackle. I was so afraid to fail that I almost backed out at the last minute. My husband reminded me how scared I had been to attend my first class, and how much it had changed my life. He reminded me how happy I was after I came home from the SpinPower® certification course. And last, he reminded me that I will probably be just as glad after the fact if I simply follow through with this dream. The rest is history! Now I get to be that instructor spreading positive vibes in a SPENGA studio, hopefully making one or two members spincry every now and then.
SPENGA has taught me two important things that I’ll carry with me throughout life. The first is that fitness can be, and should be, enjoyable. If I hadn’t found SPENGA, I don’t think I would understand that. When I step into the SPENGA studio, it’s not to burn off the Portillo’s cake shake I drank the weekend before; it’s to reward my body for being strong and for getting me through my daily life, to allow my body to gain even more strength to take me further, and to HAVE FUN. The second lesson I have learned in my SPENGA journey is that you have to become comfortable feeling uncomfortable if you want any amount of change. All of the steps I was so scared of taking ended up being some of the best and most life-changing decisions I’ve ever made. I am truly so thankful each and every day to be part of the SPENGA tribe. I honestly can’t imagine my life without SPENGA in it.
