It started with an experiment during the first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, and it turned into possibly the best thing that has happened to me and some of our members. Our community at nook movement studios has been flourishing as our members make progress in their handstand & flexibility journeys. Here’s a recap of our first year at nook!
When I started teaching this 30-minute class format my intention was to offer daily consistency. We all know by now that this is what makes progress. But in my mind, 30-minutes wasn’t going to be enough for a full handstand session that would suffice for substantial gains. I thought this format would invite people to learn the essence and then practice more on their own.
The nook system works!
To my surprise, the 30-min format works amazingly well when the content of the session is aimed at skill development in a very specific way. Our member’s progress has been super satisfying and so inspiring to watch!
Aside from the targeted focus of technical skill development there are so many aspects that I found contributed to the progress:
- Learning environment: Having different people with different levels and backgrounds come together to practice daily in real-time has created a hot-spot for growth. Discussing experiences, cues and ideas of concepts between sets has fueled everyone’s practice, independently of their skill level.
- Accountability: With all the different settings I’ve taught handstands in (online and in-person), the daily Zoom classes have by far been the best for creating the habit of daily training. For many of our members, popping on Zoom for their classes is like brushing their teeth!
- Community: Because we see each other so frequently, it feels more like a family than anything else. You get to know each other. We started learning (or at least trying to learn) each other’s languages. You start to look forward to handstands, not only because you’ll work on them and get better, but also because you get to check in with your friends!
The community keeps growing and we’ve scheduled our first in-person retreat for August 2022. The Retreat is fully booked at the moment, but you can sign up to our waiting list if you’re interested!
We’ve added a whole new section of classes under the segment Strength & Conditioning to our schedule, which are taught by our member Gian, who is a certified Calisthenics Coach and Personal Trainer.
I am so proud that we’ve brought up this community in which everyone has a place to be themselves among people who care and are on the same journey together. And I’m so excited to see where we go next!
Happy Holidays!
This episode wraps up Season #2 of the Sonji-Land Show. Thank you so, so much for sticking around and watching what we do! We’ll be back to fuel your practice in January 2022. Until then, be sure to join our #HandstandsBeforeXmas Instagram challenge! You can win 1 free month at nook and 1 leggings by Arctic Flamingo!
Make sure to follow @handstanddiary and @nook_movementstudios on Instagram to stay updated.
It’s never too late to do what you love!