2B Written overview of the process in the final project

Process description

I was interested in how people felt about warm-up/beginning of movementclasses because I noticed people do not talk of it as something positive. I am interested in what people long to do when it comes to movement, so I took classes in a dancestudio, the polestudio where I teach, a fitness class, and a class at a crossfit gym. After class I asked some students how they felt about warm-up. My cover image has some quotes. The overall response to how they felt about warmup was that people felt disconnected, too exhausted, not in contact with the floor or like doing a chore. By doing these unstructured interviews I was encouraged to revise my own idea of how a movementclass should begin. It felt liberating to let go of my own preconceived ideas of “warmup”. I created a “welcome to class” session using a brush and focusing on moving closer to the floor after “brushing”. The participants who tried it said that it helped them focus on “where do I feel what” and it made them feel ready to get into contact with the floor. Luckily that was the purpose. One participant in the Zoom group adviced me to prepare the participants of using the brush because if you a tickly you might laugh out loud and people need to know that it is ok. Actually, laughter activates the vagus nerve! So, if I were to one thing differently, I would do more things that activate the vagus nerve. This experience with asking people how they feel will change how I do classes from now on. I actually think I will ask some instructors/movementteachers/mentors too: “why do you start class the way you do? What is your idea of warmup and why do you think it is so?”

2C Sentence Summary of my project

From “Warm up needs to be over with because it is a chore and not what I came for” to “Welcome and enjoy this preparation time because it is giving and simple”. Bring a brush to class, be a ragdoll and swoosh the legs.