Keeping sane in Quarantine with Funky Moves!
Hi, I’m Holly, a director at Funky Moves and long time FM teacher.
I recently travelled to Perth Australia (via a lengthy exemption and visa application process!) to be with my Aussie partner and his family, after 4 long months apart. The rules in WA (Western Australia) currently are 2 weeks of State imposed quarantined in a city hotel. Your meals are dropped outside your room in paper bags three times a day, you can request laundry service and receive care packages, and the nurse calls 3 times a week to see how you are and check you are showing no symptoms of Covid-19. No fresh air, no windows that open, no food requests, and 24 hour security outside your room to check you don’t try to escape! It’s just you in a sealed room for 14 days.
So, how do you stay healthy and positive both physically and mentally? Well in my case, you turn to the closest things to you, that all begin with “F”… family, friends and of course, Funky Moves. I’m going to talk about the latter today, and how it has truly got me through these last couple of weeks in imposed isolation.
Before I start, I should say, I am under no illusion that this is probably some parents’ idea of “heaven” – a 2 week break from the kids, long sleeps in bed and no need for cooking. Equally, I’m aware that this has been the situation for millions of people across the world living by themselves in isolation for months (I was one of those people back in London during the peak of the virus) – this blog is not about any struggles during my “break from social interaction” but more about the huge benefit that the Funky Moves classes/workouts had on me during this time.
So let’s get going…
This really was my favourite thing to do in the minimal space I had. I would quite often do a Youtube 15 minute Dynamic Flow on our channel my morning time, and then join the UK morning class at 3pm Perth time. I had terrible jet lag the first week, so getting insanely sweaty with punchy, quick movements was not what I felt like doing (plus I couldn’t crack open a window at the end of it), but to focus on breath, deep postures and core engagement always managed to dust off my insomnia cobwebs and put a true smile on my face. The online classes on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday build in difficulty and strength throughout the week, and as I landed on a Sunday evening it was really amazing to see my progress throughout the quarantine as I ‘levelled out’ from jet lag and built my strength mentally and physically back up. Jess, the teacher, is so nurturing, funny, welcoming, encouraging… I could go on. I felt no pressure at all to keep up with anyone else in the class – it truly felt like a very personal thing that I was taking part in only to serve myself.
Not being able to talk to anyone easily, with difficult time differences and not brilliant WIFI connections, meant a lot of my “conversations” were internal dialogue and chatter, which is difficult to switch off. I often found myself getting emotional at the end of the Savasana, as I learnt to let go of that internal conversation and find a moment of total peace and relaxation. Bliss!
Towards the end of the first week I managed to finally shake the jet lag and felt like ramping up my hotel room fitness. The main focus for your day is often the meals they leave for you, so you are eating the same as normal, but burning far less calories… I think my average step count each day was around 100! Funky Fit solved this for me, as you burn on average 350 calories a class. Lots of the people that attend this online class are regulars, so it really is like catching up with friends at the start of the call with everyone checking in with each other – we really are a Funky Family, as cheesy as that sounds. I normally teach this class, so have a real soft spot for it, but being on the other side is equally sweaty, equally sassy and just as much fun! We ease in with a warm up track and then pick up the pace with cardio, core strengthening, squat and Hiit tracks… the playlists get updated all the time, but the basics of the exercises stay the same meaning the more you do the class the more you get the euphoria of ‘totally nailing’ the combinations! Maybe it was the lack of sleep or missing a human hug but the end of class seemed to trigger my emotions again in lockdown as we finish up with a freestyle party with everyone in the class, letting loose, dancing with other family members/pets and pouring all our love through the screen to the other class attendees.
BITESIZE WORKOUTS – YOUTUBE
These were so convenient! With the combination of different timezones, jet lag and generally just feeling upside down(!) I quite often found the impetus to dance or stretch at 10pm or 5am rather than the more conventional workout times. Probably, much to the despair of the person in the hotel room below me, the bitesize workouts on Funky Moves Youtube channel meant I could have that instant rush of endorphins at my fingertips at any time of day or night. It’s amazing how when you have very little to do in the day, you suddenly find yourself so bloomin’ tired all the time! I loved the online classes, but I felt totally exhausted after, even though in ‘normal’ circumstances they would have been ideal. What was great, was when I couldn’t face even a 45 mins class, I had the option to blast out a bitesize cardio dance session and feel I had achieved a physical workout in just 15 minutes. PERFECT.
Of course, I have a much added interest in Funky Moves, being that I work for the company, but hand on heart I don’t know how I could have stayed so positive and motivated without my Funky Family. Our community is so special. EVERY. BODY. DANCE. Any way you can!