Every month, we feature a Monterey Bay Moves member and their health journey, and this month, we wanted to highlight a very special person who keeps on pushing herself a little further an further beyond her comfort level each day.
In 2019, Josie reached out to us after moving from Louisiana. She had attended a fun bootcamp there and she was looking for a similar community and workout structure in the Monterey Bay. It didn’t take much time for Josie to become a regular in our classes, go unlimited and virtually do Every. Single. Class. we were offering in one week (she has since then wisely scaled down her attendance to allow herself to preserve some energy for her weekend adventures!).
Meet the Adventurer!
Josie is an occupational therapy assistant for Santa Rita School District.
“As an occupational therapist I know that the term “occupational” refers to more than just your job, but what you do to occupy your time— so my other occupations are hiking, camping, backpacking, kayaking, paddle boarding, and exploring new places!”
Fueling Her True Passion
Finding your why is crucial to adopting and maintaining a sustainable exercise routine and Josie knows precisely why she works hard on weekdays during class:
“I workout so I can feel stronger and more able to accomplish my occupations— specifically exploring the outdoors. Prior to taking these classes regularly, I experienced a lot of knee pain when hiking, especially with high mileage and elevation gain/loss hikes. That has decreased significantly since I started! I practice yoga to connect with myself and my practice and be more mindful. The recovery aspect of connecting the breath and the body also motivates my practice.”
She also confesses that she partly exercises so she can do cool #whitegirlinnature poses like tree pose and wheel while she’s out on my hikes.
Conquering Her Fears
Josie is passionate about the outdoors and loves being outside exploring new places. Being strong and healthy allows her to do this:
I’ve struggled with being able to do a thru hike (hiking an entire trail from end to end i.e. John Muir Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail, Trans Catalina Trail) because I wasn’t sure if my body could carry me on a hike that far and remote but now it’s more of a fear of bears stopping me, not fear of my capabilities. I know I am strong and I can hike 15 miles with 40 lbs on my back and wake up the next morning and do it all over again. I know I can hike 19 miles to a waterfall and show up for the afternoon HIIT class the next day. I can chase waterfalls, and find those remote hot springs, and climb mountains because I am strong and healthy.
The classes she usually attends are:
- Metafit HIIT/Sub30 Core
- Bootcamp
- Power Abs & Glutes
- Yoga Flow
The avid hiker hasn’t always been this fit and fearless. Up until recently, she was overweight and struggled to hike easy trails when she lived and worked in Alaska and Louisiana. However, her determination to pursue her passion for exploring the world has shown to be stronger than her excuses; in the last year, she’s gone down 2 dress sizes, hiked more difficult trails than ever before and created a whole new network of friends in the Monterey Bay after living here only 1 year.
We’re blessed to count Josie as one of our members and friends!