My journey back to movement
After years of chronic back pain and four spinal surgeries, beginning at just 19 years old, I found myself in an incredibly low place mentally. I felt like I had nothing to look forward to and had almost given up on the idea that I would ever be anything close to “normal” again.
Then one day, a specialist said something that completely changed the way I looked at my situation:
“If you’re going to have pain, you may as well move your body anyway.”
Something clicked. It felt like I had finally been given permission to stop being a victim of my circumstances. I shifted my mindset from “What’s the point?” to “I’ll do what I can.”
And so began a very long, very slow journey back to fitness.
It was – and still is – a tough journey, filled with good days, bad days, setbacks and small victories. But as my motivation grew, I decided to take a chance and enquire about aerial silks classes at Elements.
I started with a short course, thinking it would simply be something fun to tick off my bucket list and another little stepping stone in my fitness journey.
Boy, was I wrong.
I instantly fell in love.
I fell in love with the sport. I fell in love with the incredible community that never failed to lift me up, encourage me and celebrate every little achievement. But most of all, I fell in love with the woman I was becoming.
I discovered that I was capable of so much more than I had ever believed. I was stronger than I thought possible. I was doing things I never would have dreamed my body could do. And, for the first time in a very long time, I began to feel hopeful. I started to believe that maybe I could have a better life.
Almost two years later, unfortunately, I had to undergo another spinal fusion. It made me question whether I had been pushing my body too far with all of the fitness activities I had come to love.
But during my recovery, something became very clear: the hope of one day returning to aerial silks – and to the community at Elements – became one of my biggest driving forces.
It gave me something to work towards. Something to look forward to. It helped motivate me through the long, frustrating process of rehabilitation, strength training and recovery when progress felt painfully slow.
Now, almost a year after returning to Elements, I’m still learning what my body can and can’t do. I still live with chronic pain, and I often have to modify my training, work around flare-ups or accept that some days my body simply needs something different.
But I’m here.
And I’m stronger, both physically and mentally, because of this journey.
I am eternally grateful to every instructor and student at Elements for helping create and nurture the welcoming, supportive and uplifting community that we are so incredibly lucky to be part of.
Elements gave me more than a sport.
It gave me something I thought I had lost – hope, confidence, strength and a belief in what my future could look like.
