My favorite part of this theme is the cyclical, flexible, and complementary components. We learn as we grow, we grow as we lead. While we lead, we learn. While we lead, we grow. Sometimes we learn in the midst of our leading (like “group project choreo,” when I’m teaching and forget what comes next, but certainly a pal somewhere over my shoulder sure does remember that Pit Bull Pump and I am ever so grateful for it). Each one of these words has a lot to chew on. Let’s snack.

Learn 

When I first learned of Oula in the late fall of 2021, I was drawn to the energy in the room. The room that *I was not in,* rather. I was training for a 25K and utilizing the Y for childcare, and every time I walked past The Room With The Energy I found myself growing more and more… well, jealous. Some people really enjoy running and that is amazing. I do not. And so, it seemed deeply unfair to me that I had to run (for a race I signed up and paid for), while this big group of excited people got to hoot and holler and be friends and have a great time in a studio room with party lights. Oh, how I wished I could enter the room with the party lights. I vowed to myself to see the race through and then immediately after, join whatever this noise was all about. Because even through the window, I loved it.

The first class I ever attended was wild. I learned that you can scream, cry, yell, punch, kick, and slap the floor on purpose without anyone seeming to notice. Ironically, most of my days were/are spent telling my wee ones not to do those exact same behaviors, but here in Oula, it’s all okay. I made my little home in the back row on the right and locked in on the instructor’s ankles for an hour. In this space, I learned I could monotask (“I just wanna free my mind”). I learned that I could have a hobby as a grown up. I learned that I could leave behind the insecurities I had about my dance abilities. I learned that I love to move my body. 

Grow

While I was (and still am) 100% on the party lights, ready to do only high cardio for 60 minutes, and always singing, I was not prepared for the emotional side of Oula. I had never before been invited to move through my feels like this (and as it turns out, I really do “got all these feels in my body”). I found myself getting routinely weepy at certain points of the playlists, certain songs really spoke to me, certain emotions that I had rendered INACTIVE suddenly became accessible to me again. Grief and loss started to creep into my exercise space but instead of running away from those big icky feelings, I was able to quite literally lean into them. Move through them. Grow with them. Is this therapy? Yes! No! I don’t know. It’s Oula. 

Growth in Oula means building a deep trust relationship with your own body. Does your body want to cry? Let her cry. Does your body need to yell, even if it’s not part of the normal repertoire? Please yell. Does your body need to do extra hip circles because she is sticky there? Do that. Is your mind screaming BUT THAT’S NOT THE CHOREOGRAPHY! Try releasing that, whatever it is. And I don’t say “try releasing that” lightly. It may be really, really hard today. But maybe because it’s really hard today, it will be one degree less hard tomorrow. And the day after that will be better than the day before. And so on. Growth.

Lead

I recently started leading in Oula as an instructor. It should be said here that I do not necessarily believe you need to become an instructor to be a leader. We have leaders all around us, our fellow Oulakins and ambassadors, who provide all the support, safety, “whoop whoops,” and choreo callbacks. We are all leaders! And yet, empowerment weekend and instructor training was the next right step for me. At the end of my very first class nearly four years ago, I remember saying in my head “dang, I really need to be careful about this because I could see myself going all in and doing the whole thing, really obsessed.” The me of today asks: why careful? Why safe? “What if, for once, you can find the piece of you that you've been hiding?” I’m at the very beginning of my leadership-as-instructor journey with Oula. 

Much of this part is still unfolding (whee!) but one last thing comes to mind: In trying to promote a class, whether as an instructor or ambassador, we have the opportunity to talk with all sorts of folks about Oula. We practice our elevator pitch. We really do mean it when we say it’s for everybody and every body. We bring the energy. Recently I found myself mid-pitch when a member stopped me and said “Yeah, I’m not a dancer. My body is so awkward. I’m so uncoordinated. I would be really bad at that. People would seriously laugh at me.” If I can guess, you may have heard or said some version of that before, too. I bet nothing said was new to our ears. And I also bet it hurts to read it. It hurts to hear it. It hurts to know that so many folks around us have decided that they do not fit a certain invisible pre-req that one needs to play in a cardio dance class at the gym. And I do mean play. This crushes me, no matter how many times I hear it. May we all be leaders that work to soften that narrative, inspire self-love, and celebrate community.

What would it look like for you to learn, grow, and lead in your Oula spaces in 2025? What new stories are there to learn, what new challenges to grow through, and what opportunities can you take to lead? 

“I don’t know about you, but I feel better when I’m dancing”.

By Claire Rose from Minnesota