August 2026 Newsletter

Hi everyone, and welcome to your August newsletter!

We’ve been having so much fun growth in the studio this month! As we being looking at our Fall offerings, we want your input! Please take a moment to take our quick survey. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WYJB9JV

A Few August Updates

Fitness Yoga is becoming BodyBalance: Core Yoga We’re updating the name of this class to better reflect what it offers. BodyBalance: Core Yoga is designed to support full-body stability, mobility, strength, and body awareness. It’s a wonderful complement to our other classes and an important part of building a balanced movement routine — helping support long-term movement health and injury prevention.

Instructor Coverage — Week of August 10 Cindy will be taking some family time the week of August 10, and Christie will be covering classes.  Thank you to Christie for this help and for helping to cover classes this past week, allowing me to be supporting my kids in 4-H.

To help us support our instructors and plan accordingly, please only reserve classes you know you’ll attend. If something changes, please cancel your booking with as much notice as possible (ideally at least 12 hours) so Christie has the best information to prepare for class.

Class Cancellation Guidelines To respect instructor time and make the best use of our facility space:

• For 6:00am classes: If no one is registered by 10:00pm the evening before, the class will be canceled. • For all other classes: If no one is registered 2 hours before class time, the class may be canceled.

Please always check the booking app for the most up-to-date schedule information.

Help Shape Our Fall Schedule As we look ahead to fall, we’d love your feedback. We want to continue creating a schedule that provides the best balance of class variety, availability, and opportunities for everyone to participate.

Please share your thoughts here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WYJB9JV

Thank you for helping us continue to build a schedule and community that works for everyone.

At the heart of what we do is movement as care — showing up in ways that feel sustainable, supportive, and balanced in your life.

 

August Focus: Staying Connected to Yourself

Lately, I’ve been feeling a lot of joy, pride, and gratitude.

There have been several moments this month that, at first, didn’t seem connected.

• Watching my kids experience their first year of 4-H.

• Spending time at the coast watching Jerry’s band play.  

• Witnessing our LesMills Philomath community continue to grow and root in connections. 

• Sitting in sessions with our first Be Empowered Whole Wellness group.

But the more I’ve thought about these moments, the more I’ve realized they’ve all been reminding me of something I think is incredibly special:

The beauty of watching people give themselves permission to show up and live more fully as themselves.

• People trying something new.

• People putting themselves in situations where they don’t know exactly what will happen.

• People allowing themselves to be seen.

• People bringing more of who they are into the room. 

Kirah said something in the recent RPM release that really stuck with me:

“We’ve brought our whole selves into the room. There’s something that feels good about that.”

I think there is something deeply meaningful about that feeling — being able to show up as we are, be welcomed, and know we belong.

Watching Jerry’s gig at the coast, what stood out to me was the pure joy behind the whole scene. 

• Jerry plays for the joy he gets from doing it. 

• People danced for the joy of moving their bodies. 

• Others were sitting, laughing, and connecting simply for the enjoyment of experiencing the moment together. 

I found myself smiling the whole time!

There was something beautiful about watching people participate fully in their own lives.

• Trying 

• Connecting

• Enjoying 

• Simply being willing to show up.

It made me think about how often we wait until we feel ready before we step into something new.

And yet, so much richness happens when we’re willing to just go for it - being our authentic selves.

I’ve been seeing this same thing with my kids through their first 4-H experience.

There have been so many moments of learning, trying, and stepping outside of their comfort zones. What I have been most in awe of is their resilience — their ability to hang in there with themselves through all of it.

And, like most new experiences, it hasn’t all gone perfectly.

There have been tears, frustration, embarrassment, and big moments of putting themselves out there before they felt completely ready.

Moments where things didn’t happen the way they hoped — and other people saw it.

As a parent, those moments can be hard to watch. My instinct is to step in, fix it, or save them from uncomfortable feelings.

But I’ve also seen that some of the most meaningful growth happens when we learn we can move through hard moments and still be okay.

They are learning to trust themselves, treat themselves kindly, and stay connected to who they are throughout the experience.

That is what I’m most proud of.

Not whether everything goes perfectly…

but watching them learn how to stay connected to themselves through it.

• To recognize what they’re proud of.

• To accept encouragement from others.

• To keep showing up.

I’ve also loved watching them notice the people who support them along the way — the kindness, encouragement, and care that comes from being surrounded by others.

It’s been such a reminder that we don’t grow alone.

We all need spaces where we can try, learn, stumble, and keep showing up — knowing we don’t have to do it perfectly to belong.

As Kirah also said in that most recent RPM release: 

“In this space with us, you can be your authentic selves. We got you!”

I think that is such a powerful part of our LesMills community — creating places where we can bring our whole selves, support one another through the process, and remember that we’re not meant to do life alone.

So that brings me to what I’m witnessing in our studio — the same thing happening here.

One of my favorite things right now is watching people get to know one another.

• New conversations beginning.

• Quieter members sharing a little more.

• People asking about each other’s lives and genuinely caring about the answers.

This has always been the hope behind this space — creating somewhere where everyBODY belongs.

Because belonging isn’t something we can force. It grows through small moments of connection over time.

Little moments that help us feel more comfortable being seen, more willing to share, and more at home.

Kirah shared something that captures this beautifully:

“There’s something powerful about being together in this space.”

This is also what I’ve loved seeing through our first Be Empowered Whole Wellness group.

Watching people

• Slow down

• Notice their patterns

• Reconnect with themselves

• Create more awareness around how they care for themselves.

There is something powerful that happens when we create space to listen to ourselves — and realize we don’t have to do that work alone.

Maybe that’s what I’ve been noticing this month...

Growth doesn’t always look like becoming someone new.

Sometimes it looks like allowing more of who we already are to come forward.

• More joy

• More connection

• More courage

• More freedom to show up

• More belonging

Maybe that’s where we begin to really live!

A Practice For August:

As you move through August, maybe simply notice:

• Where are you allowing yourself to show up a little more fully?

• Where are you finding joy?

• Where are you connecting?

• Where are you giving yourself permission to try, even if you’re still learning?

Want To Learn More? 

If this month’s theme resonates with you and you’d like support exploring it more deeply, I offer small group coaching through Be Empowered Whole Wellness. For more information, visit BeEmpoweredWellness.com.

I’m grateful to witness so much of that happening here. Every conversation, every smile, every word of encouragement adds something important.

Thank you for continuing to show up — not just for movement, but for yourselves and for each other.

You all bring something meaningful to this space.

Shine Bright! Cindy Appanaitis LesMills Philomath