
This piece was originally published on October 15, 2015.
If you’ve ever tried “the class,” you know it’s a challenge. A very loud challenge. There is a sequence of like, four straight minutes of burpees. One time I did nine minutes of jumping jacks. And push ups! Who the fuck still knows how to execute a push up? If you leave without feeling like your legs have become strands of spaghetti, you probably missed the final sequence of synchronized running in place, yelling and flailing your arms, and not to sound like the banal platitude that David Foster Wallace outlined in his commencement speech at Kenyon College, but through the challenge always — always — emerges such a distinctly divine sense of self-fulfillment.
Not because you’re changing your body (and trust me, you are), but because your mindset is being reoriented. In 2015, this class is the precise definition of “me” time. No longer are blow outs and manicures — traditional tenets of female relaxation and alone time — sacred. Our phones ruined that. If you want to unwind, unplug, get to know yourself again, you’ve got to take to a fitness class. Let it be to the one that marries meditation to severe muscle burn.
At “the class,” you begin to experience the pain of getting stronger not as something to run away from but as a condition to lean into — to set on fire and relinquish. You’re yelling through the majority of the class. Your eyes are closed, you’re rubbing your palms together and into minute three of pulsing squat mode when you hear Taryn Toomey, the class’s founder, preach such clichés as, “Yes, you can.” Yet somehow they come across so completely authentic and personalized, and you start to realize that the only hurdle to overcome in pursuing a good sweat is you.
Toomey cites the yelling (though it’s more like an extended Aaaaaaahhhhhh) as the only thing that can shut the voices up. “We work one muscle group at a time and don’t leave a single muscle untouched,” she says. “We start with the primary muscle, move to the secondary and finally, the tertiary. We exhaust each one, then add cardio blasts to cleanse the palette, shake up the contraction, flush the system and torch calories. We use sounds, breath and intention to create a cathartic experience.”
Here’s a taste of the workout in gif form broken down by how much time you have.
IF YOU HAVE 10 MINUTES:
Movement #1: Squat into jump squat
Music: “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol
Duration: 4:25

Bend knees deeply, moving hips back and keeping knees over ankles. On the chorus, let the body open, let the breath get big, get the blood flowing.
Great for: Toning legs and butt, moving stagnant energy that has been stuck in the mind.
*
Movement #2: Heart opening series
Music: “Lose Yourself” by Eminem
Duration: 5:21

Come to sit on your knees or shins. Extend the arms out to the side and soften shoulder blades down your back. Move your arms forward and back in the air. Keep your eyes closed, drop your attention into your heart space and breathe deeply while you clean shop.
Great for: Strengthening the shoulders and chest. Emotionally helps to clear feelings of disappointment and fear.
*
Close with a meditation: Come in to a comfortable cross legged seat, sit upright, close your eyes and watch your breath move in and out slowly.
Music: “Where Is My Mind” by Maxence Cyrin
Duration: 2:47
IF YOU HAVE TWENTY MINUTES:
Movement #1: Squat into jump squat
Music: “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol
Duration: 4:25

Movement #2: Butt blast with ab lift
Music: “Levitator” by LP (live version)
Duration: 4:31

Lie on back, lift hips off the floor, draw right knee into chest and lift chest toward knee. Extend leg long parallel with the floor then bring it back in toward the face. As the intensity builds, use deep inhales and loud exhales. Force yourself to feel the clearing of your body and mind from tension, stress, heaviness.
Great for: Lifting the butt.
*
Movement #3: Burpees
Music: “Take Me to Church” by Hozier
Duration: 4:01

Start in plank position, hop the feet between the hands, jump up toward the ceiling. As feet hit the floor, exhale in a loud “Ha!,” and break the tension that you feel in the body. The heart rate will rise quickly and the voice in the head will become loud. Use that unwell voice as “fuel,” and as we say, “PUT IT ON THE FIRE.” Unblock it. This is great to move frustrations and old patterns that you have stored.
*
Movement #3: Repeat butt blast on opposite leg here
*
Movement #4: Heart opening series
Music: “Lose Yourself” by Eminem
Duration: 5:21

Come to sit on your knees or shins. Extend the arms out to the side and soften shoulder blades down back. Move your arms forward and back in the air. Keep your eyes closed, drop your attention into your heart space and breathe deeply while you clean shop.
Close with a meditation. Come in to a comfortable cross legged seat, sit upright, close your eyes and watch your breath move in and out slowly.
Music: “Where Is My Mind” by Maxence Cyrin
Duration: 2:47

IF YOU HAVE 65 MINUTES
Movement #1: Squat into jump squat
Music: “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol
Duration: 4:25

Movement #2: Standing butt taps
Music: “Fade Out Lines” by The Avener, Phoebe Killdeer
Duration: 4:36

Stand upright, bend the standing, stabilizing leg, extend arms out to the side. Tap the opposite toe behind the standing leg, lift the knee up toward center and then tap the toe wide on the floor. Keep the hips stable, being mindful not to straighten the standing leg. Breathe up the front of the body.
Great for: Toning the overall leg, butt, shoulders. Also works the stabilizing muscles for balance.
*
Movement #2: Butt blast with ab lift
Music: “Levitator by LP” (live version)
Duration: 4:31

Lie on back, lift hips off the floor, draw right knee into chest and lift chest toward knee. Extend leg long parallel with the floor, and back in toward face. As the intensity builds, use deep inhales and loud exhales. Force yourself to feel the clearing of your body and mind from tension, stress, heaviness.
*
Movement #3: Burpees
Music: “Take Me to Church” by Hozier
Duration: 4:01

Start in plank position, hop the feet between the hands, jump up toward the ceiling. As feet hit the floor, exhale in a loud “Ha!,” and break the tension that you feel in the body. The heart rate will rise quickly and the voice in the head will become loud, use that unwell voice as “fuel” and as we say, “PUT IT ON THE FIRE.” Unblock it. This is great to move frustrations and old patterns that you have stored.
*
Movement #3: Repeat butt blast on opposite leg here
*
Movement #4: Mountain climbers song
Song: “Rollercoaster” by Bleachers
Duration: 3:40

Come into a plank pose, engage the belly and draw one knee into your chest, switch, and bring in the other. Speed up on the chorus and then draw back into a downward dog when needed. Feel a lightness in the step, let the heart rate rise up and meet it with deep full breaths. Rest in child’s pose when complete.
*
Movement #5: Heart opening series
Music: “Lose Yourself” by Eminem
Duration: 5:21

Come to sit on your knees or shins. Extend the arms out to the side and soften shoulder blades down back. Move your arms forward and back in the air. Keep your eyes closed, drop your attention into your heart space and breathe deeply while you clean shop.
*
Movement #6: Back body strengthener
Music: “9 Crimes” by Damien Rice
Duration: 3:38

Kneel on your shins, tip forward from the waist, engage the belly, straighten the arms behind you, draw the shoulders down the back, broaden across the upper chest and make little pulses with the palms facing each other as if you were squeezing a beach ball.
*
Movement #7: Devotional tricep presses
Music: “People Help the People” by Birdy
Duration: 4:17

Come to all fours, extend arms long in front of you, bend elbows, allowing them to hover 2 inches off the floor. Begin to pulse the elbows, keep shoulder blades down. Close your eyes and breathe deeply. In this move, feel yourself using kindness and words of softness for yourself, especially if you have been in a place of discomfort. Use this time to reflect and fill yourself back up with words of wisdom and softness.
Great for: Abdominals, triceps and lat-engagement.
*
Movement #8: Abdominal plank pose
Music: “Seven Nation Army” by Zella Day
Duration: 2:53

Come into a forearm plank, tuck your butt slightly under, draw shoulder blades down your back. Tap left knee on floor, then right knee on floor, continue to alternate at the pace of the song. Rest in dolphin pose, lifting hips up and back, and breathe through the body. Then rock forward and continue. Rest in child’s pose at the end and turn your palms to the ceiling.
Close with a meditation. Come in to a comfortable cross legged seat, sit upright, close your eyes and watch your breath move in and out slowly.
Music: “Where is My Mind” by Maxence Cyrin
Duration: 2:47

Photographed by Krista Anna Lewis
