Eating Disorder Awareness Week Recap
Last week at Full Ride, our community joined together to raise awareness about eating disorders, promote healing, and advocate for those who have experienced or are experiencing an eating disorder. We didn’t want to move forward from Eating Disorders Awareness Week without first reflecting on all of the beautiful initiatives and powerful encounters that went on within our studio’s walls and then out into the world.
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Throughout the week, FRC had a QR code displayed at the front desk so instructors, coordinators, and riders could donate to Project HEAL. Their programs dismantle systemic, healthcare, and financial barriers so that everyone in the United States has the opportunity to recover from eating disorders. In addition to our community's generosity, Full Ride Cycling is donating 10% of the week’s sales to Project HEAL.
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We hung up posters with attached markers along our studio’s hallway with prompts that invited our community to consider and cultivate their core values. Although spin is a physical workout, the posters focused on inward work. In fact, when we asked our riders why they move their body and what makes them beautiful, responses had nothing to do with physicality and everything to do with character. Since eating disorders often make it difficult to see past the present moment, the posters intended to give our community hope for the future with prompts like “reasons life is worth living.” Something that makes Full Ride different from other forms of exercise is our emphasis on empowerment that lasts beyond the 45 minutes spent in the bike room. We dedicated one poster to remembering our instructors’ words of encouragement, which have kept us moving towards our most authentic selves. Tools like these posters are great for connecting with what truly matters to you.
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At FRC, we prioritize how it feels rather than how it looks. We took this ideal literally by providing dry-erase markers in our bathrooms so our community members could write compliments that have nothing to do with appearance all over the mirrors. As we locked eyes with ourselves in the mirrors, compliments like “your laugh is infectious” and “you make people feel less alone,” covered our bodies’ reflections. We realized the very traits that truly matter to us are often the first traits that disordered behaviors around food, exercise, and body image counteract. No space between our legs is going to facilitate a more impactful existence. A brain preoccupied with an eating regimen is not going to yield meaningful conversation with friends. It’s not about changing what we look like in the mirror, but changing how we see ourselves from within.
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We specifically dedicated two classes to raise awareness and promote advocacy for eating disorders. Shawna and Dylan teamed up while, for the first time in FRC history, Max and Meg shared the podium. It was beautiful to see each of these individuals come with their own unique experiences with food, exercise, and body image, but join together for a common future of hope, health, and freedom. We definitely felt inspired, but we also just had a lot of fun celebrating what our bodies can do – including dancing on a bike that goes nowhere. There was no shortage of woo’s or towel lassos.
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At the start of the week, Presley and Karson, two of our very own coordinators, sat down together to start a conversation about eating disorders, exercise compulsions, and body image. They addressed common misconceptions around these topics, shared why recovery is worth it, and instilled the importance of community for a healthy lifestyle. Many people came forward to join the conversation and we were reminded why it’s so important to share our perspectives, even when — especially when — they are messy and raw. Conversations like this one yield compassion, promote healing, inspire courage, and make people feel less alone.
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Whether you answered our Instagram polls, left a comment on our posts, sent us a dm sharing your story, or took to your own platform to raise awareness, we were touched by our community members’ courage and support throughout the week. Remember, regardless of your follower count, you are an influencer. People in our community are impacting the world at large and we are so incredibly proud of you.
Even as the posters come down and the words get wiped off the mirrors, the lessons and perspective we gained this week remain. Though dedicating a week to raising awareness around these topics is vital, our mission to restore fitness, food, and identity to their rightful place isn’t contained within a few days — it’s a for life type of thing. Full Ride is a for life type of thing. As always, we’re here for you and we love you.
Love,
Your FRC Fam