self-reflection through indoor cycling
Indoor cycling, also known by its trademarked name, Spinning, is a group fitness class that was invented in the mid-1980s and is now offered by many gyms as a popular cardiovascular workout. An indoor cycling class takes place in a studio filled with stationery bikes. The room is typically dark with dramatic lighting, mirrors in front and a sound system for music. The instructor leads the group on a ride that simulates riding on a bike outdoors or other creative and non-traditional formats that will be touched on later in this paper.
How can indoor cycling be a way of knowing? How can it tell us how we learn construct meaning, get in touch with our own creative insights, or enable group collaboration?
Indoor cycling literally gets the wheels turning. It gets your body and mind moving in a cyclical and rhythmic fashion, which can induce a highly meditative or productive state. Similar to runners who report feeling a runner’s high when running for long distances, indoor cyclists can experience the same phenomenon.
Indoor cycling activates the senses. You breath deeply, your skin begins to get more sensitive and sweat, the music matches your heartbeat, and the mirror and lights stimulate your vision. You begin to tune into your body, how the muscles such as the hamstrings, quadriceps, gluteus maximus, move, burn and pump blood.
Cycling generates actual energy that can be harnessed. It can open the door to accessing wisdom though our internal and external senses. Bringing this energy in to a group setting can multiply its affect and teach you something about yourself in the process.
I discovered the transpersonal qualities of indoor cycling this during a dark period of my life. After a year of trying to get pregnant, I was diagnosed as infertile and was told I needed medical intervention to have a child. This period lasted for four years during which time I went through five cycles of in vitro fertilization, a medical procedure where eggs and sperm are fertilized outside the body and transferred back into the woman’s uterus. It was emotionally, financially and physically draining on me. I was doing anything I could find to try to get through: I explored art therapy, I wrote a book, I took meditation classes and practiced creative visualization. I stumbled onto a new form of exercise: Spinning.
I found an amazing teacher who knew how to bring movement, mind and body together into a state of oneness. I would attend class and push myself to new heights beyond my self-imposed limits, and leave feeling like I climbed an emotional Mount Everest. This feeling of empowerment when feeling powerless was just what I needed to withstand the long journey of infertility.
Years later, after finally having my child, I was so inspired by the potential of indoor cycling that I became certified to teach. On my own, I began to explore the transformation potential of this exercise more deeply, finding combining the music, movement and mindfulness together to be a highly creative process and develops self-awareness.
I got deeper into the fitness world and then pivoted into marketing for fitness clubs, creatives and gurus. Being immersed business side of fitness illuminated how movement can spark creativity and group collaboration.
Experiential exercise: Self- reflection through cycling
In most indoor cycling studios, you are facing a mirror. You have the option to look outward at your reflection or close your eyes and look inward. The way you ride and the way you interact during the class can teach you about how you show up, how you learn, face challenges, and function within a group.
To do this experiential exercise start by attending a cycle class at a local studio. Set an intention for yourself before the class. It can be anything such as “I’m going to have fun or I’m going to commit to a more consistent fitness routine, or I’m just going to breathe. At the start of class, do a body scan to check in on how the cycling makes you feel from head to toe. After class, thank your body for all of its hard work and journal about the experience considering some of the following questions:
Where did you place yourself in the room? Are you front and center, somewhere in the middle or in the back row?
What do you see when you look in the mirror?
How do you hold your body? Are you relaxed or are you constricted?
How do you react when asked to push harder, add resistance or go faster?
Did you keep you intention in mind?
How did the music affect you?
How did you relate to the people around you?
How did you feel when you were finished? Did you feel energized, creative, tired, relieved? Did you experience a change, if so, what shifted?
What did you learn about yourself from the experience?
Professional Application #1: Cycling + Coaching session
Incorporating exercise, such as indoor cycling, in to transformational life coaching sessions, can have the potential to spur deep dialogue, focus and sharing. This is not only efficient multi-tasking, but can allow for the movement of the body to bring feelings, and ideas to the surface.
It may be less intimidating for the client to talk about difficult or traumatic life issues when side-by-side on bikes, rather than face-to-face or eye-to-eye. The traditional coaching session could start with a warm up, intervals of heavy work and time to catch your breath during active recovery and cool down. Talking can take place after a ride when some energy or tension has been released, or while riding if you stay in a comfortable heart rate zone.
If a client feels stuck, exercise can give them a feeling of forward momentum and be compared to facing and overcoming obstacles in the outside world. If there is a particular hurdle the client would like to overcome a hurdle or reach a goal, the coach can set up the scenario on the bike that takes the client on that inner journey with mental imagery of climbing the hill and reaching the top of the mountain. It can give the client the physical sensation of achievement and belief that they can accomplish it.
Professional Application #2: Team Sweat
A “team sweat” is a private indoor cycling class for a company, group or organization. Going through a group experience such as a cycling class can stimulate team bonding, creativity, unity and collaboration. Coworkers who usually see each other in an office setting have the opportunity to change their clothes and change their perspective. In the cycle studio, everyone has their own bike, but still part of a group, a cog in a wheel so to speak. The post class time can be used to harness the energy that was generated while spinning.
The team sweat cycle class could incorporate several elements:
WARM UP | WAKE UP
Warm up exercises that get everyone comfortable with the bike. Riders test resistance, speed, endurance and strength. All of these terms and concepts can be applied to the work setting as well.RHYTHM RIDING
Rhythm riding is riding to the beat of the music. It lets the music drive the speed, pace, resistance and cadence of the class. The instructor can cue the group to get on the same leg on the same beat in or out of the saddle. The group can see themselves in the mirror acting was one big wave of movement. This is a visual illustration of teamwork and unity.GOAL-ORIENTED DRILLS
The instructor can divide the group into teams in rows or halves of the room. The class can be asked to ride a certain distance a, let’s say for example .1 mile, as fast as they can. Each group is prompted to start. When one person reaches hits the mileage goal, they raise their hand and the rest of their group can stop. Then it’s the next groups turn to do the same drill. This gives the opportunity for new leaders in the group to emerge and initiates friendly competition and spirit.CREATIVE MOVEMENTS
Do things you typically wouldn’t do on a bike to illustrate the idea of innovation. Push ups, squats, yoga stretches, choreographed dance moves can all be done on stationery bike. This can help group members see cycling in a new way.DEDICATION
Riders can be asked to set an individual or group intention that they stay focused on for one song. They can close their eyes, go inside and visualize their dreams.
After the team sweat, individuals can harness the creative energy they generated by journaling and ideas that came to mind. Other possibilities are for the entire group can get together create a piece of art like a mandala, try to solve a work problem, write about or discuss the questions above in the self- reflection exercise. How did the experience impact the group in terms of bonding, creativity and innovation?