Forest Dance Parties - Life changing but....
Nothing like a grant application to make you really hone in on your mission, values, and how you explain the vision in your head to a complete stranger!!
One of the questions on the application was: "What recent business success am I most proud of?"
Here's my answer:
Doing what I know is right, even though other people might think it's weird or purposeless.
Each month of 2025, I co-led an outdoor dance party in the forest (on my private property) for women. My good DJ friend lent me her big speakers and disco laser lights to truly bring "the club" to the outdoor world.
Before the dancing, we would gather together to write and talk about what we want "to let go of" from the month, burn that paper, and what we want "to call in" for the next, which was kept on our person while dancing. Women laughed, hollered, screamed, cried, raged, celebrated, and every emotion in between. We got to leave it all on the dance floor - leaving high as a kite (on dopamine and serotonin, not drugs, they were sober parties) - taking the high vibrations and support into our individual lives. We did it for the sake of it, just like play. It had no other purpose to serve other than the experience itself.
It was magic and beautiful. Most people refused to attend because in our culture, this activity is seen as "unproductive". Some said it was "too witchy", or didn't want to be hot, cold, around bugs, be in nature, drive somewhere new, be with strangers. Those were all okay because the women that did show up, felt all those same things, except their lives were changed from that moment forward for showing up, and that's what matters. This witnessing is fuel to my soul's purpose of giving permission and guidance to movement leaders who have the power to create these life altering, albeit, "abnormal" movement spaces.
I have been deep diving lately into the research of play, beliefs, emotional regulation, leisure, habits, sticking to a fitness plan (and why most Americans fail), and the statistics on screen time vs. nature time in kids and adults.
It made our forest raves the perfect answer to this question because I am so wildly proud of what JoAnne and I did in 2025 to change women's lives even though it was incredibly unsupported.
That lack of support has FUELED this PLAYFiT mission. So to everyone who didn't show up, thought negatively about it, ignored it, thank you. You are the biggest teachers for WHY I must bring joy, play, gathering in nature, and movement to a bigger stage than North Carolina. My heart is set on all of America now. (Maybe you can throw me a few scheckles when the crowdfunding starts! lol)
The lack of support shows me how disconnected we are as adults from 1) joy 2) fun/silliness 3) each other 4) nature. Being disconnected from these 4 things is killing us faster than ever before.
It's why I am laser focused on giving permission and guiding other movement leaders to step outside the broken fitness industry, outside the 4 walled cages of gyms, and do SOMETHING DIFFERENT! This fitness empire is failing most Americans, we have to shift! If we don't shift as the fitness leaders, who will? NO ONE. It is on our shoulders to change the perception of WHAT fitness is and HOW it can be done.
If you're interested in learning more, email me, sign up for a course, follow me on socials. The time is now and at the moment of this post, I'm just getting started!
