Season Mitzel on the teacher feature series
She calls barre her “soulmate workout.” Two years ago, Season endured a series of surgeries. Being an avid runner and having 15 years of dance training under her belt, Season couldn’t keep still but her recovery set her back. She tried a few different workouts before finding something that would stick.
“I remember the day I said to my husband, ‘You know, I’ve been hearing a lot about this barre workout. It’s a ballet-inspired workout. I’m going to do some research,’ Season said. Not only did barre give Season the low-impact and effective workout she was looking for, it also gave her a zen-like peace of mind. She’s been sharing her love of barre as the only certified barre instructor in her small community of Gillette, WY since she was certified in October 2015.
When Season is not feeling the sweet burn of a barre workout, she is homeschooling her daughters. As a self-proclaimed “history nerd”, she’s always had a passion for teaching– who knew it would translate to fitness too!
You called barre your soul mate. Why do you love teaching barre?
There’s so much more to it than just teaching it; it is experiencing it. Ever since I’ve been taking barre and teaching barre, I have found my center. I’m not as easily irritable, I’m a lot calmer and I see the world differently. One of the things that I love about teaching is bringing that [zen feeling] to my clients. And seeing their results and their happiness. I’ve had a couple of ladies recently who walk in, and you can tell that they’ve been crying and that they are dealing with some heavy stuff outside of class. They’ll do the workout and thank me and say, “Oh my gosh! This is what I needed. I can go and conquer the world now.” That, to me, is so important. The confidence and the strength and, again, the zen-like feeling you get from barre. I love seeing that in other people.
What’s your favorite part of class? A favorite exercise? Routine? Warmup? Cooldown?
Oh, you had to ask that! I think bridge lifts are some of my favorite exercises to do because there are so many things you can do with them. You got that calm up top but you’re really working and shaking at the bottom!
How have you seen barre impact your community?
We have such a small town, as far as I know I am the only certified barre instructor. I’ve had a lot of people come in who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis or who have had knee surgeries or who have problems with the sciatic nerve in their lower back who, since taking the class, said they haven’t had any problems or flare ups or any pain. I have a woman who had a major back injury in high school and they weren’t even sure if she was ever going to walk again. She’s been going to this class faithfully for over a year, and she hasn’t had any back issues since then. It helps her so much!
Do you have any current goals?
My dream is to own my own barre studio someday. Right now, with the current climate of this community that we have, it’s difficult to do that here so we talk about if we moved somewhere, could we do it? That’s a long-term goal! My current goal would be to continue practicing barre. I’d like to get a Level 3 certification. I’d like to get all the certifications that I don’t have from you guys! I’m constantly trying to stay fresh and stay focused. So that is part of my goal- to keep current, to keep going and to keep trying to get barre out there in the community.
