For most of her life, Melissa never had to think twice about moving her body. She grew up as a swimmer and an equestrian, stayed active into adulthood, and eventually taught yoga while running the occasional 5K or 10K. Then came five years of serious health issues that changed what her body could do. By the time she found Studio ME, she was completely sedentary and hurting most of the time.

What she wanted was simple to say and hard to find. "To feel strong and decrease my pain," she says. The reason behind it went deeper than fitness. "I wanted to live a different life, a life where I didn't hurt all the time and my mental health wasn't in the toilet."

A Foundation Worth Finding

Melissa had carried that goal for about a year, but wanting it and knowing how to get there were two different things. "I had no idea how to move forward," she says. Her body wasn't cooperating either. "I had new physical limitations that made exercising difficult. Every time I tried to do something, my body hurt and I felt worse."

The frustrating part was that she wasn't new to any of this. She had run, hiked, danced, worked with personal trainers, and practiced (and taught) yoga. But the five years before Studio ME, she explains, "were plagued by health issues that essentially gave me a new body, and I didn't know how to move in my new frame without hurting."

Her starting point was humbling. "I couldn't walk stairs without getting winded," she says. "I needed help getting anything from a cabinet higher than my head as I couldn't reach overhead without pain." Asked how she felt about herself back then, she didn't soften it: "Lost, weak, tight, tired, ugly, heavy, and in pain. Overall not great."

Still, part of her wondered whether the old strength was really gone. "I felt there might be some foundation of strength left for me to rediscover," she says, "but 5 years of doing nothing in the setting of surgery and multiple hospitalizations made me wonder." She heard about Studio ME from a friend who loves it here, and she walked in carrying two things: "curiosity and hope."

Redefining Consistency

From the beginning, Melissa knew what she was there for, and it wasn't another problem to solve. "I don't come to Studio ME to solve problems," she says. "I do enough of that at work." Her first goal was simply "to feel strong again."

The workouts mattered, but the biggest shift happened in how she thinks about showing up. Melissa lives with Crohn's disease, which means some weeks are harder than others no matter how committed she is. "My biggest challenge has been not beating myself up when I don't feel up to exercising," she says. "Crohn's doesn't go away with back squats and push-ups. And I don't want to feel badly about myself for having more consistent weeks than others."

Rather than measuring herself against a perfect attendance record, she let the definition change. "So now I enjoy the days I feel strong. And I rest the days I don't. I've redefined what consistency means for me." It's an honest take on consistency, and a useful one for anyone whose health doesn't follow a predictable schedule.

It helps to have the right people around you. Asked what she's liked best, Melissa points straight to them. "The attitude of everyone here, coaches and members," she says. "However you show up, in whatever shape or form, you're completely welcome and supported."

Reaching Higher

That consistency, on her own terms, has added up. Today Melissa does push-ups, and she can reach into a cabinet above her head and grab what she needs without pain. It sounds like a small thing until you remember she used to need help with it.

She also lists hiking a mountain, and she means it literally. Melissa has climbed the Manitou Incline in Colorado with us two years in a row, a staircase trail that gains roughly 2,000 feet in less than a mile. The first year, she called Chelsea, her semi-private coach, from the top. For someone who once couldn't walk stairs without getting winded, it was a moment worth sharing with the coach who helped her get there.

The change she lists last might mean the most. On her list of new abilities, Melissa includes this: "smile when I think about the future." That's a long way from feeling lost. Asked how she feels about what's ahead, she says "hopeful and curious," the same spirit that first brought her through the door.

For anyone thinking about getting started, Melissa kept her advice to one word and a smile: "Welcome : )" It's fitting advice from someone who values that welcome most. However you show up, there's room for you here too.

Congratulations, Melissa!

Melissa, thank you for showing up exactly as you are, on the strong days and the rest days. You came to us hoping there was still some strength left to rediscover, and you've found enough of it to climb the Manitou Incline twice, along with a kinder way to measure your own progress. Your honesty and warmth make this community better, and we can't wait to see where your curiosity takes you next. Congratulations on being our October Member of the Month!