The ShanFitness Story

Hey! Shanice here, I just wanted to welcome you to our new blog. Here you will soon find many posts about a variety of topics including fitness, mental health, food and general life.

I thought a good place to start would be a bit of a background story of me, ShanFitness and our journey over the last five years.

As you may already know ShanFitness is now a fitness and well-being centre based in Polegate, we have a really unique timetable of classes, salt therapy, treatments, events and more. It is the ultimate safe space for fitness and well-being.

But how did I get here? Well, this may surprise you but ShanFitness was created five years ago with no real plan, hopes or dreams. I originally created the brand to be a side hustle to make some cash, I had a one-way ticket booked to Australia and really needed some extra money! I didn't care about building up the class, where it was hosted or what happened next. I was just in it for the money. I bought an online programme of what I thought I wanted to teach, qualified and started to advertise.

I hated PE at school and have never really been sporty so this choice was a shock to most people I knew. But I do come from a performing background, attending dance classes most of my life, studying dance & musical theatre at college, and I also had some pretty epic performing jobs when I was younger (maybe that needs a post of its own haha). So although fitness and sport have never been my thing, I viewed classes from a performance point of view. I learned the routines and then performed them - no fitness interest necessary. While this worked as I was starting out, it would eventually become clear that this would not help me much in the long run. The programme I chose to teach (I wont mention the name) was absolutely HORRID. The first taster class I hosted was fully booked, but nobody came back the next week. The dances were slow and boring and not suited to me at all, they were hard to follow and not relatable to the people that wanted to come to my classes. I started to feel really deflated. All the time and money I had spent on advertising, training and starting up, just for people to not be interested. I'd gone to too much effort and lost too much time to quit or choose another quick way to make money. So, as I laid in bed one evening I went onto Youtube and typed in 'fun fitness classes'. I always knew I never wanted to be a zumba instructor and didn't have the time/ interest/ motivation to do my official qualifications to create my own classes, so I hoped and prayed something that looked cool would pop up, and it did. A video of The Jungle Body founder, Tara flashed up on Youtube. A video of her doing a hip-hop boxing track to skrillex really caught my attention. It looked tough and not like anything I had ever done before, but something about it intrigued me. I jumped out of bed and tried it. I felt amazing! My fitness levels were nowhere near good enough to keep up but I just felt so good trying it. The music, the movements and the vibes were just so me. I signed up to be an instructor the next day. If you fancy it, the link to watch Tara's video is at the end of this post.

Training was going well and I really liked being a part of The Jungle Body community. Then we went into lockdown.

I often tell people now that lockdown was the best thing to ever happen to me. I know it's a controversial thing to say, but personally I needed it.

Behind the scenes I was struggling, mentally and physically. I was having very serious symptoms being investigated by the doctor, and the combination of flare ups and not knowing what was wrong with me had me spiralling. At the time I was just living and existing but looking back on who I was makes me so sad now, so scared and anxious, feeling ill everyday. I was really going through it.

By the time lockdown hit I was coming to the end of the next set of investigations. As you can imagine and totally understandably I was no longer a priority to the NHS so tests, scans etc. stopped.

The thought of lockdown scared me as my anxiety (that I didn't know I had) was triggered by not being in control. I was a wreck. The start of lockdown was tough but after a few weeks I started really enjoying the peace. The work that I had been doing and the lifestyle I was living was definitely not peaceful, so this was new and really welcomed.

Some of lockdown is a bit of a blur but I do remember one day, sitting on my bed, window open, birds singing and the sun was shining straight on me, I got my phone and looked up 'how to become more peaceful and calm'. All these different blogs and posts came up explaining many different wellness practices, activities etc. I tried every one that I could, meditation, sound frequencies, crystals, tarot cards, self-help books and probably more. I also spent more time in silence, outside in the garden, laying on my bed reading or going out for our daily walks. I felt unbelievable, still anxious and emotional but more calm.

I remember one day I woke up and for the first time in nearly two years and didn't feel sick. I felt 'normal' - I actually cried.

I was over-analysing everything, was I healed? was I so used to being ill that I didn't notice anymore? What had I eaten? What had I done differently? I had no clue but I was so happy.

I now of course know why I felt so good that day and why my health, both mentally and physically, has continuously improved since then. A combination of wellness activities, my calmness, good gut health and consistent exercise that I enjoy.

What I haven't yet mentioned is I was also working for a charity, a wonderful charity run by my mum that supports adults with learning disabilities. And as a part of that role I had created an online activity programme for our students to do throughout lockdown. A programme that included me getting up three mornings a week and hosting a movement/ dance class. Other than show rehearsals and performing, it is the most I had ever consistently exercised. Add in a weekly Youtube Jungle Body class and I was healing.

News about us coming out of lockdown was being announced and by this time, not only was I in love with exercise, I had also started my Personal Training qualifications, my

exercise-to-music level 2 and completed a nutrition course. I was very passionate about ShanFitness and looking back, whether you agree with this or not, I was having a spiritual awakening. My flight to Australia was postponed to the following year by the airline and I knew that now was the time to go for this with ShanFitness and create something I love.

I have never enjoyed the gym/fitness environment. The anxious judged feeling you get, like everyone is watching you, honestly it's the worst! Even though I was studying all these qualifications, I knew I would never work in that environment. I started talking online about how I am a fitness instructor that hated going to the gym and while I was super embarrassed at first, it was actually celebrated. I started to realise that I enjoyed exercise and fitness classes when there wasn't any judgement, it was safe and people were welcoming. You are what you attract and when my classes reopened I started attracting customers that felt so similar to me. They felt intimidated in the gym, they were missing out on being healthy and it was affecting their mental health. I became so passionate about this, and ShanFitness started to grow.

Then we went into lockdown number 2.

By this time I had started to build a community so classes could then go online. I had never felt better. My fitness levels were insane, I qualified in everything I could and was teaching classes up to 6 days a week. It was the most stress-free and enjoyable times of my life!

I also grew so much as an instructor, I found my rhythm. I became the instructor that I had wish I had had, I wanted to go to my own classes haha.

As I have mentioned in this post before, I have done a lot of crazy jobs and worked in amazing places, but I used to get annoyed with myself. I would do these amazing things but always felt like something was missing. I would cry all the time wondering why nothing was ever enough. But for the first time ever, when I was teaching, I knew that this is where I belonged. This is what I was always meant to do.

Classes reopened and ShanFitness grew and grew but I was still planning on going to Australia. I actually felt more secure as I knew I was confident enough to get a job in a

gym or fitness centre while I was there. The Jungle Body is Australian so that also gave me some extra comfort. I planned and planned, booked accommodation and knew that this time I was going! Then, unexpectedly my flight was cancelled again, this time for good. I suddenly didnt have the fight left to re-book and get my hopes up again. I got a refund and carried on with my life.

At the end of 2021 I started to look at ways I could make Shanfitness into a fulltime career. The idea was to create my own programmes that I could then sell to instructors, to become a brand and for my programmes to be taught in gyms/ classes around the country. I did so much research and created three concepts. Lightning, Thunder and Breeze - the company was called S P D Body Co. I spent months really making these programmes unique and something special. Lightning was a choreographed circuit class, Thunder was a strengthening full body class and breeze was about stretching and meditation. I couldn't do it. That's not to say I will never do it, but I couldn't work full time, teach and create & choreograph these concepts. It was getting too much. I had a few days where I started to feel ill again, I was adamant I wasn't going to go back to who I was before. I love the concept of them and the classes are so fun and beneficial, I know when the time is right there will be space for them in the future.

I trialled dropping my hours at work to teach more classes and introduced day time classes too. I went back to work a few weeks later. The classes didn't really pick up and I couldn't afford losing the money from my full time job.

After realising that I had been suffering with panic attacks and anxiety for a few years (without knowing that's what they were) I posted a video online. A video of me chatting in the car. I talked about my mental health and the way that exercise and other things were improving it. The response was crazy!

I wish I could remember the first time I thought about creating the studio, but unfortunately I don't.

I loved the idea of having a full fitness centre that was just really fun classes that you couldn't do anywhere else. Making fitness fun, unique and welcoming was the ultimate goal. I don't need to patronise you and tell you how important exercise is, but the thought that some people miss out on it because the environment triggers some sort of mental health issue/ stress really makes me sad. You need exercise to survive, both mentally and physically.

I started to wonder whether I could actually open a studio, just a little dance studio where I could teach regular classes. Change it up, no intimidating gym vibes, just a safe community where everyone was welcome.

I found somewhere I liked and emailed them for months asking if I could view. I'm not going to tell you where it was but it was very very different from the space we are in now.

When I finally viewed, everything felt like it was coming together. I really started to believe I could do this. It took a lot of work to convince my family to trust me haha but I just knew this would all work out. Originally all my plans were titled 'The warehouse', I wanted it have a real underground/ club/ rave kind of vibe in the studio but with a bright welcoming atmosphere everywhere else. For different reasons, I had to change the name. The unit I viewed and put an offer in for was number 26 and at the time I was 26 years old, I felt like it was meant to be. 'Unit 26' was born and would just as quickly be taken away from me. Sometimes I still get annoyed that the first place didn't work out because the vision was so amazing! Everything happens for a reason though and things that have happened since then made me realise it was not the place for us. The space was huge and that's when I started to explore other things to add. Treatment rooms, showers and a second studio. Maybe a space exclusively for personal training or a mediation room. Maybe a sauna or Japanese head spa. The thoughts were running wild. I had so much space to work with. I really didn't want to stray from the idea of the centre being there for your mental health so I started to look up treatments that supported that too. I really wanted something unique. I stumbled across Salt therapy and instantly knew I wanted it at the centre. Salt rooms support your mental health and also do wonders for your physical health too, and selfishly I thought it would be great for me as it's good for lung capacity and muscle recovery. I thought if I'm teaching so many classes, I need something I can take advantage of to recover.

The dream of unit 26 ended abruptly and taught me some lessons that I would use a lot over the next two years.

The next few months were spent searching for similar premises without any luck. The thought of getting a unit on an industrial estate was overwhelming to me! I didn't think we suited that sort of set up. It was too girly and chilled to be surrounded by factories and workmen haha

But then I saw an advert for a unit on Chaucer. A different unit to where we are now, but when we arrived for the viewing it was very clean, busy but not too noisy and there was a huge car park! I loved the unit and put in an offer that day! It was instantly rejected.

Again hurt, but another lesson I needed to grow, looking back I wasn't ready.

I spent the next few months looking online occasionally but I wasn't too invested. I had now been rejected twice, once in a worse situation than the other, but it was still tough.

Then I saw another unit on Chaucer, the one we are currently in. I emailed and was told it it was under offer so they were actually taking it off the website. I was gutted and spent another few months questioning whether I would ever find the place for me.

I found another place online and requested to view. I didn't like it from the website, I knew it wasn't for me, but I thought if I could just get there and meet the agent then I would be back on his radar and hopefully he would help me out. It worked. He told me that the unit that was under offer (our current unit) had fallen through and I can now view. We went that week. Something felt different, and it wasn't that I instantly knew that this was the right unit for me, it was more about me being careful. I didn't put an offer in for over a week and I spent every day drawing plans and going through figures, creating timetables, and measuring up. Something I had done with every unit previously but never to this extent. I would sit on my lunch break and draw different designs on the back of post it notes. I put in an offer and then plot twist... they said I could choose between this unit or the original Chaucer unit that I was rejected from?? I had gone from struggling to find a unit to being offered both! I decided to take the second.

Everything was going smoothly until plot twist #2 - planning permission. There is a real grey area with planning permission in industrial units now. Some laws changed a few years ago and if I am honest I still don't know who was right and who was wrong. But I wanted to make sure I was playing every move super safe, so I went ahead and applied for planning permission even though I may have not needed to. What followed was months and months of more lessons, losing more money and wondering if this was ever going to happen for me.

During this 6 month long unexpected delay I realised something. I was going through the most stress I had ever been in in my life, and I was fine. My symptoms were mostly still well managed and I was so positive and calm no matter what happened. A skill that I will cherish forever, and without lockdown I would never have learnt. The ability to listen, process and then fix, is something I am so proud of, it is such a valuable skill I will never take for granted. I have lost count the amount of times I have had to use that skill over the last few years.

After delays we were finally in the unit.

I knew that opening this business was going to be hard but every day since I got the keys in May I have had to fight. Fight to be seen, fight to keep going, fight to make sure this stays the safe and welcoming space I always wanted it to be.

Because my mental health was in such a good place when I finally got this unit, my mind was in a place that allowed me to be creative. Being well balanced with a clear mind means you can focus and allow yourself to understand your vision. I wasn't ready to start teaching classes in January 2020, I wasn't ready for my own licensed brand in 2021, I wasn't ready for the studio in 2022 and I still wasn't ready for the studio in 2023. But I was ready for it in 2024 and that is why it is now working out. I have had a lot of support along the way and I will forever be grateful to everyone that has helped me, especially family, but to say that the whole concept, plan, layout, design, timetable, classes and vision of this centre came from my healthy mind is something I am so proud of. I am still doing well with my symptoms and staying healthy. We are still unsure whether I have an illness that's triggered by stress/ anxiety or if my symptoms are how my anxiety shows. Either way I am currently in control.

I don't feel ready to talk about the last few months yet, we are still very much in it, living in the moment and enjoying my vision come to life. And as for the future, who knows! As long as I keep grounded, healthy both physically and mentally, stay positive, stay slightly delusional and keep being my annoying authentic self I am sure the possibilities are endless.

Thanks for being a part of it xx

Links

The Jungle Body with Tara - https://youtu.be/pHSHkhqwbYw?feature=shared