YMCA of Southern Maine
For a Better Us.™
Confidence & Connection
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020 turned life upside-down for almost everyone. For the safety of the community, members, and employees, the YMCA of Southern Maine made the difficult but necessary choice to temporality close all four branches on March 16. Mary Booth, a 25-year member of the Y, remembers feeling a sense of loss right away. “I was very sad to lose the fellowship the Y brings to my life”, she said.
A Y group exercise regular, Mary seldom missed a Yoga or Zumba class at the Casco Bay Branch before the pandemic hit. Luckily, the Y launched a full slate of online group exercise classes immediately after the branches closed in March, and began offering all regular group exercise classes through video conference to members and to the general public.
Mary was thrilled to continue her exercise schedule virtually as a way to maintain her physical health during quarantine. However, it was an unexpected benefit of the virtual group exercise classes that revealed itself and proved to be even more important in the midst of the pandemic- the effect the classes had on Mary’s emotional and mental health.
“Waving into the video camera at the instructor and seeing my fellow classmates was like a daily shot of endorphins”, said Mary.
Over time, Mary realized that there were additional benefits to online group exercise as she discovered her own silver lining.
Zumba and Yoga were long-time favorite classes of Mary’s, but she had often found herself wanting to try boot camp. Boot camp classes at the Y are a full-body workout that incorporate the use of body weight and free weights in order to achieve ultimate results. While intriguing to Mary, she knew that boot camp would be a challenge because she was not used to lifting weights. She worried that she wasn’t strong enough to complete the class, and was nervous that she would not be able to keep up with her classmates.
“I figured that by trying boot camp virtually, I wouldn’t be worried about everyone else because it would be just me alone in my house taking the class”, she said.
Mary gave virtual boot camp a shot, and she loved it. Over time, she began to feel more and more comfortable with lifting weights. Her confidence in her ability has grown to the point where she is now comfortable taking the live boot camp class amongst her peers and plans to do so in the fall.
“Participating in virtual boot camp gave me such confidence”, said Mary. “I would not have gained that confidence had I not had the chance to try boot camp at home virtually”.
Thanks to generous donors, Virtual Group Exercise and Outdoor Group Exercise classes are available to all Y members, regardless of their ability to pay the full registration fee.
Stories like Mary’s are possible because the Y believes that every individual and family deserves access to opportunities that serve to strengthen their bodies and minds. This belief stands firmly as a tenant of the YMCA’s mission thanks to the supporters who invest each year to secure it.
