RELEASE with Taryn Toomey

Today is a special day...
    It is the day that marks our very first interview, and it is THE day I get to ask all the questions, go deeper, pull all the light beams from none other than genius founder of The Class, Taryn Toomey.

    I need to squeeze in a proper backstory to fill you up on her... You see, she does not know YET, but it was with her, teaching at their NY studio where she confronted me physically, face to face with my deepest “enemy”, now one of my biggest allies: RELEASE. This is my perception in one word of what her work represents while she builds and contours the habitat to hold space for you.

    Of what??? You might ask... Let me tell you: Any. Single. Thing. That. Comes. To. Mind. It may come out in form of sound, sweat, or even tears. For me it was first about the inner talk. “What the bleep is she doing? What is this place, and why do people want to be here for?” But a few classes were enough to finally subside and give in. My typical nervous laughter, and overall pain threshold to hold it all in, assess, “control”, in other words: Resistance.

So yes, she knows her magic.
And also yes, I am a fan.
With that said, let’s cut to the chase and dance.

Viviana: Thanks for opening up to us! What does release mean to you?

Taryn Toomey: The process of allowing a gentle letting go of something that is not your truth, rather than letting it hook into and spin in the mind. In The Class, we use the physical discomfort in the body to engage the mind, which allows us to observe behaviors, thoughts, feelings or obstacles that keep us feeling stuck. When we are given the space to feel it, oftentimes an emotion arises - be it laughter or tears. Whether it's celebration or grief, allow it to move through you and process well. Use the body as the instrument to feel, breathe, and practice awareness of thought. In that space, you can physically release what is not serving your higher purpose, through and out of the body.

V: In your opinion, how does a body build up emotionally and/or mentally to such an extent as to somatize or internalize?

TT: The body is in constant communication with us. Our emotions carry information, which oftentimes can be unexpressed or unhealed moments from our history. Think about all the times when you've felt like there was pressure inside of you from a conversation, an experience, or something that has gone unexpressed. In The Class, we invite students to bring those things into the room, and use sound as a portal to clean them from the body and mind as we move. I view the body as the borrowed home you live in, the one your soul chose to take a ride out in this lifetime. If you think about it that way, your body as your home, you have to open the windows, shake out the bed linens, hit the drain button after the spin cycle on the washing machine. Otherwise the mind starts to take over and the heart gets cluttered. When you get still and truly listen, as opposed to thinking, the body serves as a guide. Your intuitive knowing. We are so predetermined to identify discomfort as negative or intrusive and reject it both mentally and physically... 

V: Would it be fair to say The Class sets you up for resistance to take charge?

TT: A holistic approach takes place in The Class, where we use the intensity we create in the body, by CHOICE, to notice the thought around the feeling, and then observe how long we have been having the same thought with other experiences outside of the room. The reason why we're repeating movements for a whole song in Class is so that the brain is not busy organizing choreography of the movement. You are having to marinate and deal with the frustration, irritation, strength, and whatever else comes up. In there, the practice begins. This is the power of choice. But first comes the awareness that you are having the thought and then the choice to stay with it or to drop into the body, heart, and feel. You can apply this to anything. We are simply using the intensity in the physical body to get the thoughts going. Do it or don't. Stay present, one beat at a time, or stop. Lift the leg up or don't. And then it's just one more...and one more....and one more. And then boom it's over. You are stronger for having gone through it, and you get to keep that strength. But awareness of WHAT you are strengthening is the key. What you repeat you strengthen - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

V: Which elements would you say regulate The Class’ core system?

TT: We are creating a safe space for people to drop in, become vulnerable and allow their guards to come down by being IN their bodies. The essence of The Class is that we are working with the power of choice. The beauty is that if you don’t want to do any of it, you don't have to, and you’ll still get a great workout. We use movement to create a fire in the body as the entry point and then slowly offer up the idea that students can begin to express IF IT FEELS RIGHT. We practice embodiment - the antidote for disassociation. We practice life. It gets hard. It gets easy. It gets hard. It gets easy. Then it feels like freedom. Some people work with mantras, prayer, journaling...

V: How do you personally cope with resistance on a daily basis?

TT: I use awareness. I notice what the thought is around the feeling and where it came from - if it's old, new, recurring. Simply noticing. I use the body as the portal to allow it to come up, move through and flush. I have many daily rituals I use for prayer and access to Divine when I am in an imbalance. I use awareness to know when I am in that, and drop into a short practice to connect.

V: I’ve never felt my solar plexus, my inner fire, so built up before! I could not leave that room before I got to throw myself out there into that energy, and boy, it was quite an adventure! Not like any other. Do you think there can be “too much” if you push yourself past your limits? Or if you were to stay in your fire 24/7?

TT: I believe creating a balance in proper amounts of resistance training, cardiovascular and restorative workouts is important to maintaining both physical and mental well-being. In The Class, we often talk about moving the body to your edge - but only in a way in which you are able to stabilize your nervous system so that you stay integrated in what you are doing rather than just blowing the top off right away. Integration is essential. Break down to break through. Fire can facilitate that process, but it's also important to find a healthy and balanced recovery.

V: How do you release all the energy accumulated besides yours when The Class is over?

TT: Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed or destabilized I place my hands on my body and come back to my breath, knowing when to listen and staying present in each experience. I say it in Class all the time - we are practicing life - so I use the same practices we do in The Class in my everyday life to help me ground and stabilize.

V: What would be your total accomplishment when teaching? That feeling of fulfillment...

TT: There is true empowerment that occurs when you provide a space for people to self-actualize and witness their own potential. It is fulfilling to know The Class is providing a place for people to go, and that it is serving. 

V: Acknowledging these evolutionary times that we’re all living in, how is The Class adapting to changes right now?

TT: Our mission and the core of who we are has always remained the same. I think the business has been positively affected because people need this work now more than ever, as we experience these states of confusion and the disruption of our norm. If we truly take this time and do the ‘inside’ work, when we reconnect we will have embodied, and therefore understand, the power of our presence and our ability to evolve. We will continue to expand and evolve our work, providing new on-demand, self-study resources and experiential extensions through our Digital Studio, and in person when available. We have begun a series of Remote Retreatments -- a 3-hour version of our destination retreats pre-COVID. We released our Summer Cleanse, just without the meal delivery option in New York City. And we have some exciting self-study video on demand projects that we just launched, The Course and The Workshop. We will continue to innovate and adjust to the changing landscape of our industry.

V: Thank you so much for your time, I hope to see you soon, give you a big hug in gratitude, and get to experience The Class again but personally in your studio! Meanwhile I’m settled connecting through your website to keep on flushing, and finding the space where I feel at ease.

To find more information on The Class by Taryn Toomey, visit www.theclass.com

Pictures by Jaimie Baird.