The Class by Taryn Toomey: Exercise meets emotional release

Iwas told there may be some soreness but I didn’t expect my legs to turn to jelly after the first session. That’s probably my creaky joints, unused to anything more strenuous than a brisk walk around the neighbourhood park. And yet, the next morning, I found myself pulling out the exercise mat and logging in again, driven by an addict’s compulsion.

Recently, on a friend’s recommendation, I tuned in to The Class, a workout designed by American fitness and wellness trainer Taryn Toomey, who counts Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow and Christy Turlington among her celebrity clients. Before Toomey founded this unique workout programme in 2013, she worked in the fashion industry, with Dior and Ralph Lauren in particular, but her mind was really into exercise.

In the early days, people would drop in to her informal classes, but gradually her method began to catch on and the numbers started growing, mostly by word of mouth. Currently, The Class is a full-fledged company, headquartered in New York’s Tribeca. It offers, apart from workouts in physical and digital studios, meal plans, wellness tips and The Course, four weeks of foundational training in mindfulness.

Been there, done all this stuff? Wait till you take a trial session of The Class.

The workout has variations suited to different people (there’s one for caregivers dealing with the covid-19 pandemic, for instance), spanning 25-75 minutes. Each session is designed primarily around combination of cardio, Pilates, breathing exercises and, most of all, yelling. Toomey advocates releasing mental stress by giving it vigorous physical expression (think jumping jacks and squats)—“flush out emotions from the cells in the body," as she puts it. She is also a big believer in release through expressive grunts. You are encouraged to let go, scream all you want. It’s all part of the therapy. It’s a tactic to force you to conquer all the resistance built into your body and mind by your external environment. Move a muscle, shake a leg, maybe even cry a little.

Log in to theclass.comto know more about the sessions.