AUSTIN, Texas — When Autonomy Movement opened its doors last November it had one goal in mind: to help people reconnect with their bodies.
- Autonomy Movement is an exercise studio with no mirrors
- Owner is a therapist who specializes in eating disorders
- Wants clients to reconnect with their bodies
“I’ve never been a person who felt like I could go to a group class because… the world is rowdy and you want to feel good while you’re exercising,” said Jessie Sullivan, an Autonomy Movement regular.
Autonomy Movement owner Kim Gould works as a therapist specializing in eating disorders, and wanted to open up an exercise studio without mirrors.
“Working with eating disorders I realized there was a huge need for a space that wasn’t going to trigger a lot of body image stuff, diet culture or make people feel less than in any way or incite any type of shame,” said Gould. “My favorite part about this space is how intentional it is with its politics. This is an explicitly body-positive space, like everybody here is educated about health at every size.”
Kim Gould instruct barre class. (Develon Douglas/Spectrum News)
Gould says current exercise and diet culture is toxic and damaging.
“The truth is that exercise isn’t that effective for weight loss, and it’s really amazing for a ton of other things,” she said.
Gould says while exercise may not be good for weight loss, it can help with libido, memory and many other things.
For those in class, rebuilding the connection to their bodies can go a long way outside of the studio.
“Knowing that ‘Yes I can perform the same way in a group class as I can by myself’ makes it easier to kind of go out in the world and explore other things and I think that’s super awesome,” said Sullivan.
Gould says making a change begins by understanding our own view of health and changing misconceptions.
“We’re profiling people based upon the way that they look, the size body that they’re in and we’re saying ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’. In fact, what we really know is that socioeconomic status is the greatest predictor of health outcomes,” said Gould.
For now, the journey continues for those reconnecting with their bodies.
