MindShift Monthly: September 2025
- Emily McPhee
- Sep 1
- 7 min read
Below is the digital version of our MindShift Monthly September issue. Click here to download a PDF version.
GRAND RE-OPENING SUMMER PARTY SUCCESS!
On August 23rd, we celebrated both the end of summer and the grand re-opening of our facility. In just one day, students, coaches, and friends all showed up to pull off: the first women’s parkour jam at our new facility hosted by Christie, Rosy, and Hala from DC Women’s Parkour (pictured left; @dcwpk), live music with Nick Dache (@nickdachemusic), fitness structure guest workshop with Frank Mejia (@frnkmj4), flow guest workshop with Xero Effort Parkour (@xeroeffortpk), functional flexibility workshop with Kim (@undineintheair), local catering donated by Surefire Catering (surefirecatering.com), AND an all-day jam all going on at the same time. We are so grateful for this community and can’t wait to host the next party. Stay tuned!
GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT BY WTC SALSA SPROUTS-LOUDOUN ROOTS & WONDER
WEBS Training Center, Inc., an inspiring organization dedicated to empowering low-income, ESL, and ASL communities in the DMV area, is hosting a record setting attempt to have the most people gardening at the same time! This event will be held at the Loudoun County Fairgrounds on September 6 and 7 and will include many other family friendly activities, including Flash, our mobile parkour firetruck - have you met her yet? Check out their full schedule at webstraining.org. Hope to see you there!
Did you know we've started a campaign to support this event on GoFundMe? Check it out here!
NEW SATURDAY CLASSES
Our week is now fully loaded with the recent addition of Saturday classes. A typical Saturday will include classes for ages 6-14, adults, and open gym. Pre-registration is required, so check out our class calendar for the most up-to-date schedule and to sign up for class.
AFTERNOON & HOMESCHOOL
In addition to evening classes, our afternoon schedule is starting to fill up. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we have parkour classes for kids ages 6-8, ages 9-14, and adults/teens ages 15+.
PARKOUR DAY CAMPS
With the end of summer came the last summer camps. Congratulations to all of our parkour camp graduates on completing a full week of swings, jumps, bails, and flips!
Our next full week of camps will be winter break camps; keep your eye out because enrollments start soon.
Looking for something sooner than that? We are using FCPS, LCPS, and ACPS student calendars to host day camps for ages 6-10 on student holidays. The next camps are on Tuesday, September 9 and Tuesday, September 23. These camps are already open for enrollment. More information can be found at mindshiftgym.com/events.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
We would like to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all of our students born in September!!
Angeline B
Kamilyn C
Allison D
Wesley D
Eri D
Phoebe F
Isshin M
Melanie M
Randa N
Evan P
Shauna S
(This list includes students who have taken class in the last 30 days. If we included ALL of our client birthdays, this newsletter would be 10 pages long.)
Private group events are back and ready to roll! If you’ve been looking for a unique experience that is both fun and challenging, look no further. Book a private event to learn parkour or aerial silks as a group for your next event.
By the way, did you know you can book Flash the Firetruck for your event? We’ll bring the party to you!
More info:
RECAP: BACKFLIP WORKSHOPS
Did you know that backflips are by far our most popular request? That means… monthly backflip workshops have returned! These workshops officially restarted on on August 30th with a great turnout.
Future workshops are on the last Saturday of every month. Youth workshops are for ages 9-14 and adult/teen workshops are for ages 15+.
These workshops are designed for beginners. Seriously, when we say beginners, we mean it. Absolute newbies with no experience whatsoever, you are welcome here. And if you’re already on your way to nailing your backflip, we offer backflip-specific private lessons that are tailored to your level.
TEAM SPOTLIGHT: INTERVIEW WITH GYM OWNER BILL WOTOWIEC
What is your role at MindShift Gym?
I’m the owner, financier, and chief visionary. I also do a lot of the carpentry work and generally try to keep everyone laughing (or at least smiling) with bad dad jokes!
What is your favorite thing about being a part of our team/community?
I love my team because they are all dedicated to our mission to bring fun movement opportunities to as many new friends as possible… and because they laugh at my dad jokes (sometimes). I love being a part of our ever growing community because every individual seems to bring a little bit different energy to the space keeping things fun and novel every day.
What's a hobby or interest you have that most people don't know about?
Outside of the MindShift community, I always answer this question with “I own a Firetruck!” That said, this community is well aware that Flash doesn’t have an owner; she does her own thing and we’re fortunate she likes to be involved in most of our events! For this community, it’s probably not well known that I grew up on a farm and I still listen to country music.
Piece of advice for new students?
My best advice for new students is to DOSE - take advantage of natural brain chemicals Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins! Endorphins come from fear of trying something new, serotonin comes from succeeding with our trainers help and you realize all is well, dopamine comes from completing a task you set your mind to trying, and oxytocin comes from doing all of this with friends, old or new!
Favorite superhero and why?
My favorite superhero is Spider-Man. He’s witty and he catches the bad guy to help everyone, but more importantly, he moves through his environment in a super fun way!
WELCOME NEW STUDENTS & LEVEL-UPS!
Students who successfully complete their introductory class receive their white band (for parkour) or level 1 band (for aerials).
We’d like to give our newest students a warm welcome to the community and congratulations for receiving your first band:
Maurice V
Carole D
Marianna M
Daniel M
Mitt D
Leo M
Soraya S
Drew W
Emeric W
Phoebe F
Vee R
Elizabeth S
Aneesh M
Emily W
Phoebe F
Ari K
Jazmin G
Mayra N
Malika H
Jayden J
Jordan A
Sophia E
Alec M
Jamie K
Mitt D
Tiffany D
BACK-TO-SCHOOL SPECIAL: PRIVATE LESSONS
Parkour, tricking, and backflip private lessons are on sale for the month of September! Book a one-on-one session with Coach Sprinkle for only $75. Sale ends on September 30 and available spots are already almost gone.
ONLINE MERCH SHOP DEBUT
The online MindShift merch shop is live! Featuring the work of talented artist John Van Pelt (threebunnyfarm.com), our new merch spotlights two new designs using ambigrams – a graphic design in which MindShift can be read the same upside down and right side up – on tees, hoodies, hats, water bottles, and more. For our local crew, we have some products in stock here at our gym, but more colors, styles, and sizes are available at mindshiftgym.com/shop.
ZUMBINI WITH GOSIA
You’ve probably heard of Zumba, but have you ever heard of Zumbini? Zumbini is a “caretaker and me” music, movement, and bonding experience for children ages 0-4 and we’re proud to be hosting Gosia as Zumbini host here at MindShift. Gosia’s next Zumbini session is Friday, September 26. Watch your little one dance, sing, clap, laugh, and play instruments!
Registration can be found via Gosia’s registration page or Instagram at @zumbiniwithgosia.
WANT TO JOIN OUR TEAM?
Whether you’re looking to teach, volunteer, host a guest workshop, rent our space, submit blog posts, or something else, we are always looking to expand our team. Just send us a message through our website. We’d love to hear from you!
THANK YOU SO MUCH TO OUR PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS
Reston Letter - Holly Weatherwax at The Reston Letter featured MindShift in their August issue.
“Reston has a new gym, and it’s out to shift how you think about fitness—starting with the mind-body connection.”
Patch - Michael O’Connell at Patch featured MindShift in a recent article.
“We grow old because we stop playing,” Wotowiec [quoted]. “We don't stop playing because we grow old. We want people to be moving and having fun. That's really what we want them to take away.”
Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce - The Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for MindShift!
“Welcome to Reston, MindShift Gym! Thank you to everyone who attended the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony last week and helped us officially welcome MindShift Gym to the community!”
SPONSORS
We believe in the power of movement to transform lives and in supporting our local community. Working with local organizations like the Boys & Girls Club and Big Brothers Big Sisters, we’ve seen firsthand the impact of community partnership.
Your sponsorship ensures local underserved populations will experience our unique approach to both physical and cognitive improvement. Your business will also receive credit for an in-kind donation, directly supporting local nonprofits. It's a win-win for your business and our community!
In return, sponsors receive recognition at events, on social media, and within our vibrant and high-energy community. Your support keeps the momentum going. This shoutout goes to our fabulous platinum sponsors!
WANT TO WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
Sponsorships start at only $525. Reach out to us at mindshiftgym.com/sponsor to get started.
And that wraps up MindShift Monthly for September! Thanks so much for reading!
