Staying Safe During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Body Moves Fitness and Wellness Center’s Response
to Staying Safe During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dear Body Moves Students and Friends,

Despite the news that changes every day about the COVID-19 virus, we hope that you are proceeding with a lifestyle that promotes and strengthens your immune system and well-being. These lifestyle practices include:

• eating immune-boosting meals
• getting frequent and adequate exercise
• staying on a good sleep schedule
• mindfully relieving emotional and mental stress
• being connected with friends and family
• staying home and contacting your health care provider should you have one or more COVID-19 symptoms of fever, cough, shortness of breath
• protecting yourself and others through environmental intervention

It is the lifestyle practice of “environmental intervention” that we center our focus in this communication with you. What can be done to protect us in the space, the environment, around us during this uncertain time? Are there ways that we can contribute in order to lessen the burden on people and on our health/disease care system?

Body Moves relies on reports and guidelines from credible agencies to decide the suggestions we make to Body Moves students on taking classes and workouts at the studio during these times. Such agencies include the WHO, the CDC, Iowa Department of Health, and fitness professional associations. We also rely on the reports and guidelines of these agencies to determine changes in our established infection prevention and control practices at Body Moves.

Based on current reports from the above-mentioned agencies, Body Moves Fitness and Wellness Center will to continue to hold all classes, workouts and planned events. Why? Individuals who come to our studio are generally healthy. The benefits of exercise and social support and interaction are important immune-boosting factors. We observe our students to be compliant in following our infection control protocols and they are respective of one another’s health and well-being. The number of people in the studio at a given hour is low. The studio space and the movements taught are such that we can comply with distance spacing recommendations.

Our plan to continue to be open could rapidly change during the course of the pandemic; therefore, we ask that you regularly check for cancellations. You can do through the following means: here on our website, our Facebook page, emails sent from info@fitnessatbodymoves, or a quick call to our studio (319-337-4777).

Here is what you can do:

• Be a very frequent hot-water-and-soap handwasher who scrubs and rubs for at least 20 seconds. This is a very effective measure that you can take to prevent contracting this virus, and to prevent the spread of the virus to others should you be a transient carrier. Wash your hands after being out-and-about. Wash your hands before meals. Wash your hands before interacting with others and after interacting with others.
• Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth. Exception? Maybe right after you have washed your hands with water and soap. Then wash your hands again!
• Cough/sneeze in a tissue or on your sleeve. Dispose of the tissue and then clean your hands. Do not use your hands to cover your mouth in coughing/sneezing – use tissues, clothing, paper towels, napkins!
• When hand-washing is not available, use an alcohol-based disinfectant.
• Keep respective distancing when with other individuals. The guidelines cite 3-foot distancing when with other symptomless individuals, and at least 6-foot distancing when in the presence of those expressing symptoms of coughing, sneezing.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick. Their immune systems are compromised and they are more susceptible to contracting other illnesses.
• Wash hands/use disinfectants after touching inanimate surfaces (common examples are door handles, remote controls, light switches, menus, ketchup bottles in restaurants, phones, pens, credit/debit card styluses, steering wheels).
• Stay at home if you have flu-like symptoms, including the COVID-19 symptoms of fever, cough and/or shortness of breath. Rest, recover, and prevent the spread of the virus.
• Consider your general health status and susceptibility to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Individuals at higher risk of contracting the virus include those with severe chronic diseases in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory conditions, those who live in close-living residences, and those who recently have traveled.

Here is what we do at Body Moves:

• We continue with our standard protocol of daily mopping, restroom cleaning, surface cleaning of commonly touched hard surfaces, and the use of disposable paper products.
• Since the announcement of COVID-19 cases in Johnson County, we stepped up surface disinfectant cleaning with multiple frequency daily on hard surfaces, especially door handles, writing pens, clip boards, chair tops and sides, yoga mats, water dispenser and light buttons, desk and table surfaces, keyboards and mouses, and remote controls.
• We are even more aggressive with our normal protocol of requesting that students and instructors either hand wash or use hand disinfectant upon entering the studio and before touching any surface object in the studio, and to repeat this process before leaving the studio.
• Instructors and students are asked to space at least 3 feet from the next persons while taking classes and workouts.
• Beginning March 12, we request that students and instructors wear disposable vinyl gloves provided by the studio during classes and workouts requiring use of weight equipment.
• Beginning March 14, we encourage students to bring their own mats, blocks and blankets to class. For the time being, yoga blankets will not be available for use at the studio.
• We ask students to assist instructors at the end of classes and workouts with surface cleaning of surfaces that have been touched.
• If an instructor or student is not feeling well, then we wish them to stay home and recover. In the case of instructors who feel ill, the studio will continue striving to bring our other certified instructors to the rescue; however, there may be times when this goal cannot be met and the class or workout must be cancelled for that given day.

In closing, two of Body Moves’ core values particularly resonate with “Staying Safe During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” (See About Us).

1. One of our core values is that we value daily exercise, variety in exercise, and pleasure-based exercise at all levels of functional fitness. Daily planned exercise is a non-negotiable part of a healthy, fulfilling life.  During each week, exercise must include a variety of aspects of strength, endurance, cardio-respiratory, agility, power, flexibility, balance, brain-body exercise, and other sensory and neuromuscular exercise.The body must move, and there are times when environmental intervention is especially needed to allow for the body to move.
2. A second core value we hold is the Wellness Model which expresses that true fitness and wellness demand a balance of six inter-related dimensions. Those six dimensions are symbolized in our logo.

Each ribbon color of our logo represents one dimension of health.

Green = physical
Yellow = intellectual, mental
Fuchsia = emotional
Blue = social
Purple = spiritual
White space = environmental

Each dimension is dependent upon the other five dimensions.  The more healthy each dimension, the more healthy is the person and her/his community. Notice how the Environmental Dimension, the space, relates to the other five dimensions.

Together let us go for a healthy balance among all dimensions, for ourselves, our close community of Body Movers, and the greater community at local, national, and global levels. Together at Body Moves we can do our part in this huge local to global charge.
To your health, fitness and wellness and that of the broader community,

Beth Pelton, Owner
And the Entire Body Moves Team of Instructors, Trainers, and Staff