By Bridget Reipl, Founder of NJ Yoga Collective
In February 2020, more than 300 local residents came together for the WEforum Fit Crawl, an annual event that has steadily grown since 2016 because of its huge community impact, coupled with a huge fun quotient. The entire day is about supporting local businesses, raising health and wellness awareness, and promoting WEforum’s overall mission to strengthen the health and wellness of communities by targeting individuals through educational programs and services.
After the 2020 Crawl, the WEforum team immediately began planning for 2021, intending to include even more fitness professionals, local businesses, and individuals who wanted to sweat for a cause. Sadly, the emergence of COVID-19 forced a long pause on an in-person event; however, Carolyn DeSena and her executive team kept the dream alive. In May 2021 they brought a week-long event into the virtual space. Thereafter, in March of this year, WEforum took Jacksonville by storm, collaborating with the NFL Alumni Jacksonville Chapter to host the Fit Crawl in Jacksonville Beach!
Through it all, WEforum never lost momentum in the local community. Now, with confidence and major excitement, WEforum is BACK with a Beach Crawl on September 22, 2022, on the sand right next to the Wave Hotel in Long Branch, as well as intentions to head back to their roots with a February 2023 Fit Crawl, working with studios in the Two River area.
The 2022 Beach Crawl brings together multiple fitness studios, athletes, and mind-body professionals for 35-minute workouts, with options ranging from bootcamp to barre, with lots of yoga, pilates, strength, boxing, and toning in between. With ten to fifteen workouts to choose from, happening at regular intervals between 8:30 AM and 12:15 PM, the WEforum group feels primed and ready to welcome as many participants as possible, while highlighting small business owners, community leaders, wellness professionals, educators, and organizations who promote a culture of healthy living.
Registration starts at 8 AM. All attendees are welcome to try up to 5 classes, plus join WEforum for a post-crawl party, starting right after the last workout ends. Drinks and light bites from some of your favorite local spots will be available, as well as lots of time for socializing in the sun! This fun beach day ticket is only $50 with all the proceeds benefiting Monmouth Medical Center and the hospital’s Anne Vogel Family Care and Wellness Center in Eatontown.
This article was recently published in Rumson Living magazine.
Bridget grew up in North Jersey, made a pit-stop in Baltimore for college, headed back home for law school, and in 2009 found the place she will always call home: the Jersey Shore. As a yoga teacher with thousands of hours of experience, a community leader, former lawyer, and twin mom, Bridget is a true believer in the beauty of balance, on the mat and off. She reflects on what it means to practice yoga everywhere and anywhere (studio, food store, rolling car line – anywhere!) to build vibrant, creative, and inspired classes, with a dedicated focus on meeting each student exactly as they are, helping them to discover their own power, peace, and presence. A lover of movement, music that makes you feel all the things, and big poses that let you take even bigger breaths, Bridget will leave you feeling like every moment on the mat is something to be grateful for.
