DOJO News
Trail Mixer
The Nature Trails East Grand Opening is coming up
Ride, run, hike, or just hangout with us from 1-4pm on Saturday, April 26th, for the grand opening of Quincy’s new Nature Trails East recreation area, located at 3420 Kochs Lane.
Bloom
Sparrows chirp outside our window before the sun comes up. The rain smells fresh, feels warm, and dusk lingers. Spring is here, and we have a fresh playlist to go with it.
Flower model thanks to our barrel cactus.
Heather went through music from the last few months of classes and picked 11 songs for our new Spring playlist.
Tracklist below. Click here to listen on Spotify
BLOOM
1. The Pattern Speaks - SKLOSS
2. Wandering Lost - Blackwater Holylight
3. Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Basic Shapes
4. 777 - L.A. WITCH
5. Pursuit - Mhaol
6. She's Good to Go - Billy Changer
7. Be Good - GGGOLDDD
8. Flowers by the Door - T.S.O.L.
9. Abre Camino - Death Valley Girls
10. Red Right Hand - Nell Smith, The Flaming Lips
11. Blood And Sand / Milk And Endless Waters - All Them Witches
House Blend
A curated mix of the best from all of our classes is coming to Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon starting April 1st.
There’s a new class coming to Tuesdays and Wednesdays at noon.
House Blend is a curated, rotating mix of Mat Pilates, weight training, and calisthenics that blends moves and methods from our other classes into one good ass workout. House Blend is perfect for fans of the noon session who want to break up the day with solid training that stays fresh.
Click here to sign up for House Blend.
Nutrition HQ Ladies Night
Heather will be at the Ladies Night: Wellness Roundup event hosted by Nutrition HQ at the Kroc Center on March 27th at 5:30pm talking about Pilates, strength training, food and answering questions about diastasis recti, pelvic floors, injury recovery, skate set ups, staying strong, mobile and energetic for the long haul–even after 40 and 4 kids...
Drop by our booth at the Ladies Night: Wellness Roundup event hosted by Nutrition HQ at the Kroc Center on March 27th at 5:30pm. Heather will be on site to talk about Pilates, strength training, food and answer all your questions about diastasis recti, pelvic floor strength, injury recovery, what skate set up you should get, staying strong, mobile and energetic for the long haul–even after 40 and 4 kids...
Do Swans Even Dive
New Mat Pilates class. Tuesdays at 6am.
Beginning February 18th we’re offering our Progressive Mat Pilates class on Tuesdays at 6am.
This is in addition to Saturday’s 9am class, so if you’re a weekend warrior, your class isn’t going away.
Sign up here
Love Like Winter
An album’s worth of Heather’s favorite songs from classes this winter.
Cover shot: Heather walking the frozen Judith River, MT
New playlist of Heather’s favorites from winter classes so far.
I’ll be wearing out ”Horse of Freedom” by The Vovos and “Men of the Women” by Peter Kernel.
Tracklist below. Click here to listen on Spotify.
WINTER 24/25
1. Oh Frail - Madensuyu
2. Hyper Worm Tamer (UNKLE Remix) - Grinderman
3. Sunspots - Julian Cope
4. The Monitor - Live - Inger Lorre
5. Horse Of Freedom - The Vovos
6. H-Bomb - Night Beats
7. Sabali - Amadou & Mariam
8. Swimming Pool - TRAAMS
9. Insistor - Tapes 'n Tapes
10. Men of the Women - Peter Kernel
11. The Sky Was Pink - Vessels
Progressive Mat Pilates
Progressive Mat Pilates is about going deeper. Doing less, but with more intensity, focus, and intention.
Progressive Mat Pilates is about going deeper—doing fewer moves and sequences with more intensity, focus, and intention.
Here’s the class description:
”This class isn’t about where you’re at—it’s about where you want to go. Whether you’re starting fresh or ready to go deeper with your practice, Progressive Mat Pilates offers a focused, intentional approach. Together, we’ll systematically drill the 34 classical Mat Pilates moves and sequences until they become second nature, giving you the confidence to perform them on your own. The class is structured so you can join anytime, with weekly progressions that build on prior sessions. Home practice is encouraged ”
DAWN PATROL
Personal training intention meets small group energy in DAWN PATROL, our new M,W,F, class.
We have a new class.
M,W,F at 6am
”We move at dawn. This early morning class is designed to build functional strength and expand your natural mobility—the kind of capability that makes you feel ready for whatever. Dawn Patrol blends the intention and guidance of personal training with the energy of tight-knit small group training. Using minimalist equipment like sandbags, kettlebells, and boxes, mixed with proven movement patterns and bodyweight work, you'll train to be stronger and move better on any terrain—home, work, or wilderness.”
Walk through walls for winter
Just you, the ground, and five minutes a few times a day, how hard can it be? WALLS is back to start 2025.
The spot on the rug between the fire and the coffee table.
It’s all the space you need.
The glow from the hearth throws your shadow across the dark walls of winter morning.
The drop of sweat hanging from the tip of your nose glints with fire light.
You hold.
You exhale.
Your blood is pumping.
Outside, a whiteout sky of winter wind whips against the walls.
It’s a battering ram of cold eager to crack your will.
A wry smile flickers on your face and says no.
Your heat nips back at the cold.
The sweat drips.
You breathe.
You push.
It’s only five minutes.
It takes that long to make coffee.
And you’re on your third already.
WALLS is back, and begins December 30th.
You don’t need anything other than a spot on the ground the size of your body, and 5 minutes at time.
Enrollment opens soon.
More details to follow.
Classes are back September 28th
Class break is this weekend. We'll be outside finding something fun to do, ideally somewhere beautiful. Hope you’ll do the same, send us a picture.
No class this weekend September 21st.
Night’s coming sooner and the day’s growing cooler.
The Autumn Equinox is this weekend and it’s our favorite time for doing anything outside.
This is our first weekend without class since the last years Autumn Equinox so we’'ll be doing something fun outside, ideally somewhere beautiful.
If you get into something similar send us a picture with the subject Fall Fun to thedojo@thedojoofdowell.com
We’ll see you next weekend on the 28th. Sign up for class here.
The Early panther
Panther People like to get started early, even on the weekends, but not too early. Panther now starts at 8am on Saturdays.
Panther people have spoken. Earlier is better.
Saturday’s Panther HIIT class is now at 8am.
Body heat
Classes started strong this year, so we added a second Mat Pilates class to Saturday at 10am.
In a blink we went from two classes on Saturday to filling a third. Body heat switched off the furnace switch,and steam froze to the windows from floor to ceiling. It was New Year’s Day.
That day we started stamping names and X’s into brass tags and nailing them to the wall. If you have the money, buying something is easy. Showing up day after day is hard. You’re body keeps score, but now so do we. 12 Xs earn you a free class.
Thank you all for your energy, effort, and commitment.
Here are a few photos from the start of the year. Below zero and Holiday, but you came anyway.
A solstice playlist
When winter’s dark, your hands are numb, and your pockets aren’t deep enough, remember, the light comes back.
When winter’s dark, your hands are numb, and your pockets aren’t deep enough, remember—the light comes back.
Heather’s playlist for winter.
Tracklist below. Click here to listen on Spotify.
NIGHT’S CHANGING
1. Silver - Pixies
2. I Dream in Neon - Dirty Beaches
3. Kim's Sunsets - Fat White Family
4. Black Sunday - Federale, Meghann Hegna
5. Lovely Creature - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
6. Like a Stone - trentemøller Remix - Tricky, trentemøller
7. The Secret Sons of Europe - ROME
8. Apple Pie - Puerto Muerto
9. Brutus (Instrumental) - The Buttress
10. Me and the Devil - Soap&Skin
11. As You Wish - Public Memory
Walls of fire in winter
Keep your fire bright and your body strong all the winter long with WALLS in 2024.
Keep your fire bright and your body strong all the winter long, with just five minutes and a floor, a few times a day.
Long, dark, and cold, winters can take a toll on your mental and physical health.
Walk Through Walls for Winter is a 3 month program beginning January 1st, that we made so you can walk out of winter and step into spring stronger in mind and body than you were at the start.
The program uses a simple, systematic progression of short bodyweight exercise bouts we call Walls.
Walls are like swigs of fire that deliver a potent dose of movement to build strength and endurance.
We wanted to make sure the program could work for you even if you’ve never worked out, but also work if you’re athletic and looking for additional motivation through the winter.
We’ve ended up with a program that’s scaleable and approachable.
So, as long you have a body, the ground, and gravity you can do Walls in the time it takes to make a few cups of coffee each day.
When you sign up, you’ll be sent an email with a link to join Heather and the group in Everfit, our training app.
Once you click the link and join us in the app, you’ll have direct contact with Heather.
The program won’t begin until the 1st, but when it’s time to start we’ll add you to the Walls program, leaderboard, and message board.
$60 gets you in for 3 months, enrollment closes December 31st.
third season sounds
For when dead leaves blow and the sun gets low. Seventy Seven is a playlist for Fall.
Twilight glows early in the evening sky. Dead leaf musk hangs on the breeze driving the dry ones scratching down the brick.
Seventy Seven is Heather’s new playlist for fall.
Tracklist below. Click here to listen on Spotify.
Seventy Seven
1. Intro - Zeal & Ardor
2. Hey Now - When I Give You All My Lovin' - Romare
3. Total Depravity - The Veils
4. Cavaliers - Mansfield.TYA
5. When That Head Splits - Remixed by Woodpecker Wooliams - Esben and the Witch, Woodpecker Wooliams
6. Feu - Flora Fishbach
7. Maria's Theme - The Limiñanas
8. Cemetery Rain - Jaye Jayle
9. Call to Arms - The Huntress and Holder of Hands
10. Hold My Hand - :Of The Wand And The Moon:
11. I Am All I Got - The Dead Brothers
Dojo at dawn
The place itself works on you. The Dojo is more than a room to move steel, hold form, and sweat.
Give us your Wounded Knees
Blown out knees are a head game, doing it more than once takes a toll, one we’re helping Morgan overcome.
There’s life after ACL reconstruction, even a botched reconstruction from a hack surgeon of celebrity athletes, even when your ACL blows again. We’re stoked to be helping Morgan Long, a friend and BMX lifer build the strength, stability, and confidence he needs to keep riding.
Carve your heart out
A couple of strays from last fall.
Cool, hard, curves in warm November light.
Bowls in Fall are best.
A couple of strays from last fall.