(Sounds of Oula class)

(HEFFINGTON): 

“I was just really craving moving and doing something meaningful. And so I went to my first class and I cried afterwards because I was like, so confused about what was happening.”

(FLYNN):

45-year-old D’Et Heffington had just given birth to her son when a friend invited her to take an Oula class in 2016. Oula, as in Missoula, is a dance workout class emphasizing body positivity and inclusivity. It was founded in 2010 by Kali Lindner.

(HEFFINGTON): 

“And I felt so uncomfortable just in my own body and with everything I was doing. But I promised to my friend, I was like, I will give it some time. I will keep trying it, I’ll keep coming back.”

(Sounds of Oula class)

(FLYNN):

I’m Bayliss Flynn and welcome back to a new semester. This is your Kaimin Cast for the week of Jan. 20, 2025.

Heffington studied English and anthropology at the University of Montana, and currently works in human resources. But in 2019, as her first professional experience in the fitness industry, she decided to become a part time Oula instructor because she fell in love with it and wanted to bring the feeling that she was having in class to other people.

(HEFFINGTON): 

“Oula is a dance fitness format that is focused on the mind-body connection. It’s a mindfulness practice. It’s a place to dance and feel free and just exist in your body and move it in whatever joyful way you feel like moving it. It’s a place where we can process our emotions. We can take you on that full curve you might have noticed in class. Start out getting you warmed up and there’s a sexy and fun section. Then we come into our fire and where we’re feeling really powerful. And then cool it down with a feeling of resolve. You can bring your baggage into an Oula class and work through it. You don’t have to leave it at the door.”

(FLYNN):

Oula has expanded nationally to California, Minnesota, Idaho, Washington and beyond. The class has found a strong fan base in its home community amid a flood of fitness trends that clog social media feeds and push sometimes unhealthy routines. I took the 45-minute dance class at VRTX Fitness to see what the hype was all about and let me tell you, I have never felt so comfortable being uncomfortable. Heffington stood at the front, taking the class of about 20 people through dance moves as she did them herself. You learn as you listen to pop music, and there’s typically no walk-through. You’ll repeat a handful of moves throughout one song and then a new song comes on with a whole new set of steps. I tried to follow along, and as a Division I athlete, I wasn’t challenged fitness wise, though I caught glimpses of myself in the wall of mirrors looking incredibly awkward and uncoordinated as I spun around the room to the beat of the music. But I never stopped smiling and giggling at the way these people, from teenagers to the elderly, let themselves be loose without judgement. They made me feel included through their pitchy singing and frequent whooping. 

(GUNN):

“And then I found Zumba, and then I moved here and found Oula.”

(FLYNN):

28-year-old sophomore Cheyenne Gunn studies physical therapy at the University of Montana and participated in Heffington’s Oula class. She’s been working out since high school, trying Zumba, CrossFit, dance and cheer. She said fitness helps manage her mental health and body image. 

(GUNN):

“That was a huge reason I got into working out because I wasn’t happy with it. Working out kind of helped me fall in love with my body. And just be okay with it. And that fact that it’s not about what it looks like. That is 0% of a factor with Oula. And that was very comforting, and the people that I met are very welcoming.”

(FLYNN):

Gunn said people are intimidated by exercise because it’s hard to get into the gym, into a class, into anything new. But Oula is just one fitness trend in a flooded market … jogging in the 70s, aerobics in the 80s, spinning in the 90s, Zumba in the 2000s and CrossFit in the 2010s. Trends used to cycle through by the decade, but now with the prevalence of social media, instead of a decade, trends seem to change every year or two. 

(HEFFINGTON):

“I think that Oula is, as we say in class, it’s not about how it looks, it’s about how it feels. And I don’t think a lot of fitness formats really focus on how you feel. There’s an end goal to them, which might be to build strength, might be to build mobility. It might be to help tone or stretch.”

(FLYNN):

Influencers also hit the fitness industry in the past few years, swearing by their new workout routines like hot yoga sculpt, pilates and spinning. Heffington has tried many of them, but found something special in Oula. 

(HEFFINGTON):

“I think Oula also feeds the spirit, like it feeds the soul and builds that community. I think that’s really unique. I don’t think you can find that everywhere. There’s enough of us that’ll never stop dancing and will keep it alive in whatever iteration it’s in.”

(FLYNN):

Heffington said there’s been a lot of pressure to fit certain fitness stereotypes. She’s heard discouragement for women lifting weights because they’d get too bulky, which doesn’t fit with expected aesthetics. But she thinks those beliefs are slowly changing because women in particular are realizing that they don’t have to fit into any of those standards. But women aren’t the only ones affected by evolving fitness trends.  

(HEFFINGTON):

“I think men are also going through a bit of a transformation. Some of them are where they’re starting to address their own toxic masculinity in some ways and address the way that they’re looking at the world a little bit. And I think a lot of men, particularly those that are open to coming to a dance class, you have to drop some of the societal norms that are put on you as a man to say, ‘I’m welcome in this space. It’s not harmful for me to be here. It’s not saying that I’m any less of a man to be doing something like a dance class.’” 

(FLYNN):

Heffington said for non-binary or transgender people, fitness spaces can make them feel unwelcome or vulnerable. She wants to create an inclusive environment where it doesn’t matter what body you’re in or how you feel in that body. Oula classes in Missoula are available at the YMCA, PEAK Health and Wellness, Lifelong Learning Center, VRTX Fitness and through University of Montana Recreation. An Oula class for an activity credit is also offered through the University. 

(HEFFINGTON):

“I think that University students are sort of uniquely positioned because you can go to Campus Rec for free and take in any of the offerings that are there. And I see a lot of activity around dance and fitness and taking classes. There’s also that community space you probably experienced when you came to the University. There’s a sense of loneliness too. You’re looking for your community, and if you don’t already have that built in through people you know, or teams you’re on or things you’re a part of, you might think to yourself, maybe if I try this, I might meet some people that I could be friends with.” 

(FLYNN): 

I’ve been doing group fitness classes for almost a decade. There’s motivation from building a community in the class that cares about you, who will shout out your name when you’re doing well or will text you when you miss a class asking if you’re okay.  

(HEFFINGTON):

“Group fitness is energetic and you feel the other people that you’re with. And I think it also builds a little bit of accountability. There have been times that I’ve wanted to just stay as a burrito and at home and like, ‘Oh, but I’m going to see my friends, or maybe we’ll do the new song this week,’ and I get really excited, like, I do want to be part of those group classes.”

(Sounds of YMCA class)

(FLYNN):

With about 40 others, I took a strength class with 81-year-old Julia Hunt at the YMCA. As I watched her in the mirror behind me, my legs quivering and sweat dripping off my face as I tried to lunge and crunch and curl, I realized I had overestimated my athletic prowess. This woman, 60 years my senior, was kicking my butt. She’s been working out for half of her life, but doesn’t just do one class. She dabbles in other group fitness formats like yoga, kickboxing, dance and cycling. She was just about to begin her second workout class of the morning. 

(HUNT):

“I couldn’t do it by myself when all the gyms were shut down during Covid. I did workouts at home, and by the end of the workout, by the time they were cooling down, I had already opened the bottle of wine. There was no motivation.”

(FLYNN):

The physicality of exercise isn’t the only benefit. Hunt looked excited when she said she was going out to lunch with her girlfriends from class. 

(MELCHER):

“There’s a lot of different aspects to how psychology fits into fitness.”

(FLYNN):

28-year-old Katelyn Melcher is in her third year of the clinical psychology doctorate program at the University of Montana and works at the Clinical Psychology Center. She focuses on eating disorders and health psychology.

(MELCHER):

“I think the mindset piece of pushing yourself to work harder when you want to stop, lifting another rep or pushing yourself for another half mile.”

(FLYNN):

Melcher and other fitness instructors I talked to said there’s been a movement toward functional fitness, which focuses on improving movements and abilities that are essential for everyday life. It aims to prepare the body to perform common tasks like picking up objects, climbing stairs or bending down. 

(MELCHER):

“A lot of people are like, ‘How can we focus on functional movement in our 20s and 30s?’ So that way, when we’re 80, we’re able to get up from a chair, to get up from the floor, to be able to play with our grandkids. Do the things that we want to be able to do.”

(FLYNN):

Workout trends change as desired body results do. Jogging, aerobics and High Intensity Interval Training focus on slimming the figure. But Melcher said female body image standards have developed in the past couple of decades. 

(MELCHER): 

“I think back in, like, the early 2000s, we saw a lot of the really thin ideal, like the stick thin models, was kind of the ideal look, especially for white women. And then, 2016, 2017, 2018 is when I really started noticing this emphasis on wanting to be fit and to have muscular definition, wanting to be strong and to be functional.”

(FLYNN):

She said the weight room has traditionally been dominated by men, but in the last 10 years, with the help of social media, women have increased their presence. 

(MELCHER):

“A lot of people I know, they work out and they feel better. We get that release of endorphins. Moving your body feels good. It makes your brain feel better because there’s so many different things that happen while you’re working out. But on the flip side, if you are working out because you feel like you need to burn calories, or to change your body size, or to look a certain way or even to reach a certain goal, and you’re so focused on that goal that you’re overtraining, that can really negatively impact your mental well-being.” 

(FLYNN):

Melcher said a lot of the patients that they see in the psychology clinic and eating disorder clinic are also struggling with body image concerns, over exercising and disordered eating. They each affect the other. The National Eating Disorders Association said eating disorder risk among U.S. college students increased substantially by 13 percentage points from 2013 to 2020 and 2021.

(MELCHER):

“I work with a lot of people who don’t feel very good about the way that they look. And that can be really wrapped up into things like anxiety and depression and feeling like, ‘Oh, if I don’t feel good about my body today, then that affects my entire day. And I feel badly about myself in other areas, not just my appearance.’” 

(FLYNN): 

Melcher said people can become so fixated on their appearance that they neglect to take rest days, fuel their body incorrectly, or simply push their bodies too hard, which can lead to mental and physical burnout. She encourages listening to how your body feels and to give it the rest and nutrition it needs. She recommends trying to fill your time and space with activities that you enjoy, like art, cooking or reading. 

(MELCHER): 

“If we can become aware of that, then we start noticing those patterns, because our bodies will tell us, ‘Hey, we need a break.’ And when we start listening to them in that way, it ends up becoming pretty intuitive, like, ‘Oh, yep, I have the energy. I feel like doing this today,’ or ‘Nope, I need a day of rest.’”

(FLYNN):

Melcher said social media plays a big role in perpetuating body image ideals and societal norms. Fitness decisions are then influenced by what we see working for other people. 

(MELCHER): 

“Unfortunately, our society is so competitive by nature and especially as women, it’s really hard and you are seeing those things everywhere. You’re seeing it on Instagram and TikTok where people are posting their best moments. And you want that for yourself. And so you think that, ‘Oh, if I follow these trends, then I can have that for myself, too.’”

(FLYNN):

Melcher recommends cleaning up your social media algorithm and blocking pages that cause you to play the comparison game. She said to choose to move in ways that make you feel joy, and Oula instructor D’Et Heffington agreed. 

(Sounds of Oula class)

(HEFFINGTON):

“I would say try things, don’t be afraid, don’t feel nervous. And if it doesn’t feel good, don’t hang on to it any longer than necessary. Explore the world of fitness, because there’s a lot of really good people doing a lot of really good things out there.”

(FLYNN):

In other news, UM’s goals going into this legislative session and how the LA wildfires affect UM. 

In sports, the best local ski hills and Lady Griz basketball changes so far this season.

And in arts, why is it so hard to come back to school after winter break and “A Complete Unknown” ain’t the flick you’re looking for, babe.

For more information about any of these topics and more, pick up a copy of the Montana Kaimin this Thursday. Or, head to our website at montanakaimin.com. For the first Kaimin Cast of the semester, I’m Bayliss Flynn. Thanks for listening.