Sindy Morales-Garcia
Although I mostly grew up in Minnesota, in 2011 I found myself in New York City in an intense double masters program. This was a tremendous time in my life, engaging my heart, mind and spirit in transformative and challenging ways. My physical health took a big hit during those years, forcing me to re-consider self-care in new ways. It all began in 2014 with weekly Zumba classes made up mostly Dominican abuelitas (grandmothers) at a community center in the Bronx. These women were fabulous! Full of audacious joy with their cardio. Growing up, I was the opposite of an athlete - developing many skills and approaches for AVOIDING exercise. These women expanded my imagination of what's possible with exercise. I began tapping into my body's strength for the first time. When I moved back to Minnesota in 2015, I wanted more! I needed to recover from all the academic work I had been doing, and wanted to spend more time in my body cultivating my power and joy. I found a kickboxing and Shaolin Kenpo studio, and have developed a deep love for these practices through the ups and downs of life.
In 2018, I got a debilitating concussion from a weird accident that completely changed my life. I once again had to develop a new relationship with my body. For 6 months I could only do the most gentle of soma yogas while focusing the majority of my energy on rehabilitation. During this time, Farrell's launched their NOLO and St. Paul locations, and several people I knew joined this incredible community. Although I was on a slow healing journey, I knew I wanted to make my way back to kickboxing and have Farrell's to be part of my story. I held onto that goal as I slowly rebuilt my brain's strength and endurance over the next year with the help of an incredible village of medical professionals, body workers, and my martial arts instructor Joseph Chacon. I was finally strong enough to join Farrell's 10 week challenge in January of 2020 at the St. Paul location - woohoo! From 2020 - 2022 I slowly and intentionally built a home for myself at Farrell's. During this time I passed my black belt exam, and became a 1st degree black belt in Shaolin Kenpo. Becoming an instructor had been a secret dream of mine since before my concussion. It took me some time to get there, but I was finally able to reach for that dream in early 2022 when I joined the instructor team at Farrell's NOLO location.I have LOVED helping to building our Farrell's community as we cheer each other on to step into our most powerful selves and reach for the life we've been yearning for.
