The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Promoting health of body, mind, spirit
California nonprofit targets underserved communities.
Mike Cothrine started Mike’s Fit Family, a community of health and wellness that serves students and teachers in lower-income school districts, eight years ago. With an initial 36 participants, his program has since grown into a nonprofit that began serving 250 people a week with a program that included interval training and nutrition education for physical health, while also focused on the health of the mind and spirit.
Cothrine’s nonprofit has been able to contract with various school districts to provide these services and open them up to more underserved communities. He also uses the fees and donations from his forprofit Live Your Best Life Wellness Studio to help fund Mike’s Fit Family.
Cothrine, 44, took some time to talk about his work in health and wellness, and how his nonprofit has adjusted to meeting the needs of those they serve during the pandemic. (The responses have been edited for clarity and length.)
Why was Mike’s Fit Family something you wanted to create?
A: I felt like there was a need to serve our children on a higher level; there’s a need to serve our teachers on a higher level; and there’s a need in our United States, and globally, to serve everyone on a higher level by really meeting people where they are and starting to reach out to people who don’t normally have help.
How does the program work?
A: Right now, we have specific school districts that we’ve contracted with through our funding from First 5 (Commission of San Diego). Through the rest of this year, we want to open our program up to all underprivileged families, teachers and staff in all school districts around San Diego County, so everybody is welcome. On our website, we have free classes Monday through Friday, in the form of interval training and yoga, as well as mindful meditation.
How does your program address the mind, body and spirit of its participants?
A: Energy begets energy. So, when you exercise, it increases your brain function, decreases stress, gives you more energy, and that affects the mind. We underestimate how the way we think affects our bodies. Thoughts that increase stress can break down the immune system and your overall happiness. We all have energy. We all have the way we feel, like love and peace. Those things make life worth living, and for me, that’s addressing the spiritual nature.
What kinds of adjustments have you had to make as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?
A: Before the pandemic, we were running classes from northern San Diego all the way almost to the border, with 20 groups per week in various locations all over the county. When the pandemic hit, we had to pivot quickly. Within two weeks, we were running 40 live, virtual classes out of my studio each week. We made Live Your Best Life Wellness Studio a subscription service, which will allow us to continue our efforts on the nonprofit side.
Can you talk about how your approach to improving mental and spiritual health, specifically, has shifted as a result of the pandemic?
A: What’s shifted is the importance of it. I always thought it was one of those things, for me, like brushing your teeth. It’s an absolute necessity, but the challenges that have been created for people — the highs and lows of anxiety, people not knowing how they’re going to survive and eat on a daily basis — led to an overall energy of our communities being highly stressed out and highly affected. Everyone’s lives were turned 180 degrees, so you’ve got to have tools to deal with that. On one side is a serious challenge, but on the other side is an opportunity. We all should be taking care of our minds in terms of how we think, how that helps us navigate life, how we look at different situations to make us more resilient, so we have more fulfilled, happy, strong lives. So we feel empowered, rather than defeated.