Dancing that was at Presence Studio is now at Bellingham Fitness. Like my memories of aerobics in a gym.

My Medicare Advantage Plan offers a free gym membership. An ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure. Due to all the biking and dancing I do, I didn't get around to joining the treadmill crowd for quite some time. Years ago, I did aerobics at YMCA, a musical fitness class like being at a dance. Over the years that fashion faded in gyms.

I continued enjoying the social connection that gyms provide; especially saunas and steam rooms. Not that I like extreme heat, I wasn't there just for that. Those kind of places can be good social outlets.

Due to Covid and other reasons, the Y in Bellingham dropped it's sauna. Some other gyms still provide that. I felt funny just joining a gym for the sauna so I procrastinated fearing my less "pragmatic" fitness goal would be seen as strange.

Eventually I took the plunge, literally into the hot tub of another gym. It has been good and yes, people are friendly enough. I walked past all the stationary bikes and other machines that most people drive their cars to the gym to use. I also walked past a large fitness room that looked like it could host something like the musical aerobics classes I remember from clear back to the 1980s.

Then a problem came up in Bellingham. A free form hippie style dance event that I sometimes go to lost their cherished space. Rent going up and some dancers started worrying about mold in the attic of the old building they were dancing at. I never noticed the mold and I tend to not be real picky about things anyway.

They danced in an old funky building; what does one expect? The studio had character, art and a sense of sacredness. Still they moved.

The dance found a new space that was much more expensive. My guess is, not sustainable even given entry fee for the dance going up slightly.

It wasn't long till that dance migrated on to - the gym I had joined. The free form funky fun dance in the clean fitness room I had walked past at my gym. Dancers welcome at that special event even if not gym members. Fee for the dance event still collected at the door to the fitness room. The dance adapted. Nothing is perfect. They often use the phrase "shape shifting." I went and it rekindled connections for me. The gym, my memories of aerobics and dancing. I think it can be a good fit.

Economically, it seems like using a gym would be sustainable as fitness instructors are sometimes paid by a gym to teach fitness, rather than having to lease the space. Still, if leased, the space is likely to be affordable as the missions of fitness and sacred dance spaces can be connected.

I've enjoyed that dance for years, though I don't go real often. There's another thing I go to that happens at exactly the same time. It's a walking and talking group around Lake Padden that I am definitely part of as well. I can't clone myself, and there is an abundance of community, in Bellingham, that one can tap into.