Dawn Wilson arrived in Canada from Scotland at the age of 20. At the time, she says, fitness had almost no importance in her life.

“I didn’t really value fitness at that point in my life. I wasn’t familiar with gyms or working out, and I went through a bit of a roller coaster with my weight over the years because of that.” 

Eventually, Dawn saw a new GoodLife club had opened in her community, and she wanted to see what prioritizing fitness could do for her quality of life. Nearly 20 years later, Dawn has never looked back. 

While she started just working out solo, she later found that she really enjoyed group fitness classes. As time went on and Dawn continued integrating fitness more into her life, she soon discovered the benefits of physical activity far exceeded just maintaining her weight.

The impact physical activity had on my mental health was huge. I’ve kept fitness as a major part of my life because of that. Going to the gym helps me sleep better, gives me more energy, and clears that mental cloud we all find ourselves in. I couldn’t imagine life without GoodLife.

But Dawn was forced to stop going to the gym in the spring of 2020, when COVID-19 restrictions closed their doors. 

Dawn immediately recognized she would need to find new ways of staying active if she wanted to maintain her mental health. 

She purchased a set of resistance bands and began exploring virtual fitness classes, which she says were fantastic resources to use while trying to stay active at home.

A combination of motivating virtual instructors and a need to stay on top of her own mental state is what’s kept her going. Staying fit is important to Dawn, and she wishes more people would recognize how important access to physical activity is for health at a time when more people than ever are struggling emotionally.

“It feels like physical and emotional health has been skipped on the board of what’s ‘essential’, and I don’t understand why. It’s so important to move your body to stay happy and healthy. I teach my kids that if you don’t move your body, you can start to feel sad. Maybe we all need to be taught that.”