Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jesse Strunk Elkins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jesse , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I believe that the most self-fulling and simultaneously outward-loving act we can “risk” is to choose to unabashedly and unapologetically align with our unique vision as autonomous beings. By this, I simply mean that when we align our daily vision and long-term goals with the thoughts we believe, connections we make and keep, and our interactions with the world around us, we circumvent this idea that we are risking our livelihood, and instead, we begin to stand for what we believe in, wholeheartedly. We begin creating change in the world. We begin challenging harmful norms. We begin loving people who love us back. We begin completing tasks that are fulfilling. We begin building companies that do good. We begin having experiences that we thought were mythical and mystical storylines in the films we saw as children.

Simply, the risks I have taken to get to this glorious place of passion and joy in the work I do, in the interactions I have with my loved ones, and in writing this story, continue to involve this simple, short list:

– I follow my gut, even when it goes against the social grain
– I move toward people who support me, offer loving reciprocity, and have the capacity to cheer me on
– I trust my vision and seek opportunities and create experiences that align with my vision

These few daily risks have shaped my life in a way that allows me to align with my actions. This has allowed me to travel the world, blend academia with community building, deconstruct harmful physical activity trends and illuminate sustainable practices, and finally, feel good in all that I do.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

After a significant life shift in 2018, I decided I wanted a healthier way to build community – one that felt supportive and loving – a community that uplifts each other to be the best they can be and a community that stumbles forward with grace and kindness. The intersection of all of this for me became community wellness. So, I began studying to become a CPT (Certified Personal Trainer), yoga teacher, and Nutrition Coach. During my studies, I had time to reflect on my own experience around wellness more deeply, drawing out my own insecurities and limitations not only as someone on a wellness journey but as a Queer person trying to clear detrimental habits and unsustainable practices.

I have struggled in the fitness arena. Language is often discriminatory, and traumatizing for some, fitness is exclusively body-centric with “beach body” ideals, and the landscape is inundated with toxic masculinity and confining binaries. Now, amplify these challenges from a white cis-gender person, and imagine the burden on our marginalized and ostracized families across Queer and ally communities.

Enter Full Sun Fitness. I created this community to challenge social norms and create a safer space where people can build sustainable wellness practices through fitness with supportive language, visibility, understanding, and camaraderie. I created this community to offer a more affordable and personalized coaching option in an otherwise money-driven and capitalistic industry. I created this community to intersect my self-care and compassion with wellness for my Queer family.

Now, as I continue into the fourth year of Full Sun Fitness, I am in the final month of completing my Master’s in Public Health before starting a PhD in Behavioral Health Sciences. This academic journey brought about opportunities to establish connections throughout the world with retreat organizations and organizers who bring people together through leisure physical activity and common grounds. In my experiences teaching throughout Greece and connecting with future partners, I learned that there were ways to study these programs, interventions, and dynamics, to work towards creating a training program that allows organizers to tap into ways in which they might be able to lower barriers to retreat and community settings.

Currently, I am using my research to publish findings and illuminate ways in which we can do better as a collective fitness industry. Among continuous in-person and online personal training, I am working towards developing retreat programs that are impactful in design and accessible in practicality on a global scale.

I continue to be an activator, illuminator, and educator, and Full Sun Fitness is the company that will continue to drive this change and create opportunities for people to explore their bodies, community, and the world around them in a way that feels lighter, more loving, and sustainable.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Yes! So many, but currently, the most impactful and the most important for myself, and for (I imagine) anyone out there, is Kate & Ruby’s Duality Project ( https://www.thedualityproject.com/ ). They offer a self-study program ( https://www.thedualityproject.com/the-self-study-program-2022 ) that guides folks through kind and loving self-exploration, dedicated to going deeper in all that we do, how we identify with the world around us, and how to continue aligning our visions with our life’s work.

I have learned that it is vital to surround yourself with people who allow you to get messy, say hard things, and be human. I recommend this course and their resources for any and all things to steer you forward.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

To succeed in the world of physical activity, to me, means to discontinue the perpetuation that you have to follow one format to benefit from physical activity. Within this, it is vital that we take responsibility for deconstructing ideals around body size, nutrition, and movement patterns. I encourage all physical activity organizers, teachers, and students (all humans) to challenge what you hear, what you see, and HOW YOU FEEL when you are giving and or receiving in physical activity spaces.

For example, if you go to a yoga class, and the teacher says something like, “Push for 30 more seconds to work off that Thanksgiving meal”, recognize how that makes you feel. Does it make you feel like you have to work hard so that you can eat?

This is one very small example in a sea of endless and harmful practices that we must challenge to be successful, progressive, loving, and caring in this field.

Challenge tired tropes. Challenge harmful language. Don’t do things that don’t feel good in your body. Do things that make you feel alive and well. Then, teach your communities how to find the things that make them feel alive and well, and support them in that journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://fullsunfitness.com/
• Instagram: fullsunfitness
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elkinsjr/

Image Credits
The underwater photos were taken by Renee Stengel Photography