Spin cycling is therapy.
“Spin Against Stigma” is special because of what it represents.
“For me, it's really important because in 2016, I actually attempted suicide in Carlsbad,” said organizer Benji Fucanan.
That was seven years ago.
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“I had a lot of trauma growing up as an Asian-American in a white community,” he said. “I was bullied, you know, I was teased. And what made me feel better was alcohol.”
Addiction lead Fucanan through darkness and to his suicide attempt, but he got another chance to live. He’s using that chance to save others with instructor Jeannine Coulter’s help.
Fucanan’s nonprofit, the Gooden Center, chose Coulter to lead this ride because she gets it.
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“I'm a person in recovery as well,” Coulter said. “So, I was a homeless meth and heroin addict in Oceanside for many years.”
She started working at her first studio when she was only 19 days sober and it’s what pulled her off the ledge.
“Any time I would get sober, I would find my way back to teaching fitness,” she said. “And I think it kept me staying in the fight because it always gave me something to return to that I loved and that I was good at … These things have unfolded in a way where I can be in a position to give back to people that were struggling in the same way that I was.”
To anyone struggling, Dr. Tremble said you don’t need to have a diagnosis to get help.
“Why don't we talk now and do some strategizing for how to enhance your life so that maybe you don't end up developing something that could be diagnosable?” she said. “Getting regular exercise can be just as beneficial, possibly as taking a sacred tropic medication, meaning something like an antidepressant.”
Recovery brought Benji and Jeannine together. Their goal is to keep building community to show people when it comes to mental health support, there’s power in numbers.
