Knowsy Neighbor: Fitness is the Mind, Body, Spirit Connection

Welcome to a new column, Knowsy Neighbor! This weekly feature will focus on the people in Mount Pleasant and Sturtevant - business owners, mentors, volunteers, pastors, teachers, gardeners ... your neighbors! 

“Don't make me a role model,” said Denise Valente-McGee when asked what advice she would give to those who look up to her. “Find what you are good at and passionate about and go for it! Don't listen to anyone who tells you it can't work. If you know it in your heart, it has been placed there for a reason.”

So poignantly put by this Mount Pleasant resident and business owner.

Denise, 56, owns Synchronicity fitness studio in Mount Pleasant, and she considers this her greatest accomplishment to date. With small class sizes and unique courses, Synchronicity can provide members with far more than the average gym. Instead of focusing only on workouts for the typical fitness enthusiast, she also uses specialized equipment and techniques to assist those with injuries and those with chronic pain. Without these particular exercises, some would otherwise have no means of keeping physically healthy and in shape.

Denise also feels that without encompassing the whole person - mind, body and spirit – one's balance cannot truly be healed.

“If only your body is balanced but not your spirit or mind, you are not truly balanced,” she said.

Creating that balance was the objective for creating the business with her partner, June Nettles. Getting Synchronicity off the ground had its challenging moments with long hours and financial worries, but it all paid off in the end with the great sense of satisfaction she gets by helping people feel better physically and mentally.

Denise is a wife and mother of a 14-year-old daughter, Taylor. She has lived in Racine her entire life and in Mount Pleasant for the past 15 years. She appreciates Mount Pleasant because it has that small, homey, village feel; yet still so near the city.

“Away from the hubbub,” she adds.

Denise has two related mottos for her life: “It's all about choice” and “Thoughts become things.”

This reminded me of the concept behind the Law of Attraction (which was most recently popularized by a 2006 book entitled The Secret). Denise said she definitely believes in that very philosophy. Using this reasoning, we choose our paths, and the power is ours. What we think, we become. Negative thoughts will bring negativity to our lives, and, of course, if you think positive thoughts then positivity is what fills you. 

We all have room for improvement, though, she says. Denise says her biggest hurdle has always been her impatience.

"I have trust and faith that I am being taken care of by a higher power," she said.

If you would like more information about Synchronicity Fitness Studio, call 262.886.2321. 

And we'd love to hear from you about the people in your neighborhood or church or community organization. Do you know someone who would make a great Knowsy Neighbor? Tell us about them!