Inside the Movement Fitness Class Where Crying Is the Point
Bernadette Giacomazzo
Aggression creeps in whenever deadlines pile up, subway doors slam shut on hopeful commuters, or social feeds serve a fresh batch of bad news before breakfast. The usual advice—count to ten, sip chamomile—rarely satisfies that electric buzz under the skin.
But on The Wellness Process, host Elizabeth Endres introduced movement pioneer Taryn Toomey, founder of The Class—a workout that combines cardio intervals with emotional release technique. Endres praised her for “a very interesting, different style of movement and release and emotions and vulnerability and all of that beautifulness.”
Together, they map a new route for turning raw heat into healthy motion.
Bottled aggression has nowhere healthy to go
Left unchecked, aggression morphs into clenched jaws, migraines, or unkind words that boomerang back. During class, Toomey guides students to locate “the unexpressed rage” lodged in their muscles and memories. Pretending the feeling isn’t there merely forces the body to store it—and bodies have limited storage.
Movement transforms aggression into release
Once students recognize that charge, Toomey directs it outward through deliberate, sweaty repetition, and reminds them it is “essentially get it out instead of take it out,” urging the room to repeatedly “bring it up” until momentum carries the feeling beyond words. That crescendo often unlocks “deep releases from parts of your body that did not have verbal language yet,” resulting in bodies that are less tense and more relaxed.
Sound, breath, and sweat create a safe circuit
Aggression rarely leaves quietly. Toomey couples burpees with forceful exhalations because “sound is a way to move energy from the inside of your body out.” Instead of worrying about form or judgment, participants concentrate on their breath. They never stop to ask whether they are “doing it right,” because the practice “has nothing to do with anybody else.” Toomey explains. In that permission-rich environment, sweat becomes a collective language that everyone understands—regardless of the source of aggression.
Tears are normal, not a setback
People often fear an emotional flood mid-class. Toomey answers that concern directly: “I always say that tears are how the heart heals.” When aggression finally breaks apart, sweat (and tears) follow—a biological sign that the nervous system has exhaled. She frames those tears not as weakness but as evidence that the heart has moved from armor to openness.
Consistency rewires the mind–body circuit
Actual change arrives through rhythm, not novelty. Toomey values routine because “we need routine sometimes as humans,” she explains, but she refuses rigid prescriptions. “There’s no subscription around what you need to do,” Toomey offers. The invitation is simple: Show up, breathe, move, make sounds. Each session thickens new neural pathways (consider it a new form of neuroplasticity, if you will), teaching the body that aggression can be channeled into a productive direction whenever it surfaces.
When aggression strikes, move
Aggression will continue to flash across inboxes and intersections. What changes is our response. Toomey’s method harnesses breath, sound, and sweat as reliable conduits, swapping simmering irritation for grounded vitality. Endres sums up the appeal in that early introduction: Movement, emotion, and vulnerability coexist, giving modern women a space to alchemize fury rather than fear it.
The next time irritation threatens to spill onto the nearest bystander, remember there is a more powerful outlet. Find a floor—be it studio hardwood or living room carpet—anchor feet, and let every burpee, grunt, and exhale escort aggression out the door. When movement completes the job, what remains is spacious, calm, and a heart ready to meet the world without collateral damage.
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