{"id":241342,"date":"2025-10-21T15:45:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T15:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/241342\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T15:45:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T15:45:11","slug":"move-feel-better-classes-in-chico-offer-fitness-and-friendship-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/241342\/","title":{"rendered":"Move &#038; Feel Better classes in Chico offer fitness and friendship | News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>CHICO, Calif. \u2014 Mary Jo Brown, a Chico Area Recreation &amp; Park District instructor, has been using movement to foster community and health among older adults. Her class, Move &amp; Feel Better: Gentle Fitness, combines therapeutic movement, dance, strength training, cardio, and balance exercises.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/healthysteps-maryjo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Brown&#8217;s journey<\/a> with CARD began just before the COVID-19 pandemic when she substituted for another instructor. She later returned with a vision to create a versatile fitness program. &#8220;I didn\u2019t want to be confined by just one program,&#8221; Brown said.<\/p>\n<p>The classes are designed to be inclusive, offering modifications for all levels. &#8220;Whether you need a chair for balance or you\u2019re ready for a higher level of cardio,&#8221; Brown said, &#8220;there\u2019s a place for you here.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Beyond exercise, Brown emphasizes the importance of social connection, often incorporating seasonal gatherings and themed celebrations into her classes. &#8220;The friendships and support people find here are just as important as the physical benefits,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"Move &amp; Feel Better: Gentle Fitness CARD\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full blur\" width=\"1662\" height=\"1247\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>             <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68f694eecfafc.image.jpg\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"150\" width=\"200\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Photo Courtesy:\u00a0Chico Area Recreation &amp; Park District<\/p>\n<p>Brown shared a story of a 93-year-old participant named Debbie who credited the class with maintaining her balance and independence. &#8220;Those moments are little diamonds you hold on to,&#8221; Brown said.<\/p>\n<p>Classes are held at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicorec.gov\/lakeside-pavilion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Lakeside Pavilion<\/a> with sessions running every four weeks. New participants are welcome to observe or try a class. For more information, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicorec.gov\/move-and-feel-better-gentle-fitness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">visit their homepage<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICO, Calif. \u2014 Mary Jo Brown, a Chico Area Recreation &amp; Park District instructor, has been using movement&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[14881,337,97,3729,3,452],"class_list":["post-241342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-butte-county","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-local","tag-news","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}