Blind Fitness Beach Walk and Run 
Select Saturdays throughout the year (weather permitting)
9:30 – 11:30am

Description:
Please RSVP and join us for our Blind Fitness Beach Walk & Run. This is an opportunity to get outdoors, move your body, connect with others, and spread awareness of the blind and low vision community. 

Suggested donation: $10 per participant/volunteer

Location: East Beach parking lot, meet at west Cabrillo parking lot near Cabrillo Pavilion Bathhouse. Nearest address is 1118 E. Cabrillo Blvd, Santa Barbara CA 93103. We congregate at the end of the west parking lot near the men’s public restroom, outdoor showers and bike racks. Look for the Blind Fitness flag. If parking in the public lot, please be sure to pay at the pay station upon arrival. There is a pay station located next to our meeting spot. *Please note that there is a fee even for those with a disabled placard.

Who: All people who are blind or have low vision, along with their family, friends, and community members. 

Sample Agenda: 

• 9:00-9:30am: New volunteer guide training & orientation (Mandatory for all first time volunteers)
• 9:30-9:45am: Meet & greet connection circle
• 9:45-11am: Walk, run, stroll towards Harbor
• 11-11:30am: Post workout snacks & connection 

Get the latest Calendar and Program updates!F45 Gym class
When: Weekly on Saturdays, until Aug 10, 2024

Time:  2-3pm (workout is 45 minutes) beginning May 11 through August 10. 
*Mandatory volunteer training held for all new volunteers from 1:15-2pm prior to each class.

Where: F45 Santa Barbara; 528 Anacapa St Unit A, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Who: All people who are blind or have low vision

What: We are excited to announce a 3 month gym series in partnership with F45! F45 offers functional training group classes which includes cardio and resistance training. Classes are programmed by health and fitness professionals who focus on modifying, progressing or regressing the exercises to suit people of different fitness levels. Volunteer guides will workout together with our Blind Fitness athletes to access exercises and stations. Bring a sweat towel, water bottle, and wear comfortable athletic clothing.
​
Cost: $10 Suggested donation 

Register HERE

Get the latest Calendar and Program updates!

Blind Fitness Surf Clinic
July 27 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

​Please join us for our Blind Fitness Surf Clinic in partnership with Surf Happens and the Foreseeable Future Foundation. Experience the joy of riding waves with the support of professional surf instructors while meeting new friends! This surf clinic is designed for participants of all ages who are blind or have low vision. All equipment needs and lunch are included!  Space is limited to the first 25 participants.
​Registration deadline is July 13th.

In addition to completing our registration form, please also complete the mandatory Surf Happens Liability Waiver

This clinic, along with all other Blind Fitness activities, are being offered due to the kindness and generosity of others. Please consider contributing to our organization today and sharing Blind Fitness with your family and friends in order to help us continue to offer quality programs and activities to our blind and low vision community. 

By Tania Isaac

​I have long been an advocate for social justice. As a female of mixed ethnicities I have been able to view and experience the world from the outskirts. Despite the “two strikes against me”, I know I am privileged in other ways. I am a passionate ally for Ableism. Ableism, per the Center for Disability Rights, is defined as a set of beliefs or practices that devalue and discriminate against people with physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disabilities and often rests on the assumption that disabled people need to be ‘fixed’ in one form or the other.

From the beginning of my career as a yoga instructor, I worked with elders, the ill and various abled individuals. As part of this journey, I was invited to join a team of teachers in providing an accessible yoga class affiliated with an established community rehabilitation center. One of the teachers was Brianna Pettit, founder and executive director of Blind Fitness. During one of the classes that she guided, we were invited to experience it wearing a nightshade (blind fold), from beginning to end. I accepted and in doing so assumed the role as a student and someone who needed assistance. This is my experience:

I was guided into the room and to a chair. Mindfully I moved into my seat, determined to get my bearings and fully understand where I was and what I was with. Chair, check. Feet on the floor, check. The yoga props available to me and where they were located, check check. Various voices in the room and what direction they were coming from, check. When class began, I zoned in on Brianna’s voice like sonar.

As the class progressed, I felt my body awareness deepen: I was less connected with the world and more connected within on every level. As a result, many of my movements were slow and intentional. When class neared the end, we were given the option of moving down to the ground for a restorative pose. I decided to get down on the floor and accepted it as a challenge. I had to trust my team mate with my sense of safety. I felt cared for as I was assisted down and into a restorative pose, for I didn’t exactly know where my bolster and yoga blocks were due to the transition. Once I was laying down in a reclined butterfly pose, my team mate covered me and very gently tucked a blanket around my ankles and feet, creating a cocoon. As I lay there, entrusting her and allowing myself to be vulnerable, I cried. They were not fears of feeling inept, but of feeling respected and loved. The experience was tenderizing, humbling and heart opening.

When one of our human senses is reduced, there is a tendency for one or more of our other senses to increase. This was true for me when it came to my hearing and sense of receiving touch. When my teammate mindfully enfolded my feet and ankles, I was very aware of her hand motions and how they registered such respect and thoughtfulness. As I rested, I went deeper into my physical and emotional body. Moved to tears, my insight reached a new level of compassion and appreciation. I realized how much I rely on my vision for balance, bearings and bronze. Mind you this was a space I was familiar with, with someone I knew and doing a form of exercise I know like the back of my hand. I wondered, “What about individuals who are not familiar with a space, the movements, instructions or people??"

Though I felt shy of confidence and certainty, I felt more intimately connected within myself and my colleague. As the tears gathered behind my nightshade, I began to fully comprehend the gift given to everyone who assists another individual. In order to receive support, you have to offer your trust and a percentage of your self autonomy. When you offer assistance, you are greatly entrusted. It is a truly reciprocal relationship.

I have always considered it an honor when any yoga student or client has entrusted me, but I now recognized how precious a gift it can be. Let me be clear, the gift of one’s trust is not recognized as a “hand-up”; they are not less than me. However, as a fellow human, we need to value what it means to trust one another. It is like giving someone a piece of your heart; we all have a heart we are afraid it can be broken.
This experience gave me greater insight and appreciation, not merely of the difference in physical abilities, but of the intricately that connects us all; our humanity.​

Blind Fitness is teaming up with the “Better with Horses Project” to offer a transformative journey towards holistic well-being, integrating psychology, life coaching, and equine partnered learning. Participants engage in a structured therapeutic program combining group sessions with horses and individual coaching over an 8 week period.
​
Through self-discovery and experiential learning, individuals develop tools for self-regulation, set goals, and cultivate a roadmap for continuous growth. With a focus on awareness, action, and empowerment, the program fosters emotional intelligence, resilience, and positive lifestyle changes.