A Bar Method Instructor Reaches Teaching Milestone While Fighting Cancer

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Bar Method instructors are superhumans in yoga pants. Beyond their ability to convince us that we can make it through the last set of 30 or lower down another inch, they show up to each class and lend their contagious energy and determination. Christine Boye from The Bar Method South Loop is one of those instructors, but her story of courage and tenacity go far behind the classroom. Read on as Christine shares her journey to become an instructor—a feat that is admirable on its own—and how she reached a teaching milestone during a pregnancy and chemotherapy.

I found The Bar Method South Loop four years ago this month through a third-party app for moms of littles; I was so thrilled that they had a playroom for my youngest daughter! It was the first workout since becoming a mama that I felt excited and confident doing (even with the modifications I needed!), and so after a few months of coming a few times a month I committed to an unlimited month in September of 2017 and took 15 classes! It became the first workout I truly enjoyed and felt challenged physically and mentally (and that I did so consistently!); I was hooked.

Julie, the owner of The Bar Method South Loop, approached me in January of 2018 about becoming an instructor and I was humbled. I love to teach and to coach other women, and I had fallen in love with The Bar Method already; I knew that I just had to say yes! Little did I know that The Bar Method, both the workout and the community, would become such a significant part of my family’s life and my healing journey just a few short years later.

The Bar Method South Loop studio

Six months after completing my teacher training, I accidentally found a lump in my right breast. Six months after that, I walked into a breast surgeon’s office to get a biopsy. I was hopeful that it was nothing, but the heaviness of the appointment weighed on both my husband and I as we waited to find out what they have to say. “There’s a 50-80% chance this is cancer” was what she told me before I put my shirt back on to walk out to the waiting room. Five days later, the day of my diagnostic mammogram, I woke up early, and woke up my husband too. I took a pregnancy test; it was positive! We were overwhelmed, both with gratitude and with fear. What would it mean to be pregnant with cancer?

The Bar Method was an anchor for me throughout every twist and turn since my diagnosis nearly two years ago. Taking class was a reprieve from the anxiety and fear I felt, and teaching class was a life-giving opportunity to serve our community even when I was feeling tender and frail. I was able to continue taking and teaching through chemotherapy and radiation treatment, and the incredible community was a constant source of encouragement to me.

Today, we are a healthy family of five; my youngest daughter is now 16 months old and thriving, and my oldest daughters and I have co-taught “Mommy & Me” classes virtually through the pandemic. I feel so blessed to have just celebrated teaching 500 classes at Bar Method South Loop this spring! I can hardly remember my life without this special community and this compelling workout.

Read more inspiring stories about The Bar Method community here.