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AVERY CHEATHAM-BANKS SHARES INSPIRATION FOR SHIFTING YOUR PERSPECTIVE IN TIMES OF CHANGE
Avery Cheatham-Banks is the creative force behind The Boheaux. Her posts are thoughtful, beautifully-composed, and brimming with reflective insight—and when we learned that she was a client at the barre3 Bethesda studio, we knew we needed to get in touch.
Avery is not only your go-to for clean beauty advice, but a source of inspiration, honesty, and understanding. Read our conversation with Avery below to learn how she’s staying grounded during this time, what routines she’s bringing into her life, and the new perspective she’s applying to each day.
BARRE3: Can you share a bit about The Boheaux? What inspired you to start the account?
AVERY: I started The Boheaux at the end of May as a creative outlet. It’s a strange and uncertain time for everyone, but the account has been a source of fun and a way to try something new. I never knew I wanted to start something like this, but I’ve always loved sharing my favorite DIY tricks, skincare products, and wellness tips with friends. The Boheaux was a way for me to document that and connect with more people.
Unfortunately, I was laid off at the beginning of April, but I find that I’m in a space of trying to be open and letting things flow to me. Maybe that’s a naive way of handling this, but that perspective is helping me feel comfortable with where I am. Honestly, this feels like the most creative I’ve been in a while, and that makes me super happy.
BARRE3: We’d love to hear more about that—adopting this new perspective of being more open to what comes. Was it a challenge for you to reach that mindset?
AVERY: It was definitely a challenge, but there’s been a lot that’s come into my life to help me along that journey. I lost my job a year and a half ago. I was changing careers and ended up in a situation that unfortunately fell through really even before I got started. It was a difficult time, and I fell into a terribly depressed period. I felt like a shadow of a person.
But that time coincided with when I discovered barre3, and I started to let go of a lot of things, perspectives, and ways of thinking that had been keeping me in that challenging space. I found a stable position again, and was with a really great company for this last year. So when I was laid off due to COVID a few months ago, I felt mentally and emotionally prepared for it.
BARRE3: How did you make that jump to trying barre3?
AVERY: When I was going through that difficult period the first time, I knew that endorphins were supposed to help me feel better, so I started working out a little bit. I would go down to the gym in our apartment and use the treadmill or the elliptical, and although I was exercising, I didn’t feel any connection to what I was doing with my body. I wasn’t finding joy in anything I tried.
So I did a little research and I looked up what barre workouts were. I had tried yoga at home and liked that, but I knew I wanted something that paired what I was getting from yoga with movement that was a bit more fast-paced. I just seemed to stumble upon barre3 one day, went into the studio and never looked back. Barre3 helped fill a lot of the different voids that I was experiencing, and I started to find the joy in exercising that I had been looking for.
BARRE3: What was that first studio class like? What were your initial impressions?
AVERY: I’m in Bethesda, which is a largely homogenous area. I’ve always felt a bit like I’ve stuck out, and going into that first class was a similar experience. But Juliana, the studio owner, happened to be teaching my first class, and she was incredibly warm and welcoming. I could tell that whatever judgements I had, she was so the opposite of that. Her heart was just so warm.
BARRE3: Through The Boheaux, you share a lot of wellness-minded content. What was your relationship like with fitness and wellness before you started barre3?
AVERY: Honestly, I didn’t really have one at all. Wellness-wise, I suppose I’ve always been aware of what I’ve been eating. My mom has always been vegetarian and prepared our family whole foods. Because of her, I’ve always been lucky to be surrounded by good food.
But as far as the fitness part of it goes, I had this idea that I didn’t need to work out or make a concerted effort to move my body. I was in my mid-twenties, and probably because I was young, everything still felt good. At the time, fitness didn’t feel like something that needed to be a part of my regular routine.
BARRE3: How have you been dealing with the challenges that this time has brought?
AVERY: Although I’m feeling creative and I’m excited about the new exploration I’m doing with The Boheaux, not every day is full of creativity and optimism. I try my best to maintain some kind of structure throughout my days and weeks. Having routines and knowing when I’ll be doing certain things helps me stay focused.
Of course though, there are days when I just wake up and cry. There’s so much happening these days and it can be a rollercoaster! On those more challenging days, I usually let it out in that space for as long as I need. I think that’s actually super healthy, to let ourselves really feel and lean into what we’re feeling. We need to let ourselves be upset, and we need to let ourselves be angry. But then I get up and I try to pick up where I left off. No matter what time it is, I’ll run through a mental checklist, asking myself: Did I take a shower? Did I eat breakfast? Did I do a workout? Even if that’s at 10am or 4pm, I find a place to start and finish out my day.
BARRE3: What have you learned from this extended time spent at home?
AVERY: I’ve realized that I like myself a lot more than I thought I did before. I’m a very social person, and I love being with friends and family. Sometimes, I would lose myself in being the life of the party all the time, and trying to entertain others instead of just being comfortable with myself. But by spending more time by myself, I’ve come to learn that I do love my own company, and I love being with myself.
BARRE3: How do you like to spend that time by yourself?
AVERY: My boyfriend and I have a one-year-old little Pit Bull mix. Our whole day revolves around him. His name is Killie and I truly live and breathe for my puppy boy. Nearly every day, I’ll wake up and we’ll go out and walk for three hours. By the time I get home, I have four hours to do whatever I need to, and then we go out again for another two hours. It’s a lot of dog time!
BARRE3: What has caring for Killie taught you about how you want to care for yourself?
AVERY: Killie needs A LOT of exercise, and it’s definitely inspired me to make consistent movement a part of my life. He needs it to balance his energy levels, and it’s an important reminder that movement can do that for me as well. Seeing his routine, and responding to his needs puts me in a discipline where I know I can’t spend the whole day in bed. I need to get up for him, because he’s so reliant on me, and it reminds me that I want to get up and get out for myself as well.
BARRE3: Is there anything entirely new that you’ve brought into your life during this time?
AVERY: I’ve actually started running! That’s incredibly new for me, and something I never would have tried before now. I ran during gym in high school, but that was it before now. With my local barre3 studio not being open, I’ve started taking the online classes. They’re great, but running also takes me outdoors. I run in Rock Creek Park here in D.C. It’s full of lots of trees and wooded areas and has great trails to run on. Running has become another thing that I love to do in my alone time.
BARRE3: Many people are seeing this time as a temporary moment in our lives. We may be exploring new things, but there’s always that question of whether or not we’ll continue with these routines post-pandemic. Do you feel like running and the other things you’ve brought into your life are routines you’d like to continue post-pandemic, whatever that looks like?
AVERY: Absolutely! Even when I go back to work, I’m imagining how I’ll fit these new routines into my schedule. And in some ways, yes, this is a big chunk of our lives that we’re missing, but I’m seeing this as a period where we’re learning new things, adopting new habits, and I believe we’ll take a lot of these practices with us into the post-quarantine world. I think we’ll all emerge from this moment with a piece of what we’ve learned.
BARRE3: What words of comfort or inspiration do you want to share?
AVERY: It’s okay to be by yourself and to let yourself be alone with your thoughts. There’s so much that you can discover by giving yourself space to be quiet.
And that’s really my biggest takeaway with all of this. It’s okay to be with yourself. It’s okay to be quiet. It’s okay to be alone sometimes. When you give yourself space and when you give yourself time, there’s a lot that can be figured out. I think too, that there’s an element of trust with that as well—trusting that you have the answers already, you just need to let yourself be quiet for a bit to hear them.
Thank you Avery! You can learn more about Avery by following along with her at The Boheaux.
And if you want to get started with barre3, find your local studio or sign up for our 15-day free trial for unlimited access to hundreds of online workouts and more!
Avery Cheatham-Banks is the creative force behind The Boheaux. Her posts are thoughtful, beautifully-composed, and brimming with reflective insight—and when we learned that she was a client at the barre3 Bethesda studio, we knew we needed to get in touch.
Avery is not only your go-to for clean beauty advice, but a source of inspiration, honesty, and understanding. Read our conversation with Avery below to learn how she’s staying grounded during this time, what routines she’s bringing into her life, and the new perspective she’s applying to each day.
BARRE3: Can you share a bit about The Boheaux? What inspired you to start the account?
AVERY: I started The Boheaux at the end of May as a creative outlet. It’s a strange and uncertain time for everyone, but the account has been a source of fun and a way to try something new. I never knew I wanted to start something like this, but I’ve always loved sharing my favorite DIY tricks, skincare products, and wellness tips with friends. The Boheaux was a way for me to document that and connect with more people.
Unfortunately, I was laid off at the beginning of April, but I find that I’m in a space of trying to be open and letting things flow to me. Maybe that’s a naive way of handling this, but that perspective is helping me feel comfortable with where I am. Honestly, this feels like the most creative I’ve been in a while, and that makes me super happy.
BARRE3: We’d love to hear more about that—adopting this new perspective of being more open to what comes. Was it a challenge for you to reach that mindset?
AVERY: It was definitely a challenge, but there’s been a lot that’s come into my life to help me along that journey. I lost my job a year and a half ago. I was changing careers and ended up in a situation that unfortunately fell through really even before I got started. It was a difficult time, and I fell into a terribly depressed period. I felt like a shadow of a person.
But that time coincided with when I discovered barre3, and I started to let go of a lot of things, perspectives, and ways of thinking that had been keeping me in that challenging space. I found a stable position again, and was with a really great company for this last year. So when I was laid off due to COVID a few months ago, I felt mentally and emotionally prepared for it.
BARRE3: How did you make that jump to trying barre3?
AVERY: When I was going through that difficult period the first time, I knew that endorphins were supposed to help me feel better, so I started working out a little bit. I would go down to the gym in our apartment and use the treadmill or the elliptical, and although I was exercising, I didn’t feel any connection to what I was doing with my body. I wasn’t finding joy in anything I tried.
So I did a little research and I looked up what barre workouts were. I had tried yoga at home and liked that, but I knew I wanted something that paired what I was getting from yoga with movement that was a bit more fast-paced. I just seemed to stumble upon barre3 one day, went into the studio and never looked back. Barre3 helped fill a lot of the different voids that I was experiencing, and I started to find the joy in exercising that I had been looking for.
BARRE3: What was that first studio class like? What were your initial impressions?
AVERY: I’m in Bethesda, which is a largely homogenous area. I’ve always felt a bit like I’ve stuck out, and going into that first class was a similar experience. But Juliana, the studio owner, happened to be teaching my first class, and she was incredibly warm and welcoming. I could tell that whatever judgements I had, she was so the opposite of that. Her heart was just so warm.
BARRE3: Through The Boheaux, you share a lot of wellness-minded content. What was your relationship like with fitness and wellness before you started barre3?
AVERY: Honestly, I didn’t really have one at all. Wellness-wise, I suppose I’ve always been aware of what I’ve been eating. My mom has always been vegetarian and prepared our family whole foods. Because of her, I’ve always been lucky to be surrounded by good food.
But as far as the fitness part of it goes, I had this idea that I didn’t need to work out or make a concerted effort to move my body. I was in my mid-twenties, and probably because I was young, everything still felt good. At the time, fitness didn’t feel like something that needed to be a part of my regular routine.
BARRE3: How have you been dealing with the challenges that this time has brought?
AVERY: Although I’m feeling creative and I’m excited about the new exploration I’m doing with The Boheaux, not every day is full of creativity and optimism. I try my best to maintain some kind of structure throughout my days and weeks. Having routines and knowing when I’ll be doing certain things helps me stay focused.
Of course though, there are days when I just wake up and cry. There’s so much happening these days and it can be a rollercoaster! On those more challenging days, I usually let it out in that space for as long as I need. I think that’s actually super healthy, to let ourselves really feel and lean into what we’re feeling. We need to let ourselves be upset, and we need to let ourselves be angry. But then I get up and I try to pick up where I left off. No matter what time it is, I’ll run through a mental checklist, asking myself: Did I take a shower? Did I eat breakfast? Did I do a workout? Even if that’s at 10am or 4pm, I find a place to start and finish out my day.
BARRE3: What have you learned from this extended time spent at home?
AVERY: I’ve realized that I like myself a lot more than I thought I did before. I’m a very social person, and I love being with friends and family. Sometimes, I would lose myself in being the life of the party all the time, and trying to entertain others instead of just being comfortable with myself. But by spending more time by myself, I’ve come to learn that I do love my own company, and I love being with myself.
BARRE3: How do you like to spend that time by yourself?
AVERY: My boyfriend and I have a one-year-old little Pit Bull mix. Our whole day revolves around him. His name is Killie and I truly live and breathe for my puppy boy. Nearly every day, I’ll wake up and we’ll go out and walk for three hours. By the time I get home, I have four hours to do whatever I need to, and then we go out again for another two hours. It’s a lot of dog time!
BARRE3: What has caring for Killie taught you about how you want to care for yourself?
AVERY: Killie needs A LOT of exercise, and it’s definitely inspired me to make consistent movement a part of my life. He needs it to balance his energy levels, and it’s an important reminder that movement can do that for me as well. Seeing his routine, and responding to his needs puts me in a discipline where I know I can’t spend the whole day in bed. I need to get up for him, because he’s so reliant on me, and it reminds me that I want to get up and get out for myself as well.
BARRE3: Is there anything entirely new that you’ve brought into your life during this time?
AVERY: I’ve actually started running! That’s incredibly new for me, and something I never would have tried before now. I ran during gym in high school, but that was it before now. With my local barre3 studio not being open, I’ve started taking the online classes. They’re great, but running also takes me outdoors. I run in Rock Creek Park here in D.C. It’s full of lots of trees and wooded areas and has great trails to run on. Running has become another thing that I love to do in my alone time.
BARRE3: Many people are seeing this time as a temporary moment in our lives. We may be exploring new things, but there’s always that question of whether or not we’ll continue with these routines post-pandemic. Do you feel like running and the other things you’ve brought into your life are routines you’d like to continue post-pandemic, whatever that looks like?
AVERY: Absolutely! Even when I go back to work, I’m imagining how I’ll fit these new routines into my schedule. And in some ways, yes, this is a big chunk of our lives that we’re missing, but I’m seeing this as a period where we’re learning new things, adopting new habits, and I believe we’ll take a lot of these practices with us into the post-quarantine world. I think we’ll all emerge from this moment with a piece of what we’ve learned.
BARRE3: What words of comfort or inspiration do you want to share?
AVERY: It’s okay to be by yourself and to let yourself be alone with your thoughts. There’s so much that you can discover by giving yourself space to be quiet.
And that’s really my biggest takeaway with all of this. It’s okay to be with yourself. It’s okay to be quiet. It’s okay to be alone sometimes. When you give yourself space and when you give yourself time, there’s a lot that can be figured out. I think too, that there’s an element of trust with that as well—trusting that you have the answers already, you just need to let yourself be quiet for a bit to hear them.
Thank you Avery! You can learn more about Avery by following along with her at The Boheaux.
And if you want to get started with barre3, find your local studio or sign up for our 15-day free trial for unlimited access to hundreds of online workouts and more!
