Starting Strong in 2025

New Year’s Resolutions, for people who make them, often include goals like adopting a new habit or breaking an old one. If you, like many others, have resolved to stay fit or try something new in 2025, Shepherd has got you covered!

Ready to get moving? Shepherd’s partnership with burnalong®, an online platform offering on-demand health and wellness tools, including classes ranging from cardio workouts and yoga to stress management and financial wellness, brings the classes to you, no matter where you live. 

Shepherd’s highly trained specialists create live and on-demand content geared toward people with spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke, spine and chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, and other neurological conditions. Shepherd patients, staff, and Burnalong users can access the classes, so you can take some motivation home with you.

“When our patients are at Shepherd, there’s always a rehabilitation professional there to guide them or give them information. We hope this platform can help them feel empowered to continue when they leave our walls,” says Marina Moldavskiy, ACRP-CP, Shepherd Center’s tele-wellness program manager and exercise physiologist.

For residents of metro Atlanta, ProMotion Fitness Center is a fully accessible gym offering fitness consultations, exercise classes, a weight room, a gym, and an indoor pool. Plus, it’s a good excuse to stop by Shepherd Center’s cafeteria for camaraderie and a healthy lunch.

Looking for something on the competitive side? The Fred, Shaler, and Andrew Alias Sports Teams program at Shepherd Center sponsors 10 teams for people with physical disabilities, including swimming, softball, fencing, and rugby teams. It’s a great avenue for people in and around Atlanta who love playing competitive sports.

“If you live outside the Atlanta area and aspire to do more competitive sports, contact your closest adaptive sports programs. Adaptive sports provide not only competition but also camaraderie and exercise opportunities. If you do join a team in another city, we’ll look forward to seeing you — and even competing against you — at tournaments,” says Matt Edens, CTRS, sports teams coordinator at Shepherd Center.

Not ready for the commitment and competition of joining a team but still want to try something new? You can check out the many Health and Wellness Clinics Shepherd offers the community. Virtual offerings include e-birding, art, and fitness clinics. In-person clinics range from pickleball and photography in Atlanta to surfing in Charleston, South Carolina, and skiing in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Paris Carter, an Atlanta native who participated in outpatient spinal cord injury rehabilitation at Shepherd in 2023, has tried out several of Shepherd’s clinics, including tennis, snow skiing, Adventure Skills Workshop (ASW), and Camp Twin Lakes weekend clinic. Those experiences and the connections she’s made have led her to try other adaptive sports in the community, including basketball and sled hockey.  

“I'm so grateful that I got the chance to try all this stuff because I feel like I'm far more active now than I ever was before my injury,” she explains. “It's important to still have fun and live the best life you can and still be active. And so picking up different sports and things like that has been really fun.”

Bonus: A key element of all these programs, whether online or in person, is the connections and community you’ll find.

“I've made a lot of friends along the way. One of my closest friends, I met her at one of the clinics, and then we were in the same cabin at ASW,” Paris says. “I'm really grateful for making these friends and just being a part of the Shepherd family.”

Written by Ruth Underwood