MindShift Gym In Reston Wants To Get People Moving And Having Fun

RESTON, VA — About 15 years ago, former federal employee Bill Wotowiec and a bunch of his friends from high school wanted to take part in a Tough Mudder, one of those obstacle races designed to test a person’s strength, stamina, and mental resilience.

The only problem was that high school was a long time ago and they decided it might be a good idea to get in shape.

“We found Urban Evolution at the time and started doing parkour,” said Wotowiec, who recently opened MindShift Gym in Reston. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is a pretty cool way to help us get over the obstacles.’”

Having done gymnastics in college, Wotowiec realized that parkour was something he’d done his whole life but never realized that’s what it was.

“I used to run around through the woods and parks, and jump on stuff,” he said. “I'd never had training, but I was essentially doing that organically.”

Deciding that parkour was a cool and enjoyable way to exercise and let off steam, Wotowiec brought his kids to Urban Evolution to do parkour together. All the while, he thought a gym focused on movement and parkour it would be a good business to run.

When Urban Evolution announced it was closing down and Wotowiec was about to retire from the federal government, he decided to take the leap and open his own parkour facility in Reston.

MindShift Gym, located at 11501 Sunset Hills Road in Reston, specializes in teaching parkour, acrobatics, and aerial silks. It also offers recreational gymnastics, dance, yoga, and hula hooping lessons and workshops for all ages. The aim is to bring children, young adults, older adults and families together and get moving.

“I don't think that it's a useful business model to try to get people to improve their brain by coming to work out,” he said. “But I think it's a useful model to get people to come in and play and have fun. It's something they wouldn't normally do. They get a byproduct of improving their brains and thinking. That's MindShift.”

Over the summer break, MindShift has conducted day camps for kids at its main facility on Sunset Hills Road, as well as at the Reston Community Center.

“Kids are easy,” Wotowiec said. “Kids love to be active, and kids love to find places where they can do parkour. We love them. We also just want to bring back that place of thought to adults as well. That one's harder nut to crack.”

Wotowie has been known to use an old fire engine to bring parkour equipment to senior centers, birthday parties and other events in the community. He can also employ his experience as an executive leadership coach for remote team building exercises.

“We grow old because we stop playing,” Wotowiec said. “We don't stop playing because we grow old. We want people to be moving and having fun. That's really what we want them to take away.”

On July 17, MindShift hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce and is planning an Aug. 23 Grand Opening Jam at its facility at 11501 Sunset Hills Road in Reston.