• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workout
      • Best BCAAs
      • Best Testosterone Boosters
      • Best Bodybuilding Supplements
      • Best Creatine
      • Best Supplements for Weight Loss
      • Best Multivitamins
      • Best Collagen Supplement
      • Best Probiotic
      • Best Non-Stim Pre-Workout
      • Best Greens Powder
      • Best Magnesium Supplements
    • Protein
      • Best Protein Powder
      • Best Whey Protein
      • Best Protein Powders for Muscle Gain
      • Best Tasting Protein Powder
      • Best Vegan Protein
      • Best Mass Gainer
      • Best Protein Shakes
      • Best Organic Protein Powder
      • Best Pea Protein Powder
      • Best Protein Bars
    • Strength Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Equipment
      • Best Squat Racks
      • Best Barbells
      • Best Weightlifting Belts
      • Best Weight Benches
      • Best Functional Trainers
      • Best Dumbbells
      • Best Adjustable Dumbbells
      • Best Kettlebells
      • Best Resistance Bands
      • Best Trap Bars
    • Cardio Equipment
      • Best Cardio Machines
      • Best Rowing Machines
      • Best Treadmills
      • Best Weighted Vests
      • Concept2 RowErg Review
      • Hydrow Wave Review
      • Best Jump Ropes
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Learn

Reevaluating Communal Health in the Wake of Tragedy

What can I do to make my community healthier? How can I inspire others to do so as well? Do we care for our sick and our wounded? Do we nurture our environment and food sources that take care of us?

Written by Danette Rivera Last updated on Oct 20, 2021

I was going to write a piece about something. I hardly remember now because any time I tried to write something meaningful about my athletic life, I kept thinking about the news out of Sandy Hook Elementary School. It’s hard to avoid the news and the devastation of the event, but as a parent especially, it’s difficult to think of anything else.

Like most people, I can’t make sense of shooting children and teachers. It may never be sorted out in our minds and hearts, leaving only a near-unrecoverable sorrow. Yet beyond the sadness and fear and anger – and the plethora of other emotions – this unspeakable tragedy also becomes an opportunity for me to reevaluate health as a whole beyond physical preparedness, mental toughness, or an ever-tweaking nutritional plan. This becomes a time to reflect on communal health, which I believe is as much a part of overall health as any other obvious facet.

I am far from having a political answer or agenda in all of this. I don’t even have the energy to debate my way through any part of the complicated issues. But within the swirl of confusion and deep sympathy, I am most comforted by watching the community of Newtown and the country’s reaction to them. When we are stripped of everything and we are given a dose of the illogical and unthinkable, our most basic human traits become our most powerful. It becomes what heals us. The community of Newtown and the strangers around the country who try to nurture them without prompting or pretense are examples that during devastation our human instinct is to be loving and supportive. When we are left with nothing else, kindness and love trump.

I am not one who believes it takes a tragedy for us to come together as a community. We simply witness communal health at its most powerful when it plays the part of healer. We tuck those suffering into the fold of our care because we recognize them in us. We are not so foolish to think that something so senseless couldn’t happen to any of our children or friends and family. And we see this type of support during every terrible event. The impact of this type of extended kindness can linger and seep into our everyday lives. It has to. Eleven years after 9/11, the images still most memorable to me are of people taking care of one another. Though I never want another of these types of events to happen again, I cannot help but draw on the examples of answering extreme tragedy with extreme kindness as I revaluate the role I play in my own community.

communal health, community health, sandy hook elementary thoughtsWhat can I do to make my community healthier? What can I do to inspire others to do so as well? Do we care for our sick and our wounded? Our elderly? Do we nurture enough our environment and food sources that take care of us? Usually, I find the greatest impact on health starts with the smallest of details: do I appreciate enough what surrounds me? My answer is always a resounding yes, but do I answer it every day? Do I answer it loud enough? The lesson out of Newtown is that we can contribute to a healthy community and still terrible and senseless things happen. This unfairness hurts so deeply. And knowing there is a random possibility of the unknown, it all has to count then. It all must matter and be told that it matters and be shown that it matters. We can’t honor those poor people lost or their suffering families unless we do what they wish they could still do.

I can’t express my condolences enough for the victims of Newtown – or any other victim of violence – but I can express gratitude daily. I can extend kindness daily. I can recognize good. I can shout from the tree tops that I love my girls, my husband, and my friends who are so caring and supportive of me, too. I can appreciate my personal health, and I can use my health for the betterment of other’s health and the health of my immediate community and community at large. Just like with any other facet of health, starting with the basics builds a strong and powerful foundation even if we have to rebuild.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

About Danette Rivera

Danette “Dizzle” Rivera, from Santa Monica, CA, was once a salsa dancer, an ocean swimmer, a street baller. She can still beat the neighborhood in HORSE because her set shot remains bad-ass. She can bake the hell out of a pie. But nowadays she spends more time prepping raw food delights. Her husband of 14 years is very handsome and her two daughters are brilliant and funny. Dizzle will kick down mountains that get in their way.

Dizzleloves coaching the CrossFit LA Prodigy Teen program. Her commute bicycle is her favorite kind of car. She is a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer. She's beenvegan nine great years. And she writes.

View All Articles

Related Posts

gymmomsformoms1
Lockdown Is Temporary, Community Is Forever
communityfitness
How to Put Your Body to Use for a Good Cause
Beautiful photo of mother and child at local gym by Bev Childress
Community: The Real Fitness X-Factor
5 Ways You Can Help Your Gym Community

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

New Year’s Fitness Sales (2025)

XWERKS Motion BCAA Review (2025): A Registered Dietitian’s Honest Thoughts

Assault Fitness AssaultBike Pro X Review (2025): Assault’s Best Bike Yet?

13 Best Exercise Bikes for Home Gyms (2025)

Transparent Labs BCAA Glutamine Review (2025): The Key to Post-Workout Recovery?

Latest Reviews

Element 26 Hybrid Leather Weightlifting Belt

Element 26 Hybrid Leather Weightlifting Belt Review (2025)

Omre NMN + Resveratrol, Lifeforce Peak NMN, and partiQlar NMN on a red background

Best NMN Supplement: Fountain of Youth in a Bottle? (2025)

The Titan Series Adjustable Bench on a red background

Titan Series Adjustable Bench Review (2025)

A photo of the NordicTrack Select-a-Weight Dumbbells on a red background

NordicTrack Adjustable Dumbbell Review (2025): Are These Value Dumbbells Worth It?

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2025 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About