Movement for Mary: SoulCore Revisited.
Movement with Mary. 2025. SoulCore.
Dear Sweet Friends,
This May, as we celebrate the Month of Mary, I’m returning to a practice that quietly shaped—and in many ways, saved—my life.
Through Mary’s intercession, I believe healing began before I even knew I needed it.
I’ll be participating in Movement for Mary, a month-long prayer and movement challenge through SoulCore.
For me, it’s so much more than exercise.
It’s about revisiting a space where prayers were answered.
Where healing began.
Where I first learned to listen—both to my body and to the quiet ways God speaks through it.
When It First Found Me
I first discovered SoulCore back when I worked at the Catholic bookstore.
We had ordered the DVD workouts for a customer, and something about the idea of combining the Rosary with gentle movement caught my attention.
I ended up downloading them to my computer—and from the very beginning, I was drawn in by the beauty of the practice. I loved the co-founders, Colleen and Deanne, and the way they led with both strength and compassion.
SoulCore quickly became my go-to workout.
It wasn’t just about moving my body—it helped me refocus on the Rosary, especially after my mom passed away.
In the quiet repetition of the prayers and movement, I found a way to be still and stay connected. I didn’t know it at the time, but SoulCore was already preparing my heart for what was ahead.
The Moment That Changed Everything
A few years later, when my health began to shift, SoulCore was one of the only forms of movement I could manage.
It was during one of the SoulCore Sessions that I noticed a tightness under my arms—swollen lymph nodes. Similar to how my Mother had found her Cancer.
That tiny moment of awareness, born through prayer and movement, eventually led me to share my concerns with a friend and go to the emergency room.
And that decision ultimately saved my life.
I truly believe it was Our Blessed Mother who helped me notice.
Not in a loud, dramatic way, but in the still softness of the Rosary, where Her Motherly care is so often felt.
@storyboardc. April 2017.
Recovery and Why I’m Recommitting Now
After open heart surgery to replace my mitral valve due to having a rare bout of Rheumatic fever at 15 years old everything slowed down -two things I never imagined would be part of my story.
My dear doctor told me to take it slow, and I listened.
I couldn’t move the way I used to. Even the gentlest stretches were a challenge in those first few months. But I did what I could. I adjusted the SoulCore workouts with my Doctors help to meet me where I was—sometimes just sitting in stillness, praying a decade, or focusing on breath and intention.
It wasn't perfect, but I was showing up in a new way. And it helped me stay connected.
But what surprised me most was how good I felt after surgery—like I had my life back again.
For the first time in years, I wasn’t weighed down by fatigue.
It felt like a new beginning.
In those early days, I began to understand prayer not as something I had to perform, but something I could simply enter into, even when I was weak. Especially when I was weak.
Now, eight years later, returning to SoulCore during the Month of Mary feels like coming full circle.
I’m joining Movement for Mary not to prove anything—but to offer something back.
To return to what once held me through healing.
To honor the prayers that were answered.
To walk with Mother Mary again, this time with more blessing, gratitude, and a deeper trust.
A Year with Mary
In many ways, I didn’t plan for this to be a Marian year.
But joining The Rosary in a Year podcast at the start of 2025 has transformed me.
Somewhere along the way, this just became the year of Mary.
Joining Movement for Mary now feels less like starting something new and more like continuing what’s already been happening.
This is simply another way for me to say yes.
Another way to honor what’s been beautifully unfolding in the everyday.
Another way to let my body and my soul remember where healing began.
“In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips.”
— *St. Bernard of Clairvaux*
Come Move With Me
If you’ve been feeling the pull to reconnect with your body and soul or to return to the Rosary, I hope you’ll consider joining me for **Movement for Mary**.
It’s a simple but powerful practice:
Commit to 30 minutes of movement each day—your choice of cardio, strength, or stretch—and pray *at least one decade of the Rosary throughout the month of May.
This year, SoulCore is focusing on Praying the Rosary with the Saints.
Each day, you'll receive an email with a short video—guiding you through a decade of the Rosary, paired with prayerful movement and a reflection inspired by a different saint.
It’s about growing in virtue, learning from the saints, and nourishing both body and soul—during this month dedicated to Our Lady.
The challenge is **donation-based**, and 100% of funds go directly to their commitment of spreading the Rosary’s transformative power worldwide. Your donation supports scholarships for future leaders and helps bring SoulCore to more parishes, schools, and communities across the globe.
“Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.”
— *Blessed Pope Pius IX*
I hope you’ll join me this May for this call to movement with Mary—and that it leads us all closer to her Son.
With love,
Cynthia
*Register for SoulCore’s Movement for Mary: HERE.