Box Beatdown
Frequently asked questions
What is Box Beatdown?
Box Beatdown (brought to you by Your Momentous Life, LLC) is a stress resilience and catharsis workshop created for women and non-binary folks. The purpose of a Box Beatdown is for the participants to safely physically release stress (a practice also known as catharsis), connect with others doing the same, and learn about stress resilience techniques.
Is this for real?
Yes! We love cheering each other on and beating boxes together every month, May through October. Our Upcoming Events page does tend to be a little empty over the winter.
Is Box Beatdown safe?
Yes! Box Beatdown is about as safe as a sports game. It’s a great deal safer than letting our difficult emotions build within us and then boil over or turn into a chronic stress injury. We provide training, implements and a dedicated space for each participant. We monitor everyone continuously. Box Beatdown is always staffed by at least one person certified in First Aid.
Why Box Beatdown?
Life can be FRUSTRATING! Women and femme-leaning non-binary folks are expected to hold in our reasonable feelings of frustration, stress and anger to keep everyone around us comfortable - but those feelings don’t just go away on their own. Instead, intense feelings often build up within a person and then erupt at times, in situations, and in ways that are not healthy or kind. Box Beatdown is a safe moment to release that stress and beat up what has been beating us down.
Why is this valuable?
We provide guidance, education, community support and a safe moment for women and femme-leaning enbies to purge strong feelings onto repurposed cardboard boxes (which are then recycled). This experience can allow a person to lighten their burdens and clear the path toward living their best life. It can also allow that person to have more patience and express more kindness. It’s also a workout, a stretch, a workshop. It’s educational and an opportunity to cheer others on.
What does non-binary/NB/enby mean?
Not everybody feels like the terms “man” or “woman” really apply to them. “Non-binary” (shortened to “NB” or “enby/enbies”) is a catch-all term to describe people for whom binary gender is a bit too restrictive. There are a lot of enbies out there who were raised as girls and/or lean towards the feminine… but still don’t feel like the term “woman” describes them well all of the time. We make a point to mention them because non-binary gender is often minimized or ignored, and we want to welcome our femme-leaning enby friends to our safe space to express feminine rage.
Wait, can rage be feminine?
Do you receive the message that your anger is inappropriate, scary, unwelcome, or wrong just because you aren’t a man? Are you frustrated about the the pink tax you pay, your wage gap, or other aspects of your life that are harder because people see you as (or want you to be more) feminine? That’s feminine rage, and at Box Beatdown events we’re here for it and we make the space to do it in a way that’s safe for everybody.
What will I be expected to do at a Box Beatdown?
Commit to abide by our Community Guidelines.
Participate in the group warm up.
Learn good bodily form for swinging the repurposed bats and listen to the safety guidance for when we’re striking the boxes with the bats.
Take turns with a partner in the smash zone.
Cheer the other participants and your partner on as we beat the heck out of the repurposed cardboard boxes.
Participate in the group cool down.
Listen to the stress resilience portion.
Listen to the final outro.
Optionally, fill out a form to provide feedback and/or testimonials.
What’s the Box Beatdown origin story?
We, the founders, needed a safe moment for the release of our intense emotions such as frustration, disappointment and anger. We found it to be super fun, great exercise, and we felt so very much better afterward. We knew we weren’t the only ones with built up stress and frustration that needed a healthy outlet. We decided to make it a workshop and offer it to women and femme-leaning non-binary folks in the local community.
This idea scares me.
That’s not a question... but we get it. Feminine frustration and anger can be frightening to people of all genders. This is partly because we’re used to what happens when folks bottle up difficult feelings until they either boil over or turn inward and harm ourselves.
Take it from a stress resilience professional - the safest way to deal with bottled-up stress is to physically release it (get catharsis) in a safe and appropriate context.
Box Beatdown isn’t the only way to achieve catharsis, but sometimes we crave something more dynamic and social than yoga.
Is this better than a rage room?
We think so, yes! A typical rage room can cost hundreds of dollars for a half hour of smashing stuff up. That can feel great and be very cathartic, but Box Beatdown gives you a lot more content for less money.
It’s environmentally friendly. After you’re done in a rage room the old glass, ceramics, and electronics you’ve smashed up are usually not recyclable. Our cardboard boxes are post-consumer waste, and we recycle them afterwards.
It’s more convenient. You don’t need to put on a jumpsuit with safety glasses and thick boots for Box Beatdown - just wear comfy clothes you can move in, and closed toed shoes.
We provide so much more.
