Standing 10 feet apart, Minnesota neighbors come together every day for community calisthenics

These neighbors have found a way to stay healthy — and connected — while quarantined.

Every day, they meet for a group workout, filling the street in their St. Paul, Minnesota, neighborhood. Each person stands in a chalk-drawn circle, and follows the lead of Momo Hayakawa Koenigs, who participated in mass workouts while growing up in Japan. They bend, stretch, lift their arms, and move their legs in unison, with everyone a safe 10 feet away from their neighbor.

The exercise group grows by the day, as more and more neighbors choose to join in. They come with their dogs and small children, and when they're done working out, they don't immediately rush home — they stay in their circles and talk, finding out who is celebrating a birthday that day and who might have an extra roll of toilet paper to give away. "We're not created to be in isolation, we're created to be in community," participant Kim Kokx told KARE 11.

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Of course, many experts might raise an eyebrow about such a gathering. Minnesota is one of a number of U.S. states that have implemented statewide stay at home orders to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, which is passed easily from person-to-person, and researchers say could stay airborne for up to 3 hours.

Kokx says she and her neighbors are "doing community as best we can." Catherine Garcia