"Well, how did I get here?"

A few things brought me to Essentrics.

​Yoga and Pilates were both influential in my path to Essentrics®. Yoga was where I first learned about the mind-body experience and connecting movement to breath; later, finding Pilates, I learned to use breath to move and strengthen my body. I wound up taking those stretching and strengthening techniques and incorporating them into my regular movement practice, which has evolved over the years. I love early morning walks, so I’ve carved out 20-30 minutes to include a variety of exercises in my routine, and now, of course, I do Essentrics®.

During the pandemic, a good friend of mine asked me to work out with her online; she knew I had been an apprentice Pilates instructor at one point (though I was never certified), and we had worked out a little previously; by the end of that conversation I discovered she knew several people that would be interested in doing a class online. Because I had gone through a training program, I understood teaching a group class was more serious than working out with a buddy; but the opportunity piqued my interest because I had always wanted to go back to teaching after my experience with Pilates.

My desk job moved into my home during lockdown, I didn’t have even the most basic ergonomic set up, which wreaked havoc on my body, especially my neck and back; this culminated in a crisis that took me back to my wonderful cranial sacral therapist. During our sessions we talk a lot about anatomy and what we both feeling as she works; she can identify and release subtler structures and tissues, which has helped my body heal. This is where I first learned about fascia, a thin web of flexible, collagen-rich connective tissue that surrounds and supports every part of our body, including individual bones, joints, muscles, organs, nerves, blood vessels, and cells.

In one of our sessions, I mentioned working out with my friend and our conversation about teaching a class. Around the same time I had discovered Classical Stretch on PBS, and explained how this workout was about strengthening and stretching to balance the whole body, with a focus on fascia and releasing the connective tissue. I felt this was more resonant with where I was in my midlife. By the next time we met, she had looked into the program and thought it would be a great fit; she encouraged me to look into it and consider getting certified.

After my previous experience with Pilates, I knew if I was ever going to teach again I needed a structured program and it had to work with my job; given my schedule that really seemed out of reach. Looking deeper into the Essentrics® certification program, and finding that it was available online, it would finally make it possible to fit studying, practicing, and teaching into my schedule. The coursework and requirements to become a certified instructor are challenging, immersive, and rigorous, and despite being an online experience, students receive support from the head office, level 4 master instructors and a generous and encouraging Essentrics® instructor community. 

I'm half-way through the certification levels now, and the motivation and confidence I feel as a teacher and practitioner continues to grow. My body is changing in all the ways that the Essentrics®: Aging Backwards program promises, solving the chronic shoulder, back, and hip pain I felt for years. It has moved back the clock, improving how I move, how I feel, and my quality of life. Teaching and healing my body through Essentrics® go hand-in-hand; teaching keeps me motivated and doesn't "let me off the hook", and learning how to move and strengthen my body informs my practice and motivates me to teach. 

Sally forth!