November 2017 Newsletter
November 2017
Miranda and Sahra are more than just mother and daughter; they are friends, entrepreneurs, and passionate about life! Read what they have to say about Essentrics, the technique, the company, and what inspires them each and every day.
What is your definition of a healthy lifestyle?
In order to have a healthy lifestyle, there are many aspects that need to be considered. One thing for sure is that there is no cookie cutter answer as we all need different things at different stages of our life. I would say that at each stage we need to be self-aware and be true to all aspects of ourselves from how we eat and how often we exercise — to whether we are happy at work and at home. We also need to surround ourselves with people who will bring out the best in us. By taking care of these facets of life, we will be able to keep all aspects of ourselves healthy.
Who has inspired you and why?
Creation inspires me every day. From studying the latest scientific study on basically anything, to looking at human anatomy and the beauty of nature. The brilliance and genius of creations blows my mind every day!
When you’re not working, how do you like to spend your time?
I’m almost always working! I love work because it relaxes me and makes me happy. Besides my actual job, it’s cleaning cupboards, gardening, etc. Even while traveling on holiday, I can’t stop being inspired by what I see around me. I enjoy sitting in a cafe or at an airport and watching how people move.
Why did you start the company with your mother?
Health is one of the most important aspects of human life. I have always known that I would work in the field of health. After University, I began working in pharmaceuticals, thinking I would make a difference in helping people gain access to medication as a way to health (as a Health Economist I worked to have medication covered by the government). After a few years, however, I realized that I wanted to do something more personal and natural – plus take advantage of my entrepreneurial character and willingness to take chances. At the time, my mother had created an incredible workout (Essentrics) that was proving beneficial for everyone, from women of all ages to young Olympic athletes. I knew we should share it with the world in a bigger way. Thereafter, the PBS Classical Stretch series was born and then more recently our educational documentaries Aging Backwards and Forever Painless.
Best part of what you do on a day-to-day basis. Most challenging part?
The best part of my day is receiving all the testimonials that people send in; we receive at least 10 per day plus all the facebook messages from all over North America and beyond. It’s motivating to know we are changing people’s lives and in such an accessible and affordable way – everyone, no matter their income level, should be able to be healthy and feel good. The challenge as a small business is to keep up with international growth, maintain the quality of our teachers worldwide, and increase awareness of the technique.
These 3 Essentrics Master Trainers are an unstoppable force; from answering your questions in our head office, to teaching classes in the studio. Having worked closely with Miranda and practicing the Essentrics technique for many years, it’s time to learn more about them.
How did you get started with Essentrics?
My physiotherapist friend introduced it to me in 2010. She was a professional athlete and among the first Essentrics instructors at our Montreal Flagship Studio. She said, “Meg you gotta try this.” I was instantly hooked. I bought Classical Stretch Season 6, started taking classes, and the rest is history. (I’ll always remember my first class – the arm pumps and side-leg-lifts had me laughing they felt so impossibly hard! I don’t think they’ve gotten any easier, I’ve just gotten used to the pain!). I love Essentrics because of the way it makes me feel, inside and out. It’s fun, efficient, interesting, smart and makes me feel capable, strong, and feminine. Life can get crazy; every class is like pressing a reset button – energizing and fueling my body and my mind.
Tell us about another passion of yours.
My degree in Psychology and Education led me to become a pre-school teacher for many years, including a position at a school with children on the autistic spectrum. I felt like I had this undeniable, natural bond with little kids and I absolutely adored my job. I started something called “chill time” after lunch every day to give them some quiet time, have them relax and recharge. I followed that with daily Essentrics stretches. It became their favourite part of the day! The imagery from this technique is everything; we put spells on each other as we wiggled our fingers, painted giant rainbows, lifted heavy buckets of gold, and washed our juice spills on the table! They got their wiggles out in a functional way, had fun and could focus afterwards. People have told me that I light up when I start talking about kids, and it’s true. I know that Essentrics videos and workouts for my littlest friends is in the future and I can’t wait.
How did you get started with Essentrics?
Before teaching Essentrics, I had been practicing and teaching Yoga for quite some time. The body had always fascinated me and yoga was my first introduction to seeing the powerful effects of movement on the mind and body. I discovered Essentrics through a friend and instantly signed up for 30 days of classes at the studio. At the time, I was unaware of the intelligence behind the technique but I loved the Tai Chi influence and the flowing, full body nature of the movements. The workout was a challenge and allowed me to see that I was lacking strength in many areas of my own body. I dove right into the teacher training program and began to learn the fascinating concepts about the neuromuscular system and the overall mechanics of the body. After I started to teach Essentrics, I found that people loved to learn the ins and outs of their own bodies and receive the benefits of full body fitness. I am always thrilled to get to share my growing knowledge with my students.
Tell us about another passion of yours.
I have always been passionate about the natural world; I completed my degree in Biology and with that, developed a strong interest in the environment and the human body. This passion has been a driving force in many of the things I’ve pursued so far. Essentrics honours the intelligent design of the body and this is one of the many reasons that it appeals to me. Once I began to fully understand that movement is life and that we don’t do enough of it — it became clear to me, that it is possible to improve people’s quality of life and help them discover the magic within their own bodies through very simple and accessible methods. I believe that this has the potential to increase the appreciation for the world around us. I hope to continue to combine my passions and I’m hopeful that sharing this technique will contribute to the change we need in our world.
I was introduced to Essentrics by my mom who saw Miranda on Breakfast Television Toronto. I found it to be a great complement to my volleyball training and I would often do some of the exercises between games on tournament days because I found it was the only way to get a good stretch and still maintain the elasticity and power in my muscles/tendons. I quickly noticed that the more I practiced Essentrics the more attractive and lean my muscles looked which was the opposite effect that any other type of training had done for me before. I moved from Toronto to Montreal and continued doing Essentrics DVDs until I realized that their head office was in my new city! That’s when I joined the team at head office.
Tell us about another passion of yours.
Before I started practicing Essentrics in combination with my regular sports training, I was often in pain and accepted this as being part of being an athlete. I would show up early to games/ tournaments and get taped up in order to play. I would then go home and ice myself to sleep along with a few Advil. You just dealt with it. Once I began incorporating Essentrics into my training, the pain not only went away, but the new-found freedom in my joints allowed me to train harder because my muscles were finally functioning the way they were supposed to. It’s sad to associate doing the things you love most with pain- and now I am so grateful that I can jump into any pickup game or sport and play like I’m a kid without needing to suffer for it. This is why I’m specializing in Essentrics workouts for athletes.
Find every ESSENTRICS or CLASSICAL STRETCH workout you need online—directly from your computer, smartphone or tablet! New and exclusive workouts with Miranda, Meg, Amanda, and Gail are up on ETV right now.
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