Have you ever made a commitment to movement? By now you know that no two people are built the same. Once you’ve figured out your wants, written down your goals, it’s important to figure out your individual needs — physically, mentally and spiritually. There is a trainer in Bermuda that is a right fit for you, it’s just a matter of finding them. Here are some options for slow and fast-paced movement to get you started whether you’re 50+, postpartum, recovering from an injury or in need of high-intensity.

Samantha Pardoe

Rehabilitation training

Court House Squash & Wellness

Diploma Level 4 Personal Training, Level 3 Orthopedic Conditions, Level 3 Mat Pilates & Pilates Reformer with Orthopedic Conditions and Small Equipment & Various Group Exercise Certifications

Why rehabilitation training?

If you have a physical condition that inhibits you in everyday life, while playing sports or working out, getting checked out can uncover an underlying issue that requires an area to be worked on through stretching and strengthening, i.e. rehabilitation training.

What does it entail? 

Generally, there would be a session, or more, on the Pilates Reformer to discover where the member may require strengthening and/or stretching. I would then focus on making sure the muscles are working safely and effectively without assistance and introduce weighted workouts.

Philosophy

Start with the basics and work up! I ensure that technique is the priority and that clients know their limits. It’s about doing what’s right for you and your body.

Elinor Lucas-Quarterly

Swim Training

Head Coach, Dolphin Swim Team

American Swim Coaches Association Level 3 Certification

Why Swim Training?

Swimming is a non-impact total body workout that burns a phenomenal number of calories.  Although great both for cardiovascular and resistance work, swimming is very gentle and safe.

Suggested Frequency

Swim training has a strong emphasis on technique and is best done at least twice a week. Half-hour to one-hour sessions, one to three times a week work well depending on your level and goals.

Philosophy

I’m a very technique-oriented swim coach and work to correct. At the same time, I understand and respect that different people have different levels of comfort with the water and work with that to get them to their goals.

Kevina-Lorae’ A. Santucci

Sustainable Weight Loss

B.E.A.S.T & T.A.C

American College of Sports Medicine Certified; Turbo Kick Live Certified

Why Weight-loss Training?

A healthy body fat percentage can improve sleep quality, help balance hormones, improve sex drive, improve mood, ease joint pain, reduce stress, and increase energy levels. Not to mention improve confidence and overall quality of life.

What is Sustainable Weight Loss?

It requires healthy eating, strength training, and some cardio. You should shoot for 2-5 pounds a week for safe weight loss. The goal is to develop healthy habits and keep it off for good.

Philosophy

I would call my style fun, sustainable fitness. At my heaviest, I was 210 pounds, but eventually was pushing for the bikini category in a body building show. I like to find workouts that clients can enjoy, with functional compound movements that assist with everyday life.

Sophia Cannonier

Postpartum reorganization

Lotus Mind Body Spirit Wellness Center

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, Certified Advanced Midwife Assistant, Certified DONA and ToLabour trained Birth and Postpartum Doula, and more.

Why postpartum reorganization?

After a baby, women are quick to want their “body back”, when what they really need is to move the body forward. Most recovery takes place before the birth, which is why it’s best that women start training in pregnancy.

What does it entail?

We observe breathing – the most important part of internal recovery. We look at where things have changed and reorganize from there. We work on simple movements – getting up and down off the floor, in and out of bed, etc., and then pelvic floor exercises. Together, we figure out nutrition options that are best for the individual.

Philosophy

To empower – knowledge is not knowledge unless you give it away. I encourage critical thinking. I work with kindness and patience to figure out fears and work towards goals.

Cara Bowen

Iyengar Yoga

The Club Yoga Centre Bermuda

Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher

Why Iyengar Yoga?

Iyengar Yoga is taught in over 70 countries worldwide. The high teaching standards are part of the reason Iyengar Yoga is the most widely performed method of Yoga worldwide.

What is it?

This unique style of yoga encourages precise alignment and mindful movement, often utilizing a variety of props to help students safely achieve and hold poses for maximum benefit. Iyengar yoga provides an ideal foundation for new students, and offers a comprehensive platform for more experienced students to advance their practice.

Philosophy

I am one of only two certified Iyengar teachers on the island, and have been practicing for over 20 years.I have chosen to teach as a lifetime profession moving through art, dance and yoga, and find it a blissful and ever-rewarding commitment.

This article was originally published in the 2019 edition of the rg Health & Wellness supplement.

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by Cyril H. Whitter III

Many people set out to make New Year’s resolutions around this time, but, according to Forbes, only about eight percent of people actually achieve their goals. It’s safe to say that self-improvement is a shared hobby among most of us; it is, also, for most of us, a far-off dream that never comes to life.

Why?

Most people set bars that tend to be higher than they realistically can reach. Just like we teach our children, we have to crawl before we can walk and if it’s been a while, you’ll need to take the time and put in the work to get your sea legs back – not to mention mentally. Keeping it simple, by making a lifetime commitment to movement, is key to fitness success that will keep you feeling healthy, clear-minded and build the stepping stones to go further. We’ve designed three tips to help you get started, get moving, stay on track, and be a part of the 8 percent of people who do achieve their goals!

1. Take Small Steps

Make small, but meaningful, adjustments you will commit to. This can include parking further away from work, cutting out sugary drinks 4 out of 5 days a week, or taking the stairs instead of an elevator.

Commit to 45 minutes a day:

Walk Bermuda’s Beautiful Railway Trails

Pedal Biking

Swimming

Jogging / Running

Group Fitness Classes

Cardio Kickboxing

1. Find Fun Activities

Pick an activity you’ll enjoy committing to. Whether it be joining a gym, picking up a new sport, or taking walks through nature trails, make sure it is an activity you will enjoy getting up and going to.

2. Create a Buddy System

Find a friend (or make one along the way) you can share your goals with who can keep you accountable. Tell them your goals and how you plan to achieve them! Going to run for 30 minutes three times a week? Tell your friend and have them check up on you.

Getting into a new healthier lifestyle and implementing a new fitness routine does not have to feel like a life-draining, end-of-the-world experience. It simply starts with taking that first step towards your goals. Start by making that commitment to daily movement.

Cyril H. Whitter III is the President and Co-Owner of Aries Sports Center (www.ariessports.com). He is a Second Degree JiuJitsu Black Belt and Instructor from JCB School of Survival Arts.

This article was originally published in the 2019 edition of the rg Health & Wellness supplement.

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Iyengar Yoga was developed by BKS Iyengar, who TIME Magazine nominated one of the “100 most influential people in the world”, considered to be the Michelangelo of modern yoga. Before his death in August 2014, Iyengar devoted 76 years of his life to not only the rigorous daily practice of yoga, but also to codifying his method of yoga into one of the most systematic methods of yoga that exists today. Iyengar Yoga concerns itself with the classical purpose of yoga – union of the small self with the larger Universal Consciousness – but it does this through a unique emphasis on consciously and intelligently living through the vehicle of the human body.

For the Iyengar Yoga practitioner, the body is a vast landscape of experiences, feedback, and information. In order for us to experience the deeper layers of ourselves, we must first penetrate every corner of the human body-mind complex and shed the light of intelligence there so that we can truly experience enlightenment from the inside-out. The experience of Iyengar Yoga is an experience of inner self-searching, of unifying the body and the mind so that who we think ourselves to be and who we actually are in reality become harmonious expressions of the same truth.

Mychal first found Iyengar Yoga at the age of 12 in the Downtown Nassau Public Library. “I found one of the original hardback versions of Light on Yoga, BKS Iyengar’s first book on yoga and considered to be the Bible of Modern Yoga in the world today,” Mychal said. “I began to practice yoga from that book. It was my first touchstone of yoga and perhaps also my first exposure to a broadened sense of spirituality”.

Yoga stuck with him through his university life and his life as a dancer with dance companies in both Jamaica and Cuba. “Dance brought me back to yoga. And yoga brought me back to Iyengar Yoga”.

Serendipity would lead Mychal to finding his yoga teacher and mentor, Lois Steinberg PhD, who he travels around the world with almost monthly in order to continue to learn from her. “I have always had a passion for learning from the best,” he said. “When I danced in Jamaica, it was with who I felt was the best artistic director at that time.

“When I moved to Cuba, I attended the best dance school there. When I found my way back to Iyengar Yoga, it was after Guruji [an honorific title for BKS Iyengar] had died. I knew had to align myself with a teacher who I felt represented fully the constantly evolving heart of this practice. Lois took me under her wing and guided me through the process of becoming a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher. She is utterly magical. Her breadth of knowledge of Iyengar Yoga reflects her 40 years of devotion to this system studying directly with BKS Iyengar himself, and even now she is still learning new things. Even now she returns to India annually to be a student at the Ramamani Iyengar Yoga Institute. She is the embodiment of a true teacher for me. And there is no one else who I would devote the time or energy into studying with as I have done with her.”

In his own teaching practice, Mychal teaches primarily out of his Bahamas-based studio, COSMOSIS. He teaches both general classes and specific classes for common ailments. “One of the defining markers of a skilful Iyengar Yoga teacher is when that teacher can adapt classes that not only permit every student in the class to practice yoga, but also when that teacher can create classes that specifically help and heal the ailments, pains, and body complaints that their students may have,” Mychal said..

After 76 years of practice and working with thousands of students worldwide, BKS Iyengar became the most skilful teacher at adapting the physical postural practice of yoga [asana] to fit the physical and psychological needs of his students. This was a quality that his direct students maintain to this day. From cancer to depression, from knee pain to constipation, one is bound to find an adaptation being made in an Iyengar Yoga class for whatever issues a person may have. Skilful Iyengar Yoga teachers can be found conducting multiple classes at the same time, giving everyone what they specifically need, while challenging everyone to go to their limit and dare to move beyond that in a safe way that emphasizes intelligent movement through the body and active participation of the mind.

“My teacher is one of two Western teachers in the world whose name is synonymous with Iyengar Yoga therapy. I study the therapeutic application of yoga extensively under her mentorship,” Mychal said. “The body breaks. This is a fact. If I didn’t try to learn, understand, and apply what to do for the body when it is broken, I would consider it a disservice to my students, to my teacher, and to BKS Iyengar himself”. In his common ailments classes, he works with knee, hip, lower back, menstruation, neck and shoulder pain, as well as other minor organic issues.

When he isn’t in The Bahamas or following his teacher, he is building his own teaching presence around the world. “I’ve taught in several of the Caribbean countries – Cuba, Aruba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. Bermuda is next.” he said. “I’ve also taught around the United States and Canada and next year I’ll expand my teaching roster to South America and Europe.

“My goal is to share Iyengar Yoga in a dynamic, engaging, and light-hearted way that is rooted in the ever-changing heart of this practice. I build bridges and try to create conversations between Iyengar Yoga and other yoga schools. I try to teach and share in non-Iyengar Yoga spaces. Iyengar Yoga people are already convinced about Iyengar Yoga. Most Iyengar Yoga folk in the United States are in their 40’s and older. They don’t need convincing. It’s the younger generation. It isn’t that millennials aren’t practicing yoga, it’s that they aren’t practicing Iyengar Yoga. I want to be a part of the revival of youth, of diversity, and of people of color represented and feeling they have a place within the fabric of Iyengar Yoga.”

“Iyengar Yoga is about systematically taking the mind from its lofty abode somewhere in the head, and spreading it to every corner and curve of the body. In that spreading of our consciousness within ourselves we come to know ourselves, and through that deepened self-knowledge, we learn more about our place and influence on the world around us. People think Iyengar Yoga is about alignment. And it’s not. Physical alignment of the body is only a gateway to a much deeper sense of spiritual embodiment. The true alignment is aligning ourselves with an unbroken commitment to all that is good, to all that represents Love, so that we can be more harmonious members of society. The more people become a part of that movement, the more we begin to change the world into a new vision of what the world can be. For me, that’s what Iyengar Yoga does in the long run, even if I sometimes catch myself just contemplating the placement of my big toe. Our accumulated efforts all add to something truly extraordinary”.

Catch Mychal at Lucky Elephant Yoga (Hamilton, Bermuda) this November 3-5, 2017. Visit www.luckyelephantyoga.com for more information about his upcoming workshops!

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