A Wellness Guide for Staying at Home | Part 1

I have collated a mix of Wellness Resources that I am finding particularly helpful during these times of self isolation. It's a strange world right now, but it's also a special time to allow your self to slow down, seek the joy in the small things around us. Maybe it's drinking a new tea, or getting the paper and paints back out ( like me ! ) or trying a new exercise class you've been wanting to try for ages.

1. MOVE

Meet Liz Nable the co-founder of Xtend Barre in Northern Beaches area of Sydney, Australia. She is a pure fighter, during these last few weeks their whole business ( 4 studios ) has done a flip to be completely online. Their online classes are fantastic and offer a super fun mix from Barre to Meditation.

What does ‘movement’ mean to you ?

Movement to me, is anything that makes you feel good. It could be going for a brisk walk and a coffee (such a great way to do a business meeting!) or a super intense 45 minutes Circuit 7 or Xtend Barre session, or it could be a nice stretch at the end of the day. I can’t sit sitting still for too long, and so, especially in tough times like this when we’re all stuck at home, movement is more important than ever.

What lead you to open a series of highly popular Xtend Barre studio’s in Sydney with your husband ?

Interestingly enough, it was during a similarly tough period in our lives about 8 years ago that led us to Xtend Barre. We had returned from a 6 year stint living in New York and were both finding it difficult to find work here, work that we really loved, that is. By this point we also had a 2 year old by then and another baby on the way. Adam, my husband, found it particularly hard trying to get a job back in finance here in Sydney. The GFC had started to kick in in the finance market here and there was literally no jobs in the industry for his level of experience. We had a whole year of no income and were really at a low point wondering what our next move would be. We’d had the idea to open a barre studio when we were living in New York, I was doing barre and had loved it and achieved really incredible results and we’d always talked about how we thought it could be massive in Australia too! But we never really talked about it seriously until our backs were against the wall and we had to make a big decision: either take boring jobs we hated just to pay the bills, or take a risk and start our own business. So we started to research if there were any barre brands coming to Australia and we discovered Xtend Barre. 4 months later we opened our first studio in Mosman in June 2012 and the rest is history!

3. How important is movement for your mental health especially during these testing times ?

Such a good question!! We’re in the middle of an unprecedented worldwide situation right now. People are scared, anxious and so claustophobic being stuck at home. The financial pressure is also mounting for so many as well. As the fear of the virus itself. This new normal is going to take all our strength to make it work. And we need to be mentally strong to endure what could be months of social distancing and self-isolation. During this period there are really only a few ways to feel good…and one of them (aside from wine ), the main one is exercise or movement! It’s the only natural way to get those feel-good endorphins pumping in your body. It’s not a “maybe” I’ll do more exercise situation…movement is literally going to be life-saving for millions of people around the world, including me. I’m forcing myself to work out first thing every morning. If I don’t start my day with movement I feel unmotivated, down and disheartened. That for me has a snowball effect, so it’s a non-negotiable right now. Movement is so good for your mental health…yes it’s also fantastic for your fitness and it’s incredible to be able to stay fit and strong during this period of time, but my personal motivation to move is now my mental health.

4. We love how your cult-classes are now LIVE online, what is your favourite class to teach ?

There are so many positives to come out of this whole situation and one of them is being able to take our incredible classes online! I’m loving teaching hundreds of clients from around Australia every week. I get such a high from pushing everyone beyond what they think they’re capable of. We can now offer more variety than ever now that we’re online so clients can choose from. Xtend Barre, Pilates Mat, Yoga, Meditation, Stretch, Sweat and Circuit 7 (HIIT Training). The response we’ve recover from our clients has been HUGE! So many people’s routines have now changed, so we’ve found that clients can really take advantage of being able to do classes anytime they like from home and I feel proud to be playing a small part in keeping Australia and our overseas clients fit and sane during this time. Movement and our fitness is one part of this equation than we can control and I’m really enjoying helping people to feel good.

View the classes here

Purchase a membership here

Follow Xtend Barre Northern Beaches instagram here

2. MIND

If you are looking for that wise sage to guide you through these turbulent times, then vedic meditation teacher Gary Gorrow is your guru. His instagram video posts are particularly soothing for mental clarity right now. Once we are are free and able to move around, I will be booking a weekend at his Byron Bay retreat Soma

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3. D.I.Y

Meet Geneva Vanderzeil the original D.I.Y queen, we first met in Hong Kong 5 years ago when we were both living there, she and her family have now moved back to sunny Brisbane. I adore sifting through G's beautiful D.I.Y online content from fashion to homewares she has it covered. I am especially loving her latest project #trashedtoterracotta where she up-cycles daggy old vases into sleek terracotta keepsakes.