Women and a few men are getting in shape with a low-impact, full-body exercise program called Essentrics®, a dynamic stretch program designed to lengthen, strengthen, and tone the body. The class will be taught by certified instructor Melissa Craig. Melissa is an avid golfer and tennis player. She has been practicing Essentrics® for about seven years and is a Level 2 instructor. She has found it has helped relieve pain and improve her flexibility and sports performance, and she wants to continue to share the benefits with her friends at SunBird.
Essentrics® is the program featured in the Aging Backwards special starring Miranda Esmonde-White shown on PBS. Esmonde-White’s book by the same name was on both The New York Times and Amazon Best Seller lists. According to Esmonde-White, the Essentrics® full-body technique is so successful because it works through the muscle chains, liberating and empowering the muscles and relieving them from tension in the process. Her completely original workout draws on the flowing movements of tai chi, which create health and balance, the strengthening theories behind ballet, which create long, lean, flexible muscles, and the healing principles of physical therapy, which create a pain-free body.
Melissa will be teaching the Essentrics® classes on Monday and Thursday mornings at 6:30 a.m. in the ballroom starting in November. She may also be trying short (30-minute) pop-up classes on Sunday afternoons. Please bring a yoga mat and towel. “Hopefully, once people try the class, they will love it and come back.”