Ellen Barrett 2024

What’s “The Best” Workout?

I want to go way back to the day I met Pilates. It was in the mid-nineties and at the time I was fully invested in the workout world, teaching aerobics classes. These classes were all standing, lots of jumping, double knotting sneakers, and moving fast, like a tiger was chasing you. Pilates Mat couldn’t have been more opposite. First off, in Pilates we left our shoes at the door. This was revolutionary to me....

Be Strong, Go Long

What if I told you there is something you could do every day, that brings increased mobility, energy, and youthfulness…it’s free and easy, requires zero equipment, and could take as little as 10 seconds? Well, that something is elongate your glorious spine! I know,  I know…this might seem too good to be true, and you may assume I’m greatly exaggerating its effectiveness, but seriously, have you elongated your spine today?  Sitting, at a desk or in a car...

Low and Slow

There are year-long courses on breathing and whole books written on breathing. There are breathing specialists and hundreds of breathing studies currently going on around the world. Breathing is a big deal and when it comes to quality of living, society is seemingly getting hip to the vital role it can play. But if you are like me, and you “breathe just fine,” then breathing is super boring. At least that’s how I viewed breathing for most...

It’d be in your best interest to have this mindset

There is an empowered wellness mindset, and it is as important as the movement portion of wellness (or maybe more so) because, to paraphrase Joseph Pilate, “The mind is the master behind the movement.”  There are three big overarching pillars to the empowered wellness mindset – three things, that when I see them in other people, I just know they’ll achieve their goals and shine brightly. Here they are, accompanied by a simple self-talk affirmation:  A “can-do” attitudeI can do it.Many people, especially those...

Do the Work or Step into the flow?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, do the work is fine to say, but I prefer step into the flow. There are no shortcuts to empowered wellness, so by all means, do the work, but when you re-frame all the necessary effort as alignment, there’s an ease and a grace underlying our action steps. Wellness becomes more easily sustainable and less dogmatic. We really should all be asking ourselves, “How do I step into the flow?” Tune in  ✔️Set “the” goal (feeling good) ✔️Take charge ✔️123….that’s...

How to be intrinsically Motivated

“Intrinsic” means belonging naturally, and its Latin root translates as “inward” so I like to think of intrinsic motivation as motivation from within.  Intrinsic motivation is the best kind of motivation because there is no bribery, guilt, or coercion. You’re doing something because you want to do it, end of story.  When I was a kid, I only cleaned my room when my Dad threatened to throw whatever was on the floor out the window. So I’d tidy...

Body Weight Sculpt

Shipwreck Optional

Featuring a dumbbell-less sculpt class on Let’s Move! has got me thinking about Robinson Crusoe. Yes, I’m talking about the novel published in 1719, which centers on the survival of a shipwrecked European man, who spent 28 years living on a desert island off the coast of Venezuela.    The main character, Robinson Crusoe, is depicted in the fictional book, as well as in the subsequent movies based on the book, as being very strong, fit and able. He fights off exotic...

Stay Empowered. Stay Inspired.

Please do check out the new video interview on Let’s Move! with the one-and-only, Nicole Renée. I say one-and-only because she truly is a unique soul, marching to the beat of her own drum. She’s carved out a beautiful career for herself, helping people feel their best with movement and meditation, and with herbal medicine.  Something I want to emphasis with Nicole and all of our interview subjects is they all model self-care and empowered wellness. They take inspired action...

Three Cheers for Gentle

The idea that “gentle” is for babies or for the injured, but aside from those specific demographics, you should be embracing intensity, is still alive and well in the world today, but not in my world. In my world, gentle is sustainable, nurturing and a winning aspect of longevity. What is a gentle workout? First, gentle might just be slower. It might just be shorter. It might just be avoiding certain ranges of motion that cause pain. Gentle doesn’t mean less effective.  Secondly,...

One & Done!

The 411 on “One&Done”

One & Done! is here and it’s a unique take on fusion sculpt as this 30minute workout uses only one handheld weight. The video is now streaming on “Let’s Move! and I sure do hope you check it out.  Having only one weight throughout the workout puts the body, intentionally, off-balance. That 3 or 5lb asymmetry “tips the scales” so to speak, forcing the midline (the core) to engage differently in order to stay aligned. If you are someone who sits in a car or at...