Embarking on a fitness journey is a daunting thing. For many of us, the idea of grinding out an extreme intensity workout while a buff trainer screams cliched slogans at us is enough to warrant crawling into bed with a packet of choccy biscuits. The problem is that we’ve been programmed to think this is the best way to get results. Celebrity Personal Trainers like Jillian Michaels materialised through our television screens screaming “Unless you puke, faint, or die, keep going!”– after all, pain is just weakness leaving the body, right?
Tell us a little bit about your work?
I work with people who want to reconnect to their bodies and move towards the unknown, letting go of old structures, beliefs and patterns, whether they are physical or emotional. In a sort of somatic coaching, I use conversation and bodywork (touch, instructions, breathwork…) in the learning process with my clients, who make each time a step towards an increased level of self-awareness, deep trust and relaxation, self-respect and freedom from what does not serve them anymore.
Deya is a Pilates instructor who loves to teach the traditional principles of Pilates with a pinch of fun, a little bit of bad counting, and lots of good vibes! Her signature class is ‘Pilates and Wine’ and if you have not been to any of her classes you should definitely start with this one!
Maria is an experienced yoga teacher and continuing education provider (E-RYT 500/ YACEP). She offers group yoga (and meditation) classes in Mallorca’s beautiful nature, private yoga classes all over the Island, yoga retreats and continuing yoga teacher training. She loves teaching with a focus on the chakras and the elements and her aim is to connect you with yourself again and help you to experience more consciousness and inner peace.
Michelle is a mindset and empowerment life coach. She assists people to evaluate where they are not feeling an abundance in their life, may that be in relationships, in their work and career, or their health, and from this place, helps them move towards a more desirable outcome.
The Studio Lifestyle is a boutique barre and fitness studio. They have a variety of classes that are designed to strengthen, lengthen and tone your bodies, however, founder Zora Sandenbergh also created the space with the intention of inspiring people to find the joy of movement again – to fall in love with their bodies, allowing the physical results to be a byproduct.
The Studio Lifestyle offers live in-studio classes, as well as live online classes via their website.
Ali von Moltke has been bringing her tailored approach to functional fitness training to clients all over the island for years, utilising the fantastic Mallorcan terrain as her training playground. When the pandemic hit, personal trainers had to adapt to the new constraints. The need for social distancing, the reduced ability to travel even short distances, and the surge in demand for effective at-home workouts were all new and unique developments to be carefully considered.
Holistic Pollensa provides bespoke massage, yoga and chiropractic treatments, mobile or at their home in North Mallorca. Founder Kate has been practising yoga for 18 years and teaching for 8 years, and is a qualified yoga therapist. She trained as a massage therapist in 2005 and since then has studied and worked in Thailand, India, Spain, Switzerland and UK. She combines her knowledge of Ayurvedic, Thai, Swedish and acupressure massage to create beautiful and deeply relaxing treatments.
Sunvibes makes intention infused bohemian clothing and Memory Dresses, to help you rewild your heart. Eli Bozzolini is the founder of the slow fashion label based in Palma. All of her designs are handmade then printed onto fabric in Italy. The whole process, from designing to pattern making, sampling and production, is local, sustainable and ethical, and the beautiful designs are feminine, flattering, and adjustable to fit many body shapes and sizes.
Dr Marco Seita is an orthopaedic specialist, holistic doctor, and medical health coach under a biological-optional treatment concept. As a former athlete (national basketball team) and involved in triathlon, cycling, golf, etc. he chose to specialise in problems of health relating to the musculoskeletal system. Additionally, he offers counselling and treatment in the fields of holistic (Anti) Aging Medicine covering the themes of weight control, food supplementation, work-life balance, motion & training plans, and more.
Maya Flynn is a Functional Nutritional Therapist, specialising in holistic diets, lifestyle and natural remedies to address specific health concerns. Her special area of interest is ‘the gut’ and its effects on overall physiology. Maya’s motto is “Treat the person, not the condition”.
Anne-Christin’s vision is for women to live a turned-on life. To connect back with their body and their innate feminine wisdom. To see the power and strength in it and from this place create the life they desire. She wishes for every woman to love herself, feel abundant, expansive, radiant and magical. To live a life with ease and in flow with fulfilling relationships. For this, she calls upon various modalities to make women move, feel, sense and breathe and reflect.
Her most well-known service right now is the weekly Embodied Feminine Flow classes, however, she additionally offers various 1:1 mentoring programs, the newest being “The Red Moon – Your Friend”. This program guides women towards a pain-free menstrual cycle. Anne-Christin also practices energy healing through Intuitive Reiki sessions.
Evelyn Sztojanov is a Transformational Life Coach and Personal Fitness Trainer. She helps people transform their health, working with both their body and mind to create a heart-centred, connected life.
Lilla and Peter are a yoga teacher couple and the founders of Our Yoga Mind. Their unique concept is to create mindful yoga experiences to connect with different elements of nature (earth, water and air). They offer Hatha Yoga classes on the beach or at Origin Palmanova, SUP Yoga classes during the summer, Partner and Acro Yoga classes, Full Moon Yoga with live music at night, and occasionally special workshops and retreats. They love to go beyond the asana practice and think about yoga as a form of spiritual and mental guidance. Because of this they always teach in a holistic way and are passionate about increasing the well-being of every individual who attends their classes.
Debbie is an LA trained yoga teacher & health coach, who moved here from LA with her family during the pandemic. She has helped & inspired many clients to get back into great physical and mental shape by keeping them accountable both on and off the mat.
Debbie is passionate about helping people; be it people who may feel stuck, or maybe need to eat better to improve gut health, or some are looking to weave a spiritual practice into their life. Her mission is to support people to make better choices for themselves, by making small changes that have big effects.
John Singleton runs a boutique fitness centre called The Box Mallorca. The focus of the centre is on building a positive and caring community around health and fitness, and John is passionate about helping people achieve a healthy and pain free lifestyle. He has also been coaching CrossFit Athletes since 2006 and has assisted numerous athletes in reaching their goal of competing at The CrossFit Games.
If you missed the first instalments of Ché Miller’s SIMPLIFYT journey, catch up here:
With my induction and first week of my new programme complete, things were now in full swing. I had taken to my SIMPLIFYT routine like a duck to water. The varied fitness classes were keeping things fresh and interesting, and the life coaching sessions with Evelyn Sztojanov were grounding me mentally and giving me a clearer vision of what I wanted for my future. The SIMPLIFYT boutique studio was definitely serving as my safe haven during the winter months. Here’s what weeks 2 to 10 entailed on my SIMPLIFYT journey.
Last week I had my induction to the SIMPLIFYT programme and my starting point in this journey had been established. I had completed a short functional workout to gauge my fitness level and had an InBody Analysis to determine my body composition. Now it was time for the actual work to begin!
The day I started a 10-week programme at SIMPLIFYT boutique gym was the day after my boyfriend of 5 years and I broke up. In hindsight the timing was impeccable, but completely unplanned. I turned up to that first session with a lot on my mind – none of which was fitness related, and I toughed my way through the initial assessment with a laser focus on not spontaneously bursting into tears.
Greg Gibson has been in the health and fitness industry for many years as a qualified personal trainer, and has been a competitive bodybuilder, and physique model and trainer in some of the most exclusive gyms in South Africa.
He has devised an entry level beginner’s workout for those who perhaps feel they have been a little too sedentary in lockdown and are wanting to get moving again. This workout can be completed 3-5 times per week to see and feel results. All exercises are standard movements that can be googled if you are unsure of what they are or want to know correct form.
After close to a month of confinement in our homes many of us are trying to learn to let go, relax and stay positive despite all of the unease. For some isolation might even feel like a much-needed breath of fresh air! However, even the most calm and resilient of us can have feelings of stress, anxiety and tension creep up on us unannounced, especially with so much free time on our hands for our thoughts to spiral.
We all know how important movement and exercise is for mental and physical health, but sadly hitting the pavement, park or gym is not currently an option, and we’re limited to our own four walls (and perhaps a bit of a balcony or terrace if we’re lucky!). Yoga is the perfect practice to incorporate at this time. As long as you have enough space to roll out a yoga mat, you have enough space to practice, and yoga not only allows you to get your physical exercise in, it can decrease stress, ease tension, and improve immunity.
With three weeks of lockdown under our belts the crew of S/Y Kokomo decided to put all of the extra hours of downtime into something positive that could really make a difference amidst so much worry and uncertainty.
I recently attended a health retreat in Australia which left me feeling absolutely fantastic. It could have been the daily spa treatments, the crystal steam room, and the plentiful organic food served up, but there were also few unique activities that seemed to really contribute to alleviating stress and tension. One of them was the sunrise qi gong class. This daily practice standing on a hill with a panoramic view of the Gold Coast and Pacific Ocean started the morning off with an extreme sense of calm and peacefulness. Now back in the real world I wanted to look a bit deeper into why the ancient eastern practices of qi gong and tai chi are so beneficial to our health.
We all know Bikini Beach Boutique & Spa for its amazing beauty treatments and therapies. From luscious facials to indulgent massages, manicures, Lycon waxing, lash tints and more, it is the ultimate place to pamper yourself. Now Bikini Beach has expanded its offering to include a dedicated wellness and fitness studio. The aim is to offer classes, workshops and events with a safe community vibe.
Spring is the perfect time of year to reset and prepare for the busy summer months ahead, and what better way to do that than by taking some ‘me time’ and treating yourself to a wonderfully restorative retreat?
Endurance, strength, agility, balance, and flexibility equates to a healthy body and a happy mind according to personal trainer Ali von Moltke, and upon meeting her it is clear to see she practices what she preaches. Her slim, athletic build coupled with her enthusiastic demeanour screams health and vitality. You wouldn’t believe she is 51 years old!
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Viviana Falck first began to use Cannabidiol (CBD) in an effort to end her battle with the anxiety and depression she had suffered from her whole life, which had left her feeling physically and mentally drained. Born in northern Argentina where the traditions and practice of using medicinal plants are alive & well, she favoured utilising a natural product like CBD to alleviate her symptoms.
As I arrive at Johanna Janik’s personal training studio in Marratxi (just out of Palma) she’s at the door welcoming me with double high fives. This woman is radiating vitality and I immediately feel my own energy levels rise in her presence. I have come to see Johanna for a personal training session as a kick-start after several months of zero deliberate exercise and general laziness (otherwise known as summer). First impressions tell me I have picked the right person to sort me out!
When Bobbie Bixler first set foot in a Reformer Pilates studio in Auckland, New Zealand in 1999 she was very close to turning on her heels and walking straight back out. The studio was swarming with graceful ballet dancers, who were using Pilates practice to further hone their lithe, agile physiques. They presented quite an intimidating welcoming.
Not as commonplace as it is now, Pilates hadn’t quite hit the mainstream back then, however Bobbie stuck to her guns, completed the class and never looked back. She quickly became hooked on Pilates, specifically the reformer machine, and the way her body felt from regular practice. It was the perfect antidote to a physically challenging career working on super yachts.
I like yoga, and I like SUP boarding (Stand-Up Paddle boarding if you don’t know the lingo). Why should they be mutually exclusive activities? Because images of me toppling face first into the Mediterranean Ocean tell me they should. However, I’m all for a challenge so when a friend told me her fantastic yoga teachers had branched out and jumped on-board (pun intended) the yoga SUP craze for the summer I was willing to give it a good go.
Overnight walk from Palma to Lluc Monastery. Every year, overnight in August, the country roads leading from the capital Palma to Lluc are transformed and the cars replaced by thousands of people walking to the monastery. Even those who manage to keep up a good pace will take about 11 hours to reach Lluc monastery, which is 50km away (8 -13hours).
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The distance travelled is approximately 12km, which requires some physical preparation and skill in the handling of the canoe. There is the option of doing the Sant Elm to Puerto de Dragonera route (5 km) for the uninitiated.
Being a non-competitive test, the start will last 20 minutes from the moment the horn sounds to start the race. Once that time has passed, no paddler can join Sa Volta. Continue Reading…
Would you believe when I was younger I had an issue with savasana? It seems reprehensible I know, but I would honestly dread this ‘relaxation time’ at the end of yoga because it meant I had to try and pack up my things and duck out to the car without drawing attention to myself. I tried to lie through the ‘corpse pose’ time and time again but it made me feel physically ill. I’m serious. Nausea and headaches. My mother was convinced it was my “toxins getting a good stir up” from the yoga practice. I decided yoga just wasn’t ‘physical’ enough for me and threw myself into the much sweatier pursuits of boxing, netball, and gym sessions.
I first heard the term ‘functional movement’ over ten years ago while interning at a health retreat in Australia’s Gold Coast hinterland. Every morning the guests at the retreat would sit down to a health seminar on various aspects of optimal living, and ‘functional movement’ had a whole session devoted to it so I figured it must be a key concept I should pay attention to, and rightly so!
6Points Mallorca starts and ends at Caló d’en Pellicer, the small beach in Santa Ponsa, and travels to the extremities of the four compass points of Mallorca (north – Cap Formentor, south – Cap de Ses Salines, west – St Elm and east – Cala Ratjada) and to the highest (Puig Major) and lowest points (Santa Ponsa beach) on tarred roads in three days, covering over 400km and climbing over 7500m. Continue Reading…