Working out has gotten trickier lately, and not just because we’re all trying to exercise at home with less space and equipment than we’re used to.
As our bodies change over time, it is normal for our exercise routine to need adjustment as well. In this podcast, Gennev Director of Health Coaching Stasi Kasianchuk talks with Robin Jones, owner of the barre3 studio in Corvallis, Oregon, about how to move safely and effectively for all-round better health.
Watch the video of this conversation on YouTube.
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TRANSCRIPT
Stasi Kasianchuk
I’m really excited today to have Robin Jones here from barre3 Corvallis. I am Stasi Kasianchuk, I’m a registered dietitian nutritionist, exercise physiologist, and the Director of Gennev’s Health Coaching. And this topic today, the Workout for Michelle Obama’s Generation is so timely with the launching of her movie, Becoming. Robin, you’re going to hear her story about how this all connects and it really does come back to how women of Michelle’s Obama’s generation of this perimenopause, post-menopause phase can find movement to support their body. So Robin, great to have you here. Robin is a friend of mine and the owner of the barre3 studio that I am a part of, so really excited and really appreciate your time. Can you introduce yourself and tell us about yourself, tell us about you for our audience?
Robin Jones
Yes. Hi, Stasi and thank you so much for inviting me to chat with you today. It’s really quite an honor to get to share what we do at barre3 and kind of how I got there. My name is Robin and I am the studio owner of barre3 Corvallis here in Oregon. And I came to be here serendipitously, frankly because I was looking to scratch my own itch. I was born in San Diego and my husband was born and raised in Corvallis and at the time that I found barre as a practice, we were growing two small businesses. And I was really looking for a way to break up my day and move my body in a way that felt good. And I discovered barre because all these studios opened in San Diego, kind of one after the other and I fell in love with a space that had an amazing community.
And that is something that really resonated with me. And one of the things that no one tells you really about business ownership is that it can get really lonely. And so you’re, you’re working here on your laptop all day long and, and you’re trying to plan all these things and sometimes you just need a break and meet people and talk to people. And for me, scheduling my barre class mid day was exactly that. So I would go take a class and I would get to meet like minded people and move with them. And so quickly my practice became something so much more than exercise. And when we ended up moving to Corvallis in 2012 I really felt the need to bring this practice to this community because if I needed something like that I felt like somebody else out there probably needed it too. So after a long while trying to figure out how to make it happen, in addition to having two other small growing businesses we worked it out and opened in 2014. So I’m really excited to be here and really the community piece of barre3 has a lot to do with why I love it so much. So.
Stasi Kasianchuk
Yeah, no, I appreciate that Robin and giving that background and I will attest to the fact that you have an amazing community there. Definitely part of the reason that I am part of your barre3 studio. The workouts are obviously great and we’ll talk a little bit more about that. But having that community and that support and if anything now more than ever, that community is so important. So so thank you for six years ago creating something that’s so supportive today during a pandemic still. So I appreciate that. So we’ll I definitely want to hear more about your story and what you’ve learned in the six years of being part of barre3. But I wanted to go into the title of our talk today because when I first reached out to you and told you about Gennev and and asked you to be a part of one of our webinars, you shared this amazing story of getting to actually see Michelle Obama as a part of Oprah’s tour. And I’d love for you to talk about this connection and why we’re talking about barre3 as a workout that Michelle Obama’s generation could do.
Robin Jones
Yes. Oh my gosh. So I had the privilege of going to see Michelle Obama when she was doing her Becoming tour here in Portland. And then again had the privilege to see her in early this year, February or so in Brooklyn when she was touring with Oprah’s 2020 Vision tour. And she’s just inspiring to me on a lot of different capacities. But particularly what stood out for me when I saw her this year was when Oprah asked her about what she appreciated most about her body. And obviously with like the work we do at barre3, you know, her answers was like what really resonated with me and what she focused on was just about loving her body because it was hers and hers alone. And that she really tries hard not to judge it and she really tries to honor it and to realize that it’s changing.
Right. And I love, she had said that our bodies are living things and so we’re, we’re not machines and that we need to fuel it and we need to feed it and we need to take care of it and it needs sunshine and all these wonderful things because if we don’t take care of it, then our body starts to fail us as we age. And it seems so simple, but when she puts it in those terms, it’s like, it’s like, yeah, that’s exactly right. Like our bodies are changing as we age, as we grow older, as we develop. And, and my body today at 40 is not the same as the body that I had at 20 and I think that so often a lot of women try to create this sort of future unattainable goal of like, I want my body to be like it was when it was 20.
And I love what Michelle Obama had said at the time because she likened it to, to being 20 years old and trying to fit into your overalls when you were 10. Right? Like, it’s, it’s, it seems like, obviously like, no, that’s like unrealistic. Like why would you ever want to do that? And, and she said so often women have that mindset. Like, I want my body to be what it was like pre-baby. I want my body to be what it was like, you know, when I was in my early twenties. And what I love about what she said is that what really she focuses on as far as wellness is just appreciating and loving her body as it is in this present moment. And she talked about specifically like her body at 56 is so different than her body at 36. And so why should I try to move it in the way that I moved it when I was in my thirties because now I’m in my fifties and what it needs today is just so different and, and I felt like that was such a healthy mindset. And I feel like that’s certainly, I, myself included, have battled those thoughts of like, Oh gosh, you look at your pictures from before and you’re like, why? Oh man, I wish I could look like that again. And then you realize, well, like why, I mean my body has changed so much. It’s experienced so much. So like why not just honor your body as it is today? So I really loved that piece of it.
Stasi Kasianchuk
No, that’s so important. I think, you know, working with women in peri and post-menopause, it’s a hard time. Not only is your body changing, but because of the hormonal changes that can also change how you’re feeling day to day, moment to moment. And that, those are some of the conversations I have with my clients is really about, okay, what, what having them understand what is happening. And it really does tie into that dynamic that dynamic process we go through as humans and especially as women. And especially if, if you have had children, like you’ve experienced some of these, these dramatic changes of your body and menopause is another one of those and you bring up such a great point and that you movement is still important. Movement can still have so many benefits from health related benefits to mental health, to just being able to provide that balance and support, but it may not look the same and that’s okay. And I think giving people permission to explore something new and different can be scary because it’s new and different, but it can also be exciting. And when they find what works can really be helpful.
Robin Jones
Oh, completely. And I think that’s the other piece of what Michelle had said is she’s like, I have to find my own balance and I have to walk my own path. Right? And I have to, to know what that looks like for me in my present moment. Right? So I may have ran marathons when I was younger, but that’s just not what my body needs right now. And that’s just not what I need to do with it right now. And I think that’s like the struggle, right? Because we can also overdo it. We can also like diet and exercise really hard and look a certain way or, or, or weigh a certain amount and then, but at the end of the day, our bodies are like broken inside because it’s not what we need. Right. And I think that’s so much of what I love about barre3 is that it really is adaptable to different bodies, changing bodies.
And that every day the practice is different. It feels different and it, and it gives us space to be present in our bodies and to realize this is what I need today and, or this is not what I need today. And then to modify and adapt to what, what we, what we need today.
Stasi Kasianchuk
Yeah, it has really a great balance of a lot of different things. For our audience members that may not know about barre3, can you give us a breakdown of what does it entail and what is the approach so that it really is for every body that wants to try it?
Robin Jones
Yeah, no, definitely. So barre3 is a full body balanced workout combining strength conditioning, cardio, and mindfulness. And again, like what I really love about barre3, it’s low impact movement. And so it allows us to age gracefully without pain, which is really important as our bodies change our movement really, it embraces listening to your body, right?
So we offer lots of ways to adapt, to modify. You can take it up a notch, you can take it back a notch. It depending on what you need and, and again, like every day is different. But also it’s like a movement that focuses really on like the feeling and movement, creating joy and like what that feels like in your bones and your muscles. And it isn’t about you need to do it this specific way and it’s regimented. And if you don’t do it right, then you feel like you’ve failed in some capacity. It really isn’t about that. And so, so I love that because it releases us from this pressure of like that future unattainable goal, right? Like, so if I can hold a plank for five minutes, then, Oh yeah. I finally like have achieved this like this, like some pinnacle of success.
Like barre3 isn’t about that. It really is about tuning inward and listening to what your body needs. And Hey, like if you’re going to hold that plank for a minute, then awesome, good job. Feel that success and feel what that feels like to feel strong in your body, but if not, and you need to modify, you need to come down to your forearms or something, other position that feels kinder where you can also feel that same level of success good for you. Right. So I love that those are the different elements of barre3 that I’m really proud of. And then the last bit of it it was really that mindfulness practice, right? So instead of just doing as the instructor does, it really is like listening to what you need and, and being really truly present and like the muscles you’re working and, and what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. So really being able to educate our clients on how this benefits their body for functional movement every day I think is a big part of what we do.
Stasi Kasianchuk
Yeah, such a holistic approach and I’ll, and I love the mindfulness piece when that was added a few years ago I’ll be the first to admit that I am not going to do mindfulness practice even though I know the benefits of it unless someone’s telling me I have to do it. So incorporating it into a class is genius and I look forward to that five minutes at the end where I have permission to focus on my breath to slow down and to breathe.
Robin Jones
A hundred percent. And what I feel like the value is there as a, we still have an opportunity to educate right on that piece of like why mindfulness is important and how it can serve our body physically. Like it isn’t just this like if they’re y’all woo, like take a moment to clear your mind. Like it isn’t really that that there are actual physical benefits to focusing on breath and that’s an educational moment right in our class to, to give clients that space to do it too. But also to explain like the benefits of lowering anxiety and stress and lowering your blood pressure and allowing your like diaphragm to expand and contract and create like elasticity there. Right. Versus like, so much of us are used to kind of sucking it in, you know, like holding our, our belly in and not allowing it to like be mobile because like, Oh, we got to like fit in these jeans and we’ve got to, you know, look a certain way and, and we’ve lost that ability to like mobilize our diaphragm. So those like very physical reasons to practice mindfulness, I think is definitely an educational bit for us to continue to, to share.
Stasi Kasianchuk
Yeah. No, it’s such a great way to incorporate it in a way that’s tangible too. Sometimes mindfulness, automatically people jump to, Oh, I have to do an hour of meditation. I’m going to get bored. My mind’s going to wander. I can’t do it, then I feel defeated. So it’s no, it’s five minutes of what you can do. And even those five minutes, you know, and can provide benefits, especially when you start to do them over time. And especially for women with menopause, I mean that the mindfulness practice can help with hot flashes. The exercise can help with hot flashes, it can help to support sleep, everything’s all connected and it can be a great simple way. It’s economical. You don’t have to pay anything for it. And you’re just focusing on your breath. So I think that that is a really great great piece to add to that.
Robin Jones
It’s so simple, right? But it’s like, it’s so simple, but we, we often don’t do it. And I love it, the thing about breath work, it’s like, it’s like the one function in our body that happens both consciously and unconsciously. Right? Like we breathe when we’re alive. We don’t have to, we do it even if we’re not thinking about it. Right. Also have the power to control it, to like harness that and like manipulate it in a way to better serve us. It’s like amazing.
Stasi Kasianchuk
Yeah, no, it’s definitely and it’s something, it’s very easy to take for granted that, you know, we’re just going to breathe on our own, but by providing that additional support we can make, are we going to enhance our body’s efficiency of every breath by retraining it a little bit. Can you also share a, one of the other things that I think barre3 is really helpful for, especially for women that are either starting an exercise program or restarting and with menopause there can be more joint pain. The decreasing estrogen levels can result in more inflammation. Sometimes that appears in joints for some women and that can make them fearful of starting exercise. Can you also talk about the structure of how barre3 has been put together with professionals? It’s not just, you know, Oh, here’s the workout for today. This, this sounds good, that there’s methods, there’s training. And there’s a, there’s a method to the madness in terms of how the workouts are built.
Robin Jones
For sure a hundred percent. And that’s one of the things I’m most proud of, to be part of a franchise who has so much of a commitment and investment in research and development on the body, right? So barre3 is has always been low impact to be accessible. And we focus a lot on isometric holds, which is where the body, the muscles are taxed at its maximum and you’re, all you’re doing is simply holding, right? So you’re sitting in a chair or you’re in power leg or you’re in a horse pose, a wide turnout position, and you’re just, it’s like a moment of stillness, right? Your body is working really, really hard. And then we layer in this small range of movement. So it’s like a one inch range of movement, which when people hear barre, they’re like, Oh, it’s those tiny little things.
You know that, that, that you feel so much of a burn but you don’t even, it doesn’t look like you’re doing very much. And that is like an isometric hold with a little bit of release really is what it is. So your muscles are working really hard, but you’re giving it a little bit of a break every time you move. And then on top of that, we layer in dynamic movement, right? So that ability to flush out the oxygen and blood back to the muscles that need it. So we layer in that kind of strategically, that three layer process all throughout class and we work the entire body. So it’s really efficient. So we heat the cardiovascular system, we open up our hips, we open up all the joints and then we move into these elements where we like work the leg muscles and then we work the back body muscles. And then we work the core, which is abdominals and glutes. And then go back to like breath work and then move our body in ways that you don’t normally move your body. Right? So like laterally. So important to move your body 360 so that when you do functional things at home like garden and you’re like turning and twisting and all these things that your muscles are there to support you in the ways where it can prevent injury.
Stasi Kasianchuk
Excellent. So many benefits there and, and that translation to, to everyday activity. You know, and barre3 if you’re someone that wants to train for a five K or some type of athletic event, barre3 can serve that. But its foundation is in those everyday movements so that you can enjoy life, that you can feel good doing life’s lifestyle activities and enjoy the workout too. Cause there’s certainly, again, coming back to that community and that connection that you have in that 60 minutes.
Robin Jones
Exactly, exactly. I mean one of my proudest things is that our oldest client today is eight, has been 81 was 81. Youngest is 14. Right. So to like have an offering of a practice where you can give someone who is [missing] a place where they can feel successful and moving their body equivalent to a 14 year old or we’ve even had Olympic athletes in our studio, it’s like to be able to offer something of that wide of a spectrum. I think it’s such a gift to be able to share because you know, everyone can feel successful in the practice, can feel challenged in their practice, but they’re doing it in ways that are very different looking. Right. It isn’t just like this one how to do it this way. So yeah. I love that so much about it.
Stasi Kasianchuk
That’s awesome. Yeah, no, I think it serves a wide range of people. Well, Robin with your six years of working here or start or opening the studio and getting it established. And you talked about your story in terms of why you started barre3, now as you look back and with what you have learned, did you imagine six years ago that this would be the journey that’s unfolded?
Robin Jones
Certainly not. No. Sure. It’s, it’s, it’s been such a wild ride in the best way possible. And what I’ve learned in the last six years has like absolutely nothing to do with like business or ability. I mean, and, and this is like one of those things, right? Where we, I do it and I’ll speak for my team: We all do it. We do because we love it. And so there’s a reason why we’re all motivated in that capacity. And I think for me, I’ve learned so much about the power of the collective spirit and in particularly right now in this moment where we’re engaging with our clients on a virtual level, right? We don’t get to interact with them like we normally do. There’s so much power in like the ability to help each other mentally and emotionally when we are doing things together, right and, and even scientifically, the power and the joy of movement and how moving together even virtually can stimulate joy.
Right? And so that has been such a big learning for me. I mean, obviously like I opened the studio because I wanted a place to work out. And then I got all these ancillary beautiful benefits out of being able to be the owner, right? I have this wonderful community and all these amazing friends. And but then going back to owning the studio for six years, I think I also learned that investing in people goes a much longer way than investing in things and widgets and whatnot. And that’s always been kind of my primary driver is my team. And when I say invest in people, I don’t mean money. I mean, I mean time, right? And really getting to know the people who you surround yourself with I think goes a long way as far as like even personal emotional benefit. And so that’s been really beautiful.
I’ve learned also that like everyone has like an inherent native genius and sometimes you just need somebody else to remind you or to tell you or to open your eyes to what that is. And so I’ve had the benefit of being able to do that for other people. And I’ve also had the benefit of being able to receive that and realizing for myself like some of what are those things are. And so that’s been really beautiful. So yeah, lots of things I learned from barre3 that I, I didn’t think that’s what I was going to get out of it. And I think too, just learning to accept, like, and be happy for my body for how it is instead of criticizing it for what it’s not. That was a big learning for me. As far as like fitness, right? Like I, I, I think early on when I first opened the studio a lot of self doubt, a lot of, well I’ve never done this before.
I’ve never taught fitness. I don’t know how to teach exercise and a lot of self doubt of I don’t, I don’t look like the typical fitness guru. Like I don’t have those abs. I don’t look that way. You know, there was a lot of self doubt there and I think there was a lot of self criticism of like, I don’t look the part so I certainly can’t be successful in the part. And that was a big learning for me over the last six years of like, you don’t need to look a part, like you have the ability to make an impact without looking a certain way. And, and, and then even though it’s still in everyday practice, that like self-criticism has gotten quieter. And so I think that’s that’s a been a beautiful gift for sure.
Stasi Kasianchuk
Yeah, that’s a, that’s great to hear that you’ve been challenged in that way and then have really overcome that. And it reminds me of, I still remember the moment of when I had gone to the the barre3 in the vineyard event in June, I think it was June of 2018, 2018 and you were leading an exercise class for like over a hundred people out in this vineyard which was an amazing setting. Hopefully we’ll get to do that again someday. But I remember specifically you meant, you telling us that we’re doing an exercise and again, these exercises that are small movements. No one be fooled “ if you have not tried them and you’re like, ah, no, I don’t do small movements, it’s too easy. Try to hold these small movements for extended period of time. They get really hard. But you brought up the fact that we can, we have the power to change the conversations we have with ourselves in our head.
And that just always stuck out with me. It was at a time where I was having particular challenges and it really hit me to say, no, I can, I can change this conversation. I have complete control over this. I may not know exactly what the outcome’s going to be, but the conversation here and now, I can work on changing that. And that’s always stuck with me and someone who does also appreciate challenging my body through movement. I like how that can translate into other areas of my life. And now working with women in menopause that it is a challenge. It’s really hard. When you really feel that you wake up the next day and your, your body is different and those feelings are real and having to challenge those conversations can be really difficult. Can you share some of what, how you challenge your conversations as over the last six years when those doubtful voices were louder than they are now?
Robin Jones
Hmm. It’s, it’s a practice. It is, it is hard and, and I every day I think I’m reminded that we still have a lot of work to do, right? Like I still feel like so many people, or I guess self-awareness is like one piece of it for me. It’s like when in those moments when I have those tendencies to be like, ah, that that was not the best of what I have to offer and I start to spiral into like self criticism. It just, I just create this like moment of self awareness of like, okay, I’m feeling that. Right? And I’m having that thought and then I have to like separate, right? Like my thought from like, okay, what’s reality? Right? So like, yeah, maybe that class wasn’t how I wanted it to be and I whatever, like it wasn’t perfect. And that’s okay.
And I think I just like, I allow myself to just become aware that I’m having these thoughts and it’s not that I like, it’s not an exercise really of like, okay Robin, stop thinking about that. Right? Like it really is just like, okay, how’s the thought? Like that’s fine and, but just know like that thought doesn’t define you. It doesn’t, it doesn’t define who you are. It was a passing thing. Like you, you didn’t do what you expected to do in that moment, but that moment is past, right? Like it’s over. That was a temporary thing, so like move on. I think to me that, but it’s taken a lot of work, like self discovery work for me to get to that point where I’m just like, okay, you can still have that thought. And then oftentimes I just reach out to girlfriends and be like, eh, like, like yesterday I had reached out to Brodick and Rachel, I’m just like, no, there’s just some days you’re just sick of the sound of your own voice.
Like I like taught last night and I’m just like, I am just sick of the sound of my own voice. And I, I had planned to say certain things and like for me, often if it doesn’t resonate, I won’t say it. But there’s just those moments, right? And so for me, I reached out to my friends and I’m like, Hey, this is how I was feeling. It was kind of feeling funky and you know, they, they’re just like a sounding board and they helped me realize again, like, okay, that’s fine that you feel that way, but the reality is probably it doesn’t translate that way. Or people do want to hear what you have to say and things like that. But so, so creating awareness I think was like the first part of like, I’m having these thoughts and not letting it control like my behavior.
And then also having good sounding boards, right? Like that community piece, those friends again who you can be really vulnerable and honest with and say when you have those moments and those thoughts how I’m kind of feeling kind of funky, is that real? Is that not real? Okay. And if they tell me it’s not real, I’m like, okay, I’m just going to like acknowledge that wasn’t real and then I’m going to move on. You know? So I think it’s okay to have those feelings of self doubt every so often. It just happens, I mean it’s natural, but then if you have a healthy community, healthy people around you who can be your sounding board and if you can just not beat yourself up so much about it. Right. I think that’s like, that’s the biggest, that’s the biggest thing. And then again, like what we practice, we get really good at.
So if I keep practicing that, Hey, I’m, I’m, I’m doing enough. Yeah, I’m doing fine, I’m okay. Right. Even the simplest things, like if I can keep just practicing that, then I think it like ends up being better. But it’s, it’s like we still have a lot of work to do, right? To help other people have those realizations and to help other people feel really comfortable that there isn’t this future unattainable goal and that where you are right now is okay and if you’re feeling a certain way today, it’s okay and it’s a temporary passing moment.
Stasi Kasianchuk
I love that. Those are all such great reminders. And I think, you know, the, one of the things we’re doing here at Gennev is we want to change the conversation around menopause. That it shouldn’t be this dreaded, shameful time of a woman’s life. We’re all going to go through it. Every woman does, every woman has. And that piece I think you talked about about building the community is also really supportive for women too. Even though every woman’s menopausal experience can be unique, knowing that other women are going through this or will, and having the courage perhaps to be a little vulnerable. And like you shared yesterday with, you know, your community of sharing, this is how I’m feeling right now. And then have that conversation of, well, is this, is this real and in menopause you really are probably feeling that right now. But it can pass and menopause itself is not forever. So there is that time through it, but, the power of talking about it, I think that’s what I seen so much with women is let’s just talk about what’s going on. It may not go away, but just talking about it turns down the volume. It gets it out of the head.
Robin Jones
A hundred percent and I think that that shared experience, right? It requires us to be vulnerable to have these shared experiences. But to your point, like it helps to, helps you realize that Hey, this is normal in some capacity or other people feel that so it’s okay. And that’s the biggest thing, right? We fight like this idea that we’re the only ones feeling this way. It’s like this and this notion of like lonely, like I am the only one going through this particular thing. And with menopause I can imagine, right? It’s like I’m the only one feeling these things in my body. I’m the only one experiencing these changes in my body when the reality is, it’s like, no, like a lot of a lot of women who are going through menopause probably have felt the same way, but like to your point, we don’t talk about it enough, right? Like we don’t share that enough. And so people feel like they’re alone in that experience.
Stasi Kasianchuk
And the, the loneliness ends up being more detrimental than sometimes the symptoms depending on that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and an