Breaking Up With Burnout (Thank You Barre 🤗)
What to do when the exercise you’ve always loved, isn’t loving you back?
🙉 Listen to the Voice in Your Head
🦄 Experience the Magic Around You
🌟 Discover Your Inner Brilliance!
My Body Said “Nope.” So I Got Creative.
It was 2011 and I was living on a military base in remote Japan where my choice of movement classes were Crossfit, Zumba, Bootcamp-style circuit classes, and yoga. I love each of these classes (okay I’m lying, I’ve never loved Crossfit 😅) and there came a day when I was tired of my body hurting from exercising.
I dreamed of a group exercise class where I could feel like I’d exerted energy, built muscle, and taken up space in a room, and didn’t feel on the verge of injury due to the speed or intensity of the class. I wasn’t loving how my knees and low back felt from taking Zumba, and Bootcamp was just intense. I wanted to lift weights and get stronger, but Crossfit just scared me.
Yoga at the time felt more therapeutic and I wanted a little more edge, possibly with weights. I was seeking the figurative Goldilocks of exercise classes.
From Inspiration to Creation: My Barre Journey Begins💡
Like magic, I heard about the Barre classes that were developing in America, based off the teachings of Lotte Berk, the originator of Barre. I had long retired my pointe shoes from classical ballet class, and didn’t want the rigor and intensity of a formal dance class, but heck if I didn’t miss the strength and increased flexibility that I had during dedicated training.
So, I developed my own class based on the platforms of ballet, the stability found in yoga, and that special core burn found in Pilates mat movements. I experimented with a number of different props including core balls, resistance bands, weights and set to work. I created a Barre class and began teaching in the dance room of our community center on base.
Trial and Error, Grace and Growth ✨
In hindsight, my first classes were probably a little rough (thanks Misawa fam for sticking with me!). I was making the classes up based on what felt great in my own body, which is a highly interoceptive process of trial and error. I kept dedicated notes and developed a formula for leading my classes.
The result? I felt incredible both leading and doing my own workouts.
Feedback from clients included things like
“I love that this workout can be easier or harder depending on the modifications you lead to make it accessible.”
“I’m so happy to have an effective workout that doesn’t have any jumping.”
And my favorite, “My body is changing and I love coming to class.”
I knew I’d found something really special and kept digging in and developing my Barre class. I read everything I could about movement anatomy, completed training programs, and sifted through many programs continuing to find the thread that made my body feel great while exercising, and sharing this all with my clients during class.
The Secret Sauce Revealed 🧪
It wasn’t until 2022 and studying for my 300-hour Yoga Teacher Training certificate with Shaelyn Delgado that I understood why the movements I’d been developing and leading felt so great. I began to understand the “secret sauce” of my Barre class.
Barre Became My Constant, Even Through Change 🌍
Since 2011 and teaching my first Barre classes, my family has moved and lived in nine other places, care of the US Air Force. I’ve continued teaching in each location, and have started Barre programs in:
Gyms
Fitness centers
Mom & child groups (my fave, shoutout to my Edwards crew!)
Boutique fitness studios
I’ve led postnatal sessions for new moms and held their babies while they learned how to strengthen their new and remarkable body, capable of anything! I’ve relished the hour I spent teaching while my own children played at the gym daycare, making me a better caregiver the rest of the day.
I’ve felt proud of the strength of my own body, created during Barre classes. My husband recently retired from the Air Force, and when reflecting back on what kept me sane during all the moves and change, the undeniable thread was teaching Barre and Yoga to my communities.
Barre Made Me Strong - and Helped Me Find My People 💙
It helped me meet “my” people in each new spot, many of them feeling like family, or even training them to be instructors themselves to keep my class going when we moved on.
It helped me to stay strong, both physically and mentally. Most importantly, it’s incredibly fun to teach Barre and there hasn’t been a class taught where I didn’t feel incredibly lucky to do what I do.
Barre Is for Every Body — and Every Chapter 💥
If you're feeling stuck, sore, or simply uninspired by your current routine, Barre might be what you didn’t even know you needed.
It can be powerful, playful, and deeply transformative - whether you're looking to reconnect with your body or share the gift of movement with others.
👉🏽 Check out our Barre Classes in Tucson
🧘🏽♀️ Ready to lead? Explore Barre Teacher Training
🧿 You. Belong. Here.
With love and so many squats,
Kendall Nations
RYT®500 | Barre Educator | Movement Enthusiast