Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Pur Energy Wellness Lofts & Best Fuel Contest

Back in lateNovember of last year, I had the opportunity to meet with Lisa Manzo, the owner of Pur Energy Wellness Lofts.  She invited me to come by the studio and take a tour.  Lisa is a Certified Fitness Instructor, Certified Personal Trainer, a Registered Holistic Nutritionist as well as an author.  Oh and did I mention that she's a new mom?  Yup.  Pretty darn impressive.

When I pulled up to the building, I was impressed.  It is a stylish building in a non descript industrial neighbourhood so it definitely stands out, but not outrageously so.  It looks just like a loft building.   Inside, it looks like a spa.  Lots of beautiful light.  There is a small bowl of home made energy bars in the reception area (I had one they're delicious) as well as a small retail area featuring items from local artisans.  I got a jar of pear jam that is simply amazing.  There will be a juice bar as well in the coming months.

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When I looked at the class schedule and the services offered, one thing was immediately apparent - this was not your ordinary fitness studio.   In terms of classes they offer everything from TRX to Barre, to Piloxing (pilates & boxing in class format) to Guided Meditation & Restorative Yoga.  Not things that you'd find your average fitness facility.  The services offered also set this place apart from other fitness facilities.  They offer private yoga instruction, massage and body work, acupuncture as well as energy healing and life and spiritual coaching.  Lisa summed it up perfectly:  It's all about energy in and energy out.  The energy out classes like TRX and Pur Bosu work your body and the energy in classes help you clear your mind and rejuvenate.  I have made a pact with myself this year to take the time before I go to bed every night to try to clear my mind of the clutter of the day.  I am finding more and more that this is a necessity.

Lisa and I chatted about the studio and what drove her to open the space.  Being a lifetime athlete (a long time runner), she was always a very grounded person living well in her physical body.  A series of life events took her down a different path, away from running, where she had the opportunity, with the help of several mentors, to learn to become more present in the moment, understand her body and it's connection to the mind and soul.  She realized that this is something that is missing from most fitness facilities.  Training the body and the mind is not usually done within the same space, with the exception of yoga studios but not everyone wants to do just yoga.

Lisa's goal was to redefine the training environment to provide energizing services that inspire and motivate, while also centering, balancing and grounding the individual.  At PurEnergy, the aim is to inspire individuals to live a healthy lifestyle, by understanding the importance of a healthy mind, body and spirit connection.  The focus is on the whole you and not just one aspect of health.   Physical fitness, whole foods & nutrition are just as important as spiritual guidance and meditation in terms of healing your body.

I found Lisa's idea of Energy out classes and Energy In classes to be quite interesting.  The way she puts it, if you are on the go all the time and exerting energy all day at work (energy out) in order to balance the mind, body and soul, you need to bring the energy back in, thus the energy in classes.  She also went on to speak about different types of personalities and the type of exercise that would best suit them.  For example, if you are more of a Type A personality (Yang) then you need more Yin type exercises and vice versa.  Not all exercise or types of exercise work for everyone.  Just like a nutrition plan should very unique, so should a workout plan and that is determined by the individuals lifestyle, personality, needs etc.

With PurEnergy, Lisa's goal is to introduce and provide you with a variety of holistic treatments and an out-of-the-box approach to wellness.  They want to be your unique one-stop-shop for improving your health and wellbeing.  At PurEnergy it's not just a workout, it's a lifestyle.  Lisa believes in training like there is no finish line.  A novel idea for someone like myself, who trains specifically for finish lines, ha ha.  But I totally get it.  

This is what PurEnergy is all about:

P rofessional services
U ndivided and personal attention 
R eassurance of your personal journey 
E nergy (pure and high!!) 
N utritional teachings that will lead you to a loving relationship with food
E xpertise provided in every area of wellness and lead by experienced practitioners 
R eawakening your life's desires and passions 
G uaranteed fun 
Y es! - you will NOT want to leave!

I took a PurBosu class there and got my butt kicked.  It was awesome.  I'll be heading back to do a TRX class and I'm thinking about trying a guided meditation class.  Meditation is something I want to start incorporating into my life so I think that this would be a good start for me.  

Lisa is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist with a keen interest in helping athletes and has graciously offered up a free nutritional consultation (a $110 value) that can be done via Skype.  How cool is that?? The contest is open to residents of Canada and the U.S.  How to participate:  We want to see how you fuel your workouts!  

1) Post a picture of your favourite food that fuels your workouts on Instagram.  Use the hashtags #bestfuelfood and #studiopurenergy and tag PurEnergy Studio in your picture.

2) Follow PurEnergy on Instagram

3) Follow PurEnergy on Twitter

4)  Share contest with your followers!

That's it!  

Contest runs until midnight on Tuesday January 12th.  The winner will be announced on PurEnergy's instagram on Wednesday January 13th.  
 
If you're looking for meal inspiration, then you should check out Lisa's instagram feed as well.


Have you ever had a nutritional consultation?  How do you fuel your workouts?

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