Instructor Insights: Whitney
WHITNEY
Hailing from the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., Whitney loves being outdoors. When the Berlin weather keeps her inside, you can find her in the dance or Pilates studio. A contemporary dancer and educator and certified Pilates instructor, she has performed and taught in Southern California, Chicago, London, and most recently Boston over the past 15 years. You can expect attention to detail and form in Whitney’s classes, with an emphasis on taking time to reconnect to and focus on yourself..
Fit-focused Q’s:
What is your go-to breakfast on a busy morning? Super short on time? Raw bar, energy bite, or a bulletproof coffee. Medium? Overnight oats or plain, bio yogurt with seeds, nuts, and fruit. A luxurious morning? I make a mean Ayurvedic golden oatmeal with ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, almond milk, chia and flax seeds. It is so comforting, grounding, and loaded with anti-inflammatory ingredients, soluble fibre, and good fats. And coffee. There is always coffee.
What's your best strategy to stay motivated? Building healthy routines is super important for me. I know that I am more successful when I build healthy habits into my routine and when I am held accountable— planning to take a class when I am already in the neighbourhood or scheduling a coffee date around a workout so that I fill my cup up in two ways at once! I also do my best to listen to what I really need— for both physical, mental, and spiritual health. What do I need this season? This week? This morning? As a counter to the other physical and mental work in my life? Workouts and routines do not always need to look the same. Sometimes I need a slower, more restorative class for my mental and physical health, whereas other times I need a serious endorphin boost or to burn off energy/overthinking. This can be even at different times of day! I try to give myself permission to follow my intuition around what is going to serve me best.
The best thing we can do for ourselves after a workout is... Drink plenty of water and stretch!!! There is so much interesting research on our fascial system (ask me about this anytime!) and we hold so much in our bodies (tension, emotions…). Unless this was already incorporated in your workout, taking the time to combine deep breathing and a stretching/opening up the fascial system allows us to calm our heart rates, balance out the muscles that have been working so hard, and encourage flushing toxins out of our system.
© BECYCLE
Is there a special dietary regime you follow? What changes have you seen or felt since you have started it? I am an everything-in-moderation person. I generally follow a Mediterranean/Flexitarian diet with lots of fruits and veggies, healthy fats and Omega-3’s from nuts, seeds, avocados, sustainably-sourced fish, and soluble fiber through oats and lentils. I am also a big fan of prebiotics and probiotics— lots of those delicious fermented foods that help our gut-brain connection, like kombucha and sauerkraut.
I try to steer clear of too much sugar, alcohol, dairy, or gluten, to keep inflammation down for mental and physical health, but let’s be realistic— I still need a glass of wine or an ice cream every once in a while!
What are your top three exercises to do at home?
Pilates deep abdominal work (toe taps, abdominal curls, and single leg stretch/bicycles.)
Pilates bridges— any kind…single leg, double leg, with or without a ball— just do them.
Yoga Sun A series
Ok one more— turn on some music or binaural beats and just let your body move intuitively, allow yourself to be creative and curious (you’ll learn a lot about what is going on in your body and what you need)
What are your tips to have energy all day? Stay hydrated and keep your blood sugar even. I see the biggest difference from my sugar and high-glycemic food intake. Brain fog, sluggishness, and joint inflammation are greatly improved when I keep my sugar intake low and blood sugar level even, avoiding those crazy energy highs and then inevitable crashes.
Quick-fire Q’s
Best Restaurant in Berlin and Best Bar in Berlin: My favourite this summer for all of the above + outdoor ambiance— Kink
Best Place to dance in Berlin: I’m a big fan of Sisyphus and Kater Blau— but these days it’s most often a dance in my living room! Side note, I’m a professional contemporary dancer, so you can also find me teaching movement classes for people with all levels of dance experience at Dock11 and Tanzfabrik.
Destination looking fwd traveling to the most: I am aiming to visit Bali in 2023 and Patagonia is also high on my list.
Least favourite exercise: For a type of exercise it would be mountain biking - no thank you (this also means I really love the instructor or really need to blow off steam if you see me in RIDE room! As for a specific exercise that I teach: the hundred - it always feels like there are more than 100 counts and it never seems to get easier!
One lesson learned from the pandemic period: Learning to slow down and not over-schedule myself. This is a work in progress, but something I’m aiming to keep as the world continues to open up.
Silly Q’s:
Dog, cats, neither? Cats, definitely cats. I grew up with both, but cats and I really understand one another.
You're stranded on an island. What's the one thing you'd wish you had and why? My answer should probably be rope, duct tape or something useful for survival, but I think I’m going with a headlamp. It is amazing how difficult it can be to make camp or accomplish tasks in the dark, and sometimes getting a fire started is just too time consuming or difficult with the weather! Or a tarp. You can do so much with a tarp!