February…the month of love.

Let's open our hearts and let our love light shine bright on our loved ones, family, friends, coworkers, and our community this month. Give an unsuspecting person a bright smile, a bear hug, a helping hand, an unexpected compliment, or an anonymous gift.

We are gearing up for Valentine's week, and are offering some February Specials just for Couples!

Half Price Classes for Your Valentine

On Valentine's Week at the studio, Monday February 13 through Friday February 17, bring your sweetie with you to any class on the regular schedule and he or she will attend for a sweet price—just $6! (cash or check only, please; class package adjustments not available)

Two by Two Duet Sale

Also for the entire month of February, receive $25 OFF per person on any 6-pack of Duets. Duets are a great way to get personalized attention with a spouse, friend or work-out buddy, and it provides a ready-made accountability partner! Just mention this offer to redeem your discount!

Special Classes on Valentine's Week

On Monday, February 13, bring your special someone to a special Couples Stretch & Strength Class @ 5:30 p.m.! On Thursday, February 16, join us for a special Heart Opening Yoga Class @ 5:30 p.m.!

Happy Anniversary Synergy!

But February is not just special around here because of St. Valentine's Day. February marks Synergy's FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! We are so honored and privileged to have served you for the last 5 years. And we hope to serve you for many more! Our hearts swell with gratitude this month as we truly and deeply thank you for your loyalty and dedication to our studio. We realize that you have choices about how you spend your time and your money, and we are continually humbled and honored that you choose to spend them with us. No deeper love and appreciation could be found than ours for our clients. WE LOVE YOU!

Come Celebrate with Us! Open House!

On Tuesday night, February 28, from 4 to 7 p.m. Come and join us for an Open House/Anniversary Celebration! We will have door prize giveaways, including private sessions with Petti, Chris & Rose. Enjoy free demos, snacks and refreshments.

Four Weeks ONLY! 9:30 a.m. Pilates Mat Mix!

You asked for it, you got it! Pilates is returning to the a.m. schedule and we will test market it for 4 weeks. If the attendance is good, we will keep the class on the schedule, so come in and bring your friends! This Pilates-based class will feature classical and contemporary sequences of exercise, and will feature a different prop each week for variety and challenge. Week 1, February 29 – Classical Mat Week 2, March 7 – Foam Roller Week 3, March 14 – Stability Ball Week 4, March 21 – Miniball & Handweights

Heart Breath Exercise

Try this exercise during the month of February. Lie on your back in a comfortable spot, close your eyes, and relax. Begin to focus on your breathing. You may choose to dedicate your practice to someone who has shown you love (this could be a person who is still with us today, or someone who has passed on). If so, hold them in your mind as you take the next few breaths. As you continue to breathe, imagine that you could take each breath directly into your heart and expand it on the in-breath. Imagine that love and compassion are carried on the air and that each breath is filling up your heart even more. Focus on the in-breath for now, and press the backs of your shoulders and upper arms gently into the floor as you breathe in, feeling the breastbone lift a little. Feel the heart and chest opening. As you exhale, relax. Soften your chest, neck, face, and arms. Let the heart rest in the back of your rib cage. Continue for a few minutes in this way, expanding the heart on the inhale, relaxing more and more on the exhale. Then return to your natural breath, slowly open your eyes, and sit up. How do you feel? Once you have done this exercise a few times, you might want to add on a few minutes to focus on the out-breath, imagining that you are sharing love and compassion with others, or sending it to someone specific.

See you on the Mat!

Remembering Keeble Bell, 1952-2012

On a more serious note, we also celebrate the life of Keeble Bell this month. A loyal and loving client & friend since our first year in business. Keeble passed away last week, after a long but spirited struggle with cancer. Her bubbly personality, bright smile and deeply caring, compassionate countenance will never be forgotten at Synergy. Keeble first came to the studio, reluctantly, at the urging of her dear friend Anne. Together they became the "terrible two" of Pilates at the studio (later recoined as the "terrific two"). Keeble was in the latter stages of recovery from breast cancer and tram flap surgery at the time of her first visit. Working with Keeble was an enormous blessing, and I learned more from her than she possibly could have ever learned from me. Watching her open up, body, mind & spirit, was like watching a blooming flower, and one of the greatest privileges of my career, and my life. We were heartbroken together a few years later, when we learned of the return of the cancer to her brain. And once again, post-surgery, she worked on her recovery at the studio with Pilates and yoga, her spirit never faltering, her energy never waning. She came up with the innovative idea of using trekking poles, like those she may have used backpacking across Europe with her husband, LeBron. (a story she loved to tell; and I loved to hear). We found creative ways to use them, to re-establish balance, centering, and control. And even once her body began to fail her, her smile and her spirit never did. Through many laughs and tears, a special relationship was forged, one that will always be cherished. In sharing her life, her illness, her recovery, and her death with me, Keeble gave me a gift of inordinate proportion. No amount of money could begin to buy the education she provided me about the body, the mind, and the strength of the human spirit. Her gift will forever be with me, for the entirety of my career, and no doubt, for the entirety of my life. I can only hope to honor her memory through my work, which was made more meaningful by her trust in the work, and in me. May she rest in peace. And may her memory forever live on in our hearts. – Petti Groth