• Skip to main content
Free Your Fitness
  • Home
  • Our Mission
  • Join the Movement
  • Story Wall
  • Founder

Founder

I want to share a bit about myself and this journey, as both an expert, human being and  founder of Free Your Fitness. Yes, I have a degree in exercise physiology and nutrition from an Ivy League school. And yes, I have 30+ years experience working in body movement and wellness.  But what got me there, is the real story of me and what inspired Free Your Fitness.  As a young girl I always loved to move my body.

But along the way, I got so many mixed messages about exercise that confused my relationship to my body. 

  • As a young dancer I was told by my teachers that it was “shocking” that I was so flexible living in a bigger body.
  • As a cheerleader in high school, I was told I was not a “real” athlete.
  • In college my rowing crew coach’s philosophy was that the team was not working hard enough unless we vomited by the end of our practice.
  • As a fitness instructor I was trained to use words like, “modified exercise” and “advanced exercise”.
  • As a personal trainer I heard things like, “no pain, no gain” and “if you’re still standing you didn’t work hard enough”.
  • As an avid exercise enthusiast, I learned how to box and loved the way my mind stayed present. But as soon as I found my groove, I heard the instructor say things like, “left, right, left jab, let’s tighten those flabby arms” and instead of feeling like a rockstar, I was imaging those flabby arms.

As a yogi I love the practice of mind-body connection. But when I hear the yoga instructor  say things like “just relax, let go” I feel like my feelings are  not quite valid enough for the mat. What if today I’m just not able to relax or let go?

After many disturbing experiences, I VOWED to stop the insanity. 

These experiences scarred my relationship with dance, movement, sports and exercise. I left my career in fitness and pursued a double masters in nutrition and applied physiology in an attempt to make an impact and shift the perspective around fitness. 

Today, in my nutrition and yoga therapy practice, I specialize in disordered eating, exercise compulsion, body image issues and trauma. And I hear so MANY similar stories to the ones I just recounted. If there wasn’t a place for respectful language in exercise, body positive philosophies in sport and empowered exercise – I was committed to creating a space for it.

Join me in my life’s greatest passion. Free Your Fitness.

Maria XO

FreeUrFitness.com

Copyright © 2023