My Journey to Getting Certified in the Original Lotte Berk Technique: First Weekend of Training Recap

In this series of posts, our Southern US Editor Jennifer Mathieu Henshall shares her POV while on her journey to getting certified by theLONDONmethod in the original Lotte Berk Technique.

Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. Like waiting for water to boil, I kept hitting that familiar curved arrow button on my browser hoping the email would arrive. I leapt out of bed (I was too excited to immediately drift off to sleep that night) when the words, “TLM Teacher Training…It’s Only Just Begun” appeared in my inbox. It was here — a link to the course materials that I knew were going to continue to shape my entire outlook on fitness and wellness. I quickly opened the PDF that housed the 2020 version of the TLM Teacher Training Online Manual for a glimpse at the Fairfax Family’s Secret Recipe and began scrolling through the pages…

I awoke early the next morning to get a few things settled before training officially began, for me, at noon EST. Because I’m old-school and prefer paper over digital copies, I printed up the TLM Teacher Training Manual (in color — it’s really pretty!), put my three-hole punch to good use and then placed the almost 50-page document in a white three-ring binder.

With laptop, binder, pen and water in-hand, I headed down to my home barre studio/exercise sanctuary and settled in for Day 1 of the first weekend of training in the ORIGINAL Lotte Berk Technique.

Day 1 of Training – “You’ll Have Fun and Get Your Work Done,” tLm

I have to admit that I was nervously excited as I switched on my laptop, positioned my camera and settled into a comfy seat with my newly printed TLM Manual. I was excited because I was going to be learning the ORIGINAL Technique and equally nervous because I was going to be learning the ORIGINAL Technique.

I logged into our virtual classroom precisely at noon and ready to absorb as much I could over the course of the next three hours. We spent the first hour and a half learning about the roots and history of the ORIGINAL, discussing how Kelly first discovered the Technique, what happened when she brought it back to America and how Pam and Kelly opened The London Method – the first studio in the U.S. to offer this one-of-a-kind, core-conditioning class.

After we reviewed some of the differences and similarities between Americanized-barre and the ORIGINAL Technique, we then spent some time getting to know the other trainees – our soon-to-be tLm family members.

Like new virtual friends, we chatted as if we were all in an actual tLm class. We talked about where we all lived, our current circumstances and why we wanted to learn the Technique. Then, it was time to learn the Warm-Up.

I flipped through my manual, which contains clear pictures to accent the concise instructions, cues and things to “watch for,” as Kelly described the moves and Pam executed proper form and alignment. Not only were the exercises printed in the manual and demonstrated during the training session, but they are also available online to all tLm trainees for future reference.

The Warm-Up is quite comprehensive and takes about five to seven minutes of class time to complete, so it took us a bit to grasp the moves before we got the chance to put them into practice ourselves. We concluded class on that first day with the Warm-Up fresh in our minds and muscles.

Day 2 of Training – “Essence, not just Exercise,” tLm

You would think that after having spent three hours in training the day before, that I wouldn’t have found myself jumping out of bed brighter and earlier than usual on that following Sunday morning. But there I was – coffee already brewing – looking through my manual and notes from the prior day before 7 a.m. I wanted to run through the Warm-Up a few times before class began that afternoon. As stated earlier, the Warm-Up kicks off the first five to seven minutes of class and is longer and more effective than any warm-up that I’ve ever taught in a barre class.

Through a variety of dynamic stretches and movements, which are all generated from the core, your entire body is lengthened, opened up and primed for the rest of the 60-minute session. As I practiced the movements, I zeroed in on my own body and remembered the prompts that Kelly and Pam had provided us with the day before – “up and over,” “lengthen,” and “stretch.” The way that the ORIGINAL Warm-Up is structured allows you to move freely – but, with control – mindfully engage those muscles that are going to be worked and focus on flowing from one movement to the next.

After practicing the Warm-Up several times and puttering around the house doing my Sunday chores, it was time to log back in for Day 2. We began class by performing the Warm-Up to music and then spent the next two hours learning the first few sections of the ORIGINAL class.

As with other training classes, I jotted down notes, while Pam demonstrated, and then tried the movements out on my own body. Again, I felt something different. We weren’t just learning to bend and straighten our legs. Because the movements are so small, slow and concise, I finally forced myself to truly straighten my leg, lift it as high as it could possibly go and push down any thoughts that my former “cardio-driven” self would have considered.

This Technique is not about AMRAPS or sets, it’s about moving and feeling your way through the exercises as honestly as you can and seeing the proven results of simultaneously stretching and strengthening your body. As Lotte Berk once said, “If you can’t get to the ultimate point of stretching, you’re cheating yourself.”

Week 1 Impressions

As a Certified Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor, I have taken many fitness training – both in-person and online – over the past five years. Most of them were well-organized and based in scientific research and some were so energizing and motivating that I felt compelled to go out and teach them to everyone I knew, but none of the training that I’ve ever taken has been quite like the ORIGINAL.

I felt like I was learning some wonderfully magical secret language, but one that I was allowed and encouraged to share with others.

As I learned during training, Lotte Berk developed her famous Technique to heal her injured back, while still maintaining her strength and figure, but it is Esther Fairfax, Lotte’s daughter, that we can thank for bringing the ORIGINAL to the world. Yes, Lotte was a genius when it came to working the body in ways that allow for both healing and strengthening, but it is Esther who took her mother’s movements and devised a workable structure that could be replicated and passed onto others. Today, we thank Esther for gifting us with her family’s secret recipe, as it is certainly one that will benefit many generations of fitness enthusiasts and instructors, alike.

I’ll be the first to admit that I tend to get overly excited about things – especially when it comes to health and fitness. As someone who has had her fair share of struggles in these two particular departments, I’m always on the hunt for new and innovative ways to stay fit and healthy. I have numerous fitness certifications, a couple of nutrition certifications and a home gym stuffed with all types of equipment and DVDs (yes, DVDs – mostly barre workouts, of course!).

My quest for knowledge is ongoing, but in all honesty, it gets overwhelming. It would take me a lifetime to get through and experiment with all of the information that is available on how to eat and train. But, this year – the year the world was forced to change and slow down – I followed suit. Sure, part of it was due to the fact that we were forced to stay home, but I was also motivated by a terrible autoimmune flare-up that I experienced at the end of 2019. And, during this time of self-isolation, I discovered if gentle, mindful movements – the types of movements that my body actually craved, but I often ignored – were able to heal me, they should certainly be able to heal others.

If you read my previous two posts, you already know that I sought out further training in the ORIGINAL Technique with The London Method because I wanted to know the origins of barre and to share this knowledge with others who may also be “sick and tired of feeling sick and tired,” crave a more mindful way of moving and desire a long, lean and svelte body. And, after the first week of training commenced, I discovered that the ORIGINAL will result in a long, lean and svelte body, but it goes beyond the physical. It is about feeling welcomed, excited, entranced – and maybe even a little silly at times – about exercise. And, as an instructor of the ORIGINAL Technique, these are the feelings that I want to create in my students, my classes and more.

See you at the barre!