S.3 Ep.2 - Anchoring Yourself in Your Body with Sasha Alcoloumbre

Sasha Alcoloumbre is a movement instructor, filmmaker and former national-level figure skater who has been teaching Essentrics classes at Bota Bota. In this episode, Sasha explains the path that lead him to discovering Essentrics, his new life as an entrepreneur and how his experience as a movement instructor and filmmaker can be linked to his creativity.

The Anchor Point podcast is hosted by Constance Carpanese.

Transcript

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Hello, Sasha. Hi, Constance. I'm so happy to have you here today for our third season of Anchor Point. It's really a pleasure to have you with us today because you are a very special friend to Bota Bota. But we will get into that a bit later. So right now, I'd just like you to introduce yourself to us. And why Why you're so special to us. That's a big question. Well, firstly, thanks for having me. I'm really happy to be here. So my name is Sasha Alcoloumbre for those who don't know me. I'm a trainer. So movement instructor and a filmmaker. And why I'm so special to Bota Bota, that's maybe for you to tell me, but I think I kind of fit into the overall or overarching kind of themes and offerings of the Bota Bota in the sense that it's more than just a spa. There's very much an emphasis on kind of holistic wellness and movement is one way of kind of achieving that, you know, that well-being. So I guess that's what makes me special, is that I can bring in that element to the Bota. Absolutely. So for those of you who don't know, Sasha is a fitness instructor at Bota Bota. So we've been doing that as a recurrent activity at Bota and it's been really great to have you bring in some new passengers and we have our old passengers trying out your classes and it's really been a great experience. Can you tell us a bit about the package that you're actually doing with us at Bota? Yes. So we're combining one hour of an Essentrics class. So Essentrics is a dynamic stretching and strengthening program that I've been teaching for 12 years now, and the classes focus a little bit more on deep stretching and relaxation. There's different ways of teaching or of doing an Esentrics class. It could be more toning-focused or... But this class is a little more kind of restorative and... So we combine an hour of that with 2 hours of the water circuit, which is really an amazing package. I mean, I, I do that usually the water circuit after the class because I really enjoy that combo and it's a nice way. It's usually on Sundays. We've been doing it on Sundays once a month at 10 a.m. and so by 1 p.m. you're you're done. Unless you take a massage, as well which I've also done and then you know... But it's a nice way to start the, you know, a weekend day and kind of to like to, let's say end the weekend. Like I feel like you kind of keep that energy until the end of the evening on Sunday. So it's really kind of restful and and fun. It sounds like the perfect Sunday to me. Oh, it is. I have to say. Especially the first. times it was quite cold and pretty sunny. So, yeah, it's just it's also like a beautiful way to engage with winter and the Bota Bota is so beautiful for that because you have views on the, you know, the St. Lawrence and everything is frozen and so it's like you're in the heat of the sauna but looking out onto, you know, frozen water, it's really, it's nice. So true. Can you take us back to your origins, who you are. What? Because you've been into fitness for a very long time. So take us back to the beginning. The beginning? Your story. I'll stick to this generation because there's many generations before. And maybe a long story, but I, so I'm from Montreal. I actually used to be a national level figure skater for many years. I started when I was quite young. I must have been six or seven. And I got into competition, more serious competition around like 11 or 12 years old. And I did Nationals for seven years from the age of 14 to... So I was on the Quebec team and basically training 5 hours a day, five days a week from the age of 14 to the age of 21. And the fitness kind of obviously beyond the, you know, the athletic career, the fitness and Essentrics especially came into play around, Yeah, when I was 18 years old, I had a bunch of injuries and notably an ankle injury and I was... my physio had opened her clinic right basically below the Essentrics studio. So Essentrics, so Miranda Esmonde White is the creator of the program and she opened her studio with her daughter Sarah, right above the physio’s office. So it was just like, you know, the luck of, you know, timing. And my physio was like, Oh, you should look into this. This might help for your injuries. And I started taking classes with Miranda about three times a week. She was offering classes for athletes. So there were she used to work with like at the time a ton of Montreal kind of Olympians, and there were divers and figure skaters like myself, singles and pairs. There was some even some professional ballet dancers. So there was a nice group of people. And then I started to see like massive changes in my body. And I was really convinced that I wanted to spread the kind of the, you know, the joy of movement as medicine, really. That's... Like I felt all of my injuries started to dissipate and my body was like, really happy. And for the first time in my career, basically at 18 when I was training for so many years, I was much less sore and yeah, I think the holistic approach was really what I needed. So basically that's where I started. That's when I started teaching. I was probably like 19 when I started my certification and teaching pretty much immediately. And uh, and I've kind of yeah, I've been teaching more or less ever since, but it's more recently, it's in the last year that I've really decided to do that full time. Um, I had different jobs and lives, but this is kind of my main yeah, my main, my main work right now. So you've been in that industry for a while? Yes. Yeah, very long time. Can you tell us a bit about what you think that industry lacks and what we can take away from it? What we should leave... out and what we should take away. Yeah, well, it's interesting because I was thinking about this question. It's hard to say what it lacks. Because there's so much like it's so vast and, and I think social media has really given everyone an opportunity, people who are, I guess, into fitness to see all sorts of types of trainers and all types of methods and pedagogies. And I mean, it's like endless. So I don't know if it lacks that much, but what I think there's too much of is people, and I think I think part of it is also the fact that, like social media is a big kind of tool for marketing and what works a lot on social media and in the fitness industry is kind of this, you know, adulation of of the individual, of the personality. And so what happens is that people in these positions of, you know, who have a big following and whatever, they tend to kind of overstep. I think their qualifications. And that to me is like what you know what should or ideally would need to change, But it probably won't. But it's basically people kind of not staying in their lane and you know, all of a sudden claiming all sorts of things about nutrition and about, you know, like spiritual things and this and that. And it doesn't mean that, you know, trainers aren't also can also be experienced in, you know, those fields and there's a lot of really you know, qualified people and that have like a nice array of you know, skills, or of different disciplines but I do think a lot of the times like that overlap can be a little dangerous and a lot of the claims can be, you know, false and pseudoscientific. A lot of the times. So yeah, that's basically what I would say the industry would need to like cut back on. It's funny because I feel like fitness and wellness obviously are like intertwined. Yeah. And what you're saying just rings so many bells. Yeah. I think it's for the client to be careful, like, be aware of, like where you get your classes from. From who? Like, you know, it's Yeah, be smart about it. Definitely. Definitely. But on the flip side, I do think there's an incredible amount of really capable and talented people. And it's amazing to like be able to witness, like and discover people on, you know, online, on social media, on YouTube, all sorts. I mean, yeah, really amazing people. So yeah, it's just about, I think, finding what resonates the most with you and also doing your research as an individual. And it's it's hard because I think that's how it is in like all fields, like I'm not a specialist in a lot of things, right? Like so I also seek knowledge and I seek people's, you know, opinions and stuff and but I try to balance that out with doing my own research and yeah, finding like a middle ground. I do believe that truth is somewhere in the middle and that everyone's kind of, especially when it comes to like wellness or wellbeing and movement and whatever, everyone's truth is different. So yeah, so finding your own kind of path amongst all the different voices. Can you tell us a bit about your walk into entrepreneurship? Because as you mentioned, you've been doing this for a little bit full time. So tell us about that experience and tell us about your brand as well. Yeah. So so yeah, I started this, I guess this brand about or I became an entrepreneur I guess about a year ago and it's been like a complete flip. Basically, my life has completely flipped. I used to have an office job. I had like, you know, a certain type of stability in my schedule. And, you know, it was there was more regularity. And so starting this business from scratch, I guess, and still working on, you know, and growing. But yeah, it's been really interesting because it's allowed me to, I think self rely a lot more and it's something that I'm really used to doing between my athletic career that was just like working, being a figure skater, especially a singles skater. You're kind of confronted to yourself all the time Yeah. You're kind of confronted and I think that taught me a lot about discipline and just like pushing forward every day and like every day working towards a specific goal. So it's not it didn't feel like unfamiliar to me. It felt very, very comfortable to walk into that space or walk into kind of that mindset. And yeah, I think I've like grown tremendously from it. Uh, and as much as it can be challenging and every person that's ever tried anything entrepreneurial will, you know, acknowledge that. But it's been, it's been really rewarding on so many, so many levels, especially on a, just a personal growth level, you know, and feeling like I'm more in control of my life than ever before. So how do you stay grounded and anchored in all of the different things that a day has to offer? Because I'm guessing your schedule is not, you know, a 9 to 5. Yeah, well, that's a work in progress. Definitely. Um, I think that's something I'm kind of getting to now. I think the first year for me anyways, and I'm sure for a lot of people when you start a business, you kind of have to do everything and try going in all sorts of directions and it's hard to maintain that balance, especially at the beginning. Now I'm starting to feel like, okay, there's a little more consistency in my slightly more consistency in my schedule. So what I'm trying to work on actually is like finding the time for myself to ground myself. And sometimes, like, I used to think that grounding myself was basically like dependent on me, like not moving and resting and, and sometimes it's not like sometimes I actually do need to do something that is active because that's my nature. I also need to, like, balance it out with like more, you know, a more restful state, which is not always my forte, But, um, but yeah, I, I don't know. I can't quite answer that because I'm still working through it, but like finding, you know, trying to find schedules or like moments in my schedule. Yeah. You know, to go to a yoga class, if I can, to go to a spinning class, if I can, to do some breathwork that's been I'm trying to really incorporate that into my daily life because that you can do from anywhere, right? And once in a while, do a, you know, a Pilates class or video. Yeah. So figuring it out, trying to be creative amongst all of that too, that's also a way to stay grounded. Yeah yeah yeah. So as you see, there's There’s no answer you guys. It's going to happen. I was listening to a podcast about grief. The other day, which is not the topic of this conversation, but the person doing the podcast was asking the people on air what was their form of self care through grief. But because grief can, you know, look like many different things. And so there was one person that was like, Oh, I, I like to watch like, what is it like Britain's Cooking Show? And so, like, a lot of people were saying, Oh, I watch like reality TV or I watch whatever. And then this other girl was like, I don't I don't do self-care in the sense kind of like what you were saying, staying put. And she was like, I like to go outside and like, do things like, that's my form of self-care. And it's funny because for me, self-care for a very long time and I think through like media and stuff, we've always talked about self-care as like doing a face mask or like taking a bath or, you know, something very still. And it's refreshing to hear that like self-care doesn't have to be like you at home under the covers, not moving, and that it can be active. Self-care can be active. Definitely, definitely. I think self-care is really just like a reconnection or just reconnecting to yourself. Totally. So whatever shape that takes or that is, you know, like I find actually somehow like my most meditative moments are when I'm like grinding really hard in a spin class and I'm like, about to die. But I'm like, I am just focusing on breathing and, you know, and that to me, like, refreshes me. It like, gives me, you know, that moment where I'm in complete flow in a flow state where I'm no longer, you know, outputting. I am. But it's for myself, like when you teach you’re outputting but for your clients. For your class and you forget about yourself. And especially how I teach. I’m very physical in the way I teach. So I'm not moving for myself. Like I'm not thinking, Oh, this is a good workout for me. It's like I'm trying to go as far in my movements. So people can understand how to do theirs. And sometimes I overdo it. But I'm better at pacing myself than I used to be. But yeah, just coming back to, like, my own body. Yeah. And my mind. And not in a way that's like “performative” for others. I think it's about like that mindfulness factor, right? Yeah. It's about... I took a class that we also offer at Bota with Sebastian Zappa, who was also on the podcast last season Which I listened to who was also on the podcast last season Which I listened to And we did a lot of breathwork, as you mentioned, and it was my first time doing breathwork and I found it so fascinating because it was really a way for myself to be super grounded in the present moment through breath. And because we don't know how to breathe properly most of the time. So it was... No we don’t. really interesting to like And also through your classes, you always remind us to like, breathe in, breathe out, like, you know, concentrate on how we function. Because during your classes, we're very... there's a lot of movement that's mostly pretty slow. But, you know, you have to focus on your breathing and on moving. And it's like, I don't think we're used to... We're used to doing a bunch of things at the same time, but we're not used to being mindful about all these things. Half of the things we're going to do, we're not even going to remember we did them right. So I think fitness in that sense is so important because it really teaches you to focus and remember what you're doing. Yeah. It's amazing. Can you tell us a bit more about Essentrics and like what it does and why it's important to do? So, Essentrics is important to do because well, before I talk about Essentrics, actually, I think, you know, what's important is to find, you know, a method or find a class or find YouTube videos or find whatever you can, you know, a tool for your body to realign, to be rebalanced, meaning, you know, our day to day life kind of imbalances our body. So, you know, we're sitting at a desk a lot, if that's our, you know, our main job, let's say it's working at a desk. Our you know, shoulders tend to go forward. So we shorten our pectoral and our traps in the upper back weaken. And so that, you know, affects our posture and what happens when the pelvis is where our slightly, you know, in a posterior tilt and then you're putting pressure on your lumbar spine. So, you know, if that's your 8 hours of, you know, in a day, you're doing that for 8 hours in a day, obviously your body is out of whack and out of balance. And so you need a practice that helps you rebalance that, you know, and beyond like just the daily activities where our bodies are not you know, they're not naturally perfectly aligned. So you have to kind of even like, you know, on a base level, like without the activities that kind of like worsen the state of the body just on a base level, most bodies are a little imbalanced or a little crooked, so to speak. Like, you know, perfect alignment is something you want to achieve. Not perfect, but ideal alignment for each person, which looks different. So you want that practice that kind of recenters your body. And so for me, Essentrics is one of those practices Pilates is too and I'm soon going to be offering reformer plates, which I really have become obsessed with, like a lot of people who do it, but so Essentrics is an amazing kind of midpoint. I think it's a really nice entry point also for people who don't work out that much or who aren't so, you know, movement focused because it really gets every single joint moving in a way that's still pretty gentle. So you’re strengthening your muscles and your joints and your body through dynamic stretching. And what is that? Basically, it's stretching in a way that's, you know, movement-oriented, that's not passive. So you're actively stretching your muscles and you're training them to stay in an elongated position to decompress, which means that you're creating a little more “space” in your joints. And that's what your body needs, because over time with gravity, with just so gravitational pull towards, you know, the center of the earth, being a little, yeah, a little dramatic here. But there's that pull there's sitting at a desk, that kind of pull. All of our activities are usually leaning forward when we cook, when we lift, you know, so everything is shortening. You need something that lengthens, that creates that opposition. And that's what Essentrics does and that's why I love it. It's like that prehistoric image of like, you know how like men were in the prehistoric times and then they slowly started walking and now we're like kind of going back to that. 100%. this interview crawling on the floor, like Totally, totally. Yeah. Well, you know, if you look at, like, you know, mankind in general and you look at, you know, the different kind of eras and species and whatever, but mostly like, let's say in the last 2000 years, like we went from being, you know, a very agriculturally-focused society of like, you know, most of the times you work with your body to a very sedentary, very, very sedentary kind of workforce. Right. Or lifestyle. Yeah. So just that is reason enough to like find something that fits in your lifestyle and your schedule, whatever that's like. Yeah. Kind of helping you stay sane like physically sane. Yeah. Have you noticed common injuries in people that, I mean, there's probably a plethora of it. Yeah. Just like everything, like all of the injuries. There's everything. But yeah, oftentimes and I think injuries and there's so many different kinds of injuries and like, there's accident injuries where, you know, you fall off the chair and whatever, break your leg. I mean, hopefully that doesn't happen to anyone. I don't know. I was trying to come up with an imagery, but there's also there's like stress injuries of like doing repetitive movements in a way that's, you know, unhealthy or imbalanced. And that weakens certain areas and then you get injured. Yeah. And that seems to be a little more frequent. But also, you know, I think injuries occur when you aren't you don't know how to use your body. Yeah. And you're doing, you know, a certain type of effort or physical effort you haven't done before. So yeah, that's also part of the how I teach. Like I want to in my pedagogy, I want to give the tools to my clients for them to just be able to use their body in any situation. Like if they love, you know, running, how can they optimize their training and their body for that activity and how can they avoid or prevent injuries by working certain muscles in certain ways and at certain times, you know, like in their warm ups and their cool downs, like what are they focusing on? And yeah, that's my goal is to basically and I think Essentrics is great for that. And at Pilates too. It's like you're, you know, there's different exercises, target different muscle groups and you can basically have that as, you know, or include those types of exercises in your daily routine once you know how to do them. And they're accessible, you know. What I love about Essentrics as well and what you teach is that it's not about having things on the side that are going to help you tone. What you say is always like the body, like tones the body. You don't say that. But but we use like our own weight as like a tuning mechanism, right? So there's a lot of like strength training in what we do, except it's not. Yeah. Yeah. You're not using external weights. You know, there's virtues to all kinds of movement. I think, you know, weight bearing exercises, whether it's with your body weight with external weights, can be great. It just depends how it's done. Exactly. Yeah. So but what's great about teaching, you know, Essentrics in, you know, the way it's supposed to be taught. So without any external weights and just using, you know, the weight of the arms to strengthen the shoulders, the weight of the leg strengthening the hips is that injuries are much less frequent. If like I've never heard of anyone getting injured with Essentrics. Yeah. And even if you do it, kind of because it's your for first class and the movements are complex, you're still going to get a lot out of it and that general movement is going to be way better than like no movement at all. Um, but yeah, it's, it's definitely super. It can be super strengthening. You can strengthen your body without having, you know, a set of 20 million dumbbells at home and you can just it can be really simple. Yeah. And I feel like most people don't realize that actually, that it can be so simple. I watched recently a show with Chris Hemsworth for National Geographic. Oh, wow. So fun pairing. So Chris Hemsworth plays Thor in the Marvel movies, so he is a big chunk of a man. Yeah, he is. And so this whole series is like, I think in five episodes, and he is the protagonist of the series and he wants to look at a bunch of different ways to not stop aging, but like make aging a process that is like the least painful thing ever. So every episode he dives into like a certain topic. So in one of the episodes he goes cold, plunging. So that's like very typical of Bota Bota, obviously. There's another one where he does a bunch of stuff for his mind because like mental health and how you work your brain is also a way to stop. Well, not stop aging. But like make again aging a slower and less painful process. So he talks a lot about Alzheimer's and stuff like that. And in the last I don't want to spoil anything, but in the last episode he also looks at aging as like just a natural and normal process that we can't stop and that, you know, there's no amount of like facial creams and anti-wrinkle things that are going to make us not get old. And he puts on this incredible suit that's like made up of a bunch of random elastics and things and he also puts on a helmet and these, like, weird goggles. So all of this suit is supposed to show what it feels like when you're old. So he's like 38 or something. And that suit on him is basically him being like an 80 year old man. And it's so funny because, you know, he's so in shape and he's so incredibly strong and he is so limited by all his movements because there's like this huge elastic band that's like holding his wrist from, like his waist and he's having. And so at some point he goes to like a fitness class for like older people. And he has such a hard time doing the most mundane things. And when I was watching his, like kept on thinking about Essentrics and I was like, if he had started Essentrics earlier, he would, you know, he would get it. Well, that's, you know, that's what's amazing about about movement and introducing it, you know, early on is that you're you're kind of defying the clock. Right. And what happens is with the least, the less you move over time, the more certain muscles in your body weaken and atrophy. And that's what long term, it's not only the muscles, it's the connective tissue as well, which surrounds the muscles, surrounds the cells and it kind of calcifies or like it hardens. And when that kind of layer of aging, let's say, kicks into your body, it's much harder to reverse. And so that's like years and years and years of like lack of movement. And it can happen to people who are active because they don't work certain muscle groups. Yes. Exactly. So but that's a whole kind So Miranda Esmonde White, who created the program, she wrote some books called Aging Backwards. And basically, like the whole idea of the program is based around yeah, full body movement, all joints, all muscles being solicited so that you don't really age muscularly or physically at the same rate you would if you were less mobile and less in movement. I think it's important when we look at aging and stuff to, as you said, focus on different ways to get your body moving and again, in that show, at some point he works on strength. Yeah. And as we know, he's super big because he plays Thor and the entire the entire show I think takes up a year of his life. So he has a lot of filming to do in that sense as well. So he has to bulk up at some point to play Thor. 45 steaks a day, like with eggs, I don't know it’s just a lot. And during that time, one of the episodes again is strength, and he has to at the end of every episode, he has to like, do a certain really intense thing. And in that one it's climb up a rope. But in the middle of like this giant forest and the rope is like attached to a helicopter and it's just like, like nobody would do that in real life. But it's funny to see because automatically when you look at somebody that has a lot of muscle, you're like, Oh, he's super strong. He can do anything. But the thing is, is that he's bulking up for something that's like more esthetic than actually body functional. So when he first starts to try to climb up a rope, he like can't even go up like one meter, like he has such a hard time. And I think it's so fascinating when you look at someone that physically looks super fit. But in the end, like, I mean, you're not going to have to climb ropes every day for your life. But what I mean is that the body can do certain things at certain times. It's not because you look healthy. Well, that's the thing. I think the fact that, you know, our brain has been like just so the imprints of, you know, magazines and or magazine covers and social media and whatever, like has kind of biased our view of what a body should look like and a strong body should look like. And honestly, like for me that the look of a body, I mean, especially when I think of like my clients, that's like just not it's not a goal I consider unless it's something they really want to focus on. But for me, strength is that balance between like mobility, or. Actually no. Strength is essentially mobility, because mobility is equal parts of flexibility and strength, right? So strength to me and it can vary really per person. It depends what your activity is like. If you're you know, like you said, if you're climbing a rope, you have to have that strength. But to me, in day to day life, like your strength is your ability to do all the activities you want to do and be resilient. So basically, like prevent or avoid injuries, have no pain or the least amount of pain possible, it's being able to be 70 or 80. And you know, if you have grandkids, be able to hold them, to play with them, to bend over, you know, it's like it's all those things to me. So, yeah, I guess like I don't kind of adopt the traditional view of of strength, but I think everyone would be I think it would be beneficial for the world to shift into that. Yeah. Or that mind frame to just look at mobility as like actual. It's a long term thing. I think mostly in fitness, sometimes we look at like the plastic of it all where it's like I want to look a certain way and that's fine. But it's also I think we will gain more out of looking at fitness as a long term plan, more so than short term. I want to look, you know, snatched for the summer, which also is a great thing. It's a great thing. But, you know, it's a form of like health insurance. Really? Totally. Totally! Essentially what your in your own conditioning, let's call it conditioning, because you're you're conditioning your body for all the things you want to do. And that kind of investment is something that you will like, reap the benefits of, you know, for as long as you live. Yeah, as long as that's consistent. Yeah yeah. I have a friend who's training for a marathon and she has had this, like, weird knee situation for a while, but she just kind of didn't want to look at it. And she went to the doctor the other week and he told her she had some sort of, as you said, like stress fracture or something. So she can't do the marathon because she has to chill out for a sec. And she was telling me that. So she turned 30 in the fall and she was like, I can tell that my body is aging and I don't like it. And she's a friend that also just does not like to age, so whatever. And she was like when I was 20, I could like run and not stretch before, not stretch after, and I was fine. And she's like, now I, I can't do that. And I was like, maybe, maybe that's normal. It's actually and to me it's just crazy because not crazy, but like as an athlete, there was never really a time where I could like, do things without warming up or I mean, some some people have more resilient bodies maybe like that was like I needed to I would I started to to be less injured and like you know in better shape when I was really consistent about my, you know, warm ups and cool downs as an 18 year old. Okay. Yeah. So to me, like people like going for a run or doing things without warming up or cooling down, it's ludicrous. Like because it's a physical activity and you do need to prepare your body before you know that kind of impact. But I get that that's not everyone's like background. Like, that was my experience. But yes, like the body's actually not really... Like when you're you're in your twenties. Yes, maybe there's a little more you're faster at recovering basically like in each decade your recovery takes a little longer because your cellular regeneration is a little slower. But that can be kind of hacked by how much movement you do and like. Basically your metabolism can stay quite fast and recover quite quickly based on how much you how, how you train your body. But yeah, like I think a lot of times also it's it's just in your early twenties you're less conscious. And like, you know you can, you just won't feel things or you won't pay attention to them the way you do when you're in your thirties. So this is a PSA for every twenty-year-old out there. Well, it's like, you know, when you're in your twenties and you know people who are like, and this was also not my case. I think I was just an old soul or body forever. But like, you know, people are like, yeah, I used to like, go out and drink so much and like, and feel fine. Like I never felt fine. You’ve just been an 80 year old man! Basically. So. So I think a lot of it is tied to like how conscious you are to, or how body-aware you are. I mean. Yeah, for sure. I love that. So everyone warm up, please. Any age, all ages. So you've mentioned This isn't a secret now that I've been taking your classes for a while. I'm an avid student, and what I've noticed and what I know you've been incorporating in your brand a lot is like mixing that whole universe of filmmaking into your classes through movement, but also through your playlists, which are amazing. And I always feel like in a movie I'm like, you know, it's always so amazing. So how difficult is it to merge these two worlds and do you do it on purpose, like actively on purpose or Yeah, how do these two worlds collide so perfectly? I don't think in this case anyways, I don't think it's really on purpose. It's just like it stems from the same place. Like when I put together a playlist, I'm thinking of an emotional that's also part of it's a it's a pedagogical tool. Music is a pedagogical tool in Essentrics, but also in other types of, you know, fitness classes. So it can be really used to your advantage to be able to communicate kind of the amount of effort required in each exercise. And then beyond the like individual songs, individual exercises. For me, it's really important to create a flow because. Well, one, I love music and I want people to get into a flow and for there to be kind of an emotional, you know, evolution throughout the class, like a movie. Yeah. And so I think It stems from a creative place. So and for me, like film and teaching and like all the things I do are not like I don't see them as, as separate. I really see them as one and the same, which I know for most people may be confusing, but that's just how it is. I mean, it's such a holistic approach, too, to kind of look at the different spheres of your life that you love so much and that you're actually so good at. And to find a way to merge them I think is a magical thing because not everyone can do that. So. Thank you. But it's I wouldn't say it's like super conscious too. It's just like it's something I, I enjoy doing. So I Yeah. Which makes it even more magical because you're like, I don't even have to think about. working on a playlist is hard. I have to do my research. For sure. So delving into that world, the world of filmmaking, you had your first short movie filmed in 20. What was it, 18? So yeah, made it So it started its festival kind of circuit in 2019. So can you tell us a bit about that movie, first, before we dive into the rest? So the film is called Three Months. It's actually a French language film. So Trois Mois the original title, and it basically is about a romance between these two guys. That wavers when one of the characters reveals belatedly that he's HIV positive. So it's basically about that negotiation, like later into a relationship of like, okay, something was not shared and it's about trust and it's about communication. It's about love overcoming stigma or overcoming, you know, the falling out of trust. So, yeah, that's more or less it. And the film went to a bunch of festivals in Canada, in the States, in Europe, in India, and yeah, in Asia as well. Wow! Yeah. So it kind of had its, its moment and... Also we could watch it on Air Canada planes. Oh yes it was, I don't think it's, it's, I think that the period is over. Yeah but that was fun. It was also on CBC. Yeah. So it had a it really it surprised me in you know the way it was appreciated I guess And you're also working on a new short. Yes. Right now. Is there something you can tell us about it? Yeah, I can, I'll give you a short, you know, short synopsis. So very different story. It's basically the portrait of this elderly woman who, in short, falls alone in her home after having hosted a family, a big family meal. And it's basically about her kind of not necessarily will to live, but like her life being like what's the word. See, I should I should pitch it more often. Yeah, I'm trying to I'm trying to reveal not too much. So basically it's about her being shaken and really acknowledging the fact that her life is changing, that she is entering a new era. She actually the mobility aspect is really a big part of it. She's losing a bit of mobility and her hearing is a little difficult. It’s a great PSA for Essentrics and your class. Yeah, exactly. It somehow makes sense, but it's like stay mobile. No, no, no. Yeah. So it's basically about kind of this transition in her life. And it's it's not so much a big narrative arc like there isn't a big, you know, like quest and it's really a portrait of this moment and and of her shifting and acknowledging it through words to one of her grandchildren. Yeah. So in both movies, I mean, they're very different, but I can sense that there's some sort of recurrent theme within love and how we show up for other people. And is that was that a conscious decision and why are these themes so they seem important to you? So, so why? I mean, love should be an important theme. Love should be an important theme. Um, once again, I don't know. I have like, this is the podcast with the least amount of like straightforward answers, I'm really sorry. I apologize. No because I think it’s you know, creating an art and everything is a process. It's a process and it's intuitive. Like I think with filmmaking, especially at the pace I'm doing it, which is like very glacial one movie every 7 million years. I mean, it's a budget and it's time and it’s normal. definitely, definitely. No, but it's a process. I think for me, it's really important to do something that comes, like, from the heart, obviously. I think most filmmakers will say the same thing because projects take really a long time to come to life. Yeah I'm like, last one. The turnover was a little faster because it was more like guerrilla style. We had no funding and it was, you know, we were younger and my team and I, we just wanted to do this and... The recovery process was faster. Actually it took me a while to recover from that one. But this, in this case, I'm I already have half the funding secured and I'm working on the second half. And it's, I started writing this like nearly two years ago. So it's it's a much longer haul because I want to do it right and I want to do it in the right conditions. But where was I going with that? Now you're asking me a question, and... I was asking the theme, how... Why are these themes so important to you and why are they recurrent? And yes. Oh yes, my digressions are really spectacular today. Um, so basically, yeah you want to do, you want to, as a filmmaker, you want to make, especially if you're going the funding route and stuff, you want to have projects that you can be with for a long time. So they have to be really close to your heart and they have to resonate with you for much longer than you think. So there has to be really like you have to have a sense of purpose and like why you're doing this, why you're putting this story out in the world, why is it different? Why is it important? And I guess like maybe for me Love is, you know, in all of its facets, It's just something that's like eternal and universal and especially, you know, with this one, let's say, the love of a grandmother for her family, a matriarch for her family, and the family for the matriarch is something that I felt like was really not lacking, but like I didn't see much of. And I think we, you know, the grandmother is such an important such an important piece of the puzzle in so many cultures. Yeah. So it felt like the right thing. And it stemmed also from like I started thinking about this, this film when we were in lockdown and I was thinking about my grandmother and thinking about just like a very solitary life at a certain age, right? When your spouse passed away many years ago and you're less capable of doing, you know, all the things you want to do. So prepandemic, even. And then we were in this state as 23 year-olds, and, you know, the whole world was. And so I was thinking about kind of that, that solitary confinement. Yeah. And yeah, and it was sad, sad topics, but I wanted to, I wanted to delve into that. It's a true one. Yeah. And I think that the pandemic definitely shed light on a lot of that solitude for older people. But in the end, I think they're mostly more... They feel that solitude, like, not... You don't need a pandemic for older people to feel alone. exactly. And I think that's something It's beautiful. Oh, I hope it will be. Yeah, that’s true. It is in my head. We're going to hope that that process is as easy for you as possible. Thank you. So, kind of to wrap all of this beautiful conversation, can you tell us what wellness means to you? Wellbeing and, how it appears in your life on a daily basis? I don't know if we feel wellness on a daily basis, but... Well, it's interesting. I was thinking I actually researched the definition of wellness. And there is a Global Wellness Institute. Yes. basically defined like in its most succinct way, defined wellness as the kind of active pursuit of activities and, you know, lifestyles that contribute to an overall like holistic lifestyle. And basically like wellness is like the from these kinds of, this kind of definition, it's like the pursuit of a life in which you're kind of thriving. So I think wellness is a... can look like a... it could have a different face for different people, and I don't really want to define it. I think I also think like for me before reading this for, because it's a it's a buzzword, right? Yeah yeah, for sure. I mean, like everyone uses it, wellness, wellness wellness. And for me, I always kind of associated it to like a very like passive state of like we've reached a state of wellness, kind of like we've reached a state of happiness, which isn't realistic. Have we though? It's like, it's not realistic to like or reach a point. And it's it's also like I think it's something you want to you can consider only once you've, you have like your basic necessities met. So it's just it's not like it's a very privileged kind of term or but I guess like in my life and I have to admit I am privileged and I'm I'm very fortunate and I'm very appreciative of the lifestyle I have and of the country I live in and so on. But yeah, I think wellness maybe to me is yeah, it's a juggling act and it's finding some sort of harmony through the chaos of life. Yeah. And harmony meaning like, you know, through different lenses, whether it's through your physical and mental health or spiritual, you know, kind of being creative self. So it's finding kind of a, uh, yeah, like a, the heart of all those things, finding a middle ground for all those things, like a meeting point actually, that's what it is for all those things. And how does it... An anchor point. Ah, there you go! Anchor. Bota Bota. Boats. Water. And so how it manifests itself in my life or like how wellness. That's the last point of your question. Yeah. honestly, I find like beyond, like my own pursuit of wellness and finding that grounding and that anchor point, like, I do think like my work, both filmmaking and teaching are really like they contribute to my own wellness, but also especially, I mean, the teaching, they contribute to other people's wellness and like that's how wellness kind of appears in my life. It's really through my work first and foremost, and it gives me a lot of sense, a big sense of purpose. And I appreciate contributing and I'm very grateful to be able to contribute to people's lives. And I guess filmmaking in a way can do that too, right? Because you're communicating something, you know that goes beyond yourself. You're touching people hopefully on a more profound level. And if it can make them, you know, reflect on things and, uh, you know, that also is a form of wellness. Totally. putting things into perspective. I love that. So maybe that’s what it is. We found the answer. It's like it makes no sense, but yeah. Well, amazing. Thank you for those words. Can you just let us know where we can find you? So you can find me online. Uh, my Instagram handle is @embody_w_sasha. So “Embody with Sasha” or on my website embodywithsasha.com and I teach out of a studio in Westmount. I teach online as well. So, yeah, all of my schedule is up on my website and on Instagram, I'm pretty active, so feel free to send me a message. Amazing. Thank you so much, Sasha. Thanks for having me. See you soon. See you.