Our Teachers
Nancy Allen Burns
I'm the head honcho, visionary. I founded Body Wisdom Studio in 2007 with the mission to change the way we do aging in this country. It has been an amazing journey and a privilege to touch so many lives.
There is no single movement discipline perfect for every body. The art of assessing and teaching movement is to know what methods to draw from and exactly how to apply those skills to optimally address your unique individual needs. I've been fortunate to learn from masters in many movement methods over the past 15 years. My certifications include Restorative Exercise Specialist and Personal Trainer, Certified by Nutritious Movement; MovNat Level 1 Certified Instructor; Strength Training for Older Adults. Past certifications include Strength and Conditioning, Massage Therapy, Pilates Mat Exercise and Aqua Exercise. I've also benefited from training with MELT Method, Yoga TuneUp, Original Strength, and TRE-Trauma and Tension Releasing Exercise.
Tim Harris
Tim Harris is my long time colleague in Restorative Exercise and I'm very pleased he will be sharing his vast expertise with you. If you watched Katy Bowman videos or read her books then you have probably at least set eyes on Tim. Some of you will also remember him as our guest teacher at Body Wisdom Studio in 2014
Tim has always been fascinated by the workings of the human body. Since the age of eight, when he was first introduced to yoga, he has been experimenting with ways to optimize his health blending both Eastern and Western modalities. In recovering from a beach volleyball induced knee injury in 1998 Tim began practicing Yang style long form Tai Chi Chuan. Low back injuries from cycling and volleyball began to plague him until, in 2008, he discovered Restorative Exercise™ (RE) with Katy Bowman. This missing piece of his personal health puzzle changed his life and his 15 year massage practice, restoring him to physical health and giving him the tools to better assist his clients. Tim is committed to bringing the practical, useful and pain reducing techniques of RE to others. Drawing on personal experience with his style of blending of science and humor, his group classes and private sessions empower people with the tools to take charge of their own health.
Carla Harless
Carla Harless is a movement educator/Restorative Exercise Specialist and licensed massage therapist with a small business in Fredericksburg, TX. She offers 1:1 sessions, small group classes, and also teaches movement workshops such as Move Your DNA Weekends. Carla’s mission is to help people move and feel better in their bodies. When not working, she loves to go on long walks, spend time with her four kids, and play with her grands. You can find out more about Carla’s services and classes by visiting carlaharless.com and follow her on Instagram @carlalaharless.
Reni Aniela
Reni has been exploring how our environment impacts the way we feel and function since the early 1980s. Although keenly aware of the need for somatic transformation in her own life, she remained disconnected from her body, struggling to eat and move in sustainable, nutritious ways. Eventually her feet led her circuitously through natural foot health, shoemaking, and primal eating to Body Wisdom Studio where she learned the profound impacts of gentle, accessible Restorative Exercise and Nutritious Movement. Now, teaching others, she can share a transforming, beneficial experience while continuing to expand her own understanding of sustainable somatic transformation.
Reni is a Nutritious Movement Certified Restorative Exercise Specialist and Personal Trainer.
Sylvia Fox
Sylvia Fox is a certified Life and Wellness Coach and Restorative Exercise Specialist. She loves to help people align their mind, body, and heart to feel energetic, purposeful and ageless. Sylvia has taught fitness and Zumba at Body Wisdom Studio in Point Richmond.
She now coaches online and incorporates a lifetime of teaching, mentoring, sponsoring and coaching as she works with individual clients and groups to identify and to reach their dreams.
Sylvia also has been a journalist, editor and a professor of journalism at California State University Sacramento.
Guest Teacher
Joan Virginia Allen
Joan is a Nutritious Movement® certified Restorative Exercise Specialist (RES) and has been an instructor since 2011.
In 2017 she and three of her fellow (then) septuagenarian RES joined biomechanist Katy Bowman to co-author the book Dynamic Aging: Simple Exercises for Whole-Body Mobility. Following the success of the book, in the same year Joan created the blog Dynamic Aging 4 Life, where she and her co-authors share their experiences as they continue to dynamically age (https://dynamicaging4life.com/about-dynamic-aging/).
Teaching and modeling physical fitness has allowed Joan to inspire and empower others as they grow older to maximize their mobility and strength. Now as a certified professional personal life coach, she partners with her clients in exploring what they want in their lives, what is getting in the way, and an action plan for success in anything they choose.
Joan describes herself as an explorer. She has successfully explored a variety of careers including legal secretary, paralegal, elder law and estate planning attorney, founder and coordinator of three county-wide multidisciplinary teams specializing in services to elderly victims of financial abuse, and a nationally certified strength and conditioning specialist teaching weight-lifting to older adults to maintain bone density.
With her husband of 46 years, Joan has explored 36 of the 58 national parks in the U.S. and the journey continues. She treasures her family of 4 children and 8 grandchildren. She lives on a 10-acre ranch in the mountains of southern California where the hiking trails and forest provide daily hiking and tree climbing/hanging opportunities. Joan has first-hand experience with the importance of pelvic floor health. She recently had surgery to repair pelvic organ prolapse. Now, in her home exercise practice and in her daily life she is focusing on whole-body exercises and movement habits and patterns to support a healthy pelvic floor.
Our Wonderful Studio Manager
Lizzie Duff
Lizzie Duff makes all the magic happen. admin@bodywisdomstudio.net