Whitesboro studio provides a space where people feel comfortable to explore not only their physical health but also their mental and emotional well-being
By David L. Podos
In Whitesboro there sits an 8,000 plus square foot mansion.
Out on the front lawn, a large sign displays the name of the business inside: Move, Breathe, Live. The owner is Juliana Hardy and she is on a mission, a mission to help people become as healthy as possible.
Hardy was born in Kentucky, but moved to Delaware at an early age. As a young girl, she was a very active and anxious kid. She took this anxious energy and became involved in sports and eventually an athlete; swimming was something that she really enjoyed. But she said, rowing was her favorite sport which she began at the tender age of 12.
“Sports was a way for me to channel all this energy I had” Hardy said.
That energy ultimately propelled her to dedicate her life to helping others to maximize their health, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
In fact, Hardy refers to her business as a “one stop wellness center.”
Due to family circumstances and after moving across country and overseas, Hardy eventually found her way to the Mohawk Valley region where she took up shop to offer physical training. But her vision was much broader — she wanted to offer more services but needed a bigger place, and that’s when she found her current facility.
Today, Move, Breathe, Live is in the process of becoming the reality that she had envisioned many years ago.
“When I was in collage the idea that I would pursue an academic major in the field of medicine was a real thing for me. I was into health not sickness, but as life has its quirks and challenges, I actually moved into the role of being a mother, which I always wanted. So, after I received my degree in human development and human processing, thinking I would continue my academics and get a P.h.D., that never happened, but instead, I became a stay-at-home mom for 10 years, raising two beautiful daughters,” she said.
Hardy said she was always drawn to the alternative medical model in regards to health care, but also has a profound respect for medicine, science and human anatomy which she said when used appropriately, can play a pivotal role in health as well. She used her knowledge of science and human anatomy when she enrolled in massage school and became a licensed massage therapist while living at the time in Pennsylvania.
Hardy said her partner, who is in construction and a mason by trade, shared her dream and vision of moving to a bigger location.
“The vision was that the two of us would find a bigger building and that vision led us to this magnificent place that I am now in,” she said.
While she looks at total health from a wholistic viewpoint, Hardy started off basically working with the physical aspects of health, making the body strong and flexible.
“My roots always come from the physical but I was noticing especially as I aged, that the exercise as important as that was, it just was not enough,” she said. “So, I started to shift my perspective on health just a little and started to incorporate the mental health aspect as well as the spiritual, which I often refer to as the soul collective piece.”
Today her business offers a wide array of services and programs. Move Breathe Live has the fitness exercise, coordination and stability program for the general purpose of basic fitness. Hardy said she works with many women and men in the fitness program. She explained that these clients often tend to be a bit older, in their 40s 50s and 60s and who have been injured in other exercise programs or have never exercised before.
“I bring them in here where they feel comfortable trying out new things and in a safe way. We all need to feel safe physically but also mentally. A doctor in physical therapy is part of the staff and is a specialist in pelvic floor therapy,” she said.
The therapist is trained to do internal pelvic exams, focusing on hip pain and low back pain, for both men and women.
“We offer a yoga-meditation room and that room can be heated and when we do, we maintain the temperature between 90 and 95 degrees. I have two instructors that are certified yoga teachers. We offer sound therapy, sound healing which is really unique. So, everything is vibration, we ourselves are vibration, the universe vibrates with sound,” she explained. “Our instructor brings in a number of gongs and other sound instruments. The participant lies down onto a blanket with a pillow and just relaxes. This kind of therapy just drops you to a whole other level of relaxation. People also sleep much better after attending a sound therapy session. All of these services are provided in a group session and for those who wish, private sessions are available.”
Hardy said that more work is being done on the upper floors including putting in offices for her instructors [and] the possibility of offering additional services.
For more information call 315- 507-4422, visit www.movebreathe.live