Growing up with a triathlete dad, Rhinebeck’s Jillian Hargrove was raised with fitness in her blood. While studying writing at SUNY Oneonta, she fell in love with yoga. “I took a class when I was 18 and thought it would be an easy A,” says Hargrove, now 33.
After graduating, she became a registered yoga practitioner through the Yoga Alliance; she also became certified as a personal trainer and studied holistic health counseling at NYC’s Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
Hargrove brings this powerful arsenal of fitness knowledge all together through her Mind Body Movement fitness programs. Her signature Method Fitness class is a mix of yoga, Pilates core work, and ballet-style moves, which she teaches to groups at Izlind Integrative Wellness Center & Institute of Rhinebeck — though you can also meet with her for personal training at your own home. “With this method, you can create long, lean muscles instead of bulk that you can get from working out on exercise bikes at the gym,” she says.
The 45-minute classes can be done by anyone. “I’ll have five levels of fitness in one classroom,” she says. “People say, ‘I don’t want to do yoga, it’s too spiritual.’ But we don’t need to chant. This a fusion class.”
The mother of two young girls, Hargrove’s Mindful Movement & Creative Play program is a junior version of her Method class: a mix of yoga, dance, and imaginative fun. “We use yoga blocks and meditation pillows,” Hargrove says. “The kids build a balance beam then walk down it, and we talk about staying balanced in life. The energy is amazing.”
