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About Us
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Nellie Brook, Founder of Mixx
After earning her Master of Arts degree in exercise and sport science from the University of Sydney, Nellie spent 14 years developing and providing Pilates programs for people with specific medical requirements, such as patients with chronic back pain, spinal stenosis, hip and knee replacements, and more. She spent 6 years as the Pilates department manager for Fitness and Wellness services in New Jersey, and operated her own Pilates studio in Sydney, Australia. Now she’s bringing her years of experience and care to California, to help you achieve your goals.
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Katie K. Griffin, Instructor
Smadar Sweiry, Instructor
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Katie K. Griffin is a Bay Area Dance Artist. With over 34 years of dance experience and 26 years of teaching throughout California, she offers a unique approach to her instruction that opens the minds and bodies of her students in ways they’ve not experienced before. Katie holds her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Modern Dance with an emphasis in Modern Dance Performance from California State University Long Beach. She's an instructor for the Dance for Parkinson's community, and has recently added Pilates to her credentials. She holds her certification in Plant Based Nutrition from Cornell University and is currently delving further into body work and movement studies.
Smadar is coming to MIXX with 10 years of experience in teaching Pilates. She was first interested in Pilates because of her own back problem and was amazed to learn how Pilates improves injuries and posture. In 2011, she was licensed as a Pilates Mat Instructor and taught in Israel before moving to California in 2013. She is STOTT PILATES Certified, a mother of two, and enjoys staying active with Pilates, hiking, and yoga.
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Felicia Tsui, Instructor
Felicia's Pilates journey began during her decades long career as a worker bee in the tech industry. She discovered a studio near her son's daycare center; as her son learned how to socialize with other kids, she took the time for herself, making baby-steps into Pilates practice. In the next 12+ years, she struggled to find one hour every week attending a group session, always rushing in at the last minute and dashing out of the door quickly as soon as the class ended. But within that one hour of Pilates, she was able to simply focus on the movement of the body, and was delighted in even the smallest progress in doing the exercises. When the opportunity came to join the Mixx teacher training, she decided that it was time to develop a deeper understanding of Pilates methodology and help others to find joy in the exercise and movement. Felicia believes that staying active is an important factor to age gracefully and healthily. In her experience, Pilates provides a well-rounded workout for everyone regardless of their activity level. Outside of Pilates, Felicia spends her free time hiking, kayaking/SUPing, and seeking out good food to eat.
Jennifer Makower, Instructor
Jen stepped away from her career as a Speech-Language Pathologist working in special education in order to raise her three children. Now that her youngest is in his last year of high school, she is ready to start something new. She has always valued an exercise routine, but it wasn’t until she discovered pilates three years ago at Mixx studio that she truly enjoyed it. After watching her mom suffer at the end of life with several medical issues and physical limitations, she is committed to keeping active. Pilates is the perfect exercise to help with core strength, balance and flexibility which are all key for healthy aging. She looks forward to sharing her enthusiasm with students of all ages and abilities.
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Irit Avidov Shachrur, Instructor
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Christine Thorburn, Instructor
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Efrat Bigman-Volk, Instructor
Efrat has been a Physical Therapist for over 25 years. During this time, she has worked in both hospital and home care settings with all age groups from children to the elderly, treating both chronic and acute conditions with physical activity, including Pilates. Efrat believes that physical activity is important at any age and in any condition. She loves hiking and trains everyday. She is a mother of three. With her youngest starting college, she now has the time to help you improve your strength, flexibility, and mobility. She looks forward to meeting you in her classes and sharing her experience.
Irit worked as a graphic designer and illustrator for over 12 years. Upon moving to the Bay Area, she felt it was time to make a change and add something new to her life. Having danced for 12 years, and doing Pilates regularly for more than a decade, she always considered making it more than just a workout. The right moment came when she discovered Mixx Fitness and it's teacher training program. Irit loves the versatility of Pilates and its potential to help everyone, from healthy individuals to those with injuries. She moved to California two years ago with her husband, two kids, and their cat, Lulu. In addition to Pilates, Irit enjoys illustrating and designing, traveling with her family, exploring new places and enjoying good food.
Christine has been an active and athletic person since her childhood in Iowa. She competed in cross country and track running throughout her undergraduate studies in Chemistry at Grinnell College. After moving to California to study Medicine at Stanford University, she discovered a passion and great talent for road cycling, going on to fulfill her childhood dream of becoming an Olympian, representing the United States as a cyclist in 2004 and 2008. While cycling, she routinely worked on her flexibility and core strength practicing mat Pilates. Having recently discovered a passion for apparatus Pilates, she jumped at the opportunity to complete teacher-training under Nellie at MIXX Fitness.She encourages her patients in her Rheumatology clinic to consider adding the discipline to their weekly routine in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
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A note from Nellie:
I created MIXX after years of exploring, studying and teaching different training and exercise methods.
As a mom of three and a wife to a super busy husband with my own career ambitions, I always tried to find the complete program that best fits my (changing) body and my (busy) mind, as well as my schedule, life priorities and most importantly... my budget. Workout by workout, through struggles and success, I created the MIXX concept.
I am so happy I now get to share MIXX with you! It’s a revolutionary method, yet simple and focused on helping you reach your own goals for mind and body.
See you at the studio!
Nellie
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