Darby Melnik, ACE, CPT
Personal Trainer
I got involved in the fitness industry over 16 years ago, first as a group exercise instructor then as a personal trainer. I always struggled with how the traditional way of personal training never really got the results my clients needed. They would lose inches initially then the weight would come off slowly but nothing got them really to where they wanted to be; to be rid of the self-sabotaging behaviors that kept getting in the way, the uncontrollable cravings, back pain, knee pain, hip pain… the list goes on for all the reasons that stopped them from exercising.

After contracting Lyme disease in July 2008, I began my own journey into how to heal myself. For those of you who haven't had Lyme disease, the symptoms are vague and they come and go. For someone who was active and healthy, symptoms may not be apparent to the outside world. One minute you feel fine and the next you feel like someone hit you in the back to the head. Others find it hard to even get out of bed; everyday activities are a chore. One moment I felt like I was coming down with the flu and the next minute I felt okay. But when exerting any effort then the realization sets in and I said to myself, "What is wrong with me?" Three weeks of antibiotics did nothing for me and I was not going to have a needle stuck into my back for spinal injections. I knew there had to be another way.

Well, my path led me to Elizabeth Troy who showed me another way. The technique is called Resistance Flexibility and Strength Training. This amazing woman helped me discover my own power of healing and transformation through meridian stretching and the healing powers of whole food. These were the two components missing in my work and myself.

In January 2009 I enrolled at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. For 6 months, 10 full weekends, I learned from nutrition experts like Dr. Walter Willett, Chairman of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Deepak Chopra, and Dr. Andrew Weil. These are just a few of the world's leading experts in the nutrition and holistic healing realm that spoke during those weekends. I also studied all of the dietary theories out there and learned there is no "right diet" for everyone. I studied counseling techniques, the most important one being the technique of listening. All of which I apply in all my sessions.

Resistance flexibility and strength training, developed by Bob Cooley, involves using one's own resistance or assisted resistance and applying yoga principles with yoga-like positions. Contracting muscles while lengthening them results in affecting a specific muscle or muscle group to effectively get into an area of weakness or 'emptiness' thereby strengthening the body and correcting imbalances. We understand that certain positions or poses affect specific organs thereby affecting personality. So, by stretching in this way we open up energy pathways that lead us to physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental wellbeing.

Resistance strength and flexibility training gave me the tools to help myself and my clients understand the blocks and areas of weaknesses and strengths in order to lose weight, have more energy, and feel better. I even lost 5 pounds and a dress size!