Sheryl Burpee Dluginski
Writer / Trainer
HEALTH
Mind Body Training
My training philosophy is holistic and integrative. On any given day the physical training modalities I teach my clients might include everything from high-intensity interval training to restorative yoga, meditation and breath work to cardiovascular intervals, Pilates to myofascial release. Many of my clients train in my completely private, fully-equipped studio on the upper east side of Manhattan. Others prefer to meet in their homes, and sometimes we find ourselves out at the park or climbing stairs somewhere in the neighborhood. The thread that connects every session is mindfulness – the practice of using the breath to connect the body and the mind.
Energy Medicine
The principles for training the energy body are very similar to training the physical body. Acupuncture, Reiki, and Qi Gong are all forms of energy medicine you may be familiar with. My certification is in Eden Energy Medicine and I study and incorporate several other forms of energy work. All these techniques work with the subltle electromagnetic energy that flows through all of us. Yogis call that subtle energy prana. Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners call it qi. I think of it as our life force energy. Regardless of what name we give it, we can learn to identify places in our bodies where it’s blocked, sluggish or overactive, just like we can identify weak or tight muscles in the physical body. Then, using hands-on techniques like massage or physical movements combined with specialized breathwork, we begin to train those problematic energy systems to become more resilient, to flow more evenly, just like we train our muscles and connective tissues to become stronger and more flexible.
Some of my clients come to me for purely physical training. Others focus solely on energy medicine. The majority of clients I see these days, eventually end up doing a little bit of both, depending on their challenges or goals on a particular day. After more than three decades studying countless health-enhancing modalities, I believe that true healing power lies in the place where the energy body and the physical body overlap. Both are entryways into the same person. Depending on my clients’ interests and needs, we may focus on one or the other or both within any given session.