My mission is to enhance everyone's ability to move with precision, control, and without pain by combining the principles of yoga with mobility techniques.
My number one priority is to guide people into deeper knowledge of their body in order to give them independence and freedom of movement.
I thrive by nerding out while helping people to move better by having a holistic approach to movement and by incorporating breathing techniques and mindfulness practices in daily routines that will help to down regulate the nervous system and improve sleep.
Hi! I’m Ana Rita
A well traveled Yogi, who has been experiencing Yoga in several countries.
I found yoga in 2009 because of a back and SI joint pain, and since then I never stopped practicing it. The therapeutic aspect was what led me into Yoga but was the sense of peace within, the realization of wholeness, the discipline and the fluidity of the movement itself that made me stay.
In 2017 I took my first YTT and changed my career from Geologist of engineering to pursue a path that I felt that was my calling. Yoga is and it will always be a continuous process of deep internal learning, a path of healing and connection, that showed me where home is.
Since 2017 I have used my morning Sadhana as a grounding moment, a moment of silence and tune into my deepest being.
Mobility came to my life as an answer to so many questions that I had about body movement that ended up shaping my path.
While learning Yoga, I kept on asking why? Why is this pose like this?
Why are we blindly following yoga gurus in their teachings when some poses don’t feel right? Why is Yoga so strict in their physical aspect, doesn’t it contradict all the other 7 limbs? Why does the body move this way? Does it move equal to everyone? Does everyone feel the same way? What is the reasoning behind alignment? Does it actually make sense considering that we all have different skeletons? What is pain? Is it healthy to just practice yoga, as ancient Yoga schools still suggest?
And a big one for me was “why are there so many injuries in yoga?” Etc…
And mobility gave me answers to all my questions, and helped me tremendously to move better, to have control in my body and to get rid of pains and aches that were lingering without any medical answer.
FRC showed me where my body was stuck, areas that weren’t moving as they should and showed me as a Yogi, areas where I was moving too much without control.
As someone that does crossift and different movement training, I can now easily understand if certain movements are safe or not for me to do. Do I have a good shoulder flexion that allows me to safely load a bar overhead without hyper extending my lower back? And if I don’t have a good shoulder flexion, let me see why…is my scapula moving properly? Is my diaphragm working fully? I live and thrive for these rabbit holes…mobility is a succession of questions that only stop once you find what is not moving.
I am also a mum of a 4 year old girl and a 1 year boy that show me every single day, what life is all about. That shows me unconditional love, commitment and especially to never give up. They are my real teachers, they are the captains of my boat. I am just the vessel that sails their wild oceans. And for them, I want to age gracefully, with the full control and movement capacity of my body.
Without aches and pains. And I want you to come in this aging journey with me, knowing that it takes commitment to work in the small and boring stuff, but that in the end it’s so worth it.
Moving shouldn’t be complicated
here is how i can help
I want to keep sharing my passion of teaching, by helping you to move better by providing classes that not only aim to improve flexibility and mobility, but also develop a comprehensive understanding of movement that ensures a healthier, more balanced body capable of moving freely in all aspects of life, and improve athletic performance.
The Seeker
The teacher
In a world with so much noise, it becomes essential to keep ourselves grounded and connected with our unique oneness.
The Seeker and The Teacher archetypes are both part of my path and I owe so much of what I know to those who have been guiding me through this path, some of them without even knowing:
Jules Mitchell, Dhugal Meachem, Carling Harps, Patrick Beach, Jill Miller, Jason Crandell for helping me to improve my own practice in a more mindful and functional way.
Functional Range Systems, Hunter Cook and Ian Markow and the many mobility experts who provided me with so much knowledge around mobility and helped me to deconstruct pre existent bias and helped me to develop this deep love of mobility and to develop this new teaching love.
I can’t wait to share everything that I learned along this path with you, and even brainstorm new ideas, new movements, and deconstruct bias.
I will be here to guide you in the best way that I can.
What is FRC and what are the benefits of Functional Range Conditioning®?
Functional Range Conditioning (FRC®) enjoys widespread recognition across the fitness, rehabilitation, and sports medicine industries. Its enduring popularity stems from its broad applicability to anyone seeking to improve their range of motion and more. FRC® is instrumental in enhancing mobility, building strength, and preventing injuries over time.
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Functional Range Conditioning®, commonly referred to as FRC®, is a type of training focused on mobility and joint control. It aims to increase your range of motion in areas such as the shoulders, neck, spine, hips, hamstrings, knees and ankles, among others. The primary objectives are to prevent bodily injuries and to foster long-term joint health. FRC® emphasizes the development of proper mobility and strength, enabling daily activities to be performed without pain or tension.
Functional Range Conditioning® operates by expanding your range of motion and training your central nervous system to manage these new capabilities. Strengthening joints within an expanded range of motion improves the communication between your brain and body movements.
Mobility is defined as the extent of active, functional motion available to you. A more mobile body can safely and efficiently maximize its movement capabilities. This involves a shift from merely being flexible and stretching to passive limits, to actively controlling and utilizing those end ranges of motion. Through mobility training, passive ranges are transformed into active, functional ones, increasing the joints' capacity to handle daily and athletic stresses.
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The advantages of Functional Range Conditioning® are many, from offering improvements in mobility, flexibility, joint health, longevity, strength, injury prevention, rehabilitation, and performance enhancement.
Mobility and Flexibility
FRC® is a safe and effective method that enhances both mobility and flexibility. It teaches your body to identify and manage newly accessed ranges of motion while also building strength, power, and coordination.
Joint Health and Longevity
By improving mobility, FRC® strengthens all articular connective tissues and enhances neurological control, factors critical for joint health, injury prevention, and longevity. FRC is widely used to maintain movement functionality, optimize joint health, and decelerate degenerative changes.
Build Strength
FRC® not only increases flexibility and range of motion but also fosters strength and control within these new ranges. This enhanced control and strength can improve your ability to perform deep squats, maintain proper form, and avoid injuries while lifting heavier weights overhead.
Injury Prevention
FRC® is not solely about performance enhancement; its techniques are also crafted for injury rehabilitation and prevention.
Rehabilitation and Performance Enhancement
The adaptable nature of FRC® makes it suitable for rehabilitation, utilizing exercises and treatments that create wider ranges of motion essential for future agility, enhancing functionality in all aspects of life and physical activities.
Start Your Functional Range Conditioning® Journey with a Movement Assessment
Issues like muscle stiffness, body pains, postural problems, and injuries can arise from various causes, but initiating FRC® can be a positive step toward enhanced movement and wellness.
By working with me, we kickstart this improvement with a movement assessment.
This assessment will identify imbalances and asymmetries that could lead to injuries.
Following the assessment, I will devise a tailored FRC® program to address your specific needs, from rehab, to sports performance or just moving better and improving the aging process.
What is Kinstretch®?
Kinstretch® is part of Functional Range Systems, and is a movement enhancement system that improves body control, flexibility, and usable ranges of motion. It teaches your joints how to work their best on their own and together with other joints to handle life's demands. Kinstretch® is a class based in Functional Range Conditioning methodology that is a comprehensive joint training system based in scientific principals and research, used to increase range of motion where needed, maintain joint health, and improve overall body control.
Kinstretch® is not a stretching class.
It is an active class in which we spend time in positions specific to one joint, and incorporating different levels of isometric effort to increase range of motion and/or build resiliency in a range of motion. We do also spend some time passive stretching to increase your flexibility. Each class also incorporate breathing techniques.
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All the movements and training techniques have been selected based on a meticulous and rigorous investigation of evidence, conducted by physical conditioning and medical experts, as it pertains to body control, injury prevention, joint health, and physical longevity.
— Dr. Andreo Spina
This methodology works as prehab in a way to reduce limitations, pain and mitigate injuries, and can work as rehab by keeping the body moving in a safe and controlled range of motion. Kinstretch ®is not a sport, is a supplement of the activities that you, giving more usable range for you to be able to move better.
Everyone benefits from Kinstretch®, from the athlete that wants to increase performance, to the grandmother that wants to be able to keep moving without pain and limitations.
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