Getting down to the ‘Barressentials’
It’s been almost a year now since ‘Barressentials’, a boutique pilates and barre fitness service, first started up in Colombo. And in this short period of time, ‘Barressentials’, owned and run by Narendra (Nare) Bandaranayake, has grown in popularity. But how did Nare, a young investment manager from London, come to start up her own boutique fitness service?
Having been brought up in Sri Lanka, Nare spent the majority of her adult life in the UK, having left 15 years ago to pursue her higher education, and then remaining there to work. But in 2016, she moved back to the island to help her mother, veteran Sri Lankan actress Swarna Mallawarachchi, with her charity foundation, the Swarna Mallawarachchi Foundation. But between securing funds for the project and dealing with bureaucratic red tape, Nare began to get bored. Nare who received a master in Finance from the University of Cambridge, had for years worked in London’s sophisticated and competitive financial industry, including at Goldman Sachs, and Ares Management in the areas of leverage finance. The finance industry in Sri Lanka didn’t appeal to her as much and instead, she thought to embark on something entrepreneurial.
While in London, Nare often mused about starting her own fitness boutique. As a fitness enthusiast, she dabbled in several forms including HIIT at places likes Barry’s Bootcamp, before she came across Barre at a studio in London. She found that Barre, a discipline that combines aspects of yoga, ballet and pilates, was the perfect fit for her due to its low impact, highly intensive nature, and immediately fell in love with it. Having noted that few if any places in the island offered pilates and none offered Barre, her musings became motivation.
Once certified and trained by the International Ballet Barre Fitness Association ( IBBFA) & Balanced Body Institute, what started as a side project became her full time job , with Nare carrying out 12 – 13 classes a week.
Her classes, which she conducts from her home, have attracted a diverse clientele. From young executives, to stay-at-home mothers, to even senior citizens. She explains that women of all ages are attracted to Barre, because it uses isometric movements and focuses on control to effectively burn fat and tone muscles whilst minimizing the stress on the joints. Leaving you with a lean physique and strengthened joints and spine. “ The strength is incredible” she says, adding that the focus on functional movement makes things easier when going about your daily life, regardless of the age of the client. “You are as young as your spine is flexible,” she quoted Joseph Pilates (the Founder of the movement), as she recalls how one of her more elderly clients manages to do her movements far better than those 50 years her junior.
However, in addition to the Barre essentials class, she also conducts more intense variants, including Barre HIIT and Barre Boxing which incorporate high intensity training and shadow boxing into the usual Barre routines. Unlike her essentials class, beginners can’t join these two advance courses, and would need to have attended a few essentials classes in order to follow the advance courses. This is to minimize the chance of injuries, explains Nare. She also offers mat based pilates courses– ranging from beginners to advanced classes. All her courses are open only to women and are conducted in English, with each class limited to eight people at a time to ensure specialized attention.
‘Barressentials’ also introduces to Sri Lanka, a novel booking system via the mobile app, which Nare explains is widely used in the fitness courses in the UK. The system allows clients to select the classes they wish to attend according to their schedule, and includes the options of canceling or rescheduling. Thus making the entire process more convenient and streamlined for the client, and geared for a modern hectic schedule.
From 2018, in a bid to spread the movement and the brand across Colombo and the island, Nare hopes to train her own set of Barre instructors once she receives a IBBFA master trainer certification, which enables her to certify trainers herself.
Nare hasn’t left her Finance experience behind and currently works as a Consultant for several technology start ups to ensure that the experience she gained in the industry is not left to idle.
From getting a degree in Neuroscience from King’s College London, to working in Finance, to managing a charitable foundation, and now to embarking into the wellness industry, Nare’s journey has been unconventional. But one thing is for certain, she will forge her own path. Barressential conducts both group and private classes.
For more information about ‘Barressentials’ visit them at www.barressential.com
or email: hello@barressential.com
Nare at her studio.Pix courtesy Kesara Ratnavibushana
