Philosophy

Message From Larkin Barnett

The Life Extension System Seminars

Movement is our worlds' universal language. The Life Extension System lectures and movement workshops provide balance, vitality and longevity for a better quality of life. My goal is to offer simple strategies to ignite the energy needed for genuine life change leading to optimal health. Practical techniques help the participant to take control of their physical well being.

The human body in motion is complex. The Life Extension System contains a simple formula for analyzing how the body works, and provides maintenance tips to keep it functioning at its best. Building my fitness methods took into account the specific needs of a variety of populations.

I have worked in academic environments teaching dance and artistic performance. Since 1976, I have promoted dance as a movement art and science within corporate wellness programs, sports seminars, Pilates, rehabilitation settings, and spas focusing on health and healing. Creative self expression within fitness regimes results in dramatic physical transformations.

Athletickinetic Workshops

Athletickinetic workshops emphasize dynamic alignment to improve peak performance and lower injury risk. Fitness and sports enthusiasts learn to move more efficiently. Athletickinetics is an art form that explores the aesthetic and scientific principles of movement. It is a multi-disciplined approach involving Pilates, dance, yoga, and movement therapy.

Creative Movement For Children

Because dance engages the mind, body and spirit it allows the child to discover a great deal about his body, language, thoughts, and imagination. He learns tangible skills and an "I can do it" attitude, as well as intangibles such as an intuitive sense of body language - all confidence builders, which will serve him well as he matures.

About the Author

Larkin Barnett's credentials include a B.A. in Dance and Drama from Sweet Briar College in Virginia, and an M.A. in Dance from Mills College in California. While at Mills College, she directed the Creative Movement for Children's program.

Larkin is the author of "Practical Pilates using Imagery" (for adults), "Pilates and Calisthenics for Children," "Creative Yoga for Children," "On a Lark: Creative Movement for Children," and "Creative Movement using Props."

Larkin was chosen as a President's Challenge Advocate for the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

She provides fitness training for all ages, and stress management techniques for national fitness conferences and certification organizations, as well as corporations, hospitals, universities, spas and athletic companies.

Larkin is a movement educator, professor, movement therapist, Pilates instructor, dance choreographer, personal fitness professional and author. She has spent thirty-years teaching, choreographing and performing for organizations such as Harvard University, Radcliffe College, Longy School of Music, The Laban Bartenieff Institute, and The University of Lappenranta.

Larkin was a professor of dance at Virginia Commonwealth University. She was a movement therapist and fitness professional at Canyon Ranch Spa.

She was personally selected by Harvard University to direct and choreograph a commissioned project sponsored through the Harvard Fund for the Arts called Charlotte: Life? Or Theatre?

Larkin holds several Pilates certifications including Polestar and specializations in golf Pilates. She is a professor at Florida Atlantic University in the Exercise Science and Health Promotions Department.

Larkin's interest in her continued development of preventative health practices stems from her family's medical background that dates back to the First World War. Dr. Edwin Barnett, her grandfather, was a pediatrician who did his post-graduate work at Harvard Medical, and discovered the cure for tick paralysis. Dr. William Kress McIntyre, her other grandfather taught surgery techniques at St. Louis Medical School. Mary McIntyre, her grandmother, was a nurse stationed in France in WWI, and became a nurse anesthetist upon her return. Dr. Robert Barnett, her father, was a pediatrician specializing in infectious disease, and the care of premature infants. Dr. Bryan Barnett, her brother, practiced as a pediatrician in the Navy before retraining as a dermatologist.