Inspiration:

core harmony™ is a private lifestyle company specializing in health & wellness, relationships and small business services. Based in Newtonville, MA the company was founded in 1998 by Debra Bennett- making 2012 our 14th year in business. Best known for the integrative programs offered and high level of service and confidentiality that is consistently delivered, we strive to offer the flexibility needed to guide & advise clients to achieve results, while being realistic about the challenges of reaching any goal.

core harmony™ is primarily a virtual company - providing in-home or office training, coaching & small business services to Boston Area clients and virtual coaching & consulting to people worldwide via telephone and email sessions. We offer a few open studio classes weekly in Newton, MA.

Our approach is value driven and holistic - meaning we balance looking at big picture, long term, inspiring visions with small, consistent, attainable actions and consideration of what factors may contribute to each. Our clients and community value diversity, honesty, high ethics, hard work and spirituality - including practice of many different religions and cultivation of connection to a higher power through time in nature. We value beauty, music, the arts, the enviroment, the gifts of children and people of all ages and the animal kingdom (especially dogs & cats!).

After a successful 10 year career in retail management, operations & buying working for two wonderful international companies (Laura Ashley & Monsoon), Debra chose to leave a positon that was offered to her in London to work in overseas expansion to start her private practice. Recognizing early on the benefits of healthy nutrition, consistent exercise, great self care and choosing relationships & activites that were in alignment with her values, she wanted to be able to share the gifts of these things with others in the hopes of making their lives happier, more positive and more fulfilling, too.

She started her new career as a personal trainer, and immediately acknowledged that for the people she was working with to succed in reaching and sustaining their goals long term, they would need to make changes outside of the few hours per week during sessions. In identifying this, she realized her true desire was to provide the education, motivation, support, tools and resources for them to succeed on their own. As she described this to a family member she was guided to an overview course in the newly emerging field of Life Coaching. It was exactly what she had been describing and she immediately enrolled in courses at Coach U began her education. Parallel to this, another trainer suggested the study of yoga to compliment her training. She spoke highly of Patricia Walden and the Iyengar method. Finding both the physical practice as well as a peaceful, gentle, accepting community that values inclusiveness, non-violence & equality can only be likened to 'coming home'.

In subsequent years, the path that unfolded was one of trust. She came across a terrific course taught by Jane Latimer called 'Eat with Love' that was appealing as it focused on how to unwind the negativity and guilt that surrounds so many of the perceptions and behaviors around food and nourishment. A colleague introduced her to another coach who was studying a related practice to yoga called Meridian Stretching. Study of this method was beneficial in learning about the corresponding relationship between each yoga pose and one of the accupuncture meridians - and thus how it is possible to impact the health and well being each of the organs. It also helped her to personally grow a full 1 1/2 inches in height!

At the repeated request of a private client with a home reformer, she added certification in STOTT PILATES® Mat & Professional Reformer® to core harmony's services in 2003. Not knowing until much later when a colleague noted she had a 'ramrod straight spine' (and asked how it was possible she could actually stand upright on 2 feet and why she didn't have any pain?), the study of pilates was not easy. After years of private lessons and body work, she mastered the basic core exercises which most people can complete immediately. Because of the long, detailed commitment to understanding anatomy & alignment required to participate in this system of exercise she knows how to make changes to many deep posture challenges. She is also practiced at staying positive while helping others along the sometimes patience building path toward spinal health, reduced back pain, and yes, sweet little six pack abs...

Her wellness practice came full circle with certification in 2005 through Wellcoaches. Adding a professional platform where clients could combine goals from all areas of the practice helped streamline integration of program offerings as well as providing introduction to a whole host of new high quaility resources such as the Stages of Change Model, VIA Signature Strength Assessment, etc...

Throughout the years, her path has circled repeatedly to the work of Robert Greenleaf and Servant Leadership through her interactions with various other coaches, certification through the Professional Leader Program and her college fraternity PiBetaPhi. This model of service has had a profound effect in integrating synchronicity & faith as a way to stay true to ethics and honesty when presented with challeges in the business arena. Through her own entrepreneurial venture via core harmony and the small businesses she is grateful to work with, she presents this as a beneficial approach to consider in maintaining both personal and business health.

Debra is grateful for her education as a graduate of Syracuse University, and to have developed her business values and ethics working for privately owned, value driven brands. She offeres her extensive experience in business operations, start-up and re-development to her small business clients, as well as introductions to valuable resources and business connections as appropriate.