0522HarfordSpring22 - Flipbook - Page 14
HEALTHY LIVING
BY MARY CAROLE MCCAULEY Harford Magazine
Rachel Weiksner, front, takes a class taught by Kelly Backert, the owner of Kore Barre & Yoga. PHOTOS BY LLOYD FOX
'Don’t forget to breathe'
Bel Air’s Kore Barre & Yoga mixes mindfulness with fitness classes
“Don’t forget to breathe,” Kelly Backert told members of the barre
class in her Bel Air studio.
Nine women on their hands and knees at Kore Barre & Yoga were
squeezing a green ball the size of a honeydew melon between the calf
and thigh of an upraised leg. They glanced at one another through
sweat-streaked faces and as of one, inhaled audibly.
“Bang, bang, there goes your heart,” thumped over the studio sound
system. “I know you want it.”
Perhaps that last sentence could be debated. Still, Lynn McKaughan,
66, of Bel Air, Kerry Paradis, 41, of Fallston and the rest had signed
up voluntarily for this grueling full-body workout. What’s more, they
keep coming back, five or six days a week.
‘It’s your workout, guys,” Backert, 44, said.
“This is where you get stronger. Right now, in this moment. A lot of
people can’t do what you guys just did.”
Backert’s slew of certifications — for, among other things, teaching
boot camp, spin, barre, personal training and health — keep about
14 | SPRING 2022 | harfordmagazine.com
Backert leads a class at the Kore Barre & Yoga's new location in
Bel Air.