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“I Love Learning About People”—Teacher, Anabel Muñana On The Unexpected Benefits Of Her Barre3 Routine
Have you ever met someone and immediately thought: Where does she get that incredible energy? Anabel Muñana is one of those women. Anabel is a gifted teacher, passionate about inspiring a love of learning in all children and showing them that they are seen, heard, and valued. When she isn’t in the classroom, you can find Anabel at the barre3 studio, traveling with her husband, or cuddling with her French Bulldog Pepita.
Anabel extends her enthusiasm for movement and connection to barre3, and we couldn’t be more grateful for the many years of hard work, compassion, and dedication that she’s given to this community. Dive into our interview to learn more about Anabel: how years of succeeding in sports led her to barre3—plus what it’s like to be working two dream jobs at once.
B3 Magazine: You’re a 6th grade teacher! We’d love to hear more about your career in teaching. How did you get started in this field and what do you love most about it?
Anabel Muñana: Youth can be highly influenced, and I knew I needed to be a part of their lives in a positive way. I wanted to help them take care of themselves emotionally, physically, and academically. Teaching has helped me do exactly that. I fell in love with it, and I haven’t looked back since. I’ve loved every day that I’ve taught in my life, and I really can’t say that I’ve ever had a bad day of work.
I’ve been teaching for 13 years now. In my first 6 years, I taught Health and Physical Education, while also coaching high school track and cheer. It got to a point where I was teaching 180 students each semester, and while I still loved it, I wasn’t getting that one-on-one relationship connection.
I have my Master’s in Education with a focus in English Language Development. So I decided to give being a classroom, core-subject teacher a shot, because then I would have an established cohort of students. Now I’m a 6th grade Spanish-immersion and English Language Arts teacher, and I get to teach students of all different backgrounds and also teach in my native language.
I’ve found that I love teaching because of the relationship you get to build with students. There are all these young minds, and if you have a consistent routine, develop a relationship, and they know that you’re giving them a genuine learning experience, they’re all-in and ready to learn. It’s so important to build a safe and nurturing environment where students feel honored and respected. In the end, many of my students become my teachers.
B3 Magazine: What led you to barre3?
Anabel: I’ve been with barre3 for so long, I can’t remember exactly how many years it is now. Maybe nine or ten? I started when there were only two studios open. I was going to a Cirque du Soleil show downtown by the Pearl studio in Portland, and I saw the barre3 sign on the corner of 10th and Marshall, with Madonna’s picture on the window, because Sadie Lincoln had been training with Madonna. I was like, okay, if Madonna’s doing this then I want to get in on it!
So I came into the studio, I took my first class, and I was hooked. I absolutely loved the workout. I wanted to keep taking classes, so I decided to work there. Through my years working here, I’ve been able to build these incredible relationships with clients and staff.
With that, too, I’ve been able to see the evolution of barre3, which feels similar to seeing the evolution of my students. And maybe that’s why I’ve been with barre3 for so long—I’ve seen so much incredible growth, and I can’t let go of that. I don’t want to remove myself from it, because I’ve seen it turn into something so great. Barre3 started as this tiny little concept and has turned into a worldwide business. It’s incredible how barre3 is influencing so many people and becoming a positive part of their lives through movement.
B3 Magazine: Could you share more about the roles you’ve taken on at barre3?
Anabel: I started in the Play Lounge at the Pearl studio, and I did that for a year. Then they needed front desk help, so I moved to that position. I contemplated being an instructor for a while, but I started barre3 because it was a way for me to decompress and do a workout where I could remove myself from having to teach all day. I wanted to just chill out and move my body. Oh—and I also did deep cleaning for a year! All in all though, it didn’t really matter where I was, I just wanted to be a part of this community.
Through this process, and all my years with barre3, I’ve been able to train quite a few individuals who are now management and working in the corporate offices. That’s been so fun to see—to watch as people grow in the company.
I love teaching, but I also love learning, which is a nice thing about barre3. Through conversations I’ve had in the lounge before and after class, or just people stopping by the front desk, I’ve gotten to know some pretty incredible individuals. They’re these people with their own stories and their own struggles. Sure, you see people coming into the studio every day with a smile on their face because barre3 is their happy place, but there are people who I’ve gotten close to who feel comfortable opening up deeper as they wait for their class to start.
B3 Magazine: How would you say the workout and the community have shifted your perspective around fitness?
Anabel: Before barre3, my background in fitness was always either dance, cheer, or track. I was also a power lifter in high school and college! It’s funny how I got into it: Lifting was supposed to improve my sprinting performance, so I just jumped in. I was the only girl in the class—just me and all football players. My nickname was “Burly Muñana” in high school. My lifting coach thought that I had the potential to lift really heavy, so I started doing that, and I turned out to be crazy strong. Seriously, I don’t know where it came from. I’m only 5’1”, and I still hold all of the records at my high school as well as a few from college.
Because of my background in fitness, I had this concept that everything had to be a progression—you had to run faster, lift heavier, or you had to always progress in some way or else you’d plateau. From all that lifting and cheer in college, I have a lot of scar tissue and experienced some pain in my lower back. So when I started to get interested in barre3, I knew I wanted to do something that would help balance me out from all the intense activities I’d been doing.
Well, come to find out, barre3 is very, very hard! But that’s what I love about it. The workouts have always maintained this intense challenge that I can’t get from any other workout. There’s this weird, cathartic feeling that I get down in my chest when I do barre3. It’s hard to explain, but it feels like anxiety is building up through your body, and you’re teaching yourself how to calm it down. I don’t get it from any other workout, but barre3 pushes you to this place where you discover the calm in the chaos.
B3 Magazine: With every workout, barre3 serves to empower women and help them uncover their inherent strength and body wisdom. How does barre3 do that for you?
Anabel: What I love about barre3 is that you’re taught to breathe through the challenges. You can’t quit, and it helps you learn resilience. It’s like a meditation process, and it works areas of my body that I’ve never targeted before. The postures in barre3 are created to be very specific and very thoughtful. With every move we do, I know that there’s a purpose and a reason behind it. And I can feel that intention in my body when I do each posture. I didn’t know my quads existed before barre3, or that little curvature underneath your butt. Mind-body connection was a foreigh concept to me before barre3. Barre3 has allowed me to develop a mind-body connection that I’ve never gotten with anything else, and I’ve been able to understand my body in ways that I’ve never understood it before.
From doing barre3, and from getting to work with so many women in the community, I’ve met all these people who have had previous careers, and who discover that they feel more fulfilled with barre3. I love getting to learn about all their different backgrounds. These women are proof that you don’t have to be set in one facet of a career, or even a life. These women have so many talents and interests, and it’s made me wonder how the heck they’re fitting all of it in! They’re balancing their fitness life with their career life, and sometimes even their mom life. Every woman who walks into the studio comes in with a different story and a different experience. But they’re bringing it to this one central place, and the barre3 studio and community support that opportunity for connection and to learn more about people.
As women, there’s so much that we have in common. If anything, when I see these women, it just makes me want to grow more and dive into my interests deeper. We’re all trying to do so much with the little time that we have, and everyone I’ve met at barre3 does it so well. It’s just an inspiration to keep doing more, but also to do it well and with intention.
Barre3 is a community run by women, for women. Join us today by finding your local studio or signing up for a 15-day free trial of barre3 online.
Have you ever met someone and immediately thought: Where does she get that incredible energy? Anabel Muñana is one of those women. Anabel is a gifted teacher, passionate about inspiring a love of learning in all children and showing them that they are seen, heard, and valued. When she isn’t in the classroom, you can find Anabel at the barre3 studio, traveling with her husband, or cuddling with her French Bulldog Pepita.
Anabel extends her enthusiasm for movement and connection to barre3, and we couldn’t be more grateful for the many years of hard work, compassion, and dedication that she’s given to this community. Dive into our interview to learn more about Anabel: how years of succeeding in sports led her to barre3—plus what it’s like to be working two dream jobs at once.
B3 Magazine: You’re a 6th grade teacher! We’d love to hear more about your career in teaching. How did you get started in this field and what do you love most about it?
Anabel Muñana: Youth can be highly influenced, and I knew I needed to be a part of their lives in a positive way. I wanted to help them take care of themselves emotionally, physically, and academically. Teaching has helped me do exactly that. I fell in love with it, and I haven’t looked back since. I’ve loved every day that I’ve taught in my life, and I really can’t say that I’ve ever had a bad day of work.
I’ve been teaching for 13 years now. In my first 6 years, I taught Health and Physical Education, while also coaching high school track and cheer. It got to a point where I was teaching 180 students each semester, and while I still loved it, I wasn’t getting that one-on-one relationship connection.
I have my Master’s in Education with a focus in English Language Development. So I decided to give being a classroom, core-subject teacher a shot, because then I would have an established cohort of students. Now I’m a 6th grade Spanish-immersion and English Language Arts teacher, and I get to teach students of all different backgrounds and also teach in my native language.
I’ve found that I love teaching because of the relationship you get to build with students. There are all these young minds, and if you have a consistent routine, develop a relationship, and they know that you’re giving them a genuine learning experience, they’re all-in and ready to learn. It’s so important to build a safe and nurturing environment where students feel honored and respected. In the end, many of my students become my teachers.
B3 Magazine: What led you to barre3?
Anabel: I’ve been with barre3 for so long, I can’t remember exactly how many years it is now. Maybe nine or ten? I started when there were only two studios open. I was going to a Cirque du Soleil show downtown by the Pearl studio in Portland, and I saw the barre3 sign on the corner of 10th and Marshall, with Madonna’s picture on the window, because Sadie Lincoln had been training with Madonna. I was like, okay, if Madonna’s doing this then I want to get in on it!
So I came into the studio, I took my first class, and I was hooked. I absolutely loved the workout. I wanted to keep taking classes, so I decided to work there. Through my years working here, I’ve been able to build these incredible relationships with clients and staff.
With that, too, I’ve been able to see the evolution of barre3, which feels similar to seeing the evolution of my students. And maybe that’s why I’ve been with barre3 for so long—I’ve seen so much incredible growth, and I can’t let go of that. I don’t want to remove myself from it, because I’ve seen it turn into something so great. Barre3 started as this tiny little concept and has turned into a worldwide business. It’s incredible how barre3 is influencing so many people and becoming a positive part of their lives through movement.
B3 Magazine: Could you share more about the roles you’ve taken on at barre3?
Anabel: I started in the Play Lounge at the Pearl studio, and I did that for a year. Then they needed front desk help, so I moved to that position. I contemplated being an instructor for a while, but I started barre3 because it was a way for me to decompress and do a workout where I could remove myself from having to teach all day. I wanted to just chill out and move my body. Oh—and I also did deep cleaning for a year! All in all though, it didn’t really matter where I was, I just wanted to be a part of this community.
Through this process, and all my years with barre3, I’ve been able to train quite a few individuals who are now management and working in the corporate offices. That’s been so fun to see—to watch as people grow in the company.
I love teaching, but I also love learning, which is a nice thing about barre3. Through conversations I’ve had in the lounge before and after class, or just people stopping by the front desk, I’ve gotten to know some pretty incredible individuals. They’re these people with their own stories and their own struggles. Sure, you see people coming into the studio every day with a smile on their face because barre3 is their happy place, but there are people who I’ve gotten close to who feel comfortable opening up deeper as they wait for their class to start.
B3 Magazine: How would you say the workout and the community have shifted your perspective around fitness?
Anabel: Before barre3, my background in fitness was always either dance, cheer, or track. I was also a power lifter in high school and college! It’s funny how I got into it: Lifting was supposed to improve my sprinting performance, so I just jumped in. I was the only girl in the class—just me and all football players. My nickname was “Burly Muñana” in high school. My lifting coach thought that I had the potential to lift really heavy, so I started doing that, and I turned out to be crazy strong. Seriously, I don’t know where it came from. I’m only 5’1”, and I still hold all of the records at my high school as well as a few from college.
Because of my background in fitness, I had this concept that everything had to be a progression—you had to run faster, lift heavier, or you had to always progress in some way or else you’d plateau. From all that lifting and cheer in college, I have a lot of scar tissue and experienced some pain in my lower back. So when I started to get interested in barre3, I knew I wanted to do something that would help balance me out from all the intense activities I’d been doing.
Well, come to find out, barre3 is very, very hard! But that’s what I love about it. The workouts have always maintained this intense challenge that I can’t get from any other workout. There’s this weird, cathartic feeling that I get down in my chest when I do barre3. It’s hard to explain, but it feels like anxiety is building up through your body, and you’re teaching yourself how to calm it down. I don’t get it from any other workout, but barre3 pushes you to this place where you discover the calm in the chaos.
B3 Magazine: With every workout, barre3 serves to empower women and help them uncover their inherent strength and body wisdom. How does barre3 do that for you?
Anabel: What I love about barre3 is that you’re taught to breathe through the challenges. You can’t quit, and it helps you learn resilience. It’s like a meditation process, and it works areas of my body that I’ve never targeted before. The postures in barre3 are created to be very specific and very thoughtful. With every move we do, I know that there’s a purpose and a reason behind it. And I can feel that intention in my body when I do each posture. I didn’t know my quads existed before barre3, or that little curvature underneath your butt. Mind-body connection was a foreigh concept to me before barre3. Barre3 has allowed me to develop a mind-body connection that I’ve never gotten with anything else, and I’ve been able to understand my body in ways that I’ve never understood it before.
From doing barre3, and from getting to work with so many women in the community, I’ve met all these people who have had previous careers, and who discover that they feel more fulfilled with barre3. I love getting to learn about all their different backgrounds. These women are proof that you don’t have to be set in one facet of a career, or even a life. These women have so many talents and interests, and it’s made me wonder how the heck they’re fitting all of it in! They’re balancing their fitness life with their career life, and sometimes even their mom life. Every woman who walks into the studio comes in with a different story and a different experience. But they’re bringing it to this one central place, and the barre3 studio and community support that opportunity for connection and to learn more about people.
As women, there’s so much that we have in common. If anything, when I see these women, it just makes me want to grow more and dive into my interests deeper. We’re all trying to do so much with the little time that we have, and everyone I’ve met at barre3 does it so well. It’s just an inspiration to keep doing more, but also to do it well and with intention.
Barre3 is a community run by women, for women. Join us today by finding your local studio or signing up for a 15-day free trial of barre3 online.
