Elizabeth Gonzalez

As Miami’s skyline continues to grow, so does one of Miami’s top fitness facilities, Equinox.In the center of Brickell’s developing neighborhood, Equinox opened their fifth facility in the Brickell Heights building, made up of three floors featuring a juice bar & lounge, group fitness and cycling studios, boutique, spa treatment rooms and an outdoor pool deck facing Brickell City Center.During our introduction experience, we took at yoga class lead by lululemon ambassador and honestly one of my favorite instructors, Rene Martin. The warm room was stocked with lots of quality equipment and offered students a stunning view looking out into Brickell. We also had the opportunity to try some of the bites from the juice bar downstairs and that alone may be worth signing up for a membership (says the foodie in me!).The facility offers a range of classes including a Pure Strength class, Firestarter that knocks out a days worth of cardio in just 30 minutes, and a new studio cycling experience exclusive to the club, The Pursuit by Equinox.On that schedule you’ll find some of the city’s most notable instructors. With their sister club just a few blocks away at the Four Seasons, whatever class you don’t see on one schedule, is just a hop, skip and jump away at the other club. You can check out the schedules for all of the Florida clubs here.While many of you who will join the club will likely walk, know that you have the option of complimentary valet for up to 3 hours. Plenty time to sweat, steam, shower and grab a juice!Equinox Brickell Heights

• 850 South Miami Ave, Miami, FL 33131
• Mon-Thu 5:00 am – 11:00 pm
• Fri 5:00 am – 10:00 pm
• Sat & Sun 7:00 am – 8:00 pm
• Phone: 305.350.2278

“Forbidden black coconut rice, marinated kale, raw roots, hickama beets, carrots, broccoli, sweet potato hummus, lentils and adasha which is a local based protein that a local entrepreneur named Taylor Cohen invented - we’re the first restaurant to feature it.”You ask the woman what her favorite bowl is and she responds with the healthiest mouthful of ingredients you have ever heard, and of course shares the creation of a local entrepreneur like herself. That’s Della Heiman for ya!Oh wait, do you know Della? Have you heard of The Wynwood Yard? Well, she created the magical space!“The Wynwood Yard is a culinary incubator for promising food and beverage entrepreneurs to launch their concepts, iterate and be part of a collaborative and supportive community,” says Heiman.

Della was always intrigued by what her parents did running a 3rd generation family business. When asked as a child what she wanted to be when she grew up, Della always new she would be a businesswoman.“I think the funny part about that, is in my mind, when I said ‘business woman,’ I envisioned a woman in a business suit sitting at a desk talking to people, and now I’m running around all day crawling on the ground, shoveling dirt and picking up trash!”After Harvard Business School, with a business plan in hand, Heiman came to Miami on a whim and it’s been more incredible then she could have imagined.“I moved here to open Della Test Kitchen as a brick and mortar space, but real estate is so inflated in Miami, I couldn’t find a space that made economic sense,” recalled Heiman. “So it ended up that I needed to get a little more creative. I had met so many inspiring entrepreneurs along the way that were facing the same barriers to entry that I was, so I decided to change up the model and do this incubator instead. Then I launched the restaurant inside it.”

Along with being an incubator attracting dynamic entrepreneurs in the neighborhood, The Wynwood Yard has become a sort of haven to locals with interests in the arts, food & beverage and fitness industries, and the community has been collaborative in making all of this accessible.“It’s been incredible to work with so many different people across so many fitness platforms and it’s really unique. Here we do everything from Zumba, to Pilates, to yoga, to hula hooping classes, to runs and it’s all over the map,” boasts Heiman.“I’ve been really inspired by the generosity of so many instructors and studio owners who just want to give their gift to the community and don’t want to charge anything for it, they just want to give free classes to enhance the community and it’s just the most generous thing ever.”

The Wynwood Yard puts out a calendar monthly with anywhere from 20-30 events a week. If you’re lucky, you may just be around when a high-profile artist like Shakira show’s up.While strolling through the Yard, you’ll notice a garden tucked away in the back. This is an organic garden curated by the Little River Cooperative then harvested by the Yard, with the produce showing up in your dish when dining at Della’s Test Kitchen or the newest Wynwood Yard resident, Charcoal Bar and Grill.During her college years, Della had the opportunity to travel abroad living in Mexico, Spain and Chile with families picking up culinary inspiration from each of them.

“I always loved cooking with my mom ever since I was little,” recalls Heiman. “Everything I know about cooking is from spending time with people that have been cooking a certain way for a very long time then learning how they do it and experimenting in my own kitchen.”And her advice to individuals, like myself, who are so much better at consuming then creating dishing, “don’t be afraid to experiment. I feel like cooking is all about having fun in the kitchen and just enjoying yourself and not worrying about messing up. It’s just food and you can always figure it out.”

When two guys with a passion for fitness and a desire to improve the wellbeing of others connect, they create greatness and inspire.New to the South Miami fitness scene is the sweat-so-hard warehouse, Stunna’s Fit. What began as a trainer-client relationship quickly turned into a goal crushing partnership between Gabriel and Jose.Former MMA fighter, Gabriel Varona, refused to leave fitness behind him upon retirement and started as a personal trainer. Outside of the ring, Varona was also known for his motorcycle stunts, hence the name Stunna.But don’t let the hot-headed exterior fool ya (his words, not mine), this tri-athlete is the type of human whose team you want to be on and are sure to be empowered by.Aside from impacting the physical state of clients, Varona has set out to impact the lives of Miami’s homeless. When he saw a man in a dumpster and learned the man was looking for shoes, Varona took the size 11’s off his feet and gave them to the man. From there, non-profit Shoes for Streets was founded.

For Jose Hernandez, the corporate marketing creative and other half of Stunna’s Fit, training with Varona not only provided physical benefits, but that inspiration and motivation to do what he’s is best at—creating, but in a whole new capacity.With both men, successful in their careers, decided to add ‘entrepreneur’ to their hats and bring South Miami a place for fitness to thrive.Varona starts training at 6:00am five days a week with a Fit Camp class that will push you to your limits - and then some. The Stunna’s Fit team of local rock-star trainers each empower the best physical version of yourself to come out and play in a place that feels just as much like family as it does fitness.Stunna's Fit classes range from Fit Camp and Boxing to Kettlebells and Savage Sundays with special events happening on the regular.Keep up with Stunna’s Fit on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/STUNNAFIT/ and on Instagram @stunnasfitsomi and drop by the warehouse at 5850 Commerce Lane, South Miami, Florida.

Eat, sleep, work - that is the typical day for most of the population. Many of us will even throw ‘workout’ into the mix, yet still, something is missing. Meditation.Innergy Meditation is the first studio of it’s kind, opening their doors in the heart of South Beach. Their intention, make meditation mainstream.Many hear the word ‘meditation’ and think - sitting in an uncomfortable pretzel pose on a pillow on the floor, surrounded by incense, with your hand making o’s and chanting ‘ommmmmm’ for a ridiculous amount of time. Maybe even monks in long cloaks come to mind.Innergy Meditation is here to advocate for the practice of mediation, and how even just three minutes of meditating can impact your day-to-day well-being, and ultimately, your life.Nine years ago, Innergy Meditation Founder Paul Silitsky was leading a successful technology firm when he lost his voice – literally, lost his voice to spasmodic dysphonia.“For three years essentially, I lost my voice,” recalls Silitsky. “It gave me the ability to be more understanding. This happened and it led me to really realize that we are all very unique, but we’re all the same. We all have three things in common - we want to be listened to, we want to be loved, and we want to feel connected.”The impact meditation had on Paul's life and well-being is what lead to the creation of Innergy Meditation. Paul and his teams intention is to get meditation the reputation it deserves, by making it accessible to everyone and have it find a place in your daily routine, even for just a minutes."I will not start a day without meditating, because I’m important, and I have to take care of me. So if 3-minutes of meditation is all I do, so be it,” says Silitsky.Over the next few years, Innergy Meditation plans to open 108 studios in urban areas, reaching out to the community, schools and companies. Classes are offered for individuals in all places of their meditation journey, and are instructed by some of the most influential and passionate humans in the community.Tap into your true essence and connect with who you are during a 30-minute “Heart30” class, or opt for the “Quickie20” on those days when time is limited, but that inner peace needs some love.For more information, visit http://www.innergymeditation.com/.

Creating an experience beyond another day at the gym is the name of the game for the guys at Wynwood’s newest sweaty endeavor-- Wynwell. LA bred Owner, Asher Burris, saw a gap and has set out to fill it. Not just in the Wynwood neighborhood or even Miami, but in the ever-evolving fitness industry as a whole.“I always try to say, what’s the biggest problem and how can we create a solution,” says Burris. This translates into a few things— creating a work-out environment built around connection to yourself, your community and void any suffering in the state of wellbeing, empowering our school systems and work places, and creating a future blueprint on how spaces need to become smart to name a few.Wynwell is a lifestyle brand with a mission to improve the overall well-being of our community in five domains: career, social, physical, community and financial.“A lot of people achieve, a lot of people win, but they don’t do it with meaning and fulfillment—I’m trying to improve your lifestyle,” says Burris. Serious shit, right? “Go to when you’re 80 years old, how do you want to move?”Through your workout you’ll hear queues on your body control, posture, and alignment making you aware of your body’s structure in a way that may be new to you and most likely walk away not just having had a kick-ass work-out, but actually learning something.When doing the research as to where Burris would set up shop, the decision was easy. “Wynwood is easily the heartbeat, the pulse, of the whole city of Miami. The heartbeat, innovation, creativity, community, it adds to a lot of really core pieces of your lifestyle-- the art, music, food. So for us it was a no brainer,” adds Burris.

As our world continues to become environmentally conscious, so should the places we go to manifest a healthier, more fit, even sexier version of ourselves.The moment you step in the warehouse, it’s obvious much thought and detail went into creating the space. Your senses are greeted by custom aromatherapy and walls with proverbs to motivate you through your work out.The room is open for endless workout possibilities and not a single electricity-guzzling machine is in sight. Equipment like spin bikes and rowers hide behind walls for optimal space. Repurposed shipping containers fill the corners serving as a place to kick back and catch your breath post-sweat with flooring made of recycled tires and live greenery adding just the right amount of color.What you don’t see is the air, water, light, and other concepts that meet the expectations of The WELL Building Standard™ and The Wellness Habitat Company. The dedication to creating a smart, healthy, livable and eventually workable space is real. “We’re out to really shake things up!” Burris states.The Move x Well Class schedule rotates daily through cardio, weights, body weight Pilates, and on Saturday’s ‘the unknown’ six days a week starting as early as 6:00 am. Check out their app and Instagram to stay connected.Move x well. Work x well. Live x well. Wyn x well.