Laina James

Got some issues around feeling sexy? Loving your body? Food in general? LAINA IS YOUR GAL! I’ve been working with her for a year now with everything from one-​on-​one coaching to learning how to access my inner vixen in her burlesque body love boot camp. I can honestly say that looking in the mirror is no longer a painful experience — not because my body has changed, but because my mind has. And that is largely due to Laina’s exquisite, capable support. Not to mention that I’ve made peace with some life-​long issues around food. Laina is so easy to talk to and enjoyable to work with. She’ll make you feel like she understands you within 5 minutes, and you’ll find yourself looking for more time in your schedule to meet with this inspiring powerhouse of a confident, badass woman! Thanks for all of the help, Laina!

Laina is amazing! Anyone struggling with body image, self-​esteem, etc would greatly benefit from working with Laina. She is warm, creative, passionate, compassionate, wise, strong, kind and intuitive. She truly lives what she teaches. Her burlesque classes are incredibly fun. A great way to be a part of a community of women who are learning to embrace their bodies and find beauty in themselves and others through dance and movement. It is a supportive environment that facilitates light heartedness and personal growth. I would recommend Laina’s classes to anyone who wants to move their body, have fun, connect with other women and gain confidence.

Laina is GREAT! I worked with her during a Burlesque boot camp. I thought it was just a dance class where you come in, learn moves and leave. But it was so much more. Laina helped me gain confidence and helped me love the body that I am in, through her discussions and exercises. I would highly recommend her to anyone. She is the best!

Laina is absolutely wonderful, caring, compassionate, and knowledgeable in what she does — and she loves doing it! I have been taking her burlesque classes and was able to do one of her boot camp classes and they are incredibly fun, carefree, and you walk out of there feeling sexy and empowered! I feel like her classes had that special «something» I was looking for — I wanted to find a group of women who were learning to love their bodies and be comfortable with themselves, so we could help and encourage one another, and watch each other grow — almost like a «safe space». I highly recommend Laina’s classes and boot camps!

Having worked as a personal trainer for the past 7 years I definitely know a lot of information regarding nutrition. Certainly I knew what foods are considered good for you and what foods are considered «bad», as well as the science behind weight loss. However after being sidelined from my workouts for a few months, I found myself struggling to lose an extra 10 pounds. I went to work with my food plans and workout plans, carefully deciding how many calories I should eat and in what ratio of carb/​fat/​protein and how many hours each week I would spend lifting, swimming, interval training, etc. But after another couple months, I was still struggling with that weight! I was dumbfounded, and it was then that I stumbled upon Laina’s website. I was immediately intrigued by her philosophies, it made so much sense! I began working with her and she pointed out that my hurried schedule and chronic stress levels were likely playing a huge role, not only in sabotaging efforts to lose weight, but in enjoying food. I was so focused on that 10 pounds that it was adding even more stress to my already stressful lifestyle.
Gradually with her help I began to slow down and get in touch with a more intuitive way of thinking about and actually enjoying food. Enjoying food! What a concept! It
seemed so simple and natural, but I was so busy constructing strict guidelines for exercise and calories that I had totally lost sight of that. And when I inevitably didn’t always stay within those guidelines I engaged in negative self talk and created more stress and bad feelings. I realized that this was a pattern I had been engaged in for a long long time. Laina brought me so much awareness and an ability to be kinder to myself. What a relief!
Now, a year and my first baby later, I am so grateful to Laina. I’m sure that without her guidance I would be beating myself up over losing the baby weight ASAP. Instead, I am allowing myself to be happy and rejoice in watching my beautiful baby boy grow. I can trust that the weight will keep coming off gradually as long as I continue treating myself with love and care. Of course there are still moments where I struggle to do this, but I feel as though I can see the greater picture now, and simply need to remind myself sometimes. Gone are the days of weighing myself each morning and then feeling like a failure or fat or frustrated. My happiness no longer dependent on fitting into my size 6 jeans. Life is too short to waste so much time and energy battling with yourself. Negative body image is unfortunately a needless tragedy that the majority of women experience regardless of what their body shape looks like. Laina’s work is a much needed breath of fresh air in a world of fad diets and airbrushed advertisements.
I highly recommend Laina to anyone trying to lose weight, trying to improve overall physical health, or self-​esteem. This work truly is the starting place for people seeking to shift to a healthier lifestyle, free of extra pounds and mental baggage. Laina will show you the path to developing SUSTAINABLE methods for revitalizing your relationship with food and self. Also very kind, caring and delightful to be around, she gets a huge A+ from this fitness professional.
–Caitlin Fahey
ACE certified Personal Trainer specializing in weight loss, balance, coordination, special populations, group fitness and dance