The Happy Body
Regain Your
Health, Strength
& Flexibility
Using the power of micro-progression we can build strength, flexibility and speed at any age. Yes, really. The Happy Body programme is a unique approach to overall health, combining a daily practice using light dumbbells with use of the breath, and a closing meditation to consolidate the practice. It is an approach that builds lean body mass while lowering body fat %, and also, crucially, acknowledges the importance of balancing physical engagement with both physical and mental relaxation to build optimum health. This has great benefits for overall health and well-being, but in particular for anyone over the age of 50, and especially if you are a woman over 50.
This is the magic combination for a healthy, happy body. There is a powerful cascade of health benefits that follow an increase in lean body mass, built using resistance with light dumbbells. The Happy Body is a programme that you can learn, the exercises are fully adaptable to your current physical capacity, and you can do it every day in your own home. Developed by champion Olympic weightlifters, Jerzy & Aniela Gregorek, it is genius in its simplicity and its effectiveness.
I’m Margaret O’Brien, based in Carrick-on-Suir, in the south-east of Ireland. I completed my training as a Happy Body Mentor after experiencing the transformative benefits of this programme, not least the disappearance of niggling and ever more limiting stiffnesses, aches and pains. They are now a vague memory, but what is here to stay is my joy in movement, my energy and zest for life as a result of daily practising this programme.
I know the difference this programme has made to my life and I love to introduce and teach this programme to others and to support them as they make changes that improve their quality of life. Because you can live your life with strength, energy and joy!
Work With Me
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Group Sessions
I run small group workshops over 4 weeks, on Zoom, a few times a year. This can be the perfect first step to learn what The Happy Body has to offer.
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One-Year Will Pass
One-to-one mentoring. This option is for those who are committed to stepping forward into a new, more vibrant life. There will be weekly x 1 hour meetings, via Zoom, plus daily interactions and support.
More about the
Happy Body
This daily 30-minute routine will leave you less stressed and injury-free.
The Happy Body is a programme developed by champion Olympic weight-lifters Jerzy & Aniela Gregorek. It is a unique, holistic, approach to health and to life, bringing together the wisdom of their experiences at the top of their field in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, with their understanding of living according to the principles of Stoic philosophy.
It is, quite simply, the best approach to health and living there is. It will change your life, increase not only your strength, energy and flexibility but also extend your health-span. By learning how to live as a Happy Body you have accepted the invitation to become a Master, not a Fatalist. Consider yourself invited.
Want to learn more about this unique programme? Visit The Happy Body website.
Get in touch.
Through The Happy Body progamme, I train mature women and men so they can live lives of strength, energy, and joy. If you would like to find out more, or to arrange a FREE 20-minute discovery call, simply send me a message using the form below. I would love to hear from you.
the benefits of the
happy body
In this video certified mentor & Precision Nutrition L2 coach Margaret O’Brien discusses how The Happy Body program can make a difference in your life.
About Margaret
Certified Mentor of The Happy Body & Precision Nutrition Coach
Every day I pick up a pair of dumbbells at a regular time. This is the most important thing I have to do. Begin. My body and brain now know what is to happen next. I take in a full breath, engage my core, raise my chest, curl up my toes.
Then I lift the dumbbells first to shoulder height, then high above my head, arms straight. I have successfully fought against gravity but I am not yet finished. I press the dumbbells further towards the ceiling, a small but vital stretch. Now I have fought for my flexibility, I have extended my edge. It feels good. I come out of the exercise in one smooth, controlled movement and release my breath.
This is the exercise known as ‘Standing Tall’ and is the beginning of the full Happy Body routine of 18 exercises. I have done the most important part, I have started, and I will now go through the entire routine taking about 30 minutes, and work every single part of my body. I am continually building my strength, flexibility and speed over time and my body and mind love it. Consistent small changes, over time, produces results.
The Happy Body is a system of physical exercises, based on Olympic weightlifting, which improves strength, flexibility and speed at any age, a practice that I find to be almost poetic in its completeness. But more than that, it is a way of thinking, a way of living that understands that, “there is overwhelming gracefulness in living without waste.” Those who practise it find that it’s a route to deep health and that it fosters a greater mental focus and also a sense of calmness, qualities that are real antidotes to the pressures and stresses of today’s world. The Gregoreks introduced me to the concept of ‘triple happiness’, which follows from the daily practice of The Happy Body:
“First, you’re happy because of the results: you’re more youthful and stronger. Second, you’re happy because you’re the one who achieved your goal; you’re proud of staying on course. And third, this happiness radiates out to others, increasing the joy around you.” (Gregoreks, from, I Got This: The Art of Getting Grit)
Yes, we can live out our lives with strength, energy and joy.
My Backstory
I have had an interesting and eclectic mix of life experiences and have taken opportunities when they came my way and felt right to me. These included beginning my college education in my 40th year; discovering the work of the late Pat Schneider, training with her and becoming an affiliate of the organisation she founded, Amherst Writers & Artists, which led me to start Writing Changes Lives (10 + years and still running); lecturing in the Sociology of Adult Literacy; lecturing in English Literature and Creative Writing in Waterford Institute of Technology.
The discovery of the work of Aniela and Jerzy Gregorek in recent years was another game changer for me. We are not comprised of both mind and body, we are all body! In my work with my Happy Body clients I support them as they begin to change their narratives around health and fitness, as they discover that change for the better is possible, at any age. Small changes made consistently over time, micro-progression, is where the magic lies.
happy body
Seminars
Margaret is available to speak about the unique benefits of The Happy Body to interested groups. If you are curious about the magic of micro-progression, about what contributes to 'triple happiness', and the difference between getting older and aging then contact Margaret to arrange a seminar.