Nathan Schechter, ACSM CPT, PN1-NC, CYT works as a teacher, trainer, coach and performer. He has a deep interest in both art and science, and has helped people use movement and exercise to enrich their lives, build skills and solve problems.
Nathan found early success in the performing arts, performing in professional television, radio and theater. He worked with well known celebrities and pursued a career in acting.
After college and conservatory he helped to build a start-up healthcare company into 12 health centers, 2 pharmacies and an ambulance service, as well as working in large law firms and multinational companies.
After discovering his “gateway drug” of yoga, he began a passionate and in-depth study of the practice that spanned many cities, countries, and styles of yoga, including many of the flowing, athletic styles of yoga such as: Ashtanga, Vinyasa and Bikram. Teaching yoga since 2005, he is a twice certified yoga teacher with over 10,000 hours of teaching experience, and formerly was an ERYT-200 for 13 years and a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP) for 2 years.
Familiarity with Karate, exposure to Shadow Yoga, and a deepening appreciation of movement vocabulary, led Nathan back to the martial arts as an adult.
Thousands of hours of mixed movement arts practice, and ongoing research into states of mind experienced by high-level performers, helped Nathan create a freestyle movement practice informed by neuroscience, fighting techniques, dance, and movement studies.
During this time he developed an interest in the movement systems and training used by law enforcement and the military (i.e. use-of-force techniques, police operations, physical demands & movement patterns of law enforcement officers and soldiers). This interest crossed over into performing, including fight choreography and film projects.
His work has included, and borrowed from, many styles, including: Boxing, Muay Thai, Wing Chun, Kickboxing, Systema, Silat, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), Eskrima and Kali, Tai Chi and Kung Fu.
Aware that the mind and body defy any one modality, Nathan trained in Shiatsu Massage, and began an in-depth investigation of strength training and was certified by the American College of Sports Medicine in personal training in 2014. Realizing the importance of nutrition, he dove into an in-depth exploration of that field and was certified by Precision Nutrition as a nutrition coach in 2023.
He has helped enthusiasts, mind body professionals, performers, athletes and regular folks learn to use movement, exercise, nutrition and other modalities to achieve their goals and overcome their obstacles.
He believes in the importance of relationship and environment in teaching and learning and has gathered a wide range of experiences from different modalities and cultures. A few examples include:
Training at the London School of Hand Balancing and Acrobatics, Movement X and Upper Body Strength with Ido Portal in Denmark, and Fighting Monkey in Belgium.
He has experience studying and working with groups involved in the practice and facilitation of Nonviolent Communication in the USA, UK and Europe.
He practiced Flying Low and Passing Through with David Zambrano at Movement Research in New York City, Medical Qigong with Michael Leone in New Hampshire and trained in Craniosacral Therapy with Upledger Institute International.
He continues to learn, practice and refine, as he knows:
Excellence is the refinement of imperfect attempts.