Purpose of StarBarre Harmony

StarBarre Harmony is a standing-based holistic exercise method designed to:

• Support rehabilitation from injury or movement disorders

• Prevent recurrence of problems

• Ease everyday movements

• Enhance athletic performance

• Promote looking, feeling, and being healthy

Progression through the exercise sequence levels reflects the natural healing power built into the StarBarre Harmony approach. Beginning with the most basic functional patterns at Level 1 and advancing to Level 5, it supports everyone—from those in pain to the most advanced Pilates instructors, dancers, and top athletes.

 

A Learning Experience

The primary focus of StarBarre Harmony is training all the body’s movement components to work together in synergy—creating harmonious, functional, full-body postures and movements. Like other mind-body practices such as yoga and Pilates, each exercise begins as a learning experience. With studio corrections and consistent home practice, movements become natural and automatic. Over time, this carries into everyday activities—even without conscious effort. This is essential, as many injuries occur precisely when we are not paying attention to how we move.

 

Breathing and Vitality

Unique breathing and relaxation techniques are integral to every StarBarre Harmony exercise. Practicing with mindful breathing, aligned body lines, and synchronized full-body movement develops strong movement foundations while also promoting vitality, energy, and overall well-being.

 

Functional Exercises for Daily Life

Every StarBarre Harmony exercise is functional. Practiced together in a sequence, they simulate the wide range of movements essential for daily life: walking, running, bending, lifting, balancing, jumping, landing, kicking a ball, or even putting on a shoe while standing on one leg. With just 10 minutes of daily practice, these exercises become easier, and everyday functions naturally improve.

 

No-Pain Exercises

Performing exercises in pain—or even mild discomfort—can be harmful:

• Pain or fear of pain triggers compensatory survival patterns.

• Training in this state reinforces dysfunction instead of restoring function.

The key is to modify each exercise until it can be performed harmoniously, without pain or fear. Every repetition should contribute to restoring balance, confidence, and efficient movement. Like dogs and cats stretching daily in natural, gentle ways, practice should feel safe, natural, and never forced.

 

Focus on Standing Exercises

Since most daily activities—and many injuries—occur while standing, StarBarre Harmony emphasizes functional standing exercises as the foundation of training. This mirrors nature: babies progress from crawling to upright posture, while cats and dogs instinctively stretch in standing positions. Healthy adults, likewise, benefit most from training in their natural, functional standing posture.

 

The Harmony Floor Sequence

Although standing exercises are central, StarBarre Harmony also includes the Harmony Floor Sequence—a set of 10 functional, floor-based exercises. This routine is intended for:

• People who love floor-based training

• Individuals unable to practice standing exercises due to pain or discomfort

• Those seeking additional mind-body benefits beyond the standing sequence

• Instructors who wish to teach it as a balanced mat class

For example, an injured soccer player might begin recovery with floor work, but rehabilitation is complete only once standing exercises are mastered and practiced daily in a pain-free, harmonious way.

 

Three Cornerstones of StarBarre Harmony

The method is grounded in three key principles:

1. Pain-Free Performance – Learn to perform each exercise of your current sequence harmoniously and without discomfort.

2. Daily Practice – Follow the 10-minute video sequence at home, using guided tutorials, Jax the virtual instructor, or live sessions with human instructors.

3. Strategic Exercise – Identify and master one personal exercise that delivers immediate relief and improved function after even a single correct repetition.

From clinical experience, if a Strategic Exercise works once, it will usually work again. Practicing the Strategic Exercise early—at the first sign of discomfort—helps prevent escalation and promotes confidence and independence.

 

A Hybrid Model of Care

StarBarre Harmony integrates supervised studio sessions with at-home practice. Studio sessions remain essential for assessment, correction, and progression, while video-guided, no-equipment sequences make daily practice practical and accessible. This dual approach:

• Accelerates healing

• Prevents setbacks

• Builds resilience

• Restores pain-free, harmonious functional capacity

Over time, Strategic Exercises become naturally redundant—a sign of true recovery and restored movement harmony.

 

StarBarre Harmony – A Necessary Supplement

Daily 10-minute practice, combined with Strategic Exercise for managing discomfort, is not a replacement for other activities but a critical supplement. For a healthy, active lifestyle, it is also recommended to:​

• Participate regularly in a supervised mind-body practice such as Pilates, CoreAlign, Yoga, or Tai Chi.

• Perform at least 30 minutes of daily enjoyable, pain-free aerobic activity like walking, jogging, hill hiking, surfing or playing social ball games.

  • Avoid any type of sport that evokes pain or discomfort.

• Maintain a well-balanced diet in modest quantities.

 

Method Creator: Jonathan Hoffman

Jonathan Hoffman is a holistic exercise physical therapist who works exclusively with the StarBarre Harmony method in a public physical therapy clinic. During postgraduate studies at Curtin University, Australia, Jonathan was personally mentored by three physical therapy legends: Bob Elvey, Brian Mulligan, and Max Zussman.

Highlights of his career include:

• Treating professional tennis players, basketball teams, and tens of thousands of people with back pain, musculoskeletal disorders, and sports injuries.

• Publishing widely cited scientific papers on holistic movement.

• Inventing the Active Therapeutic Movements device (ATM/ATM2), CoreAlign, MoonRun, and StarBarre Harmony.

• Teaching thousands of healthcare professionals and movement practitioners worldwide

 

Peer-Reviewed Publications

• Expanding Panjabi’s stability model to express movement: A theoretical model. Medical Hypothesis, 2013.

• The origins of Western mind-body exercise methods. Physical Therapy Reviews, 2016.

 

Inspiration and Credits

Personal Teachers and Mentors

• Bob Elvey (Australia)

• Brian Mulligan (New Zealand)

• Max Zussman (Australia)

Spiritual Teachers and Influences

• J.P. Muller (Denmark)

• Oddvar Holten (Norway)

• Minnie Randell (England)

• Joseph Pilates (Germany, USA)

• Margaret Morris (Scotland, England)

• Moshe Feldenkrais (Israel)

Additional Sources of Inspiration

• CoreAlign®

• Ballet

• Tai Chi

• Belly dancing

• Traditional Asian dance

• Natural human functional movements and breathing

• Daily stretching routines of cats and dogs