Prime Women spotlights a special guest — a woman who embraces her age and lives her life to the fullest. Christine Khuri, fitness trainer, skin care enthusiast, chocolate lover, and inspiration to us all.
When we catch up with Christine Khuri, she is in the car, picking up her son from school in the few moments between an afternoon spent instructing private fitness clients and attending her own evening yoga class. Like most single mothers, 48-year-old Khuri juggles a busy work schedule and childcare. What separates her from much of that group, however, is her dedication to her own fitness and self-care.
Khuri, who lives in Beverly Hills with her 13-year-old son and their two pets, began working out at age 22. But even before that, she’d been exposed to fitness and wellness by her mother. “My mom did yoga and meditation and all that weird ’70s stuff. She took me to my first aerobics class — it was Jazzercise! And she wouldn’t let me have sugar.”
Despite that early introduction to fitness by her mother, it took a trainer Khuri met in her 20s introducing her to weights to light the fire that would flame a career that has spanned more than two decades. That career today includes not only group instruction and private clients on both coasts but also workout videos and a detox program available to anyone with a computer. Her goal now is to create a wellness-retreat business, which she says will allow her to have an even greater impact on clients. “I am passionate about helping people change their lives and be healthier,” Khuri says. “There is an experience you can have on a retreat that you cannot have otherwise. When you have access to people in a retreat environment, you can really impact them.”
“People don’t realize how old I am, but when they find out, they listen to everything I say.”
Just meeting Khuri for a moment can have an impact. With thick hair, luminous skin, and a feminine shape that seems carved from marble, Khuri radiates good health. She laughs when she says she is best known for “having abs,” but you don’t have to see her six-pack to recognize that this lady has wisdom to share.
Khuri says that one thing she’s found empowering as she has grown older is that people really want to hear her advice. “People don’t realize how old I am,” she says, “but when they find out, they listen to everything I say.”
Another joy of aging for the trainer: “You get really clear on the things that you want — like really clear. I’ve done so many things I didn’t want to do, that I’ve finally figured out what’s really important to me.”
Taking care of her body has been one constant for Khuri through the years. Her current obsession is the infrared sauna, which she says is good for achy joints. Family is another constant.
This year she will spend the holidays much like she does every year, in Beverly Hills with her mother, who flies in from the East Coast. She will teach a class on Christmas Eve while her son is with his grandmother and then go shopping, “because I am a procrastinator.” The family will open gifts and have dinner on Christmas Day — hopefully with chocolate and champagne, she says.
“I’ve done so many things I didn’t want to do, that I’ve finally figured out what’s really important to me.”
For New Year’s, Khuri says she typically does a mediation workshop to set her intentions for the year ahead. She also has a ritual of writing down all of the things she would like to let go of and then burning the paper. Then she writes down all of the things she is inviting into her life.
On her list? Letting go of toxic relationships and creating space for more wellness pursuits.
To learn more about Christine Khuri, go to christinekhuri.com
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