FITNESS TRAININGS, LECTURES, AND SPA CONSULTATION - Lawrence Biscontini, MA, CNC, personifies versatility in fitness and wellness education, as recent awards attest: 2005 ECA Award for best mind-body program "Yo-Chi"®, 2004 Can-Fit-Pro Specialty Presenter of the Year Award, the 2004 IDEA Group Fitness Instructor of the Year Award, and the 2002 ACE Group Fitness Instructor of the Year Award, making fitness history in the process. In the summer of 2004, he participated in the Opening Ceremonies of the Athens 2004 Olympics with yoga and T'ai Chi. Lawrence is currently the Group Fitness Manager, Mind-Body Personal Trainer, and Nutritional Counselor for Wyndham's Golden Door Spa at Las Casitas Village in Puerto Rico.

Lawrence has appeared on "LIVE with Regis and Kelly" and "CNN Headline News." Lawrence's programming at the Golden Door Spa received attention in the April 2002 Conde Nast report of top 45 Spas when that report ranked Lawrence's programs and classes at Golden Door Puerto Rico number 1 in the world! 24 Hour Fitness, Equinox, and Bally Total Fitness club chains called on Lawrence as Program Design Specialist to create some of their most exciting mind-body, personal trainer, and aquatic programming. Fitness magazine named Lawrence one of the Top Ten USA Trainers in 2003 (and invited him to serve on its Editorial Advisory Board), and cast members of ABC's "General Hospital" in ABC Soaps in Depth magazine named Lawrence "fitness guru," to boot. Possessing current ACE, AFAA, NASM, ACSM, AEA, SCW-EDU, and Can-Fit-Pro personal trainer and group fitness instructor certifications for land and aqua, Lawrence proudly works as Reebok University Master Trainer, AFAA International Certification Specialist, International Resist-a-Ball Master Trainer, Gliding Pioneer Master Trainer, volunteer CPR Instructor for the American Red Cross, and creator of his very own signature "Yo-Chi"® programming that fuses yoga and T'ai Chi for land, aqua, and stability ball programs.

Most major certifying bodies and continuing education international conventions count on Lawrence as faculty member, who not only trains the staff at other elite Golden Door Spas, but also travels as Spa & Fitness Consultant to help unique facilities and spas around the globe find an ideal blend of treatments, fitness, and wellness throughout its programs (Greenbrier, Canyon Ranch, Well Spa at Miramonte, among others). When not teaching, Lawrence is author for such international fitness publications as ACE Faculty News, AKWA newsletter, AsiaFit, SELF magazine, and AFAA's Theory and Practice industry standard textbook.

Among Lawrence's books are The One-Percent Factor: An Eccentric Unicorn's Approach to Touring and Traveling, and two fitness yoga texts with eight accompanying videos: Yoga Fundamentals I and II: A Fitness Approach. On an international scale, Lawrence serves on both IDEA Group Fitness & Steering Committees, Fitness Advisory Board for Fitness Magazine, and Faculty Advisory Board for the American Council on Exercise. For the fitness market, Lawrence appears in over 30 internationally-sold fitness videos and DVDs.

Lawrence's mind-body study is extensive: with a minor in theology, he has studied yoga: at Kripalu Center in New York state with yogis from India, under Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (Ashtanga, India), Tias Little, Rodney Yee, Shiva Rea, Donna Rubin (Bikram, NYC), and Molly Fox.

Lawrence also has studied T'ai Chi under David Dorian-Ross, and Pilates under Lolita San Miguel (student to Joseph Pilates), June Kahn, Moira Stott, and Elizabeth Giles. Lawrence studies Feldenkrais under John Link in NYC. At the Golden Door Spa at El Conquistador, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Lawrence created the Group Exercise program since the opening of that spa in late 1998. He's known there for his cutting-edge fusion classes, personal training, and his trendy menus at the Golden Door's Juice Bar. Lawrence also serves as owner, producer and presenter of Fitness Group 2000, elite instructors dedicated to continuing education worldwide in less-developed countries that cannot afford premium fitness programming. Lawrence seeks community involvement via fitness. He founded a T'ai Chi Wellness group in Puerto Rico at a local church community, and teaches yoga to incarcerated teens in the Centro de Detenciòn on the island.

At the 2003 IDEA Convention, Lawrence helped raise over $3,000 for the National Aids Fund at an early morning charity workout, teaching both yoga and T'ai Chi to fitness enthusiasts with friend Constance Towers from ABC's General Hospital. His cause of choice in the USA is to help the Sisters of Saint Joseph Villa in Philadelphia, a retirement community where both Catholic religious sisters and lay community members alike find care in a wonderful place to live. In the spring of 2004, Lawrence brought fitness professionals together for the plight of New York City animals for the Broadway Barks foundation begun by friend Bernadette Peters (www.officialbroadwaybarks.org). Lawrence served on the board for Immunocise in Dallas, Texas, and other organizations that use fitness to help those challenged in some way by HIV and AIDS. He has volunteered for Workout for Hope, and was the chief catalyst for Puerto Rico celebrating its first annual Workout for Hope in '98. In 2001, Lawrence initiated a "Fitness Unites" marathon in Puerto Rico to raise money for the September 11th Fund. Lawrence's published articles and contributions appear regularly in publications, including: "Transitioning from land to aquatic personal training,"

IDEA Personal Trainer, May 2003/"Mind Body Personal Training" in IDEA Personal Trainer late 2004, "Teaching to the Back Row," American Fitness April 2002./ "¿Yoga para tus abdominales?" BuenaVida April . 2001: 80-83/ "Personal Training Goes Global." IDEA Personal Trainer March. 2001: 33-40/ "SELF Challenge 2001." SELF March. 2001: 18/ "Show Coverage from AsiaFit 2000: Fitness in Asia Mirrors Western Trends" ACE Certified News March 2001: 10/ "How can trainers help clients get past body image hang-ups…?" IDEA Personal Trainer. Lawrence teaches in English, Spanish, Italian, and Greek, and is a resident of the world.