“Where the eyes go, the body follows” is an old adage that was drilled into my psyche long ago. “Look up, go up” is another one. I heard them over and over again in yoga classes, and now I say them in my own classes because of their simplistic truth – where you are literally and figuratively placing your attention is the direction you’re heading in. A deeper thought still….have you noticed how, when...
Interestingly, if you dissect the latin word for blood, which is sanguis, you get san meaning health and guis meaning to soar, so I think it’s a sign – your blood is meant for high flying health! My first acupuncture appointment was at age 30. I went to a walk-in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) clinic that was for doctors-in-training. It was only $25, and I scraped together the funds to go. I had debilitating menstrual cramps at the time and a friend said acupuncture would “fix...
Pilates Fusion has arrived, and it’s the type of workout I teach regularly. It’s effective, it feels good, and it works for just about every body. The Pilates Method is a series or exercises, but it is also a way of looking at the physical body in both a zoomed out/big picture way, and in a zoomed in/micro-focused way. The goal of Pilates is better-ing the body. That includes better body awareness, better movement control, better balance and...
The only thing playing on the TV in my household is sports – basketball, football, tennis, golf, baseball….there is always a sporting event on the screen. I’ve learned to embrace it, and I’m actually very inspired by athletes. They are outstanding examples of self-mastery. One of the most universal things among the top athletes, no matter what the sport, is they are their own best cheerleader. They give themselves a fist pump, a subtle head nod and a “Let’s...
There’s a lot of talk these days about the nervous system and for good reason. We live in a hectic world and our nervous systems are constantly put to the test. I think many of us “soldier on” day after day and never care for our nervous systems. Why is this? For one, because our society indirectly rewards the “type-A go-go-go” personality, making a jacked up nervous system seem like a positive thing. And two,...
A man carrying a long ladder walked between me and my students midway through the very first aerobics class I ever taught at age 18. It was awkward to say the least! Since then, so many unplanned, quirky things have occurred during my classes, from power outages to chipmunks scurrying over people’s bodies while they were lying in shavasana. When I was working for Club Med in the nineties, someone sat down on their mat...
There are several health and fitness related questions I get asked repeatedly. Some of them, I’ve been asked about since day one of being a fit pro. Some of them, have popped up only recently. Here they are along with a quick answer: Is there an energy bar you recommend?I’m not a fan of 99.9percent of them. I try to avoid packaged food, and energy bars are packaged food. However, if I have to pick...
Did you know there’s a chain of gyms called Fitness For Life? (I think it’s the best name ever…says it all!) Well, fitness is for life, for a good, capable, high quality life. Mud doesn’t stop me from taking my two labrador retrievers on a hike. Sometimes I think it should, as the clean up required post-hike is urgent, physically demanding, a little gross, time consuming, and not fun! At any rate, here’s how it typically goes: I get the...
I’d like for you to do one of two things: 1. imagine balancing a book on your head, or 2. grab an actual book and place it on your head. If you can, do it right now and then walk around for a minute or two, or go from sitting to standing a couple of times, all while maintaining the position of the book. Notice anything? What you probably notice is your head is micro-aligning...
I just spent an afternoon with human resource directors from some of the biggest companies in the world. I listened in on parts of their conversation concerning their employees. The primary conundrum that each of these HR directors faced was how can they keep employees healthy and strong, and thus productive? Many of their employees work long hours and when their workday ends, family responsibilities begin. Basically, everyone’s busy and exhausted, so how does anyone...
