Suzy is Suzy Shulman, the Power Pilates instructor at All Wellness. She is taking the Booty Barre training this month and is going to come home to Burlington and kick our Booty! According to Suzy, Booty Barre uses Pilates concepts the like neutral spine, core integration, and the coordination of movement with breath for an intense workout. “Anyone can do it. Whether you are fat or skinny, fit or whatever, anybody can do Booty Barre. And it’s so fun!”

Essentially Booty Barre is like Standing Pilates with a good beat. When you take mat Pilates exercises to the vertical plane, you introduce all kinds of challenges to your balance. And the muscles of the pelvic floor are vital to maintaining balance; so anyone who needs to build stability here (that would be almost all of  us) will benefit.

Booty Barre, like Pilates, helps the body/mind re-pattern movement habits for better alignment and ease. You’ll strengthen bones, build lean muscle and may even protect yourself against osteoporosis. Doing it all with a beat helps coordination – which can help reduce injury, especially as we age.

Booty Barre conditions the entire body with special emphasis on legs, butt, thigh, calf and foot. Take a look at this Booty Barre video below. The workout is intense. You might want to prepare for this by signing up for Power Pilates and maybe a couple Pilates mat classes beforehand. “You should be sore by the end of class,” Suzy says. “I want you to feel this.”

Burlington, specifically All Wellness, has what it takes to keep a body fit for the long term. The American College of Sports Medicine recently asked 2,600 fitness professionals to rank their favorite top fitness trends for 2012. The fitness classes at All Wellness provide nine out of the top ten.

1. Patient Referrals – The physical therapists at All Wellness work in concert with primary care physicians to ensure that patients have the tools they need to achieve happier lives and greater health.
2. Wellness Coaching – All Wellness owner, Laura Savard a nutrition counselor and graduate of the health coaching program at Institute for Integrative Nutrition, offers nutrition-focused workshops throughout the year.
3. Spinning – Learn more about Samuel Lurie’s indoor cycling classes at All Wellness. There is no membership fee for spinning at All Wellness.
4. Promoting Health at the Office – The Pilates programs and many of the mindful fitness classes offered here help you incorporate wellness techniques into all aspects of  your life, including the office.
5. Yoga – You’ll find Katonah Yoga on Wednesdays and Fridays at All Wellness. Check the schedule for more classes and times.
6. Zumba – Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 6:15. Try it. It is too good to miss.
7. Group Personal Training – Group Pilates Reformer classes are offered every day except Sunday. Learn more about the benefits of exercising with friends. And Schedule your session online.
8. Personal Training – Individual Pilates classes are where it all starts. In three private classes, you’ll learn to move more mindfully and be ready to graduate to Group Reformer Classes.
9. Mindful Eating – The Group Cleanse that Laura leads in the spring can change the way you think about food for your lifetime. The Eat Better-Live Better-Fell Better health workshop she is teaching this winter promises to do the same.

The number ten favorite fitness trend predicted for 2012 was Outdoor Activities. It is cold out there…after you take care of those on your own, you’ll want to come inside for something warm, like Pilates or Zumba.

According to Samuel, “People have incredible breakthroughs in their lives” during his indoor cycling classes. As a coach, he guides and cares for students, so they don’t have to worry and can let go of stress. “It’s different than running on a treadmill in front of the TV,” he says, “You really are able to zone out.”

Visualization is a huge part of spinning with Samuel. It’s not just about visualizing hill climbs and beautiful natural vistas as you pedal, it’s more about visualizing a better future for yourself, whether that means a better figure or a better approach to your own well-being. And Samuel knows visualization! He is a licensed hypnotherapist.

“Spinning actually guided me to be open to hypnotherapy,” he says. “I was looking for a tool that worked quickly and deeply, I found hypnotherapy.” In his hypnotherapy practice, he specializes in anxiety. “Fear of chair lifts is something I see fairly often this time of year…one or two sessions of hypnotherapy can make a real difference.” Hypnotherapy is a directed therapy that helps people connect to their subconscious minds. “It [the subconscious] is present all the time, we just don’t connect with it often…meditation, prayer and spinning are all ways to connect with it.”

Another tool Samuel uses in his spinning classes is music. “Music is a big way to tap into the subconscious…it can really open things up.” He uses tunes ranging from Queen Latifah to Sylvester to William Orbit to Professor Trance and the Energizers. He describes his musical tastes as eclectic “world beat with soul and gospel and some instrumental grooves mixed in. I like to use remixes that people may never have heard of.”

The combination of uplifting music and an experienced guide gives spinners in the Indoor Cycling class at All Wellness the chance to mindfully connect with the unconscious mind. Where according to Samuel “big changes can happen.” About his Indoor Cycling class, he adds “Sometimes it’s just exercise, too.”

A Google search on the word “diet” will give you more than 600 million results. It’s not surprising so many of us are confused about what we should eat. From Atkins to The Zone, there are fad diets for any occasion, any socioeconomic group, any time of year, or any food preference.

Let’s look at a few: The Paleo Diet suggests we eat the foods available to our pre-agricultural ancestors: Meat, fish, fowl, vegetables, fruits, roots, tubers and nuts (not necessarily a great option for vegetarians). The Skinny Bitch Diet advocates a strict vegan diet that avoids alcohol, caffeine, chemical additives and refined sugar. Not a bad idea, but the Bitch’s attitude might not be the best for your self-esteem. According to her, we should “Stop eating crap and start looking fabulous!”

WebMD lists a dozen diets starting with the letter “M”.  My favorite of these was The Morning Banana Diet. It has taken Japan by storm ever since former opera singer Kumiko Mori announced she lost 15 pounds on the diet. The plan is simple: for breakfast have only bananas and room-temperature water. The rest of the day, eat whatever you like. Oh, except there are some restrictions: No dairy, no alcohol, no sugar, etc.

These diets are all fun and interesting, but they all seem to leave out one important aspect: Real Life!  This is where we can all use some help. And this is where Certified Health Coaches, Laura Savard and Morella Devost, come to the rescue. In their Eat Better-Live Better-Feel Better workshop, you’ll learn that what you really want to do is:

1. Throw out everything you thought you knew about nutrition and start anew
2. Learn the basics of real whole foods: what are they, how to shop for them and how to cook them so they taste good
3. Understand how all of your life influences your food choices
4. Get effective tools to make it all work for you in real time

You can have the body you want in 2012, but more importantly, you can learn how to make better health choices to last your lifetime. Sign up online.

image credits: engineerofknowledge.wordpress.com

Bob holds certifications/distinctions in Pilates comprehensive work and travels nationally and internationally as a bilingual Educator and Examiner in Pilates Rehabilitation and Studio work through Polestar Education. Polestar Pilates applies current research and practice in orthopedics, sports medicine and movement science to the principles originated by Joseph Pilates in the 1920′s.

Joseph Pilates called physical fitness “The attainment and maintenance of a uniformly developed body with a sound mind fully capable of naturally, easily and satisfactorily performing our many and varied daily tasks with spontaneous zest and pleasure.” The Polestar method brings the practice into the 21st Century. According to Polestar founder Dr. Brent Anderson, our goal “is to impact the world through intelligent movement by providing successful movement experiences that shift the individual to a higher state of well-being.”

Zest, pleasure, well-being and a Pilates teaching certificate are the outcome of this comprehensive course. The course meets one weekend a month for 7 months, covering the practical skills needed to become proficient with Pilates exercises, assessment techniques, movement sequences, and the application of the Polestar Principles. We’ll do mat work and learn all major pieces of equipment.

Who should take this course? Anyone interested in transforming their health and wellness. Pilates himself would say anyone interested in a new body: “In 10 sessions you’ll feel the difference, in 20 you’ll see the difference, and in 30 you’ll have a new body.”

In the 50′s women (young ladies?) were instructed not to swim or ride horseback during their periods. The reasons given for these restrictions were primarily household myths. Today yoga students and Pilates practitioners are often advised against performing inversions (positions in which the heart is higher than the head). These recommendations are based in part on some of the same myths.

Reversing the flow, blood pooling, and dizziness are common reasons given for skipping inversions during ‘that time of the month’. But the truth is that both inversions and menstruation require a good deal of energy. Inversions are heat-building exercises that can be very intense. They defy gravity, after all. During mensuration, your body cleans your reproductive system from the inside out. It can be exhausting. The combination can tax your system overall.

But there is no need to sit around, watch soap operas and eat cookies during your period. You should exercise. Exercise releases endorphins into the body. Endorphins, known as the happy hormone, are associated by the brain with pain relief. By releasing and increasing the amount of endorphins in your system, exercise can relieve menstrual cramp pain. Pilates and yoga are the perfect antidote to menstrual cramps because they inspire mindful movement focused on centering and the breath. Adept practitioners (and even beginners who pay attention) are less likely to indulge in postures that might make them feel worse than when they started.

Know yourself and find a good balance. If you’re are tired, your energy should probably be focused on your internal process. But if you’re up for it, go upside down. You can still enjoy the healthful benefits of inversions during your period.

Here’s a humorous aside for the next time Aunt Dot visits. I did an Internet search of euphemisms and found some that made me laugh out loud. The only ones that weren’t too off color for publication include:
Arts and Crafts week at Panty Camp
Executive week
Checking in to the Red Roof Inn
Lining the drawers
Communist in the Summer House
My cup of joy is overflowing

What are your euphemisms for ‘That Time of the Month’?

image credit: www.periodpaper.com

The fat scare of the 1980′s lumped coconut oil into the same evil fat bin as saturated animal fats which were blamed for everything from acne to cholesterol to heart disease to obesity. But coconut oil got a bad rap. The old research on coconut oil focused on partially hydrogenated blends that contained trans fatty acid. Trans fatty acids are guilty as charged, but coconut oil – (unprocessed virgin coconut oil) is the Jillian Michaels of the tropical oils world.

According to Organic Facts.net, the health benefits of coconut oil include hair care, skin care, stress relief, maintaining cholesterol levels, weight loss, increased immunity, proper digestion and metabolism. Consuming unprocessed virgin coconut oil can bring relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV and cancer. Coconut oil is good for dental care and even builds bone strength. Coconut oil has antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, and soothing properties. It even tastes good. I use it for sautéing, baking, an on top of popcorn and toast instead of melted butter.

The benefits of coconut oil come from mostly from lauric acid, a medium-chain triglyceride. Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are easy to metabolize and can even help in taking off excessive weight. MCTs are converted to ketones rather than being stored in the body as fat. And ketones are your body’s alternative energy source.

According to the Whitaker Wellness Institute, “When glucose stores are exhausted, ketones are synthesized from fats and delivered to the cells, where they’re burned for energy. But because glucose is the preferred fuel, ketones are produced only as a backup—when you’re fasting, for example, or eating a very low-carbohydrate diet. (This is the principle behind the Atkins’ weight loss program.)”

Doctors at the institute are recommending ketone therapy for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), and other neurodegenerative disorders.

The next time you reach for oil or butter, try coconut oil. It might affect more than just the flavor of your food, it could have lasting health benefits that impact the rest of your life.

One newsletter I subscribe to emphasizes the mind-body connection and invites readers to subscribe to a “Thanksgiving Edition Teleseminar” that promises to help you celebrate your dream body instead of potatoes and pie this Thanksgiving. The email invitation asks readers: “Are you nervous about being on a ‘diet’ over the holidays?” The above image accompanied the invitation.

In fairness, the teleseminar suggests we tap into choosing our dreams rather than just resisting dessert. I think this is terrific advice actually, but this kind of imagery feeds eating disorders rather than dreams.

Thanksgiving and eating disorders often sit side-by-each at the table. These stats from the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders regarding eating disorders and the media made me think:

• 95% of all dieters will regain their lost weight within 5 years
• 35% of “normal dieters” progress to pathological dieting. Of those, 20-25% progress to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders
• The body type portrayed in advertising as the ideal is possessed naturally by only 5% of American females
• 47% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures
• 69% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape
• 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner
• 81% of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat

This is where Mindfulness and Pilates come into play. Pilates teaches us about purposeful, conscious movement. It brings awareness to alignment and breath.  In order to receive the greatest benefit from the Pilates practice, you need to be present. You need to breathe. You need to listen your body.

These subtle practices can help us in our daily lives and at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Take a Pilates private and you’ll learn mindfulness techniques that will empower you to make better decisions about your diet and your actions. You may even find that this Thanksgiving, you are thankful for the skin you’re in.

Yoga can help us reduce pain, lose weight, gain confidence and seemingly solve all kinds of physical and even emotional problems. But can it really fix the low back? Signs points to yes. It’s not all that surprising, really, but a new study brings more proof.

A recent study set out to prove that yoga relieves low back pain in chronic sufferers and found that it also helps them improve function. Study participants were middle-aged women who had endured an average 10 years of back pain. The study compared the low back function of those who participated in a three-month yoga program to those receiving standard low-back care (massage, chiropractic, etc).

The yogis could perform 30 percent more activities compared to their non-yoga counterparts. It is interesting to note that the study found yoga classes produced better results than people working on their own found with self-help books and videos.

“Our results showed that yoga can provide both short- and long-term benefits to those suffering from chronic or recurrent back pain, without any serious side effects,” said study lead author Helen E. Tilbrook, of the University of York’s department of health sciences in Heslington, England. Anyone who has a regular yoga practice can tell you about yoga’s power to heal, but it is always nice to see it in print.

One of the more satisfying aspects of using yoga to control low back pain is empowerment. Instead of depending on an external source (like a chiropractor or a pain pill) for relief of symptoms, yoga teaches us to find solutions within. By teaching us to observe, yoga helps us understand ourselves from the inside out. We become better equipped to prevent illness and disease and maintain optimum health.

The body will heal itself when given the opportunity. Yoga leads us to that opportunity.

Chocolate Tootsie Rolls are comprised of sugar, corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, condensed milk, artificial cocoa flavoring, whey, soy lecithin, orange extract, and natural and artificial flavors. But look at the bright side, Tootsie Rolls are Gluten-Free, Peanut-Free, Nut Product-Free, and they are Kosher since 1896!

Snickers ingredients are: milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skimmed milk, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin, artificial flavor), peanuts, corn syrup, sugar, skimmed milk, butter, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, lactose (a milk product), salt, egg whites and artificial flavor.

Kit Kat. Give me a break…here’s the list: milk chocolate (sugar, modified milk ingredients, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, lactose, soya lecithin, polyglycerol polyricinoleate, artificial flavor), wheat flour, sugar, hydrogenated soybean oil or modified palm oil, unsweetened chocolate, sodium bicarbonate, soya lecithin, yeast, artificial flavor.

“Modified” is believed by many consumers to be a euphemism for genetically engineered. Hydrogenated oil cannot be assimilated by the body and gets stuck in the arteries. According to Wiki Answers, “this Candy Bar is not good for human consumption.”

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups: Milk Chocolate (Milk Chocolate contains Sugar, Cocoa butter, Chocolate, Nonfat Milk, Milk Fat, Lactose, and Soya Lecithin and PGPR (as Emulsifiers), Peanuts, Sugar, Dextrose, Salt, and TBHQ.

PGPR, or polyglycerol polyricinoleate, is a yellowish, viscous liquid composed of polyglycerol esters of polycondensed fatty acids from castor oil.  TBHQ, or tertiary butylhydroquinone, is an antioxidant that comes from petroleum and is related to butane

According to Natural News:

Consuming high doses (between 1 and 4 grams) of TBHQ can cause nausea, delirium, collapse, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and vomiting. There are also suggestions that it may lead to hyperactivity in children as well as asthma, rhinitis and dermatitis. It may also further aggravate ADHD symptoms and cause restlessness. Long term, high doses of TBHQ in laboratory animals have shown a tendency for them to develop cancerous precursors in their stomachs, as well as cause DNA damage to them. It is also suggested that it may be responsible for affecting estrogen levels in women.

Now I’m terrified…

But don’t give up on the holiday. Just read your labels and don’t be tricked! Or choose some non-candy alternatives. Among my favorite are temporary tattoos, bubbles and sidewalk chalk.