Pil*Heart*Ease BLACK Tops:
https://goo.gl/flO0ED
Pil*Heart*Ease PINK Top
https://goo.gl/4HuIbs
PilHeartEase LIGHT BLUE (tops and bottoms):
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Follow any of these links and explore the colours and styles available.
Hope you find something suitable for you.
Enjoy!
Feb 1 – I am grateful my impromptu sprouted lentil stir-fry turned out really tasty
Feb 2 – I am grateful I remembered to “re-park” my car after midnight
Feb 3 – I am grateful for today’s avocado sale
Feb 4 – I am grateful the incubation period of Zika (>1,500 cases in Yucatan by mid-Jan) is just 6.5 days
Feb 5 – I am grateful for a dry morning today
Feb 6 – I am grateful for being blessed with clients who are pleasant, thoughtful, well-rounded, lovely people
Feb 7 – I am grateful for echinacea
Feb 8 – I am grateful for garlic
Feb 9 – I am grateful I got home earlier than usual this Tuesday
Feb 10 – I am grateful for elderberries
Feb 11 – I am grateful for a lovely sunny day today
Feb 12 – I am grateful my sprouted lentils made my salad really lovely-crunchy today
Feb 13 – I am grateful for the weekend
Feb 14 – I am grateful for a sunny Sunday
Feb 15 – I am grateful for a lovely walk in the sunshine today
Feb 16 – I am grateful for our corner shop carrying matches – so we were able to have a hot dinner
Feb 17 – I am grateful for #family -friendly #Pilates classes like today’s,
with participants aged 4 to 74!
Feb 18 – I am grateful for being able to avoid gmail (and its awkward signup and sign in procedures) most of the time
Feb 19 – I am grateful for getting home in time to catch the postman before he left with my parcels!
Feb 20 – I am grateful for a lovely, bright and sunny morning that made me jump out of my bed today
Feb 21 – I am grateful for a lovely night’s sleep + lovely stretching practice today
Feb 22 – I am grateful for my tasty lunchtime salad
Feb 23 – I am grateful my body thinks I am 20 (#WisdomTooth !)
Feb 24 – I am grateful I survived today’s spin (on a tough bike with extra brake)
Feb 25 – I am grateful for remembering some very needed information.
Thank you, brain!
Feb 26 – I am grateful for finding some stuff I thought I had lost
Feb 27 – I am grateful that today’s Pilates presentation-session went well
Feb 28 – I am grateful a lovely lady came back for another massage after some time
Feb 29 – I am grateful a lovely lady came back for another massage after some time
Healthy knee (left) – Osteoarthritis of the Knee (right)
A Cochrane Systematic Review of the scientific evidence published in the Journal of Sports Medicine in 2015, concluded that:
Among people with knee osteoarthritis, land-based therapeutic exercise provides short-term benefit that is sustained for at least 2–6 months after cessation of formal treatment.
So, while many people with “arthritic knee pain” avoid land-based exercise and opt for the swimming pool (or, much worse, the sofa!), land-based exercise provides quick benefits that continue for at least 2-6 months after stopping exercise.
As we are NOT meant to ever stop doing some exercise, it would seem that land-based therapeutic exercise would benefit all of us.
Therapeutic exercise refers to a range of targeted physical activities that directly aim to improve muscle strength, neuromotor control, joint range of motion and aerobic fitness. One of the main aims of exercise is to improve muscle strength, given that weakness is common in knee OA.
What kind of exercise?
The studies varied a lot in terms of exercise prescription provided for knee pain management.
TYPE of SESSION: Individual or class-based format
DURATION: From 20 to 60 min
FREQUENCY: In most studies, exercise frequency was two to three times per week but varied between one to five times per week.
INTENSITY: Intensity achieved during strength training using free or limb weights or Theraband was commonly a 10-repetition maximum with varying numbers of sets or was at least moderate. Aerobic exercise training, achieved via walking or cycling programmes, ranged from low to moderate intensity.
IMPROVEMENTS: meta-analysis demonstrated that land-based therapeutic exercise programmes resulted in an immediate mean treatment benefit for:
TYPE of EXERCISE: each type of exercise (quadriceps strengthening only, lower limb strengthening, combination strengthening and aerobic exercise, walking programmes and ‘others’) reduced pain and improved physical function
SUPERVISION: the review highlighted that most people with knee OA need some form of ongoing monitoring or supervision to optimise clinical benefits of exercise treatment.
So, while it is probably a good idea to increase exercise, make sure you are doing it correctly so that what you are doing brings benefit!
CONCLUSIONS
ACTION POINTS:
Emanuela – www.pilatesfitness.co.uk
Reference:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/855543
PILATES is a mind-body type of exercise developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates.
The original six principles were concentration, control, center, flow, precision, and breathing.
“Contrology” was the name that Joseph Pilates preferred to use to refer to his method based on the idea of muscle control. “Nothing about the Pilates Method should be haphazard. The reason you need to concentrate so thoroughly is so you can maintain control of every aspect of every moment.”
Pilates demands intense focus: you really need to concentrate on what you are doing all the time. You must concentrate on your entire body for smooth movements. This is not easy, but in Pilates the way that an exercise is performed is more important than the exercise itself.
In order for the Pilates practitioner to attain control of their body they must have a starting place: the center. The center is the focal point of the Pilates method. Many Pilates teachers refer to the group of muscles in the center of the body (abdomen, lower and upper back, hips, buttocks, and inner thighs) as the “powerhouse”. All movements in Pilates should begin from the centre, the powerhouse and flow outward to the limbs.
Pilates aims for elegant sufficiency of movement, creating flow through the use of appropriate transitions. Once precision has been achieved, the exercises are intended to flow within and into each other in order to build strength and stamina. In other words, the Pilates technique asserts that physical energy exerted from the center should coordinate movements of the extremities: Pilates is flowing movement outward from a strong core.
Precision is essential for correct Pilates practice: concentrate on the correct movements each time you exercise, otherwise you may perform them improperly and thus lose all the vital benefits of their practice..
The focus is on doing one precise and perfect movement, rather than many halfhearted ones. Pilates is here reflecting common physical culture wisdom: “You will gain more strength from a few energetic, concentrated efforts than from a thousand listless, sluggish movements”.
The goal is for this precision to eventually become second nature, and carry over into everyday life as grace and economy of movement.
Breathing is important in the Pilates method.
Joseph Pilates saw considerable value in increasing the intake of oxygen and the circulation of this oxygenated blood to every part of the body. This he saw as cleansing and invigorating (as a holistic therapist, I’d have to agree!). Proper full inhalation and complete exhalation were key to this. Pilates saw forced exhalation as the key to full inhalation and advised people to squeeze out the lungs as they would wring a wet towel dry.
In Pilates exercises, the practitioner breathes out with the effort and in on the return. In order to keep the lower abdominals close to the spine; the breathing needs to be directed laterally, into the lower rib cage. Pilates breathing is described as a posterior lateral breathing, meaning that the practitioner is instructed to breathe deep into the back and sides of his or her rib cage. When practitioners exhale, they are instructed to note the engagement of their deep abdominal and pelvic floor muscles and maintain this engagement as they inhale.
Pilates attempts to properly coordinate this breathing practice with movement, including breathing instructions with every exercise. Above all, learn to breathe correctly.
At Leicester PilatesFitness, we take breathing seriously! We always go through the breathing at the start and keep focusing on it throughout, week after week, month after month and year after year for best benefits.
GM Mosquitoes caused Zika virus outbreak?
The Aedes aegypti mosquito is known to transmit the virus
Zika has the dubious honour of having recently been declared a global public health emergency by The World Health Organization (WHO [2]).
Where did Zika come from?
“The Zika virus outbreak currently gripping the Americas could have been sparked by the release of genetically modified Mosquitoes in 2012,” reports The Mirror. “The insects were engineered by biotechnology experts to combat the spread of dengue fever and other diseases and released into the general population of Brazil in 2012… The Aedes aegypti mosquito sub-species that carries both the Zika virus and dengue was the type targeted with genetically modified mosquitoes.”[1]
What went terribly wrong?
As pointed out in this fantastic article by AntiMedia.org, the genetic engineers running this massive open-air experiment with mosquitoes and humans failed to consider the impact of antibiotics in the environment caused by their heavy use in agricultural (animal feed) operations.
As AntiMedia reports:
Only the male modified Aedes mosquitoes are supposed to be released into the wild — as they will mate with their unaltered female counterparts. Once offspring are produced, the modified, scientific facet is supposed to ‘kick in’ and kill that larvae before it reaches breeding age — if tetracycline is not present during its development…
According to an unclassified document from the Trade and Agriculture Directorate Committee for Agriculture dated February 2015, Brazil is the third largest in “global antimicrobial consumption in food animal production” — meaning, Brazil is third in the world for its use of tetracycline in its food animals. As a study by the American Society of Agronomy, et. al., explained, “It is estimated that approximately 75% of antibiotics are not absorbed by animals and are excreted in waste.” One of the antibiotics (or antimicrobials) specifically named in that report for its environmental persistence is tetracycline.
The presence of antibiotics causes the mosquitoes that are supposed to die off to survive and reproduce. These same genetically engineered mosquitoes may then bite humans, injecting them with the Zika virus that’s now causing horrific mutations in head and brain formation in children.
Children born with microcephaly
As more reports of deformed children keep appearing, the media is freaking out, the CDC is freaking out and the U.S. government is freaking out, demanding urgent calls for yet more vaccines. Alarmingly, the very same scientists who pushed for the release of the genetically engineered mosquitoes that may have caused all this are also now calling for MORE GENETICALLLY ENGINEERED MOSQUITOES which they claim will solve this problem.
It is sad, irresponsible and “unscientific” that none of the testing with GMO mosquitoes took place in the presence of tetracycline or other antibiotics that are now ubiquitous in the environment due to heavy use of drugs in factory farm operations.
No GMO or other human-engineered solution should be released in the “wild” without sufficient testing that it is totally safe for humans and the environment. History should be a good teacher in this respect.
How many “introduction experiments” went wrong even before GMOs?
Truth is, we don’t know for sure. What we know is that so many went wrong…
Introducing species from one habitat into another has shown to often have consequences far farther-reaching than it had anticipated. Many species were unwittingly transported from one continent to another along with travellers, in other cases, in other cases species may have been introduced as a kind of pest control. The problem with this is that it sometimes works SO WELL that it creates serious problems. An often-cited examples is that of the cane toad.
cane toad
The cane toad is native to South and Central America, but when its introduction to regions of Hawaii, the Caribbean, and the Philippines to fight pests in sugarcane fields yielded impressive results, it was quickly imported to various other regions worldwide (e.g. Queensland).
Unfortunately, cane toads have a nasty habit of not just eating crop pests and insects, but also just about any terrestrial animal that they can fit their grotesquely huge mouths around — which is saying something, given that they can grow to over 30 cm in length. They also secrete toxins capable of killing just about any animal they come in contact with (humans have died after ingesting their eggs)
Here is a list of the 10 of the world’s worst invasive species [3, 4]
Risk of “Unexpected Consequences”
Now, with GMOs and GE-species, the potential for “unexpected consequences” is much bigger than before. As we have seen, previous attempts to model the ecological consequences of the introduction of a species, have often failed miserably (when it was done at all – if you don’t do a proper feasibility study, ALL consequences are going to be unexpected!).
Until someone works out how to RELIABLY predict all the consequences of introducing a new species into an environment (or a new gene into an organism), we really have no business going ahead and just “hoping for the best”. THAT would be the least scientific route.
References:
GRATITUDE – January 2016
Jan 01 – I am grateful for how 2015 turned out:
family, holidays, learning, meaningful job, pleasant clients, making a difference
Jan 02 – I am grateful that my credit card company scrapped an unfair charge
Jan 03 – I am grateful for a lovely Saturday
(including a nearly-deserted movie theatre)
Jan 04 – I am grateful for a great night’s sleep with lots of dreams
Jan 05 – I am grateful for as many as *4* green lights in a row
(whole roundabout off the M69 at Hinckley)
Jan 06 – I am grateful for receiving a nice vase with 4 hyacinths as a gift today
Jan 07 – I am grateful for connecting with two new people today
Jan 08 – I am grateful a van driver only shouted+slammed another driver’s car door (did not punch him) near my house today
Jan 09 – I am grateful my risotto ai funghi trifolati turned out very well
Jan 10 – I am grateful for a lovely night’s sleep
Jan 11 – I am grateful the last kitchen glass bowl got broken today,
as this bowl set is currently on sale!
Jan 12 – I am grateful my leaving my car window fully opened overnight did not have any serious consequences
Jan 13 – I am grateful for my good reflexes and for spotting an unexpected car in my path IN TIME today
Jan 14 – I am grateful for managing to sort out a problem today
Jan 15 – I am grateful I don’t need to put the roasted chicken in the fridge today!
Jan 16 – I am grateful the plumber managed to fix our boiler today
Jan 17 – I am grateful our heating has been working beautifully today
Jan 18 – I am grateful for remembering a password I hadn’t used in quite a while
Jan 19 – I am grateful I finally received the correct parcel
Jan 20 – I am grateful that the roads were free of ice this morning when I drove to my class
Jan 21 – I am grateful for wool clothing
Jan 22 – I am grateful for having a brilliant idea today
I am grateful for electronic records
Jan 23 – I am grateful for completing the first stage of paperwork on my todo list
Jan 24 – I am grateful I have managed to determine the cause of yesterday’s headache
Jan 25 – I am grateful for achieving all items on my todo list today without getting stressed
Jan 26 – I am grateful for following my intuition
Jan 27 – I am grateful for a lively, full Pilates class today
Jan 28 – I am grateful for my productivity today
Jan 29 – I am grateful for dry weather at the park today
Jan 30 – I am grateful for being able to do my shopping on days other than busy Saturdays
Jan 31 – I am grateful my green lentils sprouted beautifully
The Practice Be grateful. |
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Why?
We experience gratitude when we are freely given something good. Therefore, looking for opportunities for gratitude – developing an “attitude of gratitude” – is a great way to notice and enjoy some of the gifts you’ve received. Gratitude does not mean ignoring difficulties, losses, or injustice. It just means also paying attention to the offerings that have come your way. Especially the little ones of everyday life. When you do this, you’re resting your mind increasingly on good things moving toward you, on being supported, on feelings of fullness – on the sense of having an open heart that moves toward an open hand. Fuller and fuller, more and more fed by life instead of drained by it, you naturally feel like you have more of value inside yourself and more to offer to others. And that is a very good thing. For example, studies by Robert Emmons and others have shown that gratitude is associated with greater well-being, better coping, and even better sleep (McCullough et al. 2001). |
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How?
Prime your pump by bringing to mind someone you naturally feel grateful toward. Perhaps a friend, parent or grandparent, teacher, spiritual being, or pet. Next, look around and notice, both here and now, and in the past:
These gifts are freely offered; no one can possibly earn them. All we can do is be grateful for these gifts, and do what we can in our own little corner of the world to use them well each day. Let yourself accept these gifts. It would be rude – ungrateful! – to refuse them. Remember that gratitude is not guilt or indebtedness – both of which actually make it harder to feel grateful. You may feel moved to be generous in turn – including in new directions, such as giving to some out of appreciation for what you have been given by others – but it will come from large-heartedness, not because you think you owe something. Gratitude moves us away from let’s-make-a-deal exchanges in relationships toward a sense of abundance, in which you feel fed beyond measure and in turn give with all your heart without keeping score. Then recognize the benefits to you of what has been given. Reflect on how it helps you and those you care about, makes you feel good, and fuels your own generosity in turn. And recognize the benevolence of the giver, whether it is a person, Mother Nature, or the physical universe – or, if this is meaningful to you, something Divine. Don’t minimize the benevolence to avoid feeling unworthy or indebted; open up to it as a telling of the truth, as a giving back to the giver, and as a joyful leaning toward that which is truly gift-giving in your world. Last, soak up the gifts coming to you, whatever they are. Let them become part of you, woven into your body, brain, and being. As you inhale, as you relax, as you open, take in the good that you’ve been given. *** Reprinted with kind permission of Rick Hanson ***
* BIOGRAPHY
 Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a psychologist, Senior Fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, and New York Times best-selling author. His books include Hardwiring Happiness (in 14 languages), Buddha’s Brain (in 25 languages), Just One Thing (in 14 languages), and Mother Nurture.
He edits the Wise Brain Bulletin and has several audio programs. A summa cum laude graduate of UCLA and founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom, he’s been an invited speaker at Oxford, Stanford, and Harvard, and taught in meditation centers worldwide.
His work has been featured on BBC, CBS, and NPR, and he offers the free Just One Thing newsletter with over 109,000 subscribers, plus the online Foundations of Well-Being program in positive neuroplasticity.
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Dec 01 – I am grateful for being unhurt from slipping on wet tiles this morning
Dec 02 – I am grateful food manufacturer acknowledged we want healthy ingredients
Dec 03 – I am grateful for templates!
Dec 04 – I am grateful I have sorted out my travel insurance
Dec 05 – I am grateful for a smooth, timely and trouble-free car ride
Dec 06 – I am grateful for safe and efficient car parks
Dec 07 – I am grateful for healthy snacks like coconut and sprouted nuts
Dec 08 – I am grateful for lovely cousins and happy memories
Dec 09 – I am grateful for sunny skies
Dec 10 – I am grateful for great company
Dec 11 – I am grateful for fresh and delicious food
Dec 12 – I am grateful for a lovely brunch
Dec 13 – I am grateful for a relaxing weekend reading my kindle
Dec 14 – I am grateful for lovely food at our daily buffet
Dec 15 – I am grateful for my Mexican holiday
Dec 16 – I am grateful for a lovely day at the beach
Dec 17 – I am grateful for a lovely day climbing Nohuch Mul, tallest “pyramid” at Coba
Dec 18 – I am grateful for hearing from an old friend
Dec 19 – I am grateful for a Saturday off
Dec 20 – I am grateful for a lovely tai chi practice today
Dec 21 – I am grateful for the magic feel of Christmas week
Dec 22 – I am grateful for technology making my life easier
Dec 23 – I am grateful for my loved ones
Dec 24 – I am grateful for a lovely Christmas Eve day
Dec 25 – I am grateful for the true meaning of Christmas
Dec 26 – I am grateful for holidays
Dec 27 – I am still grateful for lovely long holiday weekends
Dec 28 – I am grateful that our trip back went very smoothly + flight on time and I even had an empty seat next to me
Dec 29 – I am grateful I got a lot of healthy veggies on sale today
Dec 30 – I am grateful for my first good night’s sleep after returning from my holiday
Dec 31 – I am grateful for 2015:
family, holidays, learning, meaningful job, pleasant clients, making a difference
Pilates Fitness has provided a daily thought of gratitude since December 2013!
Have you tried keeping your own gratitude journal? Try it in 2016! It will make a big difference to your life.
Happy 2016!
Have you ever wondered what “Tai Chi” means?
“Tai Chi” is short for “Tai Chi Chuan“.
The lower dantian in taijiquan:
yin and yang rotate, while the core reverts to stillness (wuji) The product of the effect of taiji on wuji to produce a state between that of wuji and the taijitu. A depiction of the state a taijiquan practitioner aims to attain. Also called the ancient taijitu.
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The chi in this instance is the Wade-Giles transliteration of the Pinyin jí, and therefore it is not a reference to chi or qì (ch’i, “life energy”).
Tai Chi (or taiji) means ‘The Supreme Ultimate’ and encompasses philosophical and spiritual concepts.
The concept of the taiji (“supreme ultimate”), in contrast with wuji (“without ultimate”), appears in both Taoist and Confucian Chinese philosophy, where it represents the fusion (balance and integration) of (the complementing) Yin and Yang into a single ultimate, represented by the taijitu symbol 
.
The term ‘Chuan’, literally ‘fist’ or ‘boxing’, actually means ‘Martial techniques’ here.
Tai Chi Chuan is an extremely effective form of self-defence “movements” originally adapted from some of the best techniques of Kung Fu.
Many forms of tai chi exist, and newer, shorter (and easier) routines have been devised, so that we can benefit from tai chi practice from the start.
Want to try tai chi?
Emanuela of PilatesFitness has been running simple but effective tai chi sessions since the early 2010s. Since March 2020, we have been doing daily tai chi online (with mostly beginners), so we can continue to benefit from its calming, soothing, yet energizing (one might say “balancing”) properties in these times of increased need.
We also ran a bit of an experiment/case study relating to our daily tai chi practice and these were the results: Tai Chi Case Study – Effects in Lockdown
Practising daily at the same time is a great way to give a healthy structure to our days as well as to keep an element of socialisation, no matter what the current lockdown or social distancing policies may be. And practising together is more fun! For some, it may well be more effective.
Please contact me to find out more or sign up.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_chi
Gina, Leicester (now Cornwall) – November 2015
