Absolute Pilates

One of the hardest things to deal with in life is when we are forced to stop doing something we love due to injury or illness. Fortunately for most of us it ends up being a temporary state of affairs but for others it can mean a permanent change in choises. It is the same active mind whose images can lead to all sorts of amazing feats during the olympics that can, at times of injury, lead us into discouragement, disappointment and frustration. When we fail to acknowledge in our minds the real life body we live in we increase our chance of injury and along with it our frustration. Sometimes we have to set aside our egos and acknowlege that our body needs us to listen to it. We live too much of the time measuring ourselves with all sorts of measuring devices and measuring ourselves against our friends and even complete strangers and forget to listen to what our body wants us to hear. My challenge to you this week is to go for a walk, or a jog, or a sprint, or whatever you have been doing, but do it with absolutely no technological device for measuring attached to you. Yes, that means you have to go without the watch, the ipod, the heart rate monitor and yes, you have to go out into the great wide outdoors. Go fully conscious of your body and your mind and feel the air, hear the birds, the cars whatever there is to hear, smell the air and go out fully aware of you in your body and thank it for being there for you.If you hate this exercise then you are the one who needs to do it most. Cheers!

A big THANK YOU to all of you who were instrumental in me being given a DIAMOND AWARD for pilates. I was surprised and thrilled! I will continue to do my best to bring quality and fun-filled pilates classes to the Ottawa Valley. Look for  the fall class schedule early in August. Thanks a million for all of your enthusiasm and support. I love what I do! Enjoy the sun and breathe peace.

Well folks, we wait for it all year long and now it is here, summer is finally here. For many that means a break from inside exercise and the intention to exercise outdoors. To make sure all of your fitness goals come to pass during the summer months here are a few tips:

Write down a few reasonable and attainable fitness goals for the summer months and the ways you intend to accomplish them. Be concrete, do not waffle, be real.

The path to exercise is paved with good intentions. Turn your intentions into action by scheduling your exercise in just like you schedule in doctor's appointments and other important things. Do not cancel on yourself just like you wouldn't cancel a meeting with Michellle Obama to ask her how she gets the killer arms.

Enlist a friend who has similar goals to partner up with you and workout together. This way when one of your falls the other will be there to pick you up. Be strong for each other.

A few weeks into the summer do a reality check by looking again at the goals and the means to attain them and do a personal assessment of how you are progressing. If you have not done anything to reach those goals admit it and try to identify why and either redefine the goals to more attainable ones or change the means by which you intend to attain them. If you are on track celebrate with your fitness buddy or close friend. Give credit where credit is deserved.

If you feel happy and satisfied after exercising burn that into your memory and that feeling will bring you back again and again to acheive your goals. Have fun, push when you need to and stop to enjoy the feeling of a job well done!

Happy Summer!