By
Patty McCarty - Is it possible I could slim my waistline just by laughing?
By
Barbara Anderson, M.A. - They say that kids laugh three hundred times a day and adults laugh about fifteen times a day. According to those figures I qualify as an adult. But between the economy, the war and the environment it is hard to find a reason to laugh. And I need a good laugh.
By
Diane Valentine, GCFP - Born with three fused vertebrae in my neck, by my early twenties I was beginning to experience pain down my spine and into my low back and hips. It was very difficult to sleep at night or to keep still for long periods of time without a rush of pain. By my early thirties the pain was enough to send me to see an orthopedic surgeon. He informed me that nothing could be done and that most likely, because of the arthritis already apparent in my spine, I would be in a wheelchair by my fifties.
When you're pregnant, you know two things for sure. 1. You're going to have a baby and 2. It's going to be smart. So if you're like most mothers-to-be, you start looking for something -anything! - to help you through the process.
Barbara Anderson's prenatal yoga class at Body & Soul of Kansas City at 649 East 59th Street was recently abuzz with the news of one student's dream come true delivery!
If you're into exercise, you may well have heard about and even taken a class in Pilates. It's a movement class with exercises designed to realign the body, strengthen core muscles especially in the abdominal area, and restore elasticity to the body. When these exercises are linked together, a dynamic and challenging workout results. When these exercises are performed on the unstable surface of an exercise ball, stabilization during movement is better understood.
Not all of us are meant to be Arnold Schwarzeneggers --- and many of us don't want to be.
If exercise sounds like a good idea ---- but not good enough to get you moving, Couch Potato --- maybe you'd like this approach. How about if all you did was lie back and relax, while some other kind soul moved your body parts ever so gently yet firmly into yoga-like positions, leaving you relaxed, stretched out, and energized after this no-work workout?
