August Newsletter

Greetings!

I hope this newsletter finds you well and you are enjoying the nice warm weather! A warm welcome to all of you who are new to yoga!  A regular consistent yoga practice is essential in leading a healthy lifestyle!

Please take a moment to check out the August Newsletter.  If you have been away from yoga for a while, find you way back, your body, mind and spirit will thank you!

Fall Book Club:  Core Power Chicks:  Sept. 29th
Great response/feedback on starting the fall book club.  If you love to read, enjoy wine and great healthy food (ok, not necessarily in that order), you are a candidate for the club!  A few non-complicated details are unveiled as follows:

-Club will meet monthly at someone’s house, restaurant, etc.  If the club is held at someone’s house, everyone brings a healthy dish and/or a bottle of wine.

-Book club pick will be based upon a drawing, enter in your book that you would like to share with the club, we will draw and see who the book winner is!

There, that is about it, simple, not many rules (you know I am not a big rule person).  Also, Michelle, from Rooted Wellness has offered to share her healthy food dishes.  Details will follow when we are ready.  I will offer my house as we roll out the first book club meeting on Thursday, Sept. 29th 6:30pm.
In the meantime, please forward me your book club suggestions, by Friday, Sept. 2nd we will draw at yoga class on Sat., Sept. 3rd! 

Yoga Class Offerings:  August
Classes for the month of August continue to be limited to the following:

Mondays at 5:30pm –Gentle Yoga
Saturdays at 8:30am –A variety of yoga, check flavor weekly on www.getcorepower.com.
Note:  Sat., August 13th there will be no class, as I will be in Boston all weekend for a Psoas Workshop.  Looking forward to sharing this fabulous info in upcoming yoga classes.

Note: RH Parks&Rec Strength Training –NEW session has just started!  There are still a few openings at  noon (11:00am is sold out) classes on Tues/Thurs!  If you are available at the timeslot, check out this total body sculpting class, give yourself 45-minutes and you will love the results!

Friend to Friend Promotion
Bring a friend to yoga this month and receive your class free!  Offer runs until August 27th!

www.RockyHillPatch.com
Check out the Patch, Rocky Hill’s new online newsletter!  Check out Core Power’s Blogs and upcoming info on the benefits of strength training as several participant’s have shared their feedback on the powerful benefits of this training!

Fall:  Looking Ahead
Looking at planning the fall schedule.  The second yoga class will be back in the fall in the 9:30am time slot.  The class will be Hot Body/Cool Mind.  Class has been redesigned to offer full strength training with weights/bands/bodyweight and incorporates yoga/pilates moves for core!  This will be a great addition to your current workout routine, but make no mistake, nothing will be routine here, you’ll see, come and check it out!

willPowerandGrace http://www.willpowermethod.com/
As always, Core Power tries to keep classes, fresh, new, fun, creative and non-routine!  Attending a certification workout on Sunday, August 21st, check out the willPowerandGrace website.  This is barefoot training with core, cardio, balance and so much more!  Look for upcoming classes!

Please share with me any thoughts/suggestions for upcoming classes as your feedback is essential in continuing to provide quality classes!  Once the fall schedule  is completed, I will share that with you!

Just wanted to let you know, I love this “job”,  I am so inspired by each and everyone of you!  It is extremely rewarding and humbling to witness all the emotional and physical transformations!  There is one particular transformation that I hope to share with you shortly from my strength class!

Enjoy the rest of your summer, be safe, have fun and remember to breathe!

Stay Well,

Lynn

Pretzel Bodies: Not Required

When was the last time you stretched your muscles?   As you know, flexibility is an important piece to the workout component puzzle.   Your workouts should consist of cardio, different types of cardio to continue to challenge your muscles, strength training, that too, should offer a variety of moves including core (crunchless only) and flexibility.   Better yet, try yoga, yes, yoga.  Regardless of what you are thinking, you do not need to have the flexibility of a pretzel to practice yoga.  A regular yoga practice will help to increase your flexibility and so much more.  Check out what you have been missing if you lack a regular yoga practice (see previous blog 40 Ways Yoga Heals) http://getcorepower.blogspot.com/, you’ll be surprised on what yoga can truly do to increase your quality of life!

Treat yourself to the gift yoga, you deserve it!  Your first class with Core Power is complimentary.

Lynn MacDonald
Core Power, LLC
www.getcorepower.com
Become a fan: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Core-Power-LLC/109781075766705

Read Any Good Books Lately?

Balancing nutrition, exercise and mindfulness……….these words are music to my ears. Recently, during an in-home personal training session, a client of mine mentioned a book about combining nutrition, exercise and mindfulness.  My ears perked up!  Three key components to living a healthy lifestyle.  I could not wait to get my hands on this book.    Interestingly enough, this book is titled TriEnergetics, authored by Sanford Severin, MD and Todd Severin, MD.

For those of you who know me, I am a health nut and a nerd when it comes to both fitness and nutrition.  Being in the fitness business, I constantly meet wonderful people who are seeking weight loss, muscle tone and 6-pack abs. The most popular question I am asked (actually almost daily) “how do I get rid of this” as they point to abdominal fat. I always respond the same, healthy nutrition, not technically a diet, exercise and mindfulness (meditation). Over the years, I’ve heard all sorts of stories (sometimes horror stories) on countless “diet” attempts for weight loss.  I’ve heard promises “with this specific weight loss program, you will be in a size 6 by December”.  What????  I try not to show my emotions, but can’t help but think, what kind of program or person makes those promises.

Anyway, back to the book!  TriEnergetics is everything I personally believe in and is how I live my life.  This book is easy to understand with testimonials on how people have transformed their lives with this program.  By the way, this is a 6-week program to yes, change your life.  This is not a loose promise, the only promise is to yourself, because you deserve to live a healthy life!   This book is about creating specific changes that lead to a healthier lifestyle, by blending high quality ingredients of healthy nutrition, exercise and mindfulness.

How do you become mindful your thinking? Incorporate a few  minutes daily of mediation (not easy, but if you do daily, it becomes a habit).  Have you experienced your body in stillness?  We go all day long 90-miles an hour.  Sit, chill for a second, close your eyes, just  be with yourself.   Relax your face, jaw, shoulders, feel your heart beating, feel the air on your skin, notice the sounds around you.  Just sit, do nothing and watch your breath.  Your thoughts will come and go, replaying a conversation from the other day or reviewing your grocery list.  All normal, I do it too.  But now, connect back into your breath, notice moments of no thoughts, thoughts, then no thoughts.  Open your eyes after a few moments, experience the difference.

Another way of becoming mindful is through the magic of a regular and daily yoga practice!  Ok, I am partial here, but it works! I’ll come clean, I have a small yoga/fitness  business( www.getcorepower.com).  I am the best example, as I never was mindful in my life, until I incorporated yoga into my lifestyle.  The biggest advantage about mindfulness,  you become aware of how you are feeling, your thoughts, emotions and how you feel after you eat certain foods.

It’s the 4th of July weekend, experience mindfulness as it relates to food.  Notice your body over the next few days after eating. Experience your body on how it feels when eating good healthy foods.  Notice if you have more organic energy (no caffeine needed), you may feel lighter, more energetic and your clothes may fit a bit looser!  Check out how your body feels after eating heavy fattening foods, ice cream, cookies or just an absolutely delicious fattening meal you love to eat!   Wait a bit, notice how you feel; maybe more tired, less energy, craving for sugar, maybe your meal is not complete until you eat something sweet.  I used to be that way, always craved the sweetest dessert I could sink my teeth in.  When you dramatically decrease sugar in your life, cravings magically disappear!

TriEnergetics will explain the physiology of stress, how your body uses food, understanding what foods are healthy, good carbs vs. bad carbs, diet myths, how your body digests foods, specific exercises(no gym required!), deep breathing for health/vitality and so much more.  This book is absolutely the real deal, nothing fake, just down-to-earth plain vanilla facts and no gimmicks. The best part of this book, advocates a healthy “diet” with exercise.  This is a marriage that can not be separated, you need one with the other, otherwise maintaining your weight is nearly impossible, especially as you age.

If you are looking to trade up to a healthier lifestyle, I would highly recommend this book filled with a wealth of health knowledge!

By the way, if you are so inclined to try this program, please share your transformation!

Lynn
Core Power, LLC

Aging Gracefully

 Humor, everyone needs humor, something everyone can relate to.  I thought my blog needed a sprinkle of humor and I do too! 

As we usher in the month of May, my birthday month, though I’ll set the record straight, I am not celebrating a “big” milestone, (thank goodness!).  As we age gracefully, the importance of “things” shift with a greater emphasis and appreciation of  life and things that we cherish so much more!

Check out my list as I reflect what I really appreciate in life, maybe you would agree:

•  Sharing a spectacular glass (or two) of Pinot Grigio with friends
• Girl talk
• Friendships/warm, caring and down to earth friends
• Family
• My twin sister
• Like minded people 
• Passion for “job” 
• Birthdays 
• Vegetables and antioxidants 
• Fruits and nuts 
• Savoring a morning cup of coffee 
• A big shady umbrella while sitting at the beach
• A stroll on the beach 
• Sunscreen 
• A great book 
• Time alone 
• Physical activity 
• Yoga 
• Meditation 
• Fitting into last years shorts 
• Weighing the same as  last week 
• A sense of humor 
• Stretch marks (from childbirth) 
• Health 
• Happiness 
• Delicious chocolate, savoring every bite!
•  Great tasting healthy food, especially when someone else cooks it! 
• A drop dead handsome guy you didn’t expect to see 
• A fantastic physical therapist 
• A superb massage therapist 
• Waking up listening to the birds 
• Waking up to the sound of the ocean 
• A sunny day
• A rainy day  
• A padded bra 
• A good night’s sleep 
• Vitamin D, Calcium and Krill Oil 
• A smart-great looking pair of half glasses disguised as regular glasses 
• Moisturizer 
• Push-up’s 
• My juicer 
• My mother-in-law 
• My sisters-in-law  

What do you appreciate more as you age?