What Is Gyrotonic®?

by Amanda Comito

The Gyrotonic Expansion System® is based on principals of movement drawn from yoga, dance, swimming, gymnastics, and Tai chi combining a unique repertoire of exercises performed on Juliu Horvath’s costumed designed equipment, helps stretch and strengthen muscles, while simultaneously stimulating and strengthening connective tissues in and around the joints. Using the total involvement of the nervous system, the Gyrotonic Expansion System® achieves a neuromuscular reconditioning. It not only rejuvenates tired or unused muscles, but also has the unique capacity to strengthen ligamental connections, which as yet, cannot be achieved on other exercise equipment. Unlike most conventional exercise machines that work on linear or isolated planes, the Gyrotonic Expansion System® utilizes circular movements which emphasize multiple joint articulations without compression, strengthening ligaments and each attachment. Dynamics on these machines are achieved with less muscular effort than other exercise systems. Instead, the focus of exertion is on the use of breath with the movement. This together with an easy relaxation in the activity, releases joints from ligamental or muscular constriction. Dancers, athletes, martial artists, etc. benefit from the intensity of concentration on opening and releasing the body while gaining increased strength and flexibility. Injured or rehabilitating patients achieve a gentle yet stimulating body workout that takes a complete view of the body, while focusing thoroughly on the afflicted areas in relation to the whole. Gyrotonic® is used in exercise facilities all over the world. It is beneficial for people of all age’s even children.

This entry was written by scrawford, posted on December 23, 2009 at 3:41 pm, filed under Fitness, Gyrotonic, Life is Fitness, Lifestyle and Spa, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and tagged Amanda Comito, Fitness, Gyrotonic, Movement, Santa Barbara, SOMA GET FIT, Studio. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Intermezzo

by Janet Rifkin, Ph.D.

I was going to write about our rafting and hiking trip in the Grand Canyon where I put Scott’s program into an action-packed adventure. But before I do that, I thought a more immediate update would be in order. Having been “in training” with Scott for the months of September, October and ½ of November, I needed to head back to Massachusetts for 5 weeks which meant that I would be without my trusted guide. I had made lots of progress in those weeks with Scott-improving cardio-vascular conditioning, improving flexibility (I have already admitted in previous posts that I have the tightest hamstrings and calves on earth,) and had also begun-at Scott’s suggestion, a nutrition/exercise program (with an amazing woman named Teri Tom)  that would help me lose those 8 pounds I had gained while sitting behind my desk as a college dean (By the way, for the record,  I am 62 and don’t want to look like I’m 40 or 50, but I don’t want to look like I’m 80.)

All was going amazingly well before I left California. I was disciplined, committed and focused. But how would it be when I left this environment without my support team. More importantly, how would I do on my own, over Thanksgiving where I would be hosting a feast for 15 people, cooking all the traditional stuff that people want and expect, and wanting to start drinking early enough in the day to temper the inevitable tensions of large family gatherings?  So, here’s how it went. Let’s just call it a “good news/bad news” outcome.

The Good:

1. I went to my local gym 4-5 times a week and kept up with my cardio.

2. I followed Teri Tom’s nutrition plan pretty well, and didn’t eat too too much on Thxgiving.

3. I kept in touch with Scott via email and text which made me remember that he was still an important part of my world, that I would be seeing him again soon and that I’d better not let him down because that would be disappointing myself.

The Bad:

1. I didn’t focus enough on stretching and my tightness is in high gear.

2. I am slouching more than I did before I left LA

3. The afternoon drinking (couldn’t help it) on Thxgiving didn’t stop family craziness (although-still it was mostly fun.)

I’m headed back to LA in a week and already have scheduled multiple sessions with Scott. Let’s see what his reaction is when we start-up again….

This entry was written by scrawford, posted on December 4, 2009 at 10:52 pm, filed under Fitness, Hiking, Life is Fitness, Los Angeles, Nutrition, Outdoors and tagged Bodywork, Fitness, happiness, Hiking, Holidays, Janet Rifkin, Los Angeles, Nutrition, training. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

CHANGING RELATIONSHIPS: TO WORK, BODY AND MIND

Part 1: The Beginning

by Janet Rifkin, Ph.D.

On June 30, 2009, I retired from a 35 year career at major public university. I started my life there at the age of 27 and left at 62. While I can say that I accomplished many good things during my professional life, I felt tired and cynical and found it harder and harder to believe in what I was doing. I had been the Dean of a big college for 8 years, I had helped many people start their academic careers, I had taught many hundreds of students, built relationships with faculty, students and alumni, raised money, built interesting programs and more. But I was finding it harder and harder to believe that what I had done and was doing had much value. I had seen too many people get to this point in their careers, but couldn’t let go because of fear of loss of status, power and fear of a future without the professional identity that had given their lives meaning and security. I knew it was time to make a change, but like others before me, I was uneasy and conflicted. I had several things going for me that helped me embrace this moment of change. I have a husband who wasn’t conflicted and wanted us to change our relationship to work and place and pursue adventures that we had imagined; we have a son, daughter-in –law and 15 month old granddaughter who were living 3000 miles away in Los Angeles and even though another son is in NYC, the pull was strong to come out west; and we are lucky enough to have the means to live more than decently. So on August 20, 2009, we packed up our car and headed to LA.  While we were both feeling a sense of liberation and excitement, we also realized that we had no idea how we were going to organize our lives on a daily basis. We did however know two things. First, we had signed up for a 9 day rafting trip down the Colorado River which would require us, among other things, to hike down the Grand Canyon with 30 lbs packs for 7 and ½ miles. Second, that while both of us were relatively active, we wanted-and needed to find trainers who could help us get ready for this challenging adventure.

I found Scott Crawford.  I don’t think Scott knew exactly what he was getting into when you started working with me. What he did know was that I had two and one half weeks to prepare for the trip. What he also saw was a woman who couldn’t touch her toes, whose hips are extremely tight, whose right Achilles tendon was swollen and sore, whose hamstrings are like concrete and whose shoulders were hunched over and knotted. What I knew from the moment I started working with him is that he believed in my ability to change my body. Maybe more importantly, he was intent on helping me to change my attitude.

This entry was written by scrawford, posted on November 10, 2009 at 12:53 pm, filed under Bodywork, Fitness, Life is Fitness, Pilates, Santa Barbara and tagged Bodywork, Cardio, Experiences, Fitness, Personal Training, Pilates, SOMA GET FIT. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

Give In To The Moment

by Jason Campagna, M.D., Ph.D.

Fitness is about many things– and can mean different things to different people. I have a suggestion: whatever it means to you, live in the moment and enjoy the journey. Fitness is a process, not a destination. The prevailing way of living in our Western societies is to plan out our lives, both for the long term and on a day-to-day basis. We have planners and digital calendars that map out our lives, sometimes to the minute. We feel we’re in control, with plans like this.

But it’s an illusion.

We cannot control our lives to this degree, no matter how we try. Things will always come up to spoil the best-laid plans, and the more detailed our plans the more of a guarantee that something will go wrong.

And what happens when the plans go wrong? We are stressed out, because things get out of our control and don’t live up to our expectations. This is one of the greatest sources of stress for most people, actually.

Think about how often your days actually go according to plan, exactly — it’s pretty rare, because we have no way of predicting the future. No matter how hard we try. There’s always an email that will disrupt things, a last-minute meeting, cancellations and postponements, emergencies and fires to put out.

So if plans will almost always go wrong, and when they do we get stressed out, isn’t all the time we spend creating the plans a bit of a waste?

But what’s the alternative? Giving yourself to the moment. This will not work for everyone, I’ll admit: there are those who will have a hard time giving up the illusion of control, and others who are controlled by their bosses or peers and cannot work or live this way.

Still, it’s something worth considering. Here’s how to do it — starting with the don’ts:

1. Don’t plan. Planning is an attempt to control the world around us, but it’s a futile attempt. Throw out your plans, for now at least until you’ve decided this method isn’t for you. What do you do instead? More on this below. For now, just stop planning.
2. Don’t worry about the future. Will something bad happen? Are there things coming up that we must anticipate and prepare for? Of course, if there’s a massive hurricane headed your way, you should probably get ready. But otherwise, just realize that the future is unpredictable, and worrying about it is a waste of time. Focus on right now, and you’ll always be able to handle what comes.
3. Don’t have expectations. If you expect people to act a certain way, or hope that things will turn out a certain way, you’ll always run into problems. Forget about outcomes for now. Go into things without expectations, and they will always turn out perfectly (if a bit messy).
4. Don’t get annoyed when others act a certain way. Don’t expect people to act any way other than how they actually act. They are exactly the way they should be — even if that’s selfish or weird or aggressive. Those are their problems. Your problem is figuring out how you should act. I’d also advise you to try to understand others — why do they act the way they do?
5. Don’t overreact. This is a major problem when people plan and things go wrong — they overreact, and get upset and emotional and blow things out of proportion. Stay calm, because if things “go wrong”, they didn’t actually go wrong — they just happened. More on how to react below.
6. Don’t try to be proactive. This is a common prescription (being proactive) in management and business literature. And while I think the general idea is fine — do something to prevent problems from recurring rather than just fixing them after they happen — one of the problems this creates is always worrying about what might happen. And creating solutions before there are problems — if there never is a problem, you’ve wasted a lot of time creating the solution, and a lot of energy worrying about the future.

And now for the dos:

1. Do be open. What would it be like to go into each day without a plan, but just to see what happens? A bit scary, because of the lack of security and control, a bit chaotic perhaps, a bit like we’re a piece of driftwood floating in the middle of a churning sea. But in truth, this is what it’s like to go into each day *with* a plan — it’s just that we normally fool ourselves about the amount of control we have. So start the day with no plan, and be open to what emerges in each moment.
2. Do what you love. So what should you do, now that you have no plan? Do what you’re passionate about, do what excites you right now. Create something amazing. Pour yourself energetically into a project. Build something new. And what you think you’re creating might turn out to be completely different from what emerges, but you’ll have fun doing it and something even better might be revealed.
3. Do act, in the moment. Giving yourself to the moment doesn’t mean being passive and just letting life happen. It means acting, but doing what is best at this moment, what you are excited about right now, what needs to be done, in the present.
4. Do respond appropriately. Life happens, and we must respond. But instead of overreacting, we can respond calmly and appropriately. We can take the action that’s required, fix the problem, do what’s necessary to prevent it from happening again, and move on without it ruining our day.
5. Do accept. Accept what happens. It might not be what you considered ideal, but it’s what life has given you, what has resulted from your actions in an unpredicatable world. Accept it, respond, act, move on. Don’t get caught up in things not going your way, but accept that’s what has happened.

Again, this way of living won’t be for everybody. Some don’t have the freedom to live this way, and others just won’t give up control. Some will think this is a passive way of living, but it really isn’t: it’s just a way of living in the moment without being caught up in the future (or the past) so much.

And when we live in the moment, we’re really living life to the fullest. This is the gift of the present.

This entry was written by jcampagna, posted on November 5, 2009 at 9:16 pm, filed under Fitness, Life is Fitness, Lifestyle and Spa, Santa Barbara and tagged Fitness, jason campagna, Lifestyle, SOMA GET FIT. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.