It’s September already! Where did Summer go?
I, like many people during these past few months have been so busy making hay whilst the Sun shines that I forgot to bask in it!
I’m going to try and ease back a little during September and make more time for ‘human being’ and less ‘human doing’ or at least improving work/life balance, and enjoying some more personal exercise and dance time, yoga training, dog walking and reading.
I’m almost ready to share my ‘Boost’ course with those folks who want to boost their immune system, health, wellness, fitness, appearance, resilience, efficiency and quality of life – watch this space.
Does this quote resonate with you?
Our time on this planet is precious – every minute of our life is precious, are you happy with how you invest those minutes?
I firmly believe that our health is more precious than a fancy car, bigger house, bigger bank balance, another pair of shoes, new outfit, more stuff and so on.
Investing in caring for our health via optimal exercise ( and expert advice), quality nutrition (from natural sources), caring for the environment via careful consumption and putting back, taking the time to move our bodies and our minds, plus enjoying quality time with friends and family will increase the likelihood that we can live a comfortable, healthy, pain free, good life – rather than one where we are not able to move our bodies comfortably or have the energy to do the things we enjoy, to wear what we like, feel and look how we want to, or enjoy quality time with friends and family, hobbies and so on.
We are blessed to have a choice and according to the Dalai Lama we are making the wrong ones much of the time.
Schools Return
I have everything crossed for the kids returning to school life and for everyone concerned to be safe and stay healthy.
Good luck everyone.
I’m also hoping that we will be getting the green light to return to at least some of our classes at All Hallows later this month
If we do I have more serious thinking to do regarding how we return, the management of the space for safety, sanitizing, effectiveness, comfort and so on. I hope to be able to run Zoom classes along side the live ones but ultimately it will come down to how I can best serve you all safely and earn a living!
If All Hallows say ‘no go’, I will have to look for alternatives.
I welcome your suggestions and hope for you support, it’s a worrying time and after 37 years of teaching dance and fitness I would hate for this pandemic to put an end to a huge part of my life that is my passion and I love.
I’m hoping for a mini miracle or at least some divine inspiration.
Zooming
In the mean time, we are smashing our fantastic classes on Zoom and one to one sessions in our new PT gym and studio (I’m even still Zoom ‘PT’ing clients from across the country)
Remember that DYBO monthly members are now enjoying the bonus of accessing all of our class recordings (via our Vimeo platform) as part of their membership, enabling them to participate when they can’t attend live classes or they can try different sessions and even practice some of the dance routines.
Memberships are payable on the first of the month and run from the first to the last day of the calendar month.
Tour de France
Steve’s team, Team Sunweb have made an excellent start to the Tour with a 3rd, 2nd and White jersey for leading U23 rider in the opening three days!
Also big kudos to the women’s team as Lorena Wiebes and Susanne Andersen were 1st and 3rd the Grand Prix Euromat one day race in Belgium yesterday!
This week’s Classes…
Here are the links for this week’s classes and payment details and support as to how you can have the best online experience with us, if you are having trouble connecting then contact Steve on his mobile (Call, SMS or WhatsApp on 07968 759826) and he will help.
DYBO Live & Online – Classes are as follows:
Monday
6.30pm Boogie Fit (Beginners/Returners)
7.15pm The Middle Bit – Complimentary when attending BF or CD or £3.50
7.45pm Cardio Dance (Intermediate)
Tuesday
6.30pm HIIT (Simple & effective fitness training)
7.15pm Core Power – Complimentary when attending HIIT or DF or £3.50
7.45pm Dance Fit (Intermediate)
Wednesday
6.30pm Old Skool Step (All levels)
7.15pm Barre Fit (All levels)
Thursday
6.15pm Contemporary Stretch (All levels)
7.30pm Dance & Perspiration (Fitness with a Dance focus, more experienced)
Friday
6.30pm Freestyle Fitness Yoga (Relax, Restore and Reboot)
****** All the above classes change and vary weekly! *****
How to prepare your environment
- You need space to move 2 side steps, 4 walks forward, 4 backward. Move trip hazards and furniture as much as you can (get help, be careful!) to give you maximum space for upper and lower body movement. Roll up rugs or secure them so they don’t slip or cause you to trip.
- Plugging your device in to your TV with an HDMI cable is brilliant as it gives you a good picture of you (like a mirror) and me – as well as boosting the sound if you go through the TV/Hi-Fi sound system. If you can place your device under the TV, then even better.
- I know some of you are using your phones – try to plug in to a speaker system (even those little speakers we have when we go on holiday would help) so that you can hear better as you move back from the phone. Angie has tried Bluetooth earphones and it worked well.
- Ensure you have maximum access to your Wi-Fi in the house and as close to the router as is feasible. Take phones off the Wi-Fi system and pop them on to your 4/5G network or place on airplane mode, unless that’s what you are using to join us, obviously. Ask family to do the same for the duration of your class – keep them off the internet whilst you need the bandwidth. The more bandwidth you have, the better the picture and sound and the less likely you are to lose the feed. Your health is a priority at this time and I’m sure they can do something else for that short time!
- Ventilate your exercise space, have plenty of water and towels to hand, keep your exercise equipment close – if you need anything, let me know.
- Wear correct footwear for your activity – putting an old pair of socks over the toes and ball of your trainers will help reduce friction when exercising on carpet (if they are a really old pair, cutting the toes open and then just having them over the ball of the foot is even better). It’s up to you if you want to dance or train in bare feet but be careful if you don’t usually do this as it takes time for the muscles and connective tissue of the feet and rest of the body to adapt to barefoot training.
- Make your own gym equipment. Save laundry liquid or milk bottles – you can fill them with water or wet sand/rice etc. to add weight and make a dumbell/kettlebell. I recommend you make a few in differing weights and you have written on them so you know what they weigh and seal the caps with tape to prevent leakage. Get a heavy duty shopping bag and put weighty items in it, check they can’t fall out and you have a kettlebell alternative. Make your own hurdles, put cushions, pillows, boxes, books on the floor to jump over. Use household items as floor markers for circuit activities. The stairs and outdoor steps are great temporary steps/benches for cardio and upper body work. The garden is a great open space to make an assault course or if you can get a signal, take your class or PT session outside, but do make it safe.
Fees
£6.50 per class. Paid in advance please.
10 Class Voucher £55
Membership, unlimited classes, £50
(Valid first to last day of calendar month, paid on the first day of the month)
If things get so tight that you can’t afford it then please reach out to me, I want to keep you healthy and happy and help you through this tough time and trust that no-one will take advantage of me.
Bank details are UK Fitness Academy Ltd.
Sort Code 09-01-28, Acc No. 04284324
Please email me when you have made a payment and use your name and what it’s for as a reference.
eg. Jane Smith Class Voucher. As reference, I do have a Paypal account but it costs money to receive and move money.
Gut Healthy Brownie from Healthy Holistic Living
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup creamy nut butter (almond, cashew, tahini, etc)
- 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup mashed avocado (about 1/2 an avocado)
- 1/2 cup cooked sweet potato
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons cacao powder
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 325° F.
- Grease a regular size baking tray with coconut oil or line with parchment paper
- In a food processor or blender, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips and mix until well combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips and transfer to the baking tray.
- The batter will be very thick and sticky so with the back of a spoon- level out the batter across the pan as evenly as you can, edging it into the corners and smoothing the surface.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then remove and allow to cool before slicing in to portions.
- Enjoy!
Have a fab week, keep calm, wash your hands and live well!
Luv ya,
Helen x
