Healthy Forever Fitness Motivation

  Chair Based Exercises  As a Personal Trainer and Class Instructor, most people are surprised to hear me say how much I love chair based exercise. You can get a really good whole body workout for both cardio and strength as well as enjoying yoga poses, meditation and full body stretching. Yes it's true, you can accomplish all this from a chair based workout. I have achieved weight loss and muscle growth from chair exercise alone and so have those who have joined my chair classes. I am preparing to go onboard a cruise ship for a 30 day Christmas cruise and putting together some classes at the moment. It has been a while since I have worked on the cruises and I have forgotten how much fun these classes are. It's not all about slow movements for seniors or those with limited mobility. It is about making exercise fun with a huge amount of benefits to go with it. What are Chair Based Workouts Chair based workouts are physical and mental forms of exercise performed whilst seated an...

The Benefits of Regular Exercise Regular exercise boosts your moods, helps to control your appetite and can improve your sleep patterns. Regular weight training will improve your muscle strength and endurance, increase your metabolism and improve your energy levels. In the long term, exercise will reduce your risk of heart disease, strokes, diabetes, dementia, depression and many cancers. Resistance bands are very easy  to use. They are not as complicated as some of the equipment in today's "highly technical" gyms that can feel very  intimidating  to those who are new to exercise workouts. It's hard to believe that these bands can increase your strength when you place them next to a dumbbell or kettlebell, but the power they hold will surprise you. Resistance bands are very like free weights (dumbbells, kettlebells) in that they give external resistance so you have to engage your muscles to oppose the tensity. The  fitness  industry is forever changing. There a...

  My New Life Adventure After the decision to make a new life  and not being a novice to working overseas, I prepared myself to ' be thrown in the deep end ' with this being the normal working procedure and the way things tend to happen. There is never too much training or contracts to sign or time to settle in, it's just straight into the job. I had brought a few sequences with me as I am not a ' fast flow ' yoga teacher, I am more of a gentle pace and meditation teacher.  My first practice was thankfully, a slow flow class and I did just that. Gentle poses with meditation to finish. The most amazing part of this practice was the studio (being outside and close to the sea) with the sound of the ocean and the warmth of the sun's rays during the practice. Being UK based, my classes are normally studio based so this was an extra special moment for me. However, what I was not expecting was meditation to the sunset. I am not exaggerating when I say I felt quite emot...

  The Benefits of a Healthy Lifestyle When we look after our physical health, exercise regularly, eat nutritious food and take care of our mental health we feel and look good and we are able to cope with life's challenges. Choosing a healthy lifestyle has to be attainable to you and scheduled into your daily living. Building good habits does not have to be time consuming if you lead a hectic life. By taking just one step at a time, you can build yourself a clean and wholesome way of living.  The Benefits of Healthy Living Feel better physically and mentally - regular exercise and meditation will help you to feel better and lift your mood. Try and schedule some time in your day to walk for 30 minutes or target your 10,000 steps per day as a goal. Take a 10 minute break to stretch your body and take 10 deep nourishing breaths to energize and calm the mind. Finances - Save your pennies by preparing your food. Buying snacks, fizzy drinks, sugar laden coffees and sweet treats all c...

  Leaving Your Comfort Zone Creating a new life for yourself, one that you crave, sounds like the perfect goal. So why do we all not do this? Sometimes life just gets in the way, for example the bills have to be paid or you have responsibilities that you cannot just leave behind. But what would you do if you could just up and leave? It is definitely something to think about and focus your attention on what you really want from life. I have been very lucky in my life. I have no children, or older parents/family that are dependent upon me, so my time now is to create that life! However, during my lifetime I have been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. When I decided to move overseas in my mid thirties, I found a job in the local newspaper (no internet at that time) working for a package holiday company. I worked overseas for 8 years. I wanted to work onboard cruise ships and had bought a lot of books and magazines in the hope of finding a job. I wrote to a shipp...

  Facing your Fears Being afraid and fearful is not always a bad thing? Sometimes our body needs an alert system to be cautious when approaching danger. Fear will stop us from doing anything that is unsafe or harmful. But fear can actually rule our life if we do not face some of the less threatening and harmless occurrences.  We have to analyse our fears. Maybe the fear is a phobia where the fear is an active imagination. A phobia is an irrational fear triggered by an event, a past experience or even lack of knowledge and this makes the anxiety outweigh the threat it poses.  For example: You may want to see the world but you are afraid of flying You want to spend some time relaxing on a cruise ship sailing the Caribbean Sea but you are afraid of the water and you cannot swim You want to have adventures but afraid to do anything on your own You want to join a rambling group so you can walk with others and see some beautiful places but fear that no one will speak to you. Yo...

  Are Cats Good for Our Wellbeing International 'Cat Day' takes place annually on the 8th of August. It is a day to unite all cat lovers across the globe, sharing a passion and celebrating this fascinating creature. Cats are just great company. They are humorous, playful, fearless, intelligent, inquisitive and sometimes (when they choose to be).....very sociable and loving. Wherever you are living, however old you are, whatever you are doing in your life, a cat is the perfect pet. They are very independent and resourceful. Owning a cat can be very gratifying. You will not only enjoy their company but also the soothing and relaxing impact a cat will bring to your well-being.  Unlike dogs, cats do not need a daily walk. They like to roam on their own and seem to enjoy their own form of exercise. There is no need to set aside time to train a cat or even find play-time. A cat can entertain itself day and night. All you have to do is feed your cat and give it plenty of love and kin...