Tuesday Twelve Freewrite

I just got back from my six month skin cancer check, and I had just one biopsy this time (the last two times were four each with one being melanoma)! 

I have a whole day to answer my discussion questions and study for my midterm due on November 8. Other than the doctor's appointment at 8:20 am (and I got a interval training walk/run up there and back) and a Skype meeting with Elizabeth at 8 pm tonight, I have a very undisturbed day to study. I like having large chunks of time to be able to get lost in the material because I find the material so fascinating. 

For the discussion questions this week, I have to explain why plyometrics is important and beneficial for an advanced client interested in hypertrophy (muscle mass gain), explain how I would regress a plyometric training program for a deconditioned and an elder client, and design a speed, agility, and quickness drill for a weight loss client. These discussion questions take a lot of time, but I like that it forces me to practically apply everything I am learning from the book. So that is beneficial. 

My Pilates classes are going well. I have so many students that want special exceptions to make up their classes though, and that is a bit unnerving for me. There is a lot of sickness going around, and I can see doing it for someone who has sickness that they cannot do anything about. I guess it doesn't hurt them to ask. 

I have really enjoyed doing #100happydays every day. I am on Day 36, and it is so helpful to look for the happy in each day, which actually is not too hard for me since I am, for the most part, a pretty happy person. I think it has been really good for my friends who tend to "catastrophize" and agonize every day. It really helps them seek it out and relish it. 

So far here are my happies for the day in the last 2 minutes of this freewrite:

1. Waking up very early
2. Having a good kind of soreness in my arms and latissimus dorsi after doing the Theraband for three Pilates classes yesterday
3. Listening to Steve's sermon on 1 Peter 3:8-18 that I missed because I had to teach two Sunday School classes 
4. Learning about plyometrics, and speed, agility, and quickness drills
5. Finding a stash of Earl Grey tea I did not know I had
6. Earl Grey with 2% milk - oh my!
7. Interval training up the hill to my derm appointment
8. The receptionist was nice this time
9. I only had one biopsy and got to catch up with my doctor friend

There is the bell. I think that is a lot of happies for only 9:42 in the morning! 

Another Reason to do Pilates: Beautiful Bowel Movements

I realized something the other day. I noticed that I have had very regular and easy bowel movements over the last few months. (Sorry if that is TMI.) I have cut down on caffeine in the mornings. I have always thought that was helpful in that cause. 

I realized this regularity was coinciding with my increase in doing Pilates. I have been doing the exercises very consistently since I decided to become certified as an instructor in late June/early July. Before, it was hit or miss, maybe once a week or twice a week. Now, I do it three times on Mondays and Wednesdays and at least once on another three days of the week. 

Could there be a connection between my regularity and Pilates? I went to Google it, and this article gave me my answer: 

 http://www.livestrong.com/article/337331-exercises-to-stimulate-bowel-movement/

Here is the excerpt about Pilates from that article: 

Pilates

Pilates Photo Credit Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images

Pilates workouts put a huge demand on your core for the entire workout, and force you to breathe deeply through discomfort. The near-constant contraction of the abs combined with the tightly controlled movement of the limbs can stimulate the bowels in much the same way as ab work. The breathing techniques can help you relax and focus when nature finally calls. Try the double leg stretch, leg circles or teasers for thorough results.

I will comment that I would NOT try the Teaser until you have worked up to that challenge, even taking a class from a certified instructor (like me!). 

Wednesday Freewrite

It is 1:19 pm, and I am going to write for fifteen uninterrupted minutes. I have not written as much the past few months, and that is mainly because my Big Hairy Audacious Goal of the Bible Book Club was completed. I still love to do it though, and somehow I think there is a book somewhere in here. 

I had two great Pilates classes this morning, and I have one more to go. I did more observing and less demonstrating today. We have a few new exercises that we added that I did demonstrate because they are new, but I wanted to watch around the room, and by Jove, I think these students are really getting it. 

I think my second class really like the stability balls too. So, I will bring them back after I do a Theraband class next Monday. Some said they were sore from the class, and that is great! I like to challenge them. 

I messed up on one exercise today though, and it bugs me that I did. I also had a hard time explaining the Tick-Tock exercise because I had never explained it before! LOL! I really like the people in both my classes though. Very nice students. It is a pleasure. 

The class at night on Monday turned out to be FOUR people from the same church. What is the probability of that? SO fun. Two out of the four were new, and we did the stability ball. So, it was a challenging class to come to. Really challenging. 

Well, now I am wondering what else I am going to freewrite about since it has only been five minutes, and I have ten more to go, and I really should eat my lunch and get back to studying my Unit 4 chapters! I am so close to being able to study for the midterm, and I am very excited about that. That will mean I am half way through my Personal Training Exam Prep Course. That is so nice. It is a LOT more work than I had expected it to me with lots of deadlines and minimum grades that are expected of  us, but it is keeping me on track and good preparation for the exam. They guarantee you will pass if you meet all the requirements of the course or you get your money back, but they make meeting all the requirements pretty tough, and quite honestly, one of the parameters of grading is VERY subjective. So, there is room for making everyone ineligible for the money back guarantee by not getting a high enough score on the subjective measurement. I think the most time consuming thing in the test prep is answering the discussion questions every week. I spent HOURS crafting my response for Unit 2, and I get no feedback as to why I go at 3 out of 4 instead of a 4. So, that sort of bugged me, but then I realized that is really does not matter because I am pretty sure I can pass it. So, I shouldn't worry about getting perfect score in the test prep course because it is a "grade" that means absolutely nothing. What is most important is passing the exam that I hope to take in December. 

What I do like about it is that it is not an easy exam by all I have heard. It has a good mixture of science and practicality. The teaching videos every week are very informative. So I am learning a lot. In fact, last night,  I stayed up late just reading my chapters that are not even due until next week because I took my quiz that is not due until Sunday on Tuesday instead. 

Bottom line: I love to learn new things. I also love to pass those new things off to my students!

Well, I don't care if it has not been 15 minutes. It has been 12, and that is good enough for me!

BYE BYE!

42. Intermediate Mat Manual by Power Pilates

I have done a LOT of reading this year, but it has been more educational than for pleasure. I love it though. I have to get credit for this one since I had to read it and then TEACH it. I passed yesterday, and I am celebrating by entering it here! 

41. The Anatomy of Pilates by Paul Massey

This was a really helpful book as I became certified to teach Pilates to an intermediate level. It was helpful for me to know what muscles were being worked as I performed each exercise too. It has great illustrations. An added bonus was I learned muscles and their names in a more applicable way.This has helped me study for my Certified Personal Trainer exam in December too. Less boring that way!  I am able to inform my students about what muscles are being worked and greater understand what exercises to skip if they have had previous injuries. 

I checked it out of the library and ran the limits of my checking out. I wish I had bought it from Amazon back then because it has doubled in price since I first started considering buying it! RATS! I am checking it out again from my library now because I refer to it all the time. It is much superior to Pilates Anatomy by Rael Isacowitz and Karen Clippinger (review coming soon). 

Fifteen Minute Freewrite

I am just going to type away for the allotted fifteen minutes.

I got up about an hour earlier than I expected. I was also going to have to go into work early because I could not find some things I needed for my class today, but I found them under a book. So, I ended up having way more time this morning than I thought I would have. YAY! I think it is funny that I could not find that stuff. It was right on the table, but I searched for probably an hour last night for them.

Today, I am going to have the students use balls to hug the midline and Therabans in order to get a better workout on their legs during the side-kick series. I cannot believe that I ran out of time on Monday. I have never done that before!!!

Today I also have a second mammogram. There was something "inconclusive" on my first one I did last Tuesday (so proud I got in and out of there by 8:40 am when my appointment did not officially start until 8:45!). I am a bit nervous about the whole things, but George is coming in with me to the appointment. So that means I get him for a bit longer this week than I usually do! YAY!

I have to do three overhead squat postural assessments and two one leg squat assessments for a discussion forum in my class. It is a lot of extra work, but it will force me to learn the material. So, I am happy about that. This eTeach is a lot more work than just studying for the personal training exam, but I want to be prepared to walk into personal training right after I finish. So there you go! I will be much better prepared with these things that I have to do to pass the class.

I am very concerned about my nephew. He is in a very bad way. I really want to help him. I don't want to enable though. What can I do, Lord? I will listen to You and obey.

My body is becoming stronger and stronger every day. I love this new level of Pilates exercises that I just learned from Marie. I am trying to teach them to my class. I am not sure if I communicated very well with them this last Monday though. Lord, help me to be a better teacher. I hope my SNAP class has more of the experienced people so I can take them to the next level. When I have new people, and they are strong, I don't know that until they say it was too easy. Boy, I could make it so much harder for them if I knew how strong they were to begin with. I did like that Sue said that she always feels so much better after she does the class. That was great.

I am sitting at my desk typing away with no pain. I am so happy about that. That weird neck/trapezius (or was it the serratus or the rhomboid?) is gone. I wonder if NOT going to OMT helped hit because it was not being manipulated. I think I can definitely go to just having OMT every three weeks or so. I would like to get to doing Massages every three weeks and OMT every three weeks. I really like the massages, and Emiko says I am just tight, and that is how some people are built. I really look forward to doing the flexibility training course after I am done with the CPT exam. That will be continuing education, and I got it at a great discount price. 

Wonder what I will do for a little warm up today? I think standing warm up will be appropriate. I don't want to do it for two long, maybe 5 minutes max. I took too long in the warm up on Monday, leaving me little time for the added exercises. I think I will just add the Open Leg Rocker, the advanced Swan today and do three regular leg plus one Big Finish of the Side Kick Series. Then I am hoping to add the Serratus Push Up and a longer 45 second Front Support. 

Oh perfect, I am looking at my timer, and I am less than one minute. YAY! I needed to write. I am praying I do not encounter that negative man again, and I need to get out of my class very quickly in order to do that. I will have to ask my boss if it is OK to let the people stay in the room if the instructor does not get there in time. I am hoping he is not hostile to me again!!!

BYE! 

#100happydays Favs

Day21 of #100happydays - walking under fall leaves at OSU.

A photo posted by Carol Weaver (@carolfoasia) on Oct 14, 2015 at 6:30am PDT

Day 19 of #100happydays - Four-point buck beauty in the backyard

WereA photo posted by Carol Weaver (@carolfoasia) on Oct 11, 2015 at 8:06am PDT

Postural Alignment Sensors? WOW!

This is new. So I am not sure what the reviews will be, but this was so fascinating for me to learn about. I am on a mission to help people develop better posture to avoid back pain and strengthen the core. So this is right up my alley! 

What do you think?

Saturday Seventeen Freewrite

Well, I am doing two freewrites in a row! WOW!

Just for those of you who randomly read this blog, a freewrite is a concept that was made popular by Peter Elbow (click on link to learn more). Here is a definition from wikipedia.org:

Free writing, a term commonly used by Elbow, coined by Ken Macrorie, is to write without stopping, without editing, without sharing, without worrying about grammar, without thinking, without rushing. Elbow wants his students (and others) to write whatever they want, however they want but just write daily-10 to 15 minutes for one freewrite. Normal freewriting can be adapted to focused freewriting and public freewriting. Focused freewriting is trying to stay on a topic, which is particularly useful when a student has a specific assignment to do. Public freewriting is geared toward being shared, which makes it seem a little more risky but it is very useful in groups, especially where there is trust, and growth can occur. The goal of this exercise is to bring about a more natural language, while making the writing process easier and more comfortable to the student.^[7]

I love it. My friend Julie Bogart taught me how to do it when I was homeschooling my kids. She owns a company called Bravewriter.com , and her teaching helped my kids to become the "brave writers" they are today (rock it in every college class when it comes to writing - proud mama).

So now I will proceed with my freewrite! :) 

What a whirlwind week. I loved it. I taught four college Pilates classes (in addition to my two classes I teach at SNAP Fitness), and I think I will like it. I think I was born to teach. I was not necessarily born to take attendance! LOL! That is a bit more complicated, and I am not sure if I like the system that I have developed. :) I took it from my friend who taught the class before me, but I think I need to ask the more "fine tuned" details of better attendance taking because I just throw these 4 x 6 cards with their names on it, and they put them at the front of their mats, and then they throw them back at me. I have some international students in my class, and I have never received a card from one, and I wonder if he is there but just does not understand the whole concept of the cards. 

All that aside, I love teaching people about living a less stressed and strong life! I hope and pray these principles will carry over into their everyday life. It would be awesome. Pilates has been SO HELPFUL to me in the quest for a pain-free and strong existence! YAY! I can "sell it" because I am passionate about it.

I am also passionate about Jesus. :) He is my life! I have been meditating on Colossians 3 the last couple of days, and it has been very rich, rich, rich. Letting His word "richly dwell within me."

Day 11 of #100happydays - Colossians 3 and a cuppa' tea!

A photo posted by Carol Weaver (@carolfoasia) on Oct 2, 2015 at 9:13am PDT

Woke up this morning with a certain person on my heart. I am not sure why that is, but I am glad I followed my gut and wrote her. I think she is on an important trip somewhere. So there you go! 

I start my first full day of studying for my personal fitness trainer exam. I hope to take it before Christmas and start the year at SNAP doing that. I am excited to inch forward toward some long term goals of mine.

One more thing, last night was awesome. I love, love, love being around the House of Prayer people. I prayer walked on campus with three other girls, and we prayed blessings over one of the buildings I teach in, and also went to the residence hall and classrooms for the internationals and prayed blessings over that too. We also walked by the place where a girl was sexually assaulted last week. They have not caught the man. There were three other teams of 3-4 who also prayed through different parts of campus so I think we covered the whole thing between the 20+ of us who gathered at the Upper Room. Love, love, love the partnership we have with these dear, dear folks. They invited us to intercede with them over a "Pre-Halloween Burn" which is a 26 hour prayer vigil. They will have a booth on Friday and Saturday night where they will pray for people and do dream interpretation. How fun is that!!!!?????

Well, I think my 17 minutes have just ended. Another thing about a freewrite is that I do not proofread it and just send it into cyberspace. Excuse the errors. I do know the difference between there, their, and they're, but sometimes when I type fast, I miss that. So, forgive me for the errors!

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!!!!!

Friday Fifteen Freewrite

I woke up at 4:30 this morning thinking it was at least 6 am, but alas, it was not.

I have not done a freewrite in quite a while. I have been busy with getting my OSU classes started. I finally did so last Monday, and they went very well. I will be pretty busy from Monday - Wednesday, but I am hoping to have my Thursdays and Fridays fairly flexible. I may have my Tuesdays unstructured also because I will probably need a rest in between the two days. I have to evaluate all of that. 

I had my first Wellspring group of the year, and it was great. I think the overnight trip we took to the coast really helped solidify our relationships. God gave me a picture, and I should just take a picture and put it here, but it was of Colossians 3 and the correlation with the principles of Pilates! LOL! 

Breathe 
Christ is my life (breath is life)

Concentration
Set MIND on things above - see things from HIS perspective
Let Word of Christ dwell richly
Let peace of God rule

Control 
Focusing on Him with our minds allow us to 
put on love and doing all in His name in our actions.

Center
Christ is the center. He is the "Core Powerhouse." We can do all things when He is the center of our life - strengthening us from within. Every action stems from the Powerhouse Who lives in us. Let all be done in the name of the Master!

Precision and Flow 
Our life flows in order and flow with the fruits they talk about in Colossians 3

Relaxation
Settling into all of this and letting the PEACE of God rule.