Feel Fit event on July 11th

Our next Feel Fit meeting will be on Sunday, July 11th at Coronation Hall in Bristol Quebec.


We will have lunch together at 12:30 and the meeting starts at 13:30.
There will be a guest speaker and at 14:00, we will have a line dancing section with Sue.
She is an excellent teacher and is great with beginners and people with two left feet~ :)
Please let Muriel know a week in advance so Norma can prepare the correct amount of food for us.


Date: July 11th, 2010
Location: Coronation Hall (Click to get directions)
Timetable:
12:30 Lunch by Norma
13:30 Feel Fit guest speaker
14:00 Line Dance with Sue


Hope you are Feeling Fit and keeping up with your goals.

Feel Fit Meeting Dates

It's time for our celebrations for another year!

Check the Feel Fit Meeting dates in the following chart.

Welcome to join us anytime~

Just contact Muriel via email in the bottom of the blog:

MurielDav@gmail.com or call 819-647-5447

You may find the event details in 'Events' posts.

Feel free to email any questions or ideas to us!

Beginner's Bliss

Posted from Yoga Journal

Did you feel less stressed after your first yoga class? Scientists have pinpointed why.

By Linda Knittel

Often, people who take up yoga report that they feel more relaxed almost immediately. And science now says there's a physiological explanation for that: Yoga can reduce levels of cortisol, the so-called stress hormone.

In a recent study conducted by Thomas Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and the Yoga Research Society, 16 healthy new yogis participated in a 50-minute yoga class every day for seven days. On the day prior to their first class, they were instructed to sit quietly--reading and writing--for 50 minutes.

The subjects' cortisol levels didn't change appreciably during the sitting period; they showed just the normal decrease that usually takes place in the late morning. But when the researchers measured the cortisol levels before and after the yoga class--which included postures such as Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand), Salabhasana (Locust Pose), Vrksasana (Tree Pose) and Halasana (Plow Pose)--they discovered a significant decrease after the class.

In the scientific world, results are considered noteworthy only if they can be repeated. This particular study attained a "p value" (a measurement of the probability of attaining the very same outcome in the future) of .001, which means that if the study were performed 100 times, the probability of getting the same result would be 99.9 percent.

The study's results don't surprise George Brainard, M.D., a professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson Medical College. In 1995, he conducted a similar study, which also showed a significant drop in cortisol levels of subjects following asana practice.

"When I did the first study, I was very surprised that a single set of yoga poses could make a significant change in cortisol," Brainard says. "Now that we have repeated it, we have seen enough promise to consider studying it in challenging situations like chronically ill patients who have abnormally high levels of cortisol, such as those who suffer from depression, type 2 diabetes, Cushing's disease, and high blood pressure."

The findings suggest that practicing yoga--even for the very first time--can normalize cortisol levels that are either too high or too low, says Vijayendra Pratap, Ph.D., president of the Yoga Research Society in Philadelphia. "My hypothesis," he adds, "is that yoga brings the body to balance."

Exactly how it does this is still not clear. But Jennifer Johnston, yoga director and research clinician at the Mind Body Medical Institute in Boston has a theory. "The deep breathing we do in yoga elicits something called 'the relaxation response,' which invokes the restorative functions of the body," Johnston says. "Yogic practices also help to reduce muscle tension and deactivate the stress response."

So in addition to renewing your mind and spirit, yoga has now been proven to provide real benefits for your body. No longer do the everyday stressors of deadlines, a hectic schedule, and other pressures have to wear you down. Simply stop at the nearest yoga studio and let your tension decrease along with your cortisol.

Linda Knittel is a nutritional anthropologist and freelance writer in Portland. She is the author of The Soy Sensation (McGraw Hill, 2001).

Our Relay for Life night~

Feel fit girls gathered together for Relay for Life and raised more than $3,000 for Canadian Cancer Society for Pontiac last Saturday.

The activity started from 7pm at night to the 7am the next morning.

We camped on the spot and took turns to complete our goals of walking for the cancer fighters and the past away cancer patients.

We put on our pink coat and walk, chat together over night. By the dawn of the next day, we were tired but happy. It's a meaningful day for all of us.