pilates

Five Years: Thanks to Our Instructors

This month marks Personal Euphoria’s fifth birthday. It’s an accomplishment I’m quite proud of especially since we’ve been brining Pilates to people through one of the worst economies in the history of our country.

I couldn’t have done it alone. For one thing if I didn’t have such wonderful clients I wouldn’t love my job as much as I do. And if I didn’t have the great team of instructors, not only would Personal Euphoria not have as many fun clients, but my life would be less rewarding. So I want to use this blog to say a couple nice words about all our current instructors. None of these ladies can be summed up in a sentence or two, but I’ll try. And if you take one of their classes, please feel free to add to this list of what makes these women fantastic.

Jeannine—was the first instructor to join Personal Euphoria. She gave me the […]

Five Years: Thanks to Our InstructorsMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:29-04:00

Belly Dancing

Four times a year, the Personal Euphoria staff tries to get together and try something physical that isn’t Pilates. This time we tried belly dancing. I was really looking forward it because my Grandma has often told me stories of the time she took belly dancing classes. They used cues like, “dust the stool,” “figure eights,” and “Tarzan-Jane, Tarzan-Jane.” They are pretty self explanatory. In the first you pretend you are dusting a stool with your butt. The second you circle your hips making a figure eight shape, and finally you pull your breast bone in and then stick your chest out to depict the clear different between Tarzan and Jane.

The class was even better than I expected. It was hard to do right, but fun even when I was screwing up (which was a regular occurrence). Shalimar was a wonderful teacher. She explained the moves well and was encouraging. Years […]

Belly DancingMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:29-04:00

Free Pilates in Wethersfield

I always love our mini outdoor session of Pilates. I’ll admit I’m a sucker for Old Wethersfield—a spectacular place to spend time. This year so far we’ve had a great turn out. Thanks to everyone who has made it so far. Remember—we have one more class this Saturday. Hope we get to meet you there.

Details:

Wethersfield Broad Street Green (CT)

8-8:45am
Bring a mat, hat, sunglasses, and water

And consider saving time for a walk afterward or breakfast at Aroma Bistro. Or come back for lunch at Lucky Louie’s followed by ice cream at the Wethersfield Creamery. The Cove Deli it also a great place for sandwiches and salads, all of which have fun names.

Personal Euphoria

Free Pilates in WethersfieldMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:29-04:00

Is Exercise Killing Me?

Last week I was frustrated by an article headline I saw somewhere on the Internet. It read “Is Exercise Killing You?” The topic of this new study on exercise was also discussed (thankfully very responsibly) on The View.

So, is exercise killing you? The article I actually found on the topic published in the New York Times was called: “For Some, Exercise May Increase Heart Risk.” A much less fear mongering header which always makes me happy.

The answer is a resounding NO. Exercise is not killing people. The study currently getting a lot of attention found that for 90% of the population exercise has benefits for the heart, lungs and body. But it turns out that for 10% of the population exercise may increase blood pressure and cholesterol. There was no shown increased risk of heart attack of this small group of the population.

I hope the article doesn’t give people an excuse not to exercise. “What if I’m one of the ten percent?” The best thing to do is to get a baseline from your doctor before starting an exercise program. And check in a few months later to compare. Exercise […]

Is Exercise Killing Me?Maggie Downie2017-10-25T15:49:54-04:00

Foam Roller

I’ll admit not everyone loves the foam roller as much as I do. It’s a great way to get a good work out and challenge your balance and stabilizer muscles, but more than that it can massage you and your achy fascia! But that is the part not everyone is a fan of sadly. One most people have never heard of fascia and then when they actually get down on to roller to massage the fascia, tendons, and muscles they don’t always love the way it feels.

It can feel a bit intense. Some people describe foam rolling like the feeling you have when you press on a bruise. Why would you want to do that? Because it’s good for you and it won’t leave a bruise. I think it hurts in a good way. But […]

Foam RollerMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:38-04:00