Classical Stretch

Dear friends!

I am very much into anti-aging right now. It could be that I just celebrated (secretly) another birthday. As I age I see that the divide between my friends who exercise regularly and keep their weight under control is becoming rapidly wider.

There are the young baby-boomers and the old baby-boomers!

My desire is for everyone to be a young baby-boomer and know that with some effort most can. I also want the children of baby-boomers to start now and think intelligently about their bodies. Everybody is running and hating it believing that running will make them thin and in shape.

I say look around; most people don’t lose weight running and instead make their knees and backs worse. And what about posture and strength; running is great for cardio, but cardio is only a small part of the fitness parcel. We need to stretch and strengthen the entire body, all 600 muscles and 200 bones. We need to rebalance the body to prevent pain and injuries. We need full range of motion to make all every- day activities comfortable and natural.

So we need to think more holistically and understand that we don’t have to be so hard on ourselves to feel good and accomplish the desired age-reversing and full body revitalizing benefits.

Miranda Esmonde-White

Miranda's latest blog / Ask Miranda / Retreats & Getaways / Training and Certification Program / Exercise of the Month

Miranda's latest blog

This Spring we headed back to the place where it all began for Miranda; the world famous National Ballet School in Toronto. At the young age of 10, Miranda left her family in Montreal and headed to boarding school in Toronto so she could develop her talent in ballet. As most of you know, she later joined the company and toured the world!

This year was the 50th anniversary of the school, which is now a state of the art center. I particularly enjoyed the visit and was able to see where my mother’s career began. We were given tours of the dorm rooms, old studios, new studios and the new state of the art theatre. Miranda remembers how basic the school was when she was attending; the kids did their own laundry for one thing. Now the students drop their laundry in a bag and are handed back perfectly pressed uniforms!

I now see why my mother made me do my own laundry when I was 10!

Sahra Esmonde-White

Click here for Miranda's blog

Ask Miranda

I have added this new section to the news letter as I find hearing from viewers to be one of the fascinating parts of this program. I believe that sharing some of the emails I receive will be of interest to many of you. We all have such diverse lives yet when it comes to the end of the day all we really want is to feel healthy, be happy and look as good as we can.

These emails reflect different concerns and experiences that people have. I have added my reply to the emails so that you can hear my point of view on the various topics.

Hello Miranda,

I have ordered your Back to Jamaica 1 & 2, and can not wait to get
started! I discovered you this past Sunday morning on our local PBS
station. I immediately taped that episode and have done it each day.
It is amazing how wonderful I feel after doing it! You are an amazing
person and I thank you for your gift.

I would like to know how you suggest I start using your Back to
Jamaica series. Should I do one episode each day in the order they
appear in the DVDs, or do you have another suggestion for the fastest
results? (I am 46 years old, have a sedentary job, and want to gain
strength and flexibility and lose at least 10-15 pounds by July 2nd).
Also, should I add aerobics and weight training, or does your program
cover that?

Thank you, Janice

Hi Janice,
Good to hear from you. In answer to your questions;
In order to see fast results for July here are my suggestions
Start at the beginning and do one to 2 shows a day. Each workout is 23 minutes so if you have time add a second show. The only ones you can skip are 2 shows for back pain

Cut back on portions of food and cut out junk food. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables and small portions of chicken or fish at lunch & dinner less than 100 grams per serving. Don't eat fried food and cut oil out of your salad dressing for the month only (you need oil in your daily life but it will help lose the weight faster by cutting it out).

Try to avoid doing weights as they are counter effective to classical Stretch and will give you a bulky look. You get all the strength training you need in this program. You do not have to do cardio as this program will increase your circulation and strengthen the cardiovascular system by through increased muscles and blood flow.

Let me know how you look and if you get the desired results.

Miranda

Retreats & Getaways

Update from our Mothers Day Retreat in Montreal!

Last month a wonderful group of women joined us for a 4-day retreat to inaugurate our new studio in Montreal. As usual it was as much fun for Sahra and me as I hope it was for them. Along with taking them to our favourite Montreal restaurants we were fortunate enough to catch Les Grand’s Ballet Canadian’s presenting “Minus One” a really amazing show. If you get a chance to see ‘Minus One” in your city don’t pass it up because it is an amazing contemporary show. I think my favourite part about these retreats is meeting and getting to know the people and this retreat was no exception.

Next Dates

Summer Retreat - MONTREAL IN AUGUST! August 26th to 30th 2010

Get in shape before the fall! Join us in our new studio for a fitness holiday August 26th to 30th.

Winter Retreat - Join us in Jamaica! January 30th to 5th February 2011.
Due to our filming schedule, we are holding only one winter retreat date this year!

The fitness holiday will be held at the Iberostar Resort, one of the highest rated resorts in the Caribbean. The Iberostar are all-inclusive resorts which are famous for being one of the best run, beautiful, and environmentally friendly in the world. In addition to two hours of Classical Stretch classes a day you can play tennis, golf in world ranked golf courses, swim, boat, sight-see or relax a the many pools drink margaritas and having massages.

We call these fun- fitness-holidays as that is what they are. You go home relaxed, in great shape and a much healthier person than when you left.

Click here for more information on our retreats

Training and Certification Program

I am quite excited about the number of people that are interested in teaching this program and currently being certified! As a teacher, it is very rewarding to watch your students gain a new quality of life and a new body! Because of the results, the program is a real pleasure to teach. We have teachers of all ages and all experience levels who are currently being certified, and its never too late to learn something new.

We will be holding a 4-day intensive teacher training workshops from July 22 to July 25. This workshop will cover two levels of Classical Stretch/ Essentrics training; the basics and the trademark exercises.

These live workshops add a richness of understanding of the program and how to teach it as they are interactive with the other teachers. You get a chance to analyse each other and all the movements. You will learn your personal strengths and weakness both as an instructor and as a student! This will help you to improve in all areas of your training!

Next workshop Dates

Montreal, Qc Canada
July 22nd to 25th– 4 day Workshop Level 1 & Level 2

To learn more about the Classical Stretch teacher training or if you have any questions about becoming a teacher you can read more about it on my website or feel free to write to training@classicalstretch.com

Exercise of the Month

Ankle and toe Flexibility sequences!

Along with summer comes bare feet and sandals. This is a perfect time to strengthen and increase the flexibility of our toes and ankles. One of the least focused body parts in the fitness industry are our feet yet they are the foundation on which we stand and take off. All movement initiates from the feet and so strong feet should be of major importance to our lives.

We often turn to orthopaedics to help solve the problem of weak, painful feet and ankles when we should in fact exercise the muscles of our feet to strengthen and heel the injuries or weaknesses. When feet go, balance follows soon after and the slippery slope of aging accelerates. We can reverse these indicators of aging by regularly exercising the feet.

If you have the Back to Jamaica series there are several episodes which focus on foot work.

Pictures from Running Magazine, article by Miranda Esmonde-White. Click here for full article

Go Back