Fitness Class: Circuit Training Starts in April

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Circuit Training Fitness Class – 8 Weeks Long Dates: April 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th, May 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th.

Times: 5:45pm – 6:45pm Please pre-register with Reception or online

Click here to Register for class and see our class schedule

Join Christine for a good sweat! We’ll do a minute of cardio, followed by a minute of strength. The minutes fly by! We always end with stretching. We workout to FUN music! The kind of music that makes you want to move and keep moving. Not only we will sweat together, we will laugh together and we will motivate each other!

Price: There are many options to choose from:

Session Passes: (expire after consecutive date first used) 4 week – $23, 8 week – $40

Sticky Passes: (expires after 18 months)

Drop In – $10

10 Pack: $85 25 Pack: $199

 Click here to buy a fitness class series or Sticky pass

Healthy Holidays December Class Schedule

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Each December we put together a special class schedule designed to help us maintain our balance amidst the travel, emotion, and food. This year we have a special treat with the addition of a new 200 Hr. Certified Yoga Teacher, Melissa Lange, as well as Wellness Programs being taught by our Certified Acupuncturist, Jocelyn Mitchel.  Click here to read their bio’s.

In a Nutshell

  • Our Healthy Holiday Class Special runs from December 7th to New Years Eve.
  • All Group Classes, Programs, and Workshops that are offered at both locations are included in one special price.
  • Pre-registration will guarantee your spot in class, but all classes are drop-in ready. So, come to as many classes as you can at your convenience.
  • Bring friends when they are in town. All classes can also be purchased for our regular drop in rates.
  • Class times are varied; in part to allow for options on a hectic month, but also to get feedback for Melissa to set up our long term yoga schedule.
  • This is a great sampler. Test some new yoga styles, meet and learn from Jocelyn, enjoy some fun and stay connected to health this holiday month.
  • Your Healthy Holidays Unlimited Class Pass is non-transferable and will expire on Jan. 1st regardless of attendance.

All For One Low Price

Unlimited December Class and Program Pass – $39 includes

  • 25 yoga Classes
  • 8 Zumba Classes
  • 4 Wellness Discussions with our Acupuncturist
  • 1 Workshop on how to consciously create traditions and spaces filled with your intention.
Check The Schedule

Registration is Easy:

As part of our new system we will be urging everyone to register and purchase classes online. You can still easily pay and register at the front desk, but our online system gives you greater control over your account and makes it easy to register or cancel yourself from a class. With just a little bit of time you can have a Booker App on your phone (Apps for both Android and Apple are available) and have links to your account on your computer.  From there you can see our schedule and the passes you have purchased very easily.

Continued Evolution Of Classes

We have been working hard to implement some big changes to the way that we schedule and organize our classes. Most of those changes are made possible by our booking system, but we have revamped everything so that beginning in February we will have greater flexibility in the way we schedule, the ways you can purchase passes, and where and when you can sign up for classes.

This month we are unveiling two of these changes to our classes. First, there is a new way to purchase classes called the Unlimited Pass. Beginning this February we will have options for our regular class participants to purchase 7 Day and 30 Day Unlimited Passes. These Unlimited Passes can be purchased at any time and will begin and end from the date of the first use. This option will make it affordable for you to really commit to a fitness program and makes since for anyone taking more than three classes a week. Our Healthy Holidays special will be sold as our very first Unlimited Pass.

The second change we are implementing is in the length of our yoga classes. We will be changing all yoga class times to 75 minutes. This will part of a general movement to separate the 60 min. fitness classes and the yoga classes in structure. In the past, we merged the times of regular fitness classes and our yoga classes to match the capacity of our booking system. Now that we have both a more capable booking system and an additional certified yoga teacher, we will get back to offering the deeper components of relaxation, breath work and meditation that set yoga apart.

Wellness Class Descriptions

Wellness Talks with Jocelyn – Free & Open to Drop In as well as Healthy Holiday Unlimited Passes

December 7th, 6pm – Digestive health

December 14th, 6pm –  Cold and Flu Prevention and Natural Treatment

December 21st, 6pm – Stress

December 28th, 6pm – Fatigue / Energy

 

 

Class Policy Updates

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We are in the process of enhancing our classes and adjusting the way we schedule and administer them. We have been changing the way we work classes often because we just haven’t found the right mix of software, options, and administrative policy. We apologize for all of the adjustments over the last couple of years, but we think we have finally found the right way to make it all fit together. We have finally settled into a new set of policies that give you all the flexibility you want. Our software can handle all the complexities that our options require, and we have our policies and pricing aligned to support what we want to do.

For our October classes you will notice only a single change to our offerings.  We will now be moving class series to 8 week sessions. This doesn’t mean that you have to sign up for all 8 classes, however.  We will still be offering all classes at 4 week series for $25 and 8 week series for $49. You can sign up for all of our yoga series at any time.

We will be continuing to add options to our class policies through the Vata Balancing Trimester (Oct.-Jan.)  We will have all of our new policies rolling for a fully flushed out, robust and enhanced yoga and fitness class experience for our Kapha Balancing Trimester which begins in February.

In the meantime, we are actively looking for teachers of all fitness and yoga persuasions to get on board with classes at our McMillan and Colby locations for the fall and winter.

Frequently Asked Question:

Several people have called in telling us they can’t find a class on our booking system.  One of the most common mistakes people are making is that they need to know that the classes they are looking for are filtered by location. After you log into your online account on booker you will be able to see a location selector drop down menu that is located in the upper right hand of the screen. Currently we only have classes available at our Colby location and at our McMillan locations. For those looking for classes in or around Marshfield and Stratford, you will find options at the McMillan location.

Be Well,

Josiah

2015 Race To Wellness

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This event ends on July 17th, 2015

 

Back to Bliss’s 2nd Annual Race to Wellness

Our race is a “amazing race” styled event.

The course is 3.1miles or 5k and will be a series of clues, challenges, and trivia questions along the way.  The first group to finish with all pieces of the puzzle will receive a mini spa party(to be redeemed within 3 months)

 

Working in teams of three, you can test your mind, body, and spirit with Back to Bliss’s 2nd annual Race to Wellness.  During this “amazing race” style 5k, you will be be given clues to the location, where a challenge and a question must be completed in order to receive the next clue and move on.    After after completing all of the clues and collecting all of the puzzle pieces you win.  Everyone who completes the course will receive 500 Wellness points.

You are able to take different paths as long as you meet at the right location.

 

Date:   July 17th, 2015

Pre-Registration:  We will be accepting pre-registration starting july 1st.  Download and return RTW_Release2015 to pre-register

Time:  The race begins @ 6pm.  Starting line will be in front of Colby City Hall

Day-Of Registration:  Will be at the starting line and will open at 5:30 pm before the race.

Fee: This is a free event.

Download our RTW_Flyer2015 here, or share this blog post to your social media profiles to gather members for your team!

 

 

 

 

Juicing and Smoothies

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There are lots of food fads that come and go. The juicing fad has recently been overtaken by the smoothie fad, which will move over to the next.  While I enjoy and recommend both smoothies and juicing, I wanted to dig a little deeper into a couple of the reasons that these are beneficial practices. I find that both juices and smoothies work with your digestive system to increase the nutrient density of a meal and to decrease the barriers to bringing those nutrients into your body.

Juicing is a great way to increase nutrient density in particular. By extracting all of the juices and leaving the heavy pulp, you create a situation where you can get much of the nutrients from a piece of fruit, while taking up only a fraction of the space in your stomach.  In this way you can juice many times the amount of fruit and veggies that you could eat in a day.  One juicing program I know recommeds each person juice 22 lbs. of fruit and veggies a day! Juice also takes very little energy to digest keeping all your energy available for detoxification.

Cons of juicing are that you leave behind a couple important dietary items in the discarded shavings, you need to purchase a juicing machine, and it takes a bit of time to clean up.

Smoothies take a slightly different approach.  They don’t focus on providing such intense nutrient density, but they make fruits and vegetables much easier to digest because a blender has already chewed up the food.  Smoothies give you all the fiber and nutrients that you would be dumping out in the pulp after juicing.  It doesn’t let you get the number of vegetable servings that juicing does, because you are eating the whole vegetable, but it does a great job of delivering nutrients that are digestable.

Caution: The new smoothie fad is all about prepackaged smoothie mixes.  The tradeoff you get with these easy to make powdered products is that you lose the vitality and active enzymes that you get with real foods.

Many healing diets and cleanses are built around the two core concepts of getting high nutrient density into the body and decreasing the energy we spend digesting our food.  Both smoothies and juicing deliver on both of these key points and should be considered parts of a healthy diet or for special cleanses.  Plus they taste delicious!

Looking for a simple juice recipe to start?  Try 3 carrots, 2 apples, and 1 stalk of celery.   Add a pinch of ginger for some spice!

A nice place to start with smoothies is: 1/2 cup Apple Juice, 1/2 cup yogurt, and 1 cup of your favorite frozen berrys.  Optionally, you can add 2 Tbs. protein powder and honey to taste.

Training News – Spring Forest Qigong

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Congratulations to Carrie Schug – Senior Level Massage Therapist and now QiGong instructor!

Carrie has completed her Level 1 and Level 2 Spring Forest QiGong instructor’s certifications and has completed all of our student level class work at Back To Bliss.  Carrie has been leading Qigong classes at the student level for a year now and the experience combined with her further certifications means she is ready to offer class as a confident and experienced local resource for this traditional Chinese healing art.

Carrie will be teaching mainly at our Colby location, and is open to on-site classes.  Check our class schedule for complete dates and times and contact us to set up Qigong classes at your location.

Check Class Schedule
Carrie attended class at Northwestern Health Science University in Bloomington, Minnesota on October 10th & 11th.
One of the techniques that stood out to her during her class was a special driving technique she applied on her drive home to help maintain energy and focus:
Technique: Hold the steering wheel in such a way that you put your thumb and index finger so they touch – creating a circle around the wheel.
Experience: “This was very helpful to me when I was leaving class, because I don’t care for big city driving.  It stresses me out in such a way that i feel all my energy is leaving my body.  By doing this technique during the drive home, I felt that it helped keep life force energy in my body.  It also helped keep my hands warmer. ” ~Carrie

What Is Qigong?

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What is qigong?  Qi-(pronounced chee) means energy, air, or breath, vitality, or universal life force of life.  Gong – means to work, use, practice, transform, cultivate or refine.  Qigong is the study of energy, and since everything is a form of energy, qigong is a study of the whole universe including physics, chemistry, psychology, biology, astrology, electricity, and medicine.  Put it simply, qigong means using vital life energy to create a healthy mind and body.

Master Chunyi Lin, founder of Spring Forest Qiqong.  He established the program in 1994 before arriving in the United States from China.  He teaches the accredited program at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota, where he serves as program director and lead instructor.  He earned his master’s degree in Human Development-Holistic Health and Wellness from St. Mary’s University, Minneapolis.  Skilled as an acupuncturist, he also works with Chinese herbs and Tai Chi.

Qigong teaches you to use your mind, body and spirit together to unblock energy and balance yin and yang energy in the body.

We are formed by two kinds of energy (Qi)-yin and yang.  Yin represents something female, passive, and spiritual; yang represents something male, active, and physical.  Two examples are men and women.  Woman is yin-water, earth, and spiritual life.  Man is yang- fire, sky, and physical body.

Qi must be in a good balance, otherwise a imbalance will take place, causing an energy blockage.  When there is a blockage, we feel symptoms in the physical body.  That is called sickness.  Colds, arthritis, and tumors are imbalance symptoms of the physical body, of too much yin or yang.

Energy blockages prevent the flow of energy from running freely in our channels.  These channels help keep the body functioning.  We have twelve main channels and eight reservoir channels.  Each channel has its own purpose.  The main channels carry energy to where the body needs it.  Extra energy in the main channel then goes to the reservoir channel.  So when the main channel runs low the body taps into the reservoir channel.

When we feel sick, that is a blockage in the main or reservoir channels.  Energy blockage prevents the body from functioning to full potential.  So you have to remove blockages and open channels, to balance the yin and yang energy.

Taking medicine can help remove blockages and open channels.  Medicine is considered a passive way to heal the body.  But with medicine there are possible side effects.  There is a active way to heal the body, which is exercise.  It is also a good preventive method to help the body. Qigong teaches you to use your mind, body and spirit together to unblock energy and balance yin and yang energy in the body.

In China, Qigong healing techniques have been very complex and difficult to learn, but Master Chunyi Lin has simplified and revised Qigong principles and movements to they are easy to learn and fit into our lives.  Spring Forest Qigong is a simple but powerful form of Qigong.

There are four elements to Spring Forest Qigong:

  1. Mind/visualization
  2. Breathing
  3. Posture & body movements
  4. Sound

There are three principles to practice Spring Forest Qigong:

  1. Go into the emptiness
  2. Keep it simple
  3. Use your consciousness

Learning specific Spring Forest Qigong exercises and meditations will help you have abundant energy, heal your body, and feel better.

Carrie trained at Northwestern Health Science University in Bloomington Minnesota, with Master Chunyi Lin.  Level one & two were covered in the weekend program.  Check out our online class schedule for upcoming Qigong classes.

Written by Team Blogger and Spring Forest Qi Gong Instructor – Carrie Schug

What A Muscle Needs

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Muscles are wonderful things. They tend to us in many ways. They scratch our backs. They let us move mountains and give each other hugs. Have you ever thought about what you can do for your muscles? There are five simple things that your muscles need every day. Keep these five things in mind so you can create more balance in your fitness routines as well as your lifestyle in general.

They are: stretch, squeeze, sweat, fuel, and rest.

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