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Greetings < ... to balance, flexibility and strength! OK - first you are wondering 'Isn't this a fitness walking website for older people? How come yoga is the lead subject this month? Please stay with me. They really are connected. Like most folks in the summer we went on a holiday. We went back to our home country of Canada for a holiday. A very long holiday. In fact after two wonderful, thoroughly enjoyable months vacationing in Canada with family and friends I noticed one thing when we got back - a lack of energy, creativity and good general health. I was bad and had not kept a regular walking schedule. With all the parties and family gatherings, I had gained eight pounds! Eating “party foods” and having drinks with friends to celebrate our visits and enjoying the endless summertime barbecues was probably the cause of this regrettable dilemma. Enter Yoga! To nip this problem in the bud, when we got back to Ecuador I immediately jumped into a great local yoga class to accompany my daily walking and exercise routine. To my amazement I found that I became much more coordinated than I expected I would be in a few short weeks. In fact even more so than I have been for a while. With each class, my balance, flexibility and strength got better and I began to really enjoy walking on our uneven sidewalks and cobblestone paths without any difficulties. Even doing everyday things like putting on my shoes by standing on one foot or reaching to get something off the upper shelf is easier now than before I started the yoga class. I really looked forward to going out for my walks and shopping at the local markets. Carrying heavy loads of fresh fruit and veggies back is easier now as I have become stronger and more flexible. Yoga has helped me to really get back on track to fully enjoy our fitness walking again. Geoff and I walk to most places within a 2-3 mile radius. Now that we're both on track to fitness and health, we really enjoy how we feel when we walk and exercise on a regular basis. Yoga was really helpful in getting us back! Your Turn Do you find yourself in a similar 'dilemma' as summer winds down? Clearly one of the ways we recommend is trying a little yoga to help you regain your balance, flexibility and strength. If you are fortunate to have a good instructor near where you live, why not try it for a few weeks? You might want to look for an instructor that is never in a rush or pushy at all. Being sensitive to the realities of people our age is always a bonus too. Another of our favourite ways to practice a little yoga is with our Nintendo Wii System. We currently use the Yoga section of the Wii Fit program. If you are not familiar with Wii you need the Nintendo Wii System Console A great way to learn a bit more about how widely Wii is used is to go to good old Google. You can find out how it is helping a lot of folks in our age bracket here. Here is one search we did that you can check out too - Wii Fit For Seniors Reviews. We have also become aware of a great new release for Wii that we have ordered called Wii Fit Plus Software If you're going down the Wii path to Yoga, there is one title we bought that we would suggest you avoid. It is called Wii Yoga with Anja Rubik. We have it but it is unfortunately going to be one that collects a lot of dust! It's pretty bad. If you like pain, you can read this review by Lisa Shea at BellaOnline. Finally if you are not really 'into' this Wii thing, there is one DVD that has been suggested to us as being very good. It is called Yoga Shakti Next Time The foods that we consume also have a large bearing on our well being. We will talk about the wonderful world of healthy foods in September. And maybe even share with you some photos of the bounty in our local market here in Ecuador. Hope you are all enjoying your summer walks and hikes. Keep well hydrated to perform as best as you can, no matter what activity you choose to do.
Until next time we remain ...
Yoko and Geoff
PPPS - Remember that we welcome your Walking Stories, Hiking Tales and Tall Tales too! Share yours with us, be published on your very own web page and maybe even win some neat prizes! PPS - Feel free to pass a copy of this newsletter on to your friends, They might enjoy it too! |
to start and the 
. You can get these items separately or often in bundled packages. 
. According to the reviews we've read it really does take Wii Fit to the next level of usefulness and enjoyment. We can't wait for it to arrive. 
with Shiva Rea. Please note that we do not have personal experience with this but is has been suggested by people who are much more familiar with the field than we are. Just be sure to read some of the reviews first if you really think you might like this. 