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Thank goodness it’s springtime! Now that the soil is loose and warming, plants and seeds can grow. But don’t just make your garden ready for growth and change. By loosening your body’s muscles and joints, it will be easier for you to be receptive to new movements, new ideas and new possibilities in your life.  The MELT Method is one way to do just that.

MELT is therapy for your connective tissue. Every muscle, joint and organ in your body is surrounded by a web of fibrous connective tissue called myofascia. “Fluids and energy flow through the fascia like a river through your body,” says APOGEE MELT instructor Marisa Duffy. “Due to stress or trauma or just daily postural habits—like sitting at a computer—the connective tissue becomes stiff and dehydrated and acts like a dam.” A year ago, Marisa became certified to teach the MELT Method (MELT stands for Myofascial Energetic Lengthening Technique), which releases and lengthens the fascia. Marisa is teaching MELT at APOGEE Bedford Hills on Mondays at 8:30 a.m..

Using foam rollers and balls, Marisa leads members through a series of movements that release the fascia. Immediately, the connective tissue rehydrates and becomes more pliable. “People feel better right away,” says Marisa. Fluid begins to flow freely around joints. “MELT enhances the flow to connective tissue which energizes the whole body and aligns you.”

Marisa starts the class by having members lie on the ground and feel how their body comes into contact with the floor. Hardly anyone lies evenly: One hip may be higher,  one shoulder may be off the floor, one leg may feel heavier.  Marisa shows clients how to lean into the rollers and balls to release the fascia. Small movements can have big effects, she says. Working on the feet can help energize and align the entire leg and hip, for example. “The exercises bring you back into proper alignment, “ Marisa says. “Alignment keeps us healthier and keeps us from getting pain.”

Marisa teaches MELT with the hope that clients will practice at home, too. “These are simple techniques that anyone can learn to do for themselves,” Marisa says. “They can make such a difference in the way you feel.”

Try MELT for free on Wednesday, March 31, during the APOGEE Bedford Hills Open House. All classes are free all day; see the entire schedule here.

by Holly Niles, RNCP, RHN, RYT,
APOGEE’s General Manager

Pilates or yoga? Yoga and Pilates? APOGEE offers both, and if you’ve been a devotee of one you might wonder: Why should I try the other? 

There’s good reason to: Yoga and Pilates complement each other perfectly. You’ll find that the strengths and skills you’ve built in one class will transfer well and support you in the other.

Yoga to Pilates…
If you practice yoga regularly, you have developed flexibility, balance and awareness. Yoga also builds sustainability—the ability to remain calm and present in a posture no matter how much doubt you’re experiencing. When you go to your first Pilates class, you’ll find you have excellent balance and can get right to work. Stiff muscles won’t encumber you; you’ll have the ability to access the deep muscles that Pilates calls on. Depending on the kind of yoga you’ve been practicing, you may or may not be familiar with how Pilates routines flow between exercises. But you will have the resources to sustain yourself throughout the workout: With your yogic awareness, you can identify the mental and physical resources you’ll need in Pilates.

Pilates to Yoga…
If you practice Pilates, the asanas or poses in a yoga class might be new, but you’ll be able to do them because of the strength you’ve built in Pilates. In yoga practice, core strength is a tremendous asset. While Pilates seems to be less meditative than yoga, the deep muscle work, rhythm and flow of Pilates does develop mind-body awareness that you can use during a meditative yoga class. In your Pilates class, you use your breath to sustain you during routines; in yoga, the breathing patterns might be different, but your breathing skills will apply. In yoga class, the teacher might talk about chakras, the energy centers on the spine. In Pilates, you work to create flexibility in the spine, creating connections to all of the organ systems—you have been training to access these energy centers in your body.

At the end of a yoga class, you lie down in corpse pose, or shavasana, to experience deep relaxation. At the end of Pilates you are standing, experiencing the well-being that comes from having moved your spine and connected to your highest self. Either one is a reward for an hour of physical and mental engagement. 

Enjoy the differences and explore the similarities between these two disciplines. Your body, mind and spirit will be better for it!

If you never seem to have enough time to exercise, perhaps hours and minutes aren’t the issue. Instead, examine why you want to work out regularly. If your reasons aren’t truly important to you, then you are unlikely to make the changes in your schedule to allow the time you need.

The key word is passion, says APOGEE life coach Staci Rosenberg. “Lack of passion and uncertainty about what it is you want—those two things combined lead to lack of success.” says Rosenberg.

For example, you might consider that exercise is a route to a shapely body, especially at this time of year when bathing suit season is right around the corner. But if you never put on a suit, then it may be hard to truly care about how you look in this year’s bikini. Likewise, it would be hard to make time to train for a marathon when you don’t have one on your schedule.

Instead, dig deep to discover what it is you truly desire. “Ask yourself: what will this mean to me? You have to identify the personal meaning for you—through writing or dialogue with another person,” says Rosenberg. Look at the other benefits you get from exercise: People who exercise regularly fall asleep faster and sleep better than those who don’t. Exercise is also as effective as antidepressants in lifting mood and can help you moderate stress. Those benefits may be more meaningful to you.

Then, says Rosenberg, create a personal statement that includes your passion and the steps you will take to attain it. Here’s how.

1. Connect your goal to your passion. Create a statment; here’s a sample: “When I exercise regularly, I sleep better and can handle stress during the day.”
2. Identify the specific steps to get to your goal. “I go to Zumba class on Monday and Wednesday; cardio on Thursday; and take a long walk on Sunday.”
3. Put your goal statement in front of you. You might write it on a sticky note and put it on the visor of your car or make it the wallpaper on your cellphone, Blackberry or laptop—put it wherever you will see it several times a day. Then it gets absorbed, Rosenberg says.

Of course, you may want to make time for more than exercise: Painting, writing, reading, playing a sport, hiking, traveling, or playing music may be your passion. “When people make time for something they really love, it affects their entire life,” says Rosenberg. Inserting passion into your life creates balance and makes every hour of every day more enjoyable.

Get more tips from APOGEE life coaches at our upcoming open houses: March 25 in White Plains and March 31 in Bedford Hills.

Last weekend delivered hurricane force winds; this weekend’s forecast is balmy temperatures near 70 degrees. If you’re still walking around with a protective winter posture and attitude, take a minute to stretch and open yourself to the possibilities of a new season—after all, spring arrives tomorrow, Saturday, at 2:35 a.m. So reach up: You’ll feel better, trust us!

Upward Bound Fingers Pose
Stand with feet hip width apart. Reach your arms out in front of you and join your hands by interlacing your fingers, taking note of which index finger is on top. Rotate your wrists and turn your hands so your palms face out, then raise your arms over your head. Your elbows should be straight and your upper arms in line with your ears. Both palms should be equally facing the ceiling. If your shoulders are up, lower them by drawing your inner shoulder blades down. Keep your arms energized. Take a few breaths and feel your ribs opening. Then lower your arms, change the interlock of your fingers so the other index finger is on top and repeat. Welcome, spring!

Here is a collection of recent health news you can use.  We’re focusing on whole-body health. Click on the links to read more about each topic.

Keep Your Cells Young: If you want to live a long and healthy life, you need long telomeres—they’re the tails that protect the ends of DNA strands. “Scientists believe the length of your telomeres determines your biological age,” says APOGEE’s integrative health advisor Woodson Merrell, M.D. “The longer they are the younger you are.” Short telomeres put your cells at risk for cancer and other diseases. In one recent study, prostate cancer patients who made lifestyle changes, including moderate exercise, stress reduction, improved nutrition and social support, boosted their levels of the enzyme that maintains telomeres by more than 29 percent.

De-Tox, Step One: Is one of your goals to “detox” your body this spring? Before you begin a juice fast or other regimen, reduce the number and amount of toxins you’re exposed to. One way: Get ride of the pesticides in your garage. In a recent study, researchers discovered that one common weed killer disrupted the sex hormones in frogs. Find a household hazardous waste disposal day in your community and start your spring cleaning.

A Healthy Gut Means Normal Weight: Scientists wondered why some people can eat and not gain weight, while others pack on the pounds following the same diet. In one study, the culprit (in mice at least) was “bad” bacteria in their gut. All of the fat mice had the same abnormal intestinal bacteria; none of the normal-weight mice did.

How Yoga Protects Against Weight Gain: If you mindlessly overeat when you’re stressed or emotional, consider a regular yoga practice. Researchers wondered why yoga practitioners were less likely to gain weight as they aged. In the study, they determined that people with a yoga habit are aware of what they eat and stop when they’re full. “Yoga leads to less weight gain over time,” said the main researcher.

Learn Now, Better Memory Later: To keep your brain fit, keep learning. A new study shows that learning stimulates production of BDNF, a substance that’s needed to form new memories. Researchers think that’s why learning keeps your brain healthy and protects against the memory and cognitive declines associated with aging.  They said that learning anything helped boost production of BDNF—we’d recommend learning a new yoga asana, a sequence on Pilates apparatus, or a Zumba dance routine!