Christiane Raza Romana's Pilates studio in Morges
What exactly is Pilates?
Joseph Pilates (JP, 1883-1967) was a German physical trainer and invented the "Contrologie" known as Pilates: a method that brings together hundreds of movements using gentle and precise physical exercises that require a total concentration of "body and mind". Pilates is performed on the ground, mat, or on machines by systematically engaging the deep muscles of the abdominal strap "powerhouse" in order to stretch and simultaneously tone the whole body. This is why this discipline (both authentic and classical types) is practiced without music. The program will gently reshape and rebalance the body, and bring wellbeing through self-centering in less than one hour.
This discipline can be practiced from age 16 for as long as you are able, and at any level. Athletic or not, a clear improvement in physical performance and a gain of flexibility will be visible and felt.
JP's priority was to keep your body in shape and improve your daily life through individual programs. He worked tirelessly all his life to perfect his movements and invent his own machines. Romana Kryzanowska, one of his pupils, managed to pass on this pure teaching by opening the training school "Romana's Pilates" around the world.
Christiane Razakarivony, Christiane Raza Romana's Pilates, has been athletic since a child, and graduated as a fitness instructor from "Les Mills" in 1999. She decided to join Romana's Pilates in 2013 and is certified to teach. She boasts, "I am nearly 47 but my body has regained its flexibility of when I was a teenager!". She remains loyal to the CPE (Continuing Pilates Education), which encourages instructors to deepen what they have learned over 6 and 24 months (depending on their availability and location) as well as attend an annual conference that helps to better understand all aspects and focus of what JP has put a lifetime, and how to teach the same exercises differently on different bodies: the result should be the same — a healthy mind in a healthy body. She believes that this is a sport that exceeds all other sports she's tried (judo, swimming, gymnastics, dance, tennis, karate, triathlon).
When Lindsay Moody moved to Switzerland in 2013 from the UK she was surprised that sunbed shops here do not provide a spray tan service. So she did what any entrepreneur would do in this situation — she set up a business providing year-round airbrush tanning solutions!
It wasn't as simple as all that. She needed to first complete a Sienna X training course. She admits, "I have always had a passion for fake tans being of Celtic origin and thus quite pale! I am also a firm believer in staying out of the sun, looking after your skin and keeping it healthy. Sadly, the number one enemy is the sun. We all want a tan but a tan is just sun damage and is your skin’s way of telling you it’s being damaged, dark spots, premature aging, wrinkles, and in the worst case scenario, skin cancer."
Not only is this treatment with immediate results but a great confidence-booster, particularly in the grey winter months. Sunless tanning is perfect for a simple pick-me-up, parties, weddings, pre-holiday, special occasions, and perfect for naturally pale skins that burn and never tan. The custom airbrush spray tan is a 1-on-1 personalized spray tanning session done in privacy. The process takes around 10-15 minutes for a full body spray tan and takes around 6-8 hours to develop. The "One Hour Tan" is also available and can be washed off after one hour and the color develops over 2-4 hours. (designed for people that want to quickly wash off the color guide and not sit around in tan for hours while it develops).
Lindsay said, "I found spray tanning is the perfect business to run alongside my current home and life commitments. I am a mother of 3 young boys and it provides me with a sense of fulfilment outside my busy role of mother and wife."
Free 40-minute discovery session and follow-up consultation for knowitall.ch readers (conditions apply)
Do you feel frustrated or stuck as you struggle to manage your work-life balance and cope with things like food, exercise, stress or sleep?
Do you find that you are always preoccupied with the problem but lack the time or motivation to get the results you crave?
If so, then now may be the time to enlist the support of a health and wellbeing coach to help you take the first steps towards finding your authentic, vibrant self again!
With more and more health coaches setting up business in this region, it’s important to find someone you can relate to, someone who’s on your wavelength and understands your issues. But how can you be sure to find the right person, without spending a fortune on lots of introductory sessions with different coaches?
To help make the selection process easier, one coach, Ellen Kocher is offering our readers a free 40-minute discovery session that will give you all the time you need to ask those important questions relating to your own health and wellbeing. If, following the discussion, you decide to follow a course of coaching with Ellen, then she is also offering an additional 50-minute consultation free when you book 4 x 50 minute Skype or Phone consultations with her for the price of Fr. 400.-. There is absolutely no obligation to take up the consultation offer to claim your free discovery session, and if you just want to head straight to the consultation then you don’t need to have the discovery session first!
If you’re looking for a fun way to get involved in raising money for charity, then the English Speaking Cancer Association has just come up with a great idea!
Rather than organizing a single event to raise funds, they are inviting the public to organize their own parties, all on the same day: 5th May, or Cinco de Mayo as they say in Spanish.
Cinco de Mayo is an annual festival in the US, originally commemorating the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over the French forces of Napoleon III on 5 May 1862. Now a relatively minor festival in Mexico, it has gained a significant following in the US, evolving into a celebration of Mexican-American culture and heritage.
With this in mind, ESCA is inviting the public to get out their sombreros, buy in the tacos and tortillas, and put on their pointy dancing boots to organize a series of Cinco de Mayo Mexican Fiesta theme parties, the likes of which Switzerland has never seen before!
To make the task easier for you, the association has provided a handy guide that will help you through the process of inviting friends and, of course, raising money: all donations from your Fiesta will enable ESCA to carry on providing emotional support and practical help to all those affected by cancer in this region – free of charge.
Are you in a marriage or relationship with a person with Asperger Syndrome/ High Functioning Autism? Or do you think you are?
Would you like to talk to others in the same situation, share your experience and exchange tips on how best to manage?
If these questions resonate with you, then you should consider attending one of the upcoming meetings being organized by Cassandra, a new self-help group for spouses and partners of people with Asperger Syndrome.
Launched in September 2017 by a 48-year old mother of two, married 22 years to someone with Asperger’s, the group provides support and resources for a community of people who often feel overwhelmed by the behaviour of their partners. Wishing to remain anonymous, the founder told knowitall.ch,
“My marriage has not been easy. When I discovered five years ago that Asperger’s might be the explanation for all those difficulties, it came as both a shock and a relief. Setting up a peer support network for partners is my way of doing something constructive with what I have learned before and after that discovery.”
