Hot yoga gaining steam in Billings
Posted: March 21, 2012 at 7:21 am
Six months ago, the only way you could find hot yoga in Billings was if youd taken an outdoor class over the summer.
Fast forward to today and organized classes in a room where the heats cranked up to 105 degrees and the humidity sits at around 40 percent at two studios in town are a hot topic in fitness circles.
I think Billings was just ready for it, said Lea Jacobson, the owner of Bikram Yoga Billings and one of four instructors there. This is a workout that just surprises everybody. Its a tough class and youre leaving knowing youve worked hard.
The idea behind hot yoga is to go through a routine based on traditional yoga poses in a room with what at first seems to be near-unbearable heat.
Instructors and practitioners tout it as a total workout with great benefits for the mind and body. They say it helps with focus, concentration, stress, flexibility, strength, balance, circulation and release of stored toxins.
Everything thats in here, its very healing, said Melissa Vuletich, owner and instructor at Sumits Hot Yoga Montana.
The two studios are relatively new. Bikram was the first, opening in October.
Popularized and pioneered in America in the 1970s by Bikram Choudhury, each class at the Billings studio, at 2049 Broadwater Ave., is 90 minutes and goes through 26 set postures and a pair of breathing exercises.
Each of the four instructors has at least 500 hours of training for certification before leading classes, which see a regular attendance of as many as 60 people, said Jacobson.
Eighteen years ago, Jacobson had surgery for thyroid cancer and for a lot of years, I didnt feel good. Shed done traditional yoga before and in early 2009, shortly after her son persuaded her to switch to a vegan diet, tried out Bikram.
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The Most Important Thing To Do When You Have An Idea – Spiritual Life Coach London.mpg – Video
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Pru Life UK income jumps 33% in 2011
Posted: at 2:03 am
MANILA, Philippines - Pru Life UK, the Philippine life insurance arm of London-based Prudential plc, showed a 33% growth in 2011, boosted by increased sales.
In a statement, Pru Life UK said its total gross premium income in 2011 reached P10.4 billion, from P 7.8 billion in 2010. Total gross premium income is the premium income earned (first year, single and renewal years), gross of reinsurance, for the period.
"Our improved performance was brought about by recruiting more financial advisers and increased productivity. We recruited over 1,000 agents in 2011. Furthermore, there was significant growth in the business brought to us by brokers," Pru Life UK President and CEO Antonio De Rosas said, in a statement.
De Rosas also attributed the companys continued growth to its aggressive recruitment strategy, training and coaching programs for financial advisers. The company also launched innovative products such as the Pru Link Exact Protector, a revamped version of one of Pru Life UKs bestselling unit-linked or investment-linked products, the PruLink Exact Plus.
Meanwhile, Prudential plc said its Asian life insurance business became the single largest contributor to the group International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) operating profit, accounting for 34% in 2011.
Asian life insurance excluding Taiwan has grown from 12 per cent of Group IFRS operating profit in 2007 to 34 per cent in 2011. The nominal amount has nearly trebled in three years from 257 million to 709 million, said Prudential plc Group Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam. The heart of our strategy remains Asia, where our positive momentum has been maintained in 2011, with total IFRS operating profit up 30 per cent and a cash remittance to the Group of 206 million. Asia is generating both growth and cash and our focus on the fast-growing markets of Southeast Asia continues to pay off, he said.
Prudential plc, through Prudential Corporation Asia, has life insurance operations in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, India, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Thailand and Korea.
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Pru Life UK income jumps 33% in 2011
Olmsted Falls star Steve Gansey enjoying D-League coaching stint at age 26
Posted: at 2:03 am
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Former Olmsted Falls High School coach Pat Donahue is not the least bit surprised his former star player, Steve Gansey, is the head coach of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League at the age of 26.
"He was always a student of the game," said Donahue, who is teaching but no longer coaching at Olmsted Falls. "He was always interested in how the game was played, why things were done. Steve was the kind of kid who was always into basketball. He was one of the guys willing to work on his game. He always wanted to put more time in. He has taken that right to the coaching ranks."
Gansey returns to Ohio on Wednesday night when the Mad Ants, 11-31, visit the Canton Charge, the Cavaliers' D-League team that is 24-18.
"I knew I was going to be a head coach at some time in my life," Gansey said. "If I said I knew it was going to be at 26, I'd be lying to you. It's a great opportunity, and I'm having so much fun."
After starring at Olmsted Falls, Gansey played at Cleveland State. When Mike Garland was fired, he transferred to Ashland and played for Roger Lyons. He'd already figured out his playing career wasn't going to last much longer, and he wanted to have fun and experience the college life.
He got an internship at Priority Sports and Entertainment in Chicago, run by agent Mark Bartelstein, who represented Steve's older brother Mike Gansey, now a seasonal assistant in basketball operations with the Cavs. A stint at USA Basketball followed before Gansey took a job as an unpaid volunteer to long-time Fort Wayne head coach Joey Meyer two years ago. He was promoted to the first chair last year when former Cav Vitaly Potapenko took a job with the Indiana Pacers. Then he took over for Meyer, the former DePaul coach, when the team started 5-10 this season.
"The best part is that I'm in the head coach's shoes," he said. "You don't really know how you're going to do things until you put on those shoes and become that guy. It's a lot different sitting six inches to the left or the right.
As young as I am, anything that I'm going to endure in my life in the next couple years, I have this to look back on. I will make mistakes, but hopefully not the same mistakes. It has been a great learning experience and a great opportunity.
I would like some more time and some more opportunity to work with these guys. I just wish our season wasn't ending here pretty soon."
Gansey is drawing on everything he learned from Donahue, Garland, Lyons and Meyer. Donahue, he said, taught him how to compete.
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Olmsted Falls star Steve Gansey enjoying D-League coaching stint at age 26
Get Your Swole On 2.0 Lower Half – Video
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Get Your Swole On 2.0 Lower Half - Video
Health network to be part of hockey arena complex
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Health network to be part of hockey arena complex
A major name is making the move to downtown Allentown and the city's new hockey arena complex.
Lehigh Valley Health Network announced Tuesday afternoon it will locate a new sports medicine and fitness center on the site.
LVHN will also be a major sponsor at the arena, with highly visible advertising inside and out.
The move could potentially create hundreds of new jobs, but overhanging the announcement was a lawsuit that could delay the arena project.
"It is a real, real exciting day, I think, for the city of Allentown," said Mayor Ed Pawlowski, D-Allentown.
Lehigh Valley Health Network is signing on as sponsors and the minor league Phantoms' official team doctors, but the big announcement is the new sports medicine center that will occupy five floors of an adjoining office tower.
The facility is slated to offer outpatient rehab for sports injuries, screening programs for concussions, and fitness facilties for adults and youth athletes.
"You have to believe, and when you see that big gap down here, you begin to believe," said Dr. Ronald Swinfard, LVHN president and CEO.
Swinfard suggested the new venture could create hundreds of new jobs, although an exact number is not yet known.
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Health network to be part of hockey arena complex
Lehigh Valley Health Network announces future presence at Allentown hockey arena
Posted: at 2:03 am
The Lehigh Valley Health Network will partner with the Phantoms hockey team and operate a sports medicine and fitness center out of the Allentown arena complex under construction in Center City.
The health network will be the anchor tenant of a seven-story, 200,000-square-foot office complex that was added to plans for the hockey arena earlier this month.
From there, they will serve as the official health care provider for the Philadelphia Flyers' minor league hockey affiliate, in addition to operating the fitness center, officials announced today.
He added later, "We believe enhancing the health and wellness of this area is our contribution to this revitalization."
A developer has yet to be announced for the seven-floor, 180-room hotel also added to the hockey arena plan. Mayor Ed Pawlowski said future developer announcements will be made in upcoming months.
Lehigh Valley Health Network will occupy five of the office building's seven floors. Swinfard said the lease is still being finalized, but will likely span five or 10 years.
As the official health care provider for the Phantoms, LVHN doctors will work with Flyers physicians to provide both rehabilitation and preventative health to Phantoms players, said Rob Brooks, co-owner of the Phantoms.
The fitness center will be open to the public and offer outpatient rehabilitation and screening to diagnose and treat concussions and brain injuries, Swinfard said.
It will also include a sports performance program for all ages, as well as a medical fitness center for the community and for Phantoms team members, he said.
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Lehigh Valley Health Network announces future presence at Allentown hockey arena
New website lets consumers rate products' health, fitness claims
Posted: at 2:03 am
By Gary Dinges
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
A new website launched by an Austin marketing firm lets consumers call out businesses that are allegedly making bogus health and fitness claims on packaging and in their advertisements.
EnviroMedia Social Marketing with the help of a nationally known team of advisers has rolled out LeanwashingIndex.com, a follow-up to its GreenwashingIndex.com site, which monitors companies' environmental claims. The firm said it will make no money from the site.
The term "leanwashing" is a variation on whitewashing, said EnviroMedia co-founder and Leanwashing Index co-creator Valerie Davis, with "lean" referring, in part, to the weight loss many products promise.
Consumers pick the ads featured and then rate them on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 designating promises believed to be "authentic" and 5 for those considered "bogus."
"With pizza considered a vegetable for school lunches ... we know consumers need something now to help them scrutinize some of the bogus health claims that abound in food and product advertising," Davis said.
A study conducted last year by Nielsen Global Research showed 59 percent of consumers said they were often unable to make sense of nutritional facts on food packaging.
Many also said they were skeptical of health claims companies make.
Companies whose ads are rated can either post comments on the site or email site administrators with responses.
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New website lets consumers rate products' health, fitness claims
Teens graduate from program that teaches them about criminal justice
Posted: at 2:03 am
BERKELEY -- A fourth group of young people have completed a program that teaches health and fitness, conflict resolution, personal safety, drug and drinking laws, and other criminal justice issues.
The Police and Life Academy for Youth (PLAY) program started in September 2010 with a $25,000 grant from the Chancellor's Community Partnership Fund at UC Berkeley. A $20,000 from the same source last September kept the program alive.
About 70 teens have completed the 11-week program since it began 18 months ago, said police spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss. More than a dozen will graduate from the most recent session on Wednesday.
The graduation is at 5 p.m. at the Ronald T. Tsukamoto Public Safety Building, 2100 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Berkeley.
PLAY is a partnership between the University of California Police Department, the Berkeley Police Department, the Berkeley Boosters/Police Activities League and the Berkeley Unified School District. It is free for students. More information is available at http://www.berkeleyboosters.org.
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Teens graduate from program that teaches them about criminal justice
Retirement Commissioner wants more money
Posted: at 2:02 am
Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan has told MPs she needs more money if her office is to increase the financial literacy of Maori and Pacific Islanders.
The Commission for Financial Literacy and Retirement Income, which operates the Sorted.org website, was urged to extend its coverage to lower socio-economic groups at Wednesday's hearing of parliament's social services committee.
Since it was established in 1993, the commission has predominately focused on improving the financial literacy of middle income New Zealanders.
"We don't have the facilities or the money that would be required to target some of these groups," Ms Crossan said.
"We are aware that what we are doing is for the general population - we are targeting some smaller areas but we don't have a lot of the resources. We can't work alone."
She said the commission has no specific strategy to target Maori and Pacific Islanders. She acknowledged a relationship with the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs would be an important pathway to developing one.
"We have talked with iwi - we want them to get into a long-term strategy," Ms Crossan said.
"What we have had to do is to alert them to the fact that the resources are there - we can help you but we can't do it."
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Retirement Commissioner wants more money