YOGA THERAPY OF MICHIGAN experience the continuum of self-healing Yoga Therapy Weldon HEALTH & FITNESS preventives • Individual Yoga Therapy Consultations and Programs • Protocols for common diseases or imbalances Is Fitness Good For You? • Private and small group yoga therapy classes • Ayurveda and yoga workshops F • 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training and Certification (Yoga Alliance Registered) Contact: 248.507.4008 wvvvv.yogatherapy-om.com Yoga Therapy Workshop Saturday November 8th l-4pm $45.00 fee can be applied to other services How Well Is Your Investment Strategy Working For You? If you're dissatisfied, we can offer a solution. If you've been buffeted by the turbulence of the market, perhaps you should re-evaluate your strategy. A professionally designed portfolio may help. Learn how. Paul A. Harris, Financial Advisor Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. 325 North Old Woodward Avenue Suite 370 Birmingham, MI 48009 (248) 593-3742 • (800) 422-2820 paul.harris@opco.com OpPENTHIJNIE_K Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. is a Member of All Principal Exchanges and Member SIPC. 1424670 Feel like you're not collecting everything? You're probably right... Even with an inhouse billing or EMR system you may still he leaving money uncollected. Now you can keep your billing inhouse and only outsource the portions that are understaffed, undercollected, and underperforming... Specializing in Revenue Cycle Management, EMR Billing Support, and AR Outsourcing Call the proven experts 866.613.4777 Professional Practice Resources I www.pprbilling.com B12 October 30 • 2008 JN fitness is a full-ser- vice way of life and the foundation of a multimillion-dollar industry that equips, dresses, feeds and trains its practitioners. Fitness is now recognized as a modern-day fountain of youth that has been shown to slow and even reverse much of the deterioration associ- ated with aging. Fitness is being pursued by millions of people who realize that their medical fate lies more in their own than in their physician's hands. But fitness is not synonymous with health. And health is more than most people realize. Health is not just the absence of disease. It is also freedom from the often hidden precursors of serious disease that can sneak up even on seemingly fit individu- als. Exercise is neither a panacea nor a promise of immortality. At best, exercise can improve the odds of health and longevity in your favor. At worst, especially if done improperly or excessively, fitness can be harmful. In simplest terms, fitness is the ability of your body to operate at optimal capacity for as many years as you live. For whatever your age and health circum- stances, fitness is a life- enhancing state that can be achieved and maintained with a modest expenditure of time. A truly healthy life involves far more than exercise. It means paying atten- tion to the fuel (food) that drives the biochemical machine we call our bodies. It also includes consideration of exter- nal factors and toxins such as cigarette smoking, stress, alcohol and even aber- rant sleep patters. A healthy person is almost certainly better off if he or she is also physically fit. The health benefits of exercise have been recognized for centuries. In more recent times, exercise has been used to help treat and prevent diabetes as well as heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, osteopo- rosis, depression, respiratory and circulatory disorders, breast cancer and the most common of American health problems, obesity. Medical research has revived how such diverse health benefits might accrue from a simple and singular a therapy. The kinds and amount of exercise needed to reap such rewards are well with in the reach of most able-bodied persons. So let's begin to bring health and fitness on the same continuum. Take charge of your bodies by eating right, working out appro- priately and having regu- lar health screenings. A quick summary of the benefits of exercise: •Exercise acts as a natural tranquilizer and antidepressant •Exercise slows the age-associated loss of lean muscle tissue •Exercise makes the heart a more efficient pump, increasing oxygen flow throughout the body •Exercise induces and increases the protective HDL-cholesterol •Weight-bearing exercise (which works against gravity) increases the calcium content and strength of bones •Exercise helps keep joints mobile •Exercise is vital for weight control •Women who exercise have lower rates of breast and reproductive system cancers. ❑ Health is not just the absence of disease. It is also freedom from the often hidden precursors of serious disease that can sneak up even on seemingly fit individuals. Lori Burkow, M.Ed., C.P.T., is a recognized master trainer from the Idea Association and a Medical Exercise Specialist. The University of Michigan graduate in exer- cise science has a master's degree in education. Since 1990, she has been a full- time personal trainer at the JCC in West Bloomfield and other metro locations. Call (248) 760-4108.