Staying young doesn’t have to mean
continuing to appear 20-something
after your fourth 29th birthday. Staying young means
looking your best, feeling your best and continuing to learn new things and
challenge yourself. At the Bellevue Club, the various departments work hard to give all members chances to find new connections, improve their health and boost overall wellness. Following you will find a few of the many things that can be done to make sure that you are feeling as youthful as you want to.
It never hurts to remember a time when your biggest decision was what to wear to school the next day, and you spent most of your time with, or talking to, your best friends. Children have an amazing ability to just let go and have fun, something adults can and should try to do once in a while. Being active with friends is a great way to forget the stress of daily life. During your next outing with friends, why not try something totally different? The Recreation department at the Bellevue Club has a giant, inflatable lobster that can be set up in the pool for parties. Although it is advertised for kids’ birthday parties, adults can also rent it for 45 minutes
on weekends. Katie Stephens, youth programs coordinator at the Club, says they rented the lobster to a group of adults a few years ago and “they had a blast.” If the pool is not your idea of fun, Katie says she also sees adults laughing like kids during open-play basketball in the gym. Bring some of your friends for a pick-up game or join an existing game and burn some calories while running around like grade-schoolers. Open-play basketball is open to men and women from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the week, and 8:30 to 11 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published a report that looked at more than 127,000 adults between 1999 and 2002. What they found, among other things, was that married people are healthier than those who are divorced, widowed, never-married or cohabitating. Since marriage keeps you healthier, why not try and keep your marriage as strong as it can be? Take some time together without the
kids or even the dog, and just concentrate
on being a couple. Getting away
from daily stresses to simply be in love is a great way
to keep you and the relationship healthy,
and for you to feel young. Getting away doesn’t have to mean a trip to a tropical island or a skiing destination. Make the most of a weekend together by staying at the Bellevue Club Hotel. The
Hotel was recently voted No. 71 in the “Top 100 Best Hotels in the Continental U.S. and Canada” by readers of Travel + Leisure
magazine. The Hotel has many different packages available for members, including
a Romance Package with a rose petal turndown, champagne and chocolates. Plan a weekend “date” with your significant other and return to the feelings you
had when you were young and first in love. After a long day at work, with the kids, or in the gym, nothing beats a massage for relaxation. But in addition to making your muscles feel good and giving you some time to yourself, says Melissa Merryman, a licensed massage practitioner who has been with the Club for two years, massages provide a laundry list of health benefits that will keep you feeling your best, such as:
Reducing heart rate
Increasing blood flow
Lowering blood pressure
Increasing circulation
Improving posture
Increasing range of motion
Decreasing headaches
Massage also helps you look younger by breaking down fat cells to help the body eliminate cellulite. The Spa offers a variety of massages, most of which are 50 or 80 minutes long. Massage types include Swedish, which uses a light touch to eliminate stress and anxiety; deep tissue, which uses a deeper, harder touch to work
muscles and help break up scar tissue and increase range of motion; sports massage, a deeper massage that uses a vigorous jostling action to focus on certain muscles, break up scar tissue and increase range of motion; hot stone, a 75-minute massage that uses heated stones to relax muscles; aromatherapy, where essential oils are used to enhance the relaxing or stimulating purpose of the massage; and pregnancy, a massage great
for all expectant moms, but especially those in their third trimester or those with low-back pain, swelling and discomfort. As part of the pregnancy massage, a Prego
Pillow can be used, which allows mom to lie flat and facedown. If you are looking for an additional aesthetic benefit while relaxing, it might be time to try a body wrap. The body wraps at the Spa not only help relax you, but they also exfoliate and nourish the skin, and enhance and contour the body, creating a firmer appearance. There are three different wraps available, including firming wraps, which help fight signs of aging; hydration wraps that hydrate your skin and detox wraps, which eliminate fat, soothe and soften your skin and enhance the contours of your body. Melissa explains what happens during a body wrap: The wraps use products like a gel or balm, which is applied to each area of the body individually, while the rest of the body is covered. Then the body is wrapped up like a baby in a material that helps distribute the gel. After you are wrapped, a heated blanket is provided to help absorb the gel. Your neck and head are not wrapped, and the massage therapist remains in the room the entire time. When you are finished with the wrap, you can either take a shower to remove the gel or have it removed by the massage therapist with hot towels. Finally, a relaxing body serum is applied to your body. No matter what your preference, a little bit of self-pampering goes a long way to improving your mood and helping you feel great.
Keeping (or gaining) flexibility and strength in your body will keep you feeling spry, looking your best and will help prevent injuries. Two of the most popular ways to keep your body flexible and strong are yoga and Pilates. The two methods are in some ways, similar and in other ways different. Both are incredibly popular. Yoga’s goal is to unite the mind, body and spirit. Through poses and thoughtful breathing, students learn to calm their minds while using their body weight to become stronger. Flexibility is also enhanced with yoga. Pilates uses breathing techniques
during poses, and exercises are done slowly, with the emphasis on technique and form instead of quantity. Pilates’ main focus is on strengthening the core and lengthening the spine. Both forms of exercise allow you to work your entire body in a low-impact way. Because emphasis is on form, you can really slow down during exercise—this reduces stress and helps boost your immune system. Your spine is also going to lengthen with yoga and Pilates, helping you keep better posture throughout the day, which makes you appear taller and thinner and feel younger. In addition, Pilates’ emphasis on core strength creates a leaner-looking body and long, flexible muscles instead of the shorter, bulky muscles created with weight lifting. Having
a strong core
will help you in every part of your life, from sitting correctly to preventing back strain to carrying children or groceries. Yoga and Pilates will also help with balance and coordination, two things that start to deteriorate in your 40s. The Club has both Pilates mat and yoga classes, and Pilates studio sessions are available, too. If you are an athlete, maybe even a marathon runner, it might be time to challenge yourself with something new—a triathlon. If you are not an athlete and currently can’t make it around the block, a triathlon is still a feasible goal. Personal trainers in the Fitness department can help you train for the running and cycling legs of the race, and in the Aquatics department, there are coaches ready and willing to help you become a strong swimmer. Triathlons are gaining in popularity after starting in the United States in 1974. There are triathlons for women-only, for kids, for families, for teams, for just about anything you can think of, and they are happening all year long, around the world. Training for a triathlon would not only give you a great goal to work toward, it also provides a lot of low-impact exercise. Although running can be hard on joints, cycling and swimming are much easier on your body. During a workout in the water, your body is relieved of 90 percent
of its weight, while still getting 12 to 14 percent more resistance from the water than air. Swimming works not only your cardiovascular system, but your muscles as well. In addition to the physical benefits of training for a triathlon, trying new things is a way to embrace life-long learning and keep your mind (and body!) young.
What you wear has a big effect on how you feel, and keeping your wardrobe updated in an age-appropriate way is a quick and easy way to look and feel younger. It can be hard, however, to figure out how
a skull-and-crossbones trend translates into tasteful pieces for a busy mom.
If you feel confused as to how to make trends work for you, attending the Bellevue Club’s Fall Fashion Show might be a good place to start. The fashion show, happening Wednesday, Oct. 25, brings together clothes, jewelry and shoes from a few of the hottest businesses in Bellevue. Megan Clarke, the social director at the
Club, says they work hard to incorporate trendy looks appropriate for women from teens to great-grandmothers. Because the audience attracts women of all shapes, sizes and ages, they also work to incorporate many different shapes, sizes and ages of models. This year’s fashion show includes clothing from MaxMara, jewelry by Turgeon-Raine and shoes from the boutique Posh on Main. The show is a great reason to get together with friends—at 11:30 a.m. cocktails start, followed by a noon luncheon and the fashion show at 1 p.m.
We aren’t talking apples for keeping the doctor away. Although food and diet trends come and go, more research is being done about what foods
can do for your body. One of the most-welcomed research findings, at least in the wine world, is the finding that one glass of red wine
a day might be beneficial for your heart. Scientists found that red wine contains flavonoids, which have an antioxidant effect and might raise good cholesterol and help prevent blood clotting. On Oct. 28, Polaris will be having
a Winemaker Dinner featuring wines by Pepper Bridge paired with food by Chef Tyler Anderson. Polaris also has a boutique wine list and selected half-price bottles of wine on Tuesdays. So why not gather some friends and dine at Polaris? Not only is it a great stress reliever and way to laugh with loved ones, but enjoying that glass of wine might be a good way to stay young at heart (literally).
The benefits of exercise are numerous, and most people know it keeps extra pounds off, helps prevent injuries, relieves stress, keeps your heart healthy and more. The problem some people find with exercise is that they become bored and stop seeing results. And although weight lifting is a good idea—it prevents muscle loss
and bone decay—without proper technique you are liable to injure yourself. Speed up the process of finding what keeps you motivated and produces results by enlisting the help of a personal trainer. The Bellevue Club’s personal trainers create individualized programs for clients, tailoring exercises to likes and goals. They will also ensure proper form so you can be successful doing workouts in between training sessions. Personal trainers, says Bethany Hargett, fitness programs coordinator and personal trainer at the Club, are not just for elite athletes or those training for competitions. The Club’s personal trainers are skilled in helping people with all kinds of physical limitations and conditions. Any exercise helps, and Danish researchers found that any kind
of exercise, no matter how moderate, could help you live longer. And the older you get, the study found, the more you benefit from physical activity.
Making new connections throughout your
life will keep you active, both mentally and physically, and give you a feeling of vitality that keeps you young. Start finding new people by participating in an activity you love, be it music, basketball, bridge or swimming. Or spend time with your current friends with a night out at Cosmos for drinks or Polaris for dinner. Having a social network not only protects against some diseases, it also helps you de-stress and gives you a safety net of people to turn to when you need extra support in life. The Club offers dance classes, a knitting club, Masters Swimming, tennis tournaments and more throughout the year.
Celebrate how healthy you feel by having a party with friends and family. Taking time to connect with the people important to you is a great way to relax, and a study by physicians at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, found that keeping these connections has a protective effect against Alzheimer’s disease. Study participants had a brain autopsy performed at the time of death, and researchers found that those people who had extensive social networks did not show signs of Alzheimer’s while alive, in spite of the fact that they had the tangles and plaques associated with the disease. You don’t need a milestone to celebrate, and as a member of the Bellevue Club, you can hold your occasion at one of the Club’s meeting rooms or ballroom. The Private Events department at the Club can assist you in planning the perfect party for two, 20, even 200 people. Rooms are equipped for audio and video equipment, and both plated and buffet meals are available.
