Barefoot Studio » Nordic Walking

Carlos Rosas visits London for Heart of Nia Playshop

bfskaren — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:09:31 +0000

Carlos Rosas, co-founder of the Nia Technique, is giving a Heart of Nia Playshop which is open to everyone, teachers and students. Set in the wonderful Great Hall in London which also serves as a theatre and the dance space for Sadlers Wells.

Join Nia co-founder Carlos Rosas for a two-hour journey into the Heart of Nia.

Through a powerful mix of music, movement, and heart-pounding joy, your body will soak up new sensations while your spirit plays! Using a blend of classic Nia and freedance, Carlos will guide you into a deeper relationship with movement, opening the gateway for you to experience the Joy of Movement from the inside out.

This one-of-a-kind Nia ride, punctuated with high peaks of athletics and sensuous valleys of stillness, will allow you to explore the essence of Nia in a new way as you connect with Nia’s past, present, and future.

Place: Urdang Academy, Old Finsbury Town Hall, Roseberry Avenue, EC1R 4RP
Time: 10.30-1pm
Date: Saturday 12 September 2009
Cost: $55

To Register for Heart of Nia Playshop follow th link to the Nia HQ site

For regular Nia classes check out our Studio timetable and Nia pages.

These boots were made for (Nordic) walking – Heritage Minister gets active at the Royal Welsh Show

bfskaren — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:27:50 +0000

Alun Ffred Jones Noric Walks at the Royal Welsh

The Royal Welsh Show attracts people from all over Wales and the Heritage Minister, Alun Ffred Jones, was at Llanelwedd today (22 July), encouraging everyone in Wales to get active and highlighting the next big sporting event to take place in Wales this autumn.

On a day of visits to the show, the Minister called in to the showground’s sports arena to see the activities being laid on by the Sport Council for Wales, including rugby skills sessions run by Cardiff Blues, judo and gymnastics, as well as a demonstration of Nordic walking, an active type of hiking offered in conjunction with Age Concern Cymru, as a taster for the more mature showgoer.

Alun Ffred Jones said:

“We want to support the Welsh population to be more physically active on a daily basis because of the health, social and economic benefits that exercise provides. We are currently consulting on our physical activity action plan, ‘Creating an Active Wales’ and I would urge people in Wales to contribute their own ideas on how we can go about achieving that aim.”

British Nordic Walking worked with Age Concern Cymru to develop their Nordic walking project. Karen Ingram, INWA National Nordic Walking Coach for Wales, trained the Age Concern volunteers and staff. You can visit the British Nordic Walking website to find your nearest class and buy Nordic walking kit in our Cowbridge store or on-line.

Barefoot Studio to host Peak Pilates teacher training

bfskaren — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:48:39 +0000

Barefoot Studio, in Cowbridge near Cardiff, is delighted to be hosting two training courses this summer for people wanting to become Pilates instructors. Lee Morgan is a Master Trainer for Peak Pilates and will be offering the foundation PPS1 course and the more advanced PPS2. Both courses focus on the Classical form of Pilates using both the Pilates reformer and matwork.

For m ore information have a look at the events pages of the website

Barefoot Nordic Walkers

bfskaren — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:44:29 +0000

Barefoot Studio’s Nordic walking Club has now planned its nordic walks for the rest of this year and the early part of 2010. Barefoot Nordic Walkers was formed last year and has nordic walked everywhere from the Brecon Beacons, to the Heritage Coast. The club meets once a month on a Sunday and enjoys nordic walks from 7 to 12 miles long. The club nordic walk is in August at Afan Argoed. This area is covered in beautiful woodland and the walk follows streams and trails through the area. For a list of all the coming walks and details of how to join click here

Try Nordic Walking for free this summer

bfskaren — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:20:01 +0000

Age Concern Cymru are offering a number of opportunities to try out Nordic Walking for free this summer.

On Saturday 18th July & again on the 15 August their INWA Nordic Walking Instructors will be at the Brecon Beacons Mountain Centre, from 10:30am. The event is free and booking is advised.

The team will also be at this years Royal Welsh show which starts on the 20th July.

And as part of the celebrations of Grandparents & Grandkids Day at the National Botanical Gardens of Wales, the Nordic Walking Instructors will again be offering the chance to have a go at Nordic walking.

For more information visit the Age Concern website

Sports Performance Enhanced by tapping

bfskaren — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:45:12 +0000

Here at Barefoot Studio, we’re always looking for new ways to enhance our training and performance. EFT or Emotional Freedom Techniques is something that can do just that. EFT is based on the ancient principles of acupuncture but without the needles! It is a simple, easy to learn technique that can help lots of different issues, including stress and anxiety. We all know that if we’re anxious about our performance we won’t be performing at our best and that’s when EFT can help. By focussing on our anxiety or worries about our performance and tapping with our fingertips on specific points on our body, we calm our nervous system and release tension. This allows us to think more clearly and concentrate on the task at hand. EFT can also help you get out of your “comfort zone”, build your confidence and improve recovery time after injuries. EFT is a technique that you can use to help yourself once you have learnt it. EFT can help not only your performance but with lots of different issues, e.g.

Stress/anxiety
Panic attacks
Fears/phobias
Weight loss/Stop smoking

Louise Woods is an experienced EFT Practitioner based at Barefoot Studio. For more information please visit her website http://www.freeflowingenergy.co.uk or call her on 07866 013 637, to see how tapping can up your game!

Barefoot Nordic Walkers Monthly walk

bfskaren — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:17:37 +0000

This Sunday is our Nordic Club Walk for the month of June. Sue McDonagh has kindly planned this walk starting from Llantwit Major. We meet in the Old Town cra park at 10:30am, here’s what Sue has to say about the planned nordic walk:

This easy (no hills) nordic walk passes beautiful St Illtyd’s Church, dating from the 6th century, and then follows footpaths across ancient fields, passing a 13th century gatehouse and dovecote on the way to the coast. (That’s the history part over. And I got that out of a guide book so don’t expect any more)

A mostly coastal off road walk, opportunities for ice cream stops, wild flower spotting, kodak moments and with some of the tamest cows you will have ever met! About 7 miles, with the option to go further if we want to.

After the nordic walk we’ll commandeer a cafe for a short meeting to plan some of the next 6 months walks.

Hope to see you there. Please ring 01446 775772 or email info@barefootstudio.co.uk to book.

The long and the short of it – Nordic Walking Pole Length

bfskaren — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:30:03 +0000

Exel Nordic walking Pole Size Chart

So you’ve had a few Nordic walking lessons, possibly with us at our nordic walking centre in South Wales. You’ve decided its time to buy a pair of poles, but what length to buy?

Nordic Walking poles are typically sold in fixed lengths of 5 cms increments, starting from 100cms and going all the way up to 135cms. The simplist way to estimate the length of Nordic walking pole you need is to multiply your height in cms by 0.68 and then round down to the nearest 5cm length. So for example, I am 5′ 5″ ish which is 165cm and I walk with 110cms poles (actually nice 100% carbon Exel Ultimates!).

If you have the poles to hand another way of measuring up is to hold the handle of the Nordic walking pole with the shaft vertical and your elbow tucked into your side (like the silhouette in the chart to the left). Your elbow should make a 90 degree angle or slightly more (so that your hand is a little lower to the ground).

Many factors could affect the ideal pole length for your style of Nordic walking. If you have a particularly long stride then you may want a longer pole. Or if you have a hip restriction then you may want a slightly shorter Nordic walking pole. For this kind of fine tunning then its best to take the advise of a qualified INWA (International Nordic Walking Federation) instructor. You can find your nearest instructor at www.britishnordicwalking.org.uk. Or pop in and see us at Barefoot Studio, Cowbridge, near Cardiff. All our staff are INWA qualified instructors and are happy to give you as much advise as you need.

Exel Trail Running Ultimate 2009 Poles now in

bfskaren — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:02:46 +0000

The fabulous 2009 Nordic Walking pole range from Exel has arrived, including the top of the range Exel Trail Running Ultimate. With 100% carbon using NTECH this pole is superlight, perfectly balanced and a joy to nordic walk with. You can check out the full specification at www.exelpoles.co.uk and buy on line at www.barefootstudiostore.co.uk.

If you wold like to see the poles and road test them then come along to the Cardiff Outdoor Action Show in cardiff Bay this weekend. Barefoot Studio will be there together with Exel and British Nordic walking. There will be free taster sessions and you can view the full 2009 pole collection.

Extra places added to next INWA Nordic Walking course

bfskaren — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:57:50 +0000

Barefoot Studio hosts regular INWA Nordic Walking Instructor courses that lead to a qualification as an INWA Nordic Walking Instructor. The courses are usually run by the British Nordic Walking Coach for Wales Karen Ingram, however, as our July course was fully booked with a waiting list, we have brought in National Nordic Walking Coach Catherine Hughes, to co-teach the next course. This means there are now extra places available. The two day course is packed full of all the infomration adn skills you need to become and instructor in this exciting activity. You can find out more about the course at www.britishnordicwalking.org.uk. Or you can email us for more infromation, info@barefootstudio.co.uk

Barefoot Studio hosts the courses at its studio in Cowbridge. The training room is light and airy and we make the most of the surrounding Welsh countryside. We are just 15 mins from the M4, the airport and there are direct buses from cardiff Central Train station. Visit the About Us pages to find out more about our centre.