Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
-Psalm 37:4
Category: News Updates
2018 December Scripture of the Month
“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
– Luke 2:11
2018 November Scripture of the Month
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
– John 16:33
2018 October Scripture of the Month
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
– Psalm 46:10
YMCA and St. Vincent Announce Partnership with New Downtown Building
The YMCA of Southwestern Indiana and St. Vincent announced a new level to their ongoing partnership today. St. Vincent will lease approximately 10,000 square feet of the new Downtown YMCA building, which is set for completion in August 2019.
The two organizations have previously partnered on multiple programs focused on chronic disease management and overall well-being such as the LiveSTRONG at the YMCA program. The LiveSTRONG program addresses the health and well-being for cancer survivors by providing support and guidance to help rebuild and gain strength. The program has helped nearly 60 people in the community since it began in 2016.
This partnership will give the growing downtown Evansville market more convenient access to St. Vincent primary care and outpatient physical therapy services and complement St. Vincent’s community-wide network of locations.
“St. Vincent is proud to partner with such a strong and important community organization as the YMCA,” said Dan Parod, President, St. Vincent Southwest Indiana. “We believe having a health care and wellness facility under one roof will provide access to programs and services designed to help improve the overall health of our patients, YMCA members and the entire community.”
This new space that will be occupied by St. Vincent will be in addition to previously released plans for the building. The YMCA will maintain all of the wellness amenities previously reported including a pool, multiple gyms, wellness area, multiple group exercise rooms, STEM Lab, Teaching Kitchen, expanded Child Watch and Youth Activity areas, and a dedicated Enrichment Center.
“Both the YMCA and St. Vincent have a long history of supporting people from all walks of life to live better and lift up one another for a healthier community. This is a wonderful example of two strong faith-based organizations coming together to better the community through wellness,” said Jim Sandgren, Current St. Vincent Evansville Board Chair and Past YMCA Board President.
Funding for the building project has multiple sources including a grant from the Indiana Regional Cities Initiative, new market tax credits, and a multi-million-dollar capital campaign. In addition to the leased space, St. Vincent has made the lead gift to the YMCA’s capital campaign. In recognition of this gift, the new building will be named the St. Vincent Evansville YMCA.
YMCA of Southwestern Indiana CEO, Derrick Stewart states, “We are grateful that St. Vincent understands the impact of the YMCA and is willing to make a significant investment in achieving our vision for a new facility and we are honored to name the branch in recognition of their support.”
2018 5K/10K Results
We had so many people support us by running/walking in the 5K/10K on Saturday, August 4th. Thank you to everyone that participated and to all the volunteers that helped make it happen. Check out the race results »
7 Keys to Back to School Fitness
Summer draws to a close and school is right around the corner for many children and parents. In one sense, it’s a relief.
But we all know it’s not that easy. With the school year comes the added stress of homework, extracurricular activities, waking up early, and carpooling. I’m cringing as I type.
As a mom, it’s hard enough to keep up with exercise without all the added stress thrown in. Here are eight ways to maintain your fitness and your sanity throughout the craziness of back-to-school season.
1. Manage Your Stress
Doing an activity every day, just for the sake of enjoyment, is one of the best ways to minimize stress. Before the school year starts, sit down and make a list of ten activities you enjoy. Don’t put too much thought into it; just let the thoughts come. Here’s an example list:
- Hiking
- Reading a novel
- Working in the garden
- Doing yoga
- Writing poetry
- Dancing
- Playing piano
- Knitting
- Baking
- Taking a hot bath with essential oils and magnesium salts
Every day, do at least one of these things for a minimum of thirty minutes. If you find yourself thinking, “I don’t have time for that,” take a step back and think about what this means. If you don’t have thirty minutes a day to do something you enjoy, you need to re-think your life.
2. Eat Food You Like
A healthy diet won’t be sustainable if you don’t enjoy the food you eat. During this busy time of year, it can become even easier to slip into bad eating patterns. If your healthy food is also food you enjoy, you’ll be more likely to eat it.There are plenty of delicious and nutritious foods out there, so don’t settle for bland and boring just because it’s good for you.
3. Play With Your Kids
It shouldn’t be hard to play with your kids, but sometimes it can be difficult to go from get-things-done mode to play mode. Challenge yourself to make that transition once a day. Losing yourself in play and forgetting about all the things that need to be done will go a long way in easing anxieties and worries you might have.
Physical play presents some opportunities to get in a few exercises with your kids as well. For example, create obstacle courses that involve movements like crawling, carrying, balancing, and hanging. When your kids get home from school, run the course with them a few times to get in play time and a short workout as a bonus.
4. Move Some Weight
Resistance training is your friend so get lifting. That can mean anything – bodyweight exercise, kettlebells, or Olympic lifts. Not only is moving weight around regularly good for your health – bone and joint health in particular – but it also relieves stress. It doesn’t have to be complicated and require a lot of equipment, either. Bodyweight exercises like pull ups, muscle ups, dips, and pistols are challenging and fun to progress as well.
5. Walk Every Day
Walking is an easy activity to do every day. Walking helps balance the pelvis and relieve stress. It’s also something you can do anywhere, with or without your children. Aim to walk briskly for at least thirty minutes every day.
6. Sleep Whenever Possible
If you’re a parent, particularly one with young children at home, sleep needs to be a priority. If possible, take naps during the day with your younger children. Go to bed at least eight hours before you need to wake up. That way, even if your kids keep you up for two hours at night, you’ll still get in a minimum of six hours of sleep.
7. Set Goals and Reward Yourself
During hectic times, having small-scale goals that fit into a big-picture scheme is a helpful way to make sure you accomplish the things that are most important to you. This applies to all aspects of life.
And don’t forget to reward yourself when you achieve your goals. When your children work hard to make progress, you reward them, right? The same should apply to you.
Conclusion
Remember, don’t let Facebook status updates and viral photos of perfect bodies fool you. Taking care of kids and keeping up with exercise is not always easy or glamorous. There will be days when the last thing you want to do is pick up something heavy because you’ve been dragging around kids all day.
The key is to remember fitness isn’t just about fitness. There are other aspects at play that are just as important – if not more important – than grinding it out in the gym. So when the going gets tough and you find yourself grimacing at the thought of exercise, think outside the box and evaluate other lifestyle factors first.
Source: Nicole Crawford, breakingmuscle.com
Safety Tips for the Summer
The Y is more than a place to preserve your health. At the Y, you can focus on safety with your family whether that’s enrolling your kids in our newly reformatted swim lessons, taking First Aid or CPR training, learning Babysitting 101, or protecting from injury with a wellness orientation.
Summer is a season full of fun, but it can also create added danger along the way. Be safe this summer with these quick tips:
- Teach your kids water safety around pools and lakes (or enroll them in swim lessons at the Y and we’ll teach them how to be safe)
- Keep valuables out of sight and locked up tight (like in a locker, glove box, or car trunk) when shopping, watching your kids at the ball fields, or even exercising at the Y
- Drink plenty of water because the more you sweat the faster dehydration can creep up on you
- Protect yourself from the sun with plenty of sunscreen, hats, visors, or umbrellas when working in the yard or watching your kiddos play outside
Conquering Cancer…Then a Canyon
The LIVESTRONG at the YMCA program is a free community program for cancer survivors that focuses on the whole person – not the disease – by providing support and guidance to help rebuild and gain strength. We recently received this empowering message from one of our participants:
I want to share my great excitement with all of you. My son and I just got back from a 7 day rafting trip in the Grand Canyon, and I was able to do most of the hikes, one of which was an hour long major stair-stepper hike up the side of the canyon. I was so full of emotion, gratefulness, and LIFE at the top of that hike that I broke into tears (of joy of course). It was simply soooo amazing! Didn’t matter that I was the next to the last person to the top. I really made it. Praise to God!
In this picture, Jordan and I are near the top of our hike. If you zoom in over my left shoulder, you can see our two blue rafting boats and camp, which is the beginning point from which we hiked.
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Many, many thanks to LIVESTRONG, fellow Survivors & Thrivers, Sally, Dusty & Denise, and of course the YMCA for caring enough to invest in our health and recovery from Cancer, all the encouragement & prayers, and making this possible for me!
Dena
-LIVESTRONG at the YMCA Participant
Age Better, Hurt Less: 7 Tips That May Help
Do you know people who seem to defy the stereotypes of ageing – especially when it comes to pain? They may have occasional aches. But they’re moving through life with zest well into their retirement years.
What’s their secret to aging so comfortably?
Ask them – and you may find they rely on positive steps like theseto help prevent or reduce muscle and joint discomfort. And their secrets may work for you as well.
- Keep Moving: It’s important to stay as active as possible. Even people who have arthritis pain benefit from keeping joints limber and muscles strong. If you’re just starting an exercise program, begin gradually – and build from there.
- Exercise All Your Options: Find activities that you enjoy. You’ll be more likely to stay active if you like what you’re doing. If you’re looking for an aerobic activities that are gentle on the joint, consider biking, swimming and walking. Stretching exercises, including yoga and tai chi, can improve flexibility and may help ease or prevent pain. Most healthy adults should aim for at least 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise a week. Make strength exercises part of your routine as well.
- Balance Action With Rest: Some downtime is important too. Schedule regular rest days between workout sand other physical activities, so that your body can rejuvenate and repair tissue.
- Meet Weighty Issues Head On: It isn’t fun math: each pound you gain adds nearly 4 pounds of stress to your knees. And it increases the pressure to your hips 6 times over. If you’re carrying excess weight, talk with your doctor about way to lose it. It’s a big step for better health – and you may have less pain too.
- Protect And Preserve: An injured joint hurts – and it’s also more likely to develop osteoarthritis . So guard your joint from damage. If you play sports, wear protective gear. And when lifting, have your own back – by using proper technique.
- Accentuate The Positive: People who focus their attention on what they can do, rather than what they can’t, may cope better with pain. If your limitations are getting you down, make more room in your life for activities – and people – that make you feel energized, happy and upbeat.
- Listen To Your Body: If you have a nagging injury or suddenly develop pain that limits your movement, stop what you’re doing – and talk with your doctor.
Source: UnitedHealthcare.com