Classes

This page provides details for:

1. ANU Canberra: P&F and The Monkey Gym

Full details for Posture & Flexibility (P&F), Strength & Flexibility (S&F), and Deep Well Being: an Introduction to Meditiation and Spiritual Work courses at the Australian National University in Canberra.

2. Canberra non-ANU classes

3. Across Australia

Details for teachers and classes outside Canberra can be found here.

 

Australian National University, Canberra

 

SEMESTER I, 2010: starts 1 March (phone enrolments still available)

Deep Well Being, Sem I 2010: starts Thursday 4 March, seven weeks in total

(SUMMER PROGRAM 2009-2010: runs to Sunday 28 February 2010)

Course descriptions

P&F; S&F; RollStretch; Kettlebell class; notes on classes

Deep Well Being: an Introduction to Meditation and Spiritual Work

 

SEMESTER I, 2010

 

COURSE DATES

Monday 1 March to Sunday 6 June 2010
14 weeks in total

ENQUIRIES

Olivia Allnutt, 0403 290 932, o_p1@mac.com

Please note:
1. **Enrolment arrangements** please read carefully.
2. P&F and S&F are separate, but parallel, streams. To do an Intermediate P&F class, you need to have done a Beginner's P&F class; similarly you must do a Beginner's S&F class to enroll in an Intermediate or Advanced S&F.

 

Posture & Flexibility TIMETABLE: Semester I, 2010

(all classes held in the P&F Room; times are lunchtime and evening)

DAY	TIME	LEVEL	INSTRUCTOR
Monday Monday Monday Tuesday Tuesday Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday Thursday Thursday Friday Friday   Sunday	12.30–1.30 5.00-6.15 6.15-7.30 12.30–1.30 6.00-7.30 12.30–1.30 3.00-4.00 5.00-6.15 6.15-7.30 7.30-8.45 12.30-1.30 6.15-7.30 5.00-6.15 6.15-7.30   5.30–6.45	intermediate beginners intermediate beginners advanced intermediate beginners intermediate intermediate beginners beginners beginners intermediate intermediate plus * intermediate	Ben Merryn Sonja Sonja Kit et al Jen Anna Merryn Merryn David Greg Olivia Jen Greg   Markus

* Intermediate Plus classes will tend to be strong, using the more difficult forms of the P&F stretches. They will focus on the major movements of the spine (flexion, extension and rotation), of the hip joint (extension, flexion and abduction), the latter really being about the quadriceps, hip flexors, hamstrings, buttocks and hip adductor muscles. Less attention will be paid to areas like shoulders and wrists, although they will feature. For those who like lots of big stretches, this is the class for you.

 

Strength & Flexibility TIMETABLE: Semester I, 2010

(all classes held in The Monkey Gym; class times are evening)

DAY & TIME	LEVEL	INSTRUCTOR
Mon 5.15–76.15	Beginners—someone who is new to S&F.	Anthony
Mon 6.15–7.15	Beginners—someone who is new to S&F.	Pierre
Tues 5.15–6.15	Advanced—this class is designed for someone who has done at least one term of Intermediate level S&F.	Kit et al
Tues 6.15–7.15	Intermediate—someone who has attended a Beginner's class.	Dave
Wed 5.15–6.15	Intermediate—someone who has attended a Beginner's class.	Dave
Wed 6.15–7.30	RollStretch*	Kit et al
Thurs 5.15–6.15	Beginners—someone who is new to S&F.	Jon
Thurs 6.15–7.15	Intermediate—someone who has attended a Beginner's class.	Pierre
Fri 12.30–1.30	Beginners—someone who is new to S&F. Note: women's only	Olivia
Sat 2.30–3.30	Kettlebell class**	Anthony

* RollStretch
This course targets fascia everywhere in the body, and is designed to realign and soften this most important substance. Kit has been developing this course over the last year. We will use the TravelRoller (google this item), in conjunction with hard wooden thick polished dowels, firm acupressure balls, and other devices, so that every tight spot in the body can be given a workout, including the internal organs (we will use a soft ball for this!).

We will combine the familiar P&F stretching with the new emphasis on fascia; using these techniques together you will be able to undo knots and long-held tension that may not have yielded to other approaches-including ours! Come and join us and explore one of the most exciting developments we have made in years! Suitable for all levels.

** Kettlebell class
Master the fundamental kettlebell exercises, including the swing, clean, press, jerk, snatch and Turkish get-up. The course will be structured such that you get an intense workout each week while also progressively refining your skills in the more complex movements. We will set achievable but highly challenging goals to work towards over the fourteen week course. You can expect to improve overall strength, work capacity and aerobic fitness. We will target legs, core, back, shoulders, arms, grip... you get the idea. The course will be suitable for both beginners and the more experienced. Be prepared to challenge yourself!

 

S&F SUPERVISED TRAINING SESSIONS: Semester I, 2010

Tues 7.30-8.45 (morning)
Wed 12.00-2.00 (lunchtime)
Fri 4.15-6.15 (evening)
Sat 3.00-5.00 (afternoon)
Sun 3.30-5.30 (afternoon)

S&F students who have completed a Beginner's and an Intermediate course in the last eighteen months will be able to enrol in the Supervised Training Sessions directly, without being enrolled in an S&F class at the same time. As before, the STSs will be available to currently enrolled Beginner's and Intermediate class students as well.

An S&F instructor will be present to assist you in any way you need.

We are offering, and trialing, a number of times (above); these will be altered following student's use patterns. Enrolled students will be advised of any changes by email and the notice on the Monkey Gym door. See fee table below.

 

COURSE PRICES: Semester I, 2010

1 class per week: SRA Member - $165 Non Member - $195
2 classes per week*: SRA Member - $285 Non Member - $335
3 classes per week*: SRA Member - $350 Non Member - $430

Supervised training:
- in addition to an S&F class**; SRA Member - $60 Non Member - $70
- STS only; SRA Member - $130 Non Member - $160

* You may enroll in a combination of a P&F and S&F class together to save money (one P&F plus one S&F equals two classes per week).
** Fee is in addition to course fee.

 

ENROLMENT INFORMATION: Semester I, 2010

Phone enrolments

Dates: Monday 15 to Sunday 28 February
Times: 9.00 am to 5.00 pm
Phone: Olivia Allnutt on 0403 290 932

Payment methods

We accept cash*, EFTPOS*, Visa and Mastercard.
Full payment must be made at the time of enrolment.
* in-person enrolments only

 

DEEP WELL BEING: Semester I, 2010

 

Full course description

Level: Open to everyone
Day: Thursday
Time: 5.15-6.15
Start date: 4 March
Finish date: 15 April
Duration: 7 weeks (7 classes)
Presenter: Kit Laughlin
Venue: P&F Room
Cost: SRA Member - $55; Non Member - $65

Enrolment details >>

 

SUMMER PROGRAM 2009-2010

 

Runs to Sunday 28 February. Download timetables (pdf, 62kb).

 

Course descriptions

 

Posture & Flexibility
Strength & Flexibility
RollStretch
Kettlebell class
Notes on classes

Posture & Flexibility

What is P&F

P&F is the most advanced and accessible stretching system available anywhere in the world today. Our exercises are designed to increase functional flexibility, safely and efficiently. The P&F method is used standalone, and in Yoga and Pilates studios, coaching facilities, and rehabilitation centres around the world. P&F has been taught continuously at the ANU since 1988.

Why should I do P&F?

Flexibility plays an integral part in our physical and mental well being. Flexibility is fundamental to graceful and efficient movement. As well, stretching allows us to release muscular tension, combat and manage injury, and allay common aches and pains associated with stress and age or too much work at the computer!

Over a semester-long course you will learn about your own patterns of tension, and how to change them. You will gain deeper insight to yourself. Your body will feel looser, your range of movement will be greater, you will be more relaxed and you will sleep better. One of the reasons that P&F has run so long at the ANU is that it complements the academic life perfectly, for both students and staff alike.

The most important point we left to last: doing P&F simply feels great. In the 14-week course you will notice significant improvements in the way you move and feel. Put simply, improving flexibility and strength improves the quality of your life.

What happens in an average P&F class?

In a 75-minute class, you will warm up, and learn and stretch individually or in pairs (our 'partner' work). The classes are graded and cater to all levels of ability and flexibility, and all our exercises can be modified to suit the needs of each individual. Each class is designed to build on the previous one, which is why we only run semester-based courses. As the classes progress, we add strength and balance exercises into the mix. By semester’s end you will have been taught advanced stretching techniques (such as the Contract–Relax method) and many variations of any exercises that suit individual needs; things that can be performed easily at home or in the office with little or no equipment.

What is the difference between P&F and S&F?

In P&F, the emphasis is on acquiring additional flexibility; strength and stability are by-products. In S&F, the emphasis is on getting stronger and fitter, and one’s existing flexibility is maintained. We recommend doing a semester of P&F before doing S&F if you can (not mandatory, but recommended); many students have told us that doing P&F enhances body awareness considerably and that this helped the learning of the S&F techniques.

 

Strength & Flexibility at The Monkey Gym

What is S&F

The fastest way to get an idea of what we do is to look at the YouTube clips. Briefly, S&F is the best way to become 'whole-body' strong, agile, lean, and fitter. The emphasis is functional strength: this often over-used term means strength you can use in real-world, daily life activities.

You will learn core (trunk) and glute activation, accurate knee/ankle tracking and foot placement, how to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles and other stabilisers of the shoulders, how to improve grip strength and any other muscles that are relatively weak or inactive. This makes later whole-body work easier and safer. S&F features advanced high-intensity techniques (pre-exhaustion, instability, strip sets, negative or eccentric movements, band-assists, among others), yet is perfectly suited for beginners.

You will learn how to do chinups, and how to climb a rope, and, in time, how to use the Roman rings, as well as the best whole-body strengthening exercises for the legs, hips and trunk. Our goal is to help you maximise your power-to-weight ratio. This course is equally suitable for men and women.

See here for a number of relevant articles on nutrition and diet, too. New articles and YouTube videos go up all the time, so check in from time to time.

Why should I do S&F rather than join a gym?

We know that many people would like to get stronger, but are put off by the 'gym culture'. In teaching S&F, we have the exclusive use of our own self-contained area (The Monkey Gym, upstairs next to the P&F room), and the teaching approach is supportive and friendly. For a modest fee, enrolled students can also train in this space by using the supervised training times if you want additional session(s) each week. But why should one want to get stronger in the first place?

There are many reasons: the first is that, in combination with the right diet, weight training is the fastest way to burn fat and change your body's shape ('body recomposition'). If you hit the Stairmaster for a few hours a week (enduring commercial TV all the while!) and yet have had indifferent results, do a semester of S&F and see just how quickly you can change. Another reason is that the right weight training feels fantastic to do. It feels great to get stronger, and the whole body feels more alive.

All new equipment

The Monkey Gym is different to other training centres: there are no machines of any kind. Instead, we have ropes hanging from the ceiling, Roman rings, Swiss Balls, many kinds of chin-up bars, ladder bars, unstable devices, and a full range of dumbbells and kettlebells (0.5Kg-56Kg), suitable for everyone.

As well, we have a wide range of grip-enhancing equipment (grippers, 'blobs', sledge hammers, bands, and thick-handled 'odd objects'). All these toys develop functional strength in the whole body and are perfect for men and women alike. Using these devices makes you strong, agile, aerobically and anaerobically fit, and lean.

In S&F, you will learn safe techniques that are highly efficient in terms of results gained for time spent. 20-30 minutes twice a week is all the weight training anyone needs. The latest research from many sources suggests that weight training may be even more important for women than for men. Complementary stretching exercises are taught with the strength work, to maintain your range of movement.

What is the difference between P&F and S&F?

In P&F, the emphasis is on acquiring additional flexibility; strength and stability are by-products. In S&F, the emphasis is on getting stronger and fitter, and one’s existing flexibility is maintained. We recommend doing a semester of P&F before doing S&F if you can (not mandatory, but recommended); many students have told us that doing P&F enhances body awareness considerably and that this helped the learning of the S&F techniques.

 

RollStretch

This course targets fascia everywhere in the body, and is designed to realign and soften this most important substance. Kit has been developing this course over the last year. We will use the TravelRoller (google this item), in conjunction with hard wooden thick polished dowels, firm acupressure balls, and other devices, so that every tight spot in the body can be given a workout, including the internal organs (we will use a soft ball for this!).

We will combine the familiar P&F stretching with the new emphasis on fascia; using these techniques together you will be able to undo knots and long-held tension that may not have yielded to other approaches-including ours! Come and join us and explore one of the most exciting developments we have made in years! Suitable for all levels.

 

Kettlebell class

Master the fundamental kettlebell exercises, including the swing, clean, press, jerk, snatch and Turkish get-up. The course will be structured such that you get an intense workout each week while also progressively refining your skills in the more complex movements. We will set achievable but highly challenging goals to work towards over the fourteen week course. You can expect to improve overall strength, work capacity and aerobic fitness. We will target legs, core, back, shoulders, arms, grip... you get the idea. The course will be suitable for both beginners and the more experienced. Be prepared to challenge yourself!

 

Notes on P&F and S&F classes

1. P&F and S&F are separate, but parallel, streams. To do an Intermediate P&F class, you need to have done a Beginner's P&F class; similarly you must do a Beginner's S&F class to enroll in an Intermediate orAdvanced S&F.

2. Levels:

Beginners: this means someone who is new to either P&F or S&F.
Intermediate: someone who has completed a Beginner's P&F or S&F course.
Intermediate Plus (P&F only): classes will tend to be strong, using the more difficult P&F stretches - for those who like lots of big stretches, this is the class for you.
Advanced: as difficult and interesting as we can make it.

3. If you think that you are ready for Advanced P&F or S&F, please discuss with last semester's teacher before enrolling or call Kit on 0418 266 981.

4. Please wear clothing that permits free movement, but no short or loose shorts (bicycle-type OK).

5. Please note start times, and attend class promptly; if you are more than ten minutes late, you will not be permitted to join the class.

6. We do not give handouts on our courses: our system emphasises experiential learning. By the time you have got to the mid-semester point, you body will know what to do! For those who like to see concepts in the written form, the Co-op Bookshop stocks all Kit's books and DVDs from this semester.

 

Deep Well Being: an Introduction to Meditation and Spiritual Work

Many people want to experience life more fully, and feel instinctively that there is more to life than how it appears on the surface. Others find that it is difficult to be still internally, because their minds are too busy. Still others don't understand why their emotional life is a roller-coaster! This short course is designed to provide you with a number of tools to go deeper into the ordinary experiences of daily life, and to help you experience happiness more often-for no reason at all.

You will be introduced to Yoga Nidra, a deep relaxation and visualisation practise brought to Australia by Swami Satyananda, in the 1950s. The brain controls the level of involuntary muscle tension (tonus), yet few people have the capacity to access deep relaxation at will. You will be given the tools to develop this capacity in yourself, and the practice sessions will give you the experience of being deeply relaxed. Once the body and the mind know how to do this, you can allow this state to return in your daily life. Immediate benefits are better sleep and increased concentration for any activity.

Kit will show you how to sit still for meditation-if you have ever tried this, you will know how difficult this can be. Once you can get comfortable, though, alertly sitting still can assist you to become more strongly aware of what is happening inside your body and your mind. This is one of the gateways to increasing awareness itself, a perspective that allows you to see that the activities of the mind are but one part of the experience of being fully alive.

Even though everyone knows that 'breath is life itself', the act of breathing is usually ignored and rarely is examined or refined. You will learn what full breathing feels like, and experience the deeply calming effect that breathing with awareness can have. This will be presented and practised each session.

Kit has been meditating since 1983, beginning during a four-year stay in Japan. He has studied with a number of teachers, and has co-taught a number of workshops here and overseas on this subject. His major influences are Buddhism (Zen), Swami Rudrananda (Rudi, author of "Spiritual Cannibalism"), and Lawrence Graziose (Zen and Enneagram).

 

Venues

P&F Room and The Monkey Gym, top floor of the Australian National University Sports and Recreation Building, North Road, Acton. Come into the University from Barry Drive; and bear left. The ANU SRA is the first large building on your left-hand side. Park wherever you can; be aware that the Parking Nazis enforce the restrictions on a purely random basis; make sure you read the signs!

The P&F classes and Deep Well Being are run in the P&F Room. The S&F classes are run in The Monkey Gym. Both have shelving for valuables.

 

Canberra, non-ANU classes

 

Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government

Term I, 2010

Day: Thursday
Dates: 11 February to 8 April - 8 weeks
Time: 12.30-1.30 (lunchtime)
Venue: Amenities Room, 111 Alinga St, Canberra City
Instructor: David Heap
Cost: $105 (GST inclusive)
Note: non-departmental staff can enrol

Download the Registration form (pdf, 69kb)

Need more information?

Contact David Heap, 0437 135 474, davidjheap@gmail.com

 

John Gorton Building

Term I, 2010

Day: Monday
Dates: 8 February to 22 March (excluding 8 March) - 6 weeks
Time: 12.30-1.30 (lunchtime)
Venue: John Gorton Building Gym
Instructor: David Heap
Cost: $75

Need more information?

Contact David Heap, 0437 135 474, davidjheap@gmail.com