- Venue
- Elizabeth Mansfield 2009
- Location
Creative Zone and Tone
By Elizabeth Mansfield, MA, SAC Dip (Personal Fitness Training)
The title drew me to this publication, I try to keep fit and liked the promise of something that could put me in the Zone – the author’s primary claim is that this simple routine will ‘keep those creative energy juices flowing!’ I’ll try anything once and my motivation has increased since the pronouncement that varied physical activity keeps dementia at bay.
The package includes a book with a CD. The exercises are fairly easy and have been designed for use as regular, health giving breaks between extended periods of creative work, whether sitting or standing, resulting in a relaxed mind and a toned body.
The claimed benefits include better awareness of body alignment, particularly in the joints; improved concentration, flexibility and control, leading to better body balance. The well designed visualizations, not often found on exercise CDs, enhance the experience, increasing the enjoyment and feeling of well being generated by stretching and alignment. It is unlikely that these simple visualizations would help with the development of a practicing artist’s creative development but they are amusing and appropriate for this audience. She also claims that we will develop a ‘sense of continuity’, not quite sure what she means by this so perhaps this is something I lack, and could benefit from. There are 3 levels of difficulty, although the CD only covers the first, most basic level, referring you to the book for the 2 higher levels.
One is supposed to be able to do these exercises anywhere without equipment, which is useful but doesn’t take into account the state of the floor in many studios – a lot of the exercises take place on the floor, so you need a mat and some head and neck support may also be required. Or you can get even more exercise by having a good clean up.
Elizabeth’s voice has a plaintive tone, but she speaks very clearly and the instructions are easy to follow and strangely calming. One develops a sense of confidence in the speaker, who manages to convey sincerity and conviction as she takes you through the routine. It starts off slowly, allowing time to take in the instructions and do the exercises. In all but one exercise (the one with the strange snoring noise) there was sufficient time for the repetitions before the next exercise commenced. The exercises are similar to Pilates and Qigong with a little bit of Alexander Technique, well designed for improving posture and energy flow.
It is presented as an A4 spiral bound desk top publication, not terribly inspiring to look at, personally I would have preferred A5 format. My other criticism is that I would have liked all three levels of difficulty to be on the CD, rather than just level one and a referral to the book for the two higher levels. This could have been done with 3 tracks. However referring to the book during exercising wasn’t too much of a problem and only required a little effort at the beginning, and I soon got the hang of it. A dance teacher and yoga exponent who tested the tape and book for me liked the exercises and particularly the visualizations, her only criticism was the sound quality; she found the instructions very clear and had no problem hearing them, she just thought the sound could have been more professional.
Overall these exercises do what it says on the packet; I felt great after I did them, enjoyed doing them and wanted to do them again. They make a great short break and are less disruptive to a day’s studio work than a trip to the gym or even a walk, especially when you are working to a tight deadline.
Wanda Zyborska
August 2010
