Tag: exercise

Praise Moves for Children from Praise Moves: Review

Grace-Filled Writer

One are that is sometimes hard for me to fit into our homeschool day is intentional exercise and movement. My girls would much rather be reading or playing pretend rather than get active. We do get outside and run around, but before long we’re ready to come back into the house. I’ll also be honest and say intense exercise just isn’t my thing so I don’t always think to seek out ways to get my daughters intensely active. PraiseMoves is helping to change this!


A few months ago I had the opportunity to try out Morning and Evening PraiseMoves which was a great blessing on so many levels. I typically tried to exercise in the early mornings or evenings while the kids were in bed, but some days my young daughters would be around. It didn’t take long for them to join in! Grace especially seemed fascinated by the new “extercise” Mommy was trying out! She is your typical flexible three-year-old and can quickly maneuver into postures I still am struggling with completing accurately. Not to mention she is enormously adorable when she says things like, “I really love to extercise with you Mommy. Can I use your mat too?” Of course you can sweetheart!

I was very excited for my girls to tryout Praise Moves for Chrildren. Just as I have been encouraged to try out yoga, I’ve also been encouraged to give it a go with my girls. I’m very much aware of the roots of yoga and did not want my girls to have any part of it. Although I’ve been teased for my stance even by Christians, I have stood firm, knowing the latest trend does not always lead to a good end. My girls have been so greatly blessed by this sweet exercise DVD. They enjoy it and feel as if they are dancing while exercising.

There are two separate work-outs in addition to instruction on how to correctly form each posture. The girls were ready to jump right in and get active! I made sure they worse loose clothing and they chose to be barefoot. I only have one mat, so we just went with the carpeted floor which worked just fine until part-way through when the girls remembered seeing me use a mat. I quickly pulled it out and all three shared the same one. I’m sure glad it was long!
Rose and Beth were a little shy at first even though it was just me in the room with them! I think they were nervous about doing something incorrectly and looking funny. The wonderful thing is that soon after they stared they were quoting Scripture and forgot all about being unsure of themselves! I found it interesting how self-conscious they seemed to be and I realized I have the same tendency. I don’t typically enjoy exercising in front of anyone else, including my husband, unless it is something simple like a walk. Praise Moves is so wonderful in that it takes my mind off of me and focuses it on God instead. I don’t think so much about how I look or if I’m doing things right, but simply dwell on the Scripture while I work out. 
Oh to be so flexible again! Grace can bend and stretch in ways I can’t even begin to try! I’m sure this has to do with the limberness of young children and I hope Praise Moves can help her keep this flexibility. It was fun to see her bend and stretch without any struggle at all!
This was Rose and Beth’s favorite posture, the prayer warrior! This was a more difficult posture for Beth who is 6, but she allowed me to turn her foot and adjust her body until she was more correctly aligned. Rose who is 8 had no trouble with this one. By this time in the DVD little 3-year-old Grace decided she was done and was playing with some alphabet letters on the floor. The girls didn’t even seem to notice she was there as they were so focused on what they were doing!
I absolutely love this picture of Beth lifting her eyes towards heaven as she exercises because that is what Praise Moves is really all about. Yes it is healthy exercise, but it is just so much more. Laurette Willis consistently points the children towards thinking about Christ and His Word while also promoting a healthy accept who they are in Christ, encouraging them to view their bodies as a temple of the Holy Spirit. I usually will exercise with the girls. There is nothing childish or too easy about this DVD and it excellent for me to model the habits I want to see in them. Not to mention giving me time to center on Christ myself! 
Other titles available for children are Power Moves Kids and the PraiseMoves Kids TV Show. Even with just my short time using PraiseMoves for my children and myself and I can tell you with confidence these would both be excellent 
If you are looking for a new way to exercise with your kids give this a try. They’ll have fun, learn Scripture, and be healthy all at the same time! 
Disclaimer: I received the PraiseMoves for Children in exchange for an honest review.  I was not required to give a positive review. I was not compensated in any other way. 

AM-PM PraiseMoves: Review

Grace-Filled Writer

In college I had several Christian friends who have tried to encourage me to try out Yoga. I have always been hesitant because I know the roots of Yoga are in the Hindu religion. I know many people who say you can practice Yoga and avoid all the religious stuff, but for me the connection between the two gave me pause and I chose not to participate. I was fairly active anyway taking hikes and walking around campus so I wasn’t too concerned about adding in exercise.

Fast forward 11 years… 3 babies later I needed to start exercising! 

The problem was I hadn’t been able to exercise for some time. For the previous 2 years I had been steadily loosing weight without any reason. An unexpected emergency surgery over Christmas revealed a tumor growing in my stomach which gave explanation, but before this my doctor said I needed to stop all exercise since I couldn’t stop losing weight. So for about 2 years I had done little besides my regular housework. After the 2 month mark of recovery my doctor encouraged me to start exercising again. That was a challenge! She suggested Yoga, but again my heart was prompted not to go this route. 

I have been using AM-PM PraiseMoves for about 6 weeks and through Praise Moves I have found exercise I actually look forward to doing! Unlike my marathon-running husband, high intensity work-outs are not for me. The low-impact style of PraiseMoves leaves me feeling energized. The benefits have piled up daily and I can’t say enough wonderful things about PraiseMoves!

Laurette Willis’ personal testimony of her search for truth after being immersed in yoga from a young age is a beautiful example of the redeeming work of Christ. As a result of her personal journey she develped PraiseMoves, a Christian alternative to Yoga, not to be confused with other programs which call themselves Christian Yoga. All of the postures and movements are grounded in and inspired by Scripture or the Hebrew alphabet. While you are practicing the postures Scripture appears on the screen and is read to you. What an affirming exercise program!


The AM-PM PraiseMoves Dvd includes two workouts, one to start the morning and one to close the day. The morning routine is more energetic than the evening routine. Laurette guides with clear instructions how to stand in the various postures. Because she dresses very modestly I felt comfortable exercising in front of my husband, something no other exercise video I have used allowed me to do.

I mentioned before I have received daily benefits from PraiseMoves. The first was a complete night’s sleep, something I hadn’t experienced in a long time. When my oldest daughter was born almost 8 years ago I experienced the constant wakings expected from a newborn, but this disruption in sleep continued for me long after my daughter started sleeping through the night. For years I have consistently awakened 2-3 times in the middle of the night and typically have a difficult time going back to sleep. The first night after using PraiseMoves I slept soundly and felt more rested than I had in a very long time. I attribute this partly to exercise, but mostly to dwelling on Scripture as I exercised. What a wonderful way to close the day!

Another benefit I have received is more energy to be active. My surgery required me to be incredibly inactive while my incision and muscles healed. Getting back to even basic activity was a challenge, let alone being regularly active with my kids walking or bike riding. After about a week of PraiseMoves I told my very surprised husband I wanted to go on a bike ride around the neighborhood. I didn’t go very far, and I certainly didn’t ride very fast, but I went and enjoyed it!

The final benefit has been increased flexibility and lack of pain in my back. When we were camping last summer I hurt my back slightly while helping my husband set up our tent. It was a very small sore spot my doctor told me was a muscle issue which couldn’t be helped without extensive physical therapy. At the same time she said unless it was preventing me from living a normal life, it wasn’t absolutely necessary to deal with. About three weeks into using PraiseMoves I realized the pain was decreasing and now I feel no pain in that spot. I don’t know how it helped, but it helped! I am also able to bend and stretch farther than I ever have in my life. I always hated the Presidential Physical Fitness Test in school because I scored so low, especially on the sit-and-reach…I wish I could try it now and see how well I could do!


I love this program so much I have been talking to many of our church ladies about it. We have purchased the 20-Minute Praise Moves DVD and will be starting this together soon. Click here to find out about starting a fitness ministry or PraiseMoves workout at your church.

Watch this video below to see more of AM-PM PraiseMoves!

Disclaimer
I received AM-PM Praise Moves in exchange for my honest review from PraiseMoves. I was not required to write a positive review. No other compensation was received.