Drew has been a Carpe Diem client for 3 1/2 years and is participating in this year’s Mr. Irish Pagent at Sheldon High School. There currently is a jar at the front desk of our Eugene location to help him in his fundraising efforts. We hope you will read his information below and consider helping him meet his fundraising goal. 

My name is Drew Haugen and I am a senior at Sheldon High School in Eugene, Oregon.  I have been nominated to participate in the 2012 Mr. Irish Pageant at my school. This yearly competition consists of ten senior boys who work alongside coordinators and staff members to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network. My coordinator is Sally Stender. We are very excited to be a part of such an amazing event!

The pageant, which will be held on March 3^rd at 7 p.m. in the Sheldon Auditorium, is a fun and unique way to help give back to the community. Each senior boy will be judged in four categories including a talent preformed on stage, a video, dancing, and most importantly fundraising. All of the money we raise goes directly to C.M.N. and provides local hospitals with the medical care and equipment necessary to treat infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. As a baby, I spent 2 ½ months in the N.I.C.U. and having the opportunity to help other children in need is a rewarding experience.

The idea to fundraise for the Children’s Miracle Network began in 1990 with Sheldon student C.J. Martin and the original Mr. Irish Pageant. Today, almost every high school in town has their own version of this great event. Since its creation, Kids Helping Kids has raised over 2.5 million dollars for C.M.N.

The Grand Opening Celebration for Bend’s Carpe Diem Pilates and CoreAlign Training Center was held Friday, 11/11/11.

Shawn and Hayley Healey have joined forces with Nancy Ludeman and the former In-Joy Pilates Studio to bring Carpe Diem Pilates and CoreAlign training systems to Bend. We are excited to introduce this new studio to the Bend area. It’s a perfect fit with such avid outdoor enthusiasts and a highly health-conscious community.

Hayley and Nancy, doing what they do best!

Wine and light hors d’oeuvres were on hand (of course!) to celebrate this great new movement space, and two lucky winners won 10-class Phase 1 series.

Next time you’re in the area please come and say hi!

Carpe Diem Pilates and CoreAlignTrainingCenter
532 SW 13th Street, Suite 103
Bend, OR 97702
541.550.7887

Editor’s Note: Caitlin’s Great Pilates Adventure will take you through the Reformer Series from Level 1 through 3. We hope you enjoy Caitlin’s perspective as she learns the ropes. Share your own experience with us in the comments! 

Going in to Carpe Diem for the first time I wasn’t completely sure what to expect. I’d taken pilates classes in the past, but after looking at Carpe Diem’s website I could tell it wouldn’t be laying on the floor with resistance bands on my legs.

I felt welcomed immediately. The atmosphere is very laid back and the women who work at CD love what they do and would probably share it with the whole world if they could. After a couple of minutes of introductions and a brief explanation of what we would be doing (brief, because there is a lot of explaining along the way!), we jumped right into… breathing.

In this style of Pilates, we use a Reformer that has springs which allow different amounts of resistance – so that’s where the bands went! We started on our backs for much of the time the first few classes. Because we are laying down, and because of the types of workouts we are doing, it is important for our torsos to remain level, and therefore we must breath into our “back space”.  This was a really weird concept for me, and I don’t think I really started doing it right until my third week when something clicked.

Carpe Diem trainer, Brandi, works with Caitlin

After practicing breathing sitting up, we laid down and began doing leg presses. We added different foot formations to our leg presses which targeted different muscles, and after one week – although this wasn’t my typical semi-intense workout – I was very intrigued by what this class would bring. Doing these seemingly basic movement, I’d felt muscles that running or squats never even hinted at.

To be continued…