With red-hair,
fair-skin, extreme sensitivities and a history of obesity, diabetes
and heart disease
dominant in my family - a balanced body does not come easy to me, but this
is no reason to blame and surrender.
My body is a living lab and a mirror for my heart, mind
and soul. The body's appearance and performance is
dependant on dynamic percentages of discipline,
nutrition, motion, perception, self-worth, emotional state, life situation,
and a host of internal/external imbalances. I have over
a decade worth of observations documented in my
food-exercise-emotion-energy lab
notes/journals.
Through my
experiences, I have awakened great compassion within my
heart for the layers of confusion many of us feel
with our bodies, about what we feed ourselves, how we
express our passion/pain, and the
search for deeper purpose in our lives all while
burdened with a wide assortment of hurdles. Challenges
such as struggling with “what others may think”, how
“alpha beauty” is defined by media, and how extremely
off our own perceptions can actually skew from objective
reality.
I believe
that the self-defeating cycles we adopt can be
broken and habits replaced with ones more desirable.
It's up to you get the body and life you want.
First, know what you want, then source the courage to change.
Give yourself the freedom to make a few mistakes
and feed the fire that drives you to do things that make
you feel alive!
Exercise and nutrition disciplines should feel more like
a want-to than a have-to.
what does it all come down to for me?
I don't want to live in a cage! Discipline can
harm or heal - i've experienced both. Through extreme journeys
to opposite ends of the nutrition and fitness spectrum,
I now bring my pendulum to center, confident and able to integrate objective balance
from a place of rooted integrity.
I have no need to "work my body to death" or go "balls out" on one theory, diet or
body movement regime. If I want to have a
glass of red wine and/or a juicy burger on a Friday
night,
I will. And I'll enjoy it without needing to make
it a habit.
Discerning what works best
for your body is a personal journey and ongoing
discipline/study in balance. Many claim to have the "right answer" and are very
absolute and passionate about views
they regurgitate from other gurus. Try not to get
bullied or hypnotized - or get caught up in any absolute
regimen/doctrine be it a weight trainer or yoga teacher
speaking like an authority.
Develop clear awareness, observe
actions, collect information objectively and try
to delay judgment. Let yourself see the forest and the trees.
my
strategy today
I train my body and eat whole food nearly everyday
to balance, cleanse, energize, grow and heal. This regime helps me
walk strong in the world. No one can take care of your
body for you. You are completely responsible for it. You can’t buy the
benefits of a good workout or a balanced diet and you
can’t hire someone to exercise or eat for you.
As for eating, most of the time I graze throughout the
day on small meals from my
BodyArt Cookbook
which are easy to prepare and cover the basic
macronutrients needed to fuel an active body. The cookbook has been revised
many times since its first release in 2000. I have published
it in small runs so
I can continue to update its content as I learn and
grow and move through my lifetime transformation study.
Although food is a huge part of the equation, the body
also needs to move. If you want to decrease body fat,
it may help to stimulate natural
detoxification by
stoking your internal fires throughout the day: graze on
small meals, breathe
deep, break sweat and challenge your muscles.
The
Alignment Secrets book is my bare-bones fundamental
bible to
posture and movement essentials, explained in simple
language (these topics can get tie your brain in a
knot). The inspiration for the book was to compile a
base-level mind-to-muscle awareness to optimize motion
and decrease injury found in most any
sport/dance/workout. I apply these Alignment Secrets to pretty
much everything I do.
Power Yoga Fusion is the practice I use to check
in, center, align, strengthen and detox my body, mind,
and energy. The solo home-practice style sets the
environment for healing, observation, reflection and
self-awareness. The progressive format starts in
the deep core and works outward. I apply this system
with most of the pro athletes, trainers and dancers I
work with and within the first week they notice increase
in performance and body-mind-energy awareness.
My newest
project is called Essensual Moves (working
title). This is my other main movement practice.
I use this free form dance-like motion whenever I feel
rigid and trapped - the need to release stress and
express. This playful sensual flow allows my body
to roll through ranges of motion not found in workout or
yoga routines. And the creative freedom seems infinite!
As for
workout equipment, I left the gyms and weights behind in
2003 to explore bodyweight training - perhaps one day I
will again crave the heavy iron that captured my
attention for so many years. But for now, my bodyweight
is enough to keep me interested - although sometimes I
can be seen in a park with my fire staff or doing
chin-ups in the playground.
There is no end-point to your body journey. It's not a goal that you get to
only then quit. It's a masterpiece that one works on for
a lifetime. The
BodyArt Journal Planner
is my
latest recording format to observe my unique
body-mind-emotion combination, track my progress and set my
goals.
The
body, like the mind, thrives on learning new things.