By Guest Blogger on November 8, 2010

Transform Your Typical Gym Workout with Mindfulness

I find it amazing how many distractions are in most modern health clubs that keep people from being in the present moment. There are televisions on every piece of cardio equipment, magazines everywhere and pumping music coming from all corners. At any given minute you could be hearing an advertisement coming from the radio and television while at the same time reading one in a magazine! It truly is sensory overload. Why is it that we have to preoccupy ourselves just to get through a workout? I love to watch a great movie, and I also like to read a good magazine. But when most people have a magazine or television in front of them during exercise, they’re anything but present.

If you’re not mentally present when exercising, all you’re really doing is going through the motions and burning calories. Often when people exercise without mindfulness, their body is under extra strain. They may have already been loaded with excess stresses from the day (poor posture, excess emotional stress, poor breathing habits, etc). It does take a little bit more discipline to be completely present in your workouts, but think of it as loving discipline rather than forced, brute discipline.

A very common scenario is that after sweating it out without any mindfulness, the exhausted person goes home and pigs out on more calories than they burned during the workout. Later comes regret, guilt and all those other nasty feelings that add more strain and turmoil to the body. Most people don’t even realize they’re doing harm to themselves as they’ve gotten so used to these patterns.

It’s amazing how we can become addicted to anything: emotions, drugs, lifestyle habits, exercise, etc. Just like any other addiction, when you change a deeply rooted habit, you may experience some withdrawal symptoms. They’ll mainly be ego-related withdrawal symptoms. You may feel like complaining, bitching, or you might just feel grumpy and victimized about the change. Simply recognize that these feelings come from ego, and they will pass if you stay connected to your breath and the present moment.

Rather than just having another typical workout, why not make it something incredible? Why not bring the benefits of yoga and meditation into your workouts? With practice and a little bit of loving discipline you can go inside yourself and make your typical workout a healing, sculpting, detoxifying manifestation session. Step out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary: Make your workout a spiritual experience.

If the thought of your workout being spiritual makes you gag, think of it as a transformational experience. You can literally sculpt and strengthen your body with your thoughts. You can also heal your body and change deeply rooted negative thought patterns with your thoughts. I’m not saying to just sit on the couch for the rest of your life and think of a lean, healthy, balanced body. That won’t do anyone any good. As humans we’re meant to move!

The universe will provide for you what you think about most, and it’s important to visualize what you want in your life as being a part of your life now, not tomorrow or next year. This may sound like common sense, but most people tend to think of what they don’t want to happen in life without even realizing it. Don’t give creative power to doubt, fear or any other life-draining thoughts. While visualizing what you want to manifest, be completely grateful for what you already have in your life. Then send what you desire to manifest out from your third eye (between your eyebrows and eyes) into the universe.

If fear or doubt pops up into your mind, observe this ego trait (the ego loves us to feed it with fear), and come back to your vision and your breath. The more you bring yourself back to the present moment, the easier it gets. Again, it does take practice and patience. Elite athletes and coaches have been using visualization techniques for quite some time now. Scientific research is showing just how effective this ancient technique is, so why not give it a shot?

After you have set your intention for your workout, sit tall and meditate on your vision. Your meditation doesn’t have to be long. Experience even just a couple of minutes of meditation to immerse yourself in your vision and the present moment. I like to allow 20 minutes for myself.

At first, your ego will probably try and find distractions to take you away from your meditation. Rather than reacting to the ego’s urges, simply observe when this happens. Then bring yourself back to your breath and your intention. With practice you will be able to make your whole workout (no matter how intense the workout is) a moving meditation. This calm, focused state will flow into all areas of your life.

Now it’s time to work out! While keeping your mental vision of what you want to manifest nice and clear in your mind, enjoy putting your creative energy to work as you exercise. Like I said before, the gym can be sensory overload, and it can be easy for the mind to become scattered. A valuable practice can be to not let external stimulus shake and rattle your internal calmness. If it truly is too much and it distracts you from being calm and focused, take your workout outside and connect with nature.

Rather than always doing exercise, doing yoga, doing weights, doing sports, doing, doing, doing … simply be health, be yoga, be vibrant, be love and just be! Isn’t that better than slogging it out on the treadmill while watching the news or reading gossip?

Namaste.

Stuart Watkins is a holistic fitness and lifestyle coach based out of Australia. Stuart’s love for travel and new knowledge has taken him all around the world, while achieving certifications as a Holistic Fitness Practitioner, Holistic Life Coach, Yoga Teacher, Personal Trainer, Massage Therapist and Stress Management Specialist. He draws on his knowledge in these areas to ensure each of his clients journey to true health and happiness is in good hands.

Photo Credit: Jerryonlife

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By Gabrielle Bernstein on January 5, 2010

Make Resolutions Stick: 3 Steps in 30 days

It’s post-New Year’s Eve, and the party’s over. The holiday binge expires, the hangover wares off, and we’re left without excuses for gluttonous behavior. Consequently, we turn to the resolution bandwagon. New Years is traditionally considered to be the perfect time to create change. Unfortunately, real change rarely lasts.

Making changes stick requires more than eight-minute abs, Nicorette gum or the South Beach Diet. True change doesn’t allow for shortcuts. It calls for willingness, commitment and ~ing! Your ~ing is your inner guide, your inspiration, your intuition. It’s the loving voice in the back of your mind that keeps you connected to an infinite source of positivity.

You might be thinking, “If everyone has ~ing, then where’s mine been hiding?” It’s actually not hiding at all. Your ~ing lives inside you and never expires. You’ve just been unable to receive it. What’s blocked you from ~ing’s presence is fear, negative thought, resentment and self-destructive behavior. In order to clear these blocks, follow my fun, three-step process designed to help you clear up the darker areas of life and create permanent change.

I’ll guide you through a process I’ve dubbed The ~ing Equation: Rethinking + Moving + Receiving x 30 days = Changing. The ~ing Equation is a 30-day repetition of physical activity, deliberate positive affirmations, and creative visualization. This will bulldoze negative thought patterns and create positive change so you can move forward and live an awesome life. The beauty of the ~ing Equation is that you can apply it to any life challenge.

Below are the step-by-step ingstructions to the ~ing Equation:

Step One: Rethinking

The process of rethinking is all about retelling your story. The unhealed areas of your life are the ego’s playground for nasty thoughts (the ego is the voice of fear). In order to change these patterns, you will actively replace your negative thoughts with loving ideas. These loving ideas are called “affirmations.” The process of rethinking allows you to turn every negative thought into a positive one by choosing to change your mind. For instance, if your fearful thoughts repeat, “I’m off balance and anxious,” reverse it and recite the affirmation, “I am calm and balanced.” Each conscious decision to change your mind takes you one step closer to reconditioning your brain and changing your life.

Step Two: Rethinking + Moving

In step two of the ~ing Equation, you add Moving. By layering your affirmations with physical activities you will shift the way your body responds to your mind. The ego’s negative stories from the past live deeper than your thoughts; they inhabit your mind and body. This step matches up specific physical activities with the different areas of life to allow you to create these changes. For example, if you need to let go of an old fearful belief, you can use dancing to move it through you. Or if your life is off-balance, I suggest jumping on a trampoline. However, there are many activities that apply to different issues and the ~ing Equation is not limited to my suggestions. If you have a certain interest in a specific activity that you dig, then by all means ~ing with it. The key is to find activities that guide you to release and empower you to change. Bring your new affirmation into your physical activity. This is when the energy of your mind and body flow together. You’ll receive a wonderful endorphin charged kinda feeling very much like the one you might have experienced after a great run.

Step Three: Receiving

The final step of the ~ing Equation is Receiving. This step is focused on meditating, to clear space in your mind and hear the voice of your inner guide. When your mind is clear you can receive truthful thoughts, inspiring ideas and honor your intuition. If you’re a meditation virgin, simply turn on some of your favorite mellow music in the background (preferably without lyrics). We’re going to go on a journey through your subconscious brain. This step allows you to let go of your left brain’s practicality and welcome your right brain’s intuition and creativity. The intuitive right brain says stuff like, “You don’t like your job, so it’s time to start following your passion.” Or, “You’re ready to let go of that old pattern of X, Y or Z.” Meditation is a great way to allow your right brain to speak up and be heard. Thanks to the physical and mental work of steps one and two, thoughts that were in the way have been silenced allowing you to hear your inner guide. The meditation in step three is crucial because it is an opportunity for you to slow down enough to receive guidance from within.

Repeating

The key element in the Equation is Repeating. It’s this thirty-day repetition that will allow you to truly make your desired change stick. Indeed, neurobiological studies show that thirty days of repeating new behavior reprograms your brain by reversing neural pathways. It’s this reversal that changes your patterns and behaviors, and therefore your life.

If you’re inspired to create permanent change, test-drive the ~ing Equation for the next thirty-days. To further your ~ing transformation you can pick up a copy of my new book, ADD MORE ~ing TO YOUR LIFE – A Hip Guide to Happiness.

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