Travelling down the 215 and relying on MapQuest to guide me to my destination, I began to feel as if I was in a new world as I approached Boulder City. Squinting at my handwritten directions and proceeding to squint up ahead, I noticed that the blurry street sign in the distance resembled from afar what I was searching so intently for: Buchanan Blvd which would then lead me to Adam’s Blvd. The excitement was bubbling inside me so much while I traversed that all I could think about was the fact that I was about to experience my first Connect To Fitness event in the breath-taking Boulder City.
I arrived at 801 Adams Blvd (not without the help of Darian Parker, of course, who totally should take over the roll of MapQuest in the future), put my car into park and took a nice, deep breath of realization. I looked back at the past few months of my life living in Las Vegas, and just smiled as I became reminiscent of the progression I have watched unravel before my very own eyes in regards to my life and my career. In this moment, a passing thought crossed my mind of having been to Boulder City in my first weeks as an official resident of Las Vegas. Darian and I had come down to meet with Marcie Gibson who gave us her enthusiastic consent in holding an event for Connect To Fitness at one of the recreation centers located within the city. At the time I didn’t think that day could come soon enough! Well… here I was. Back in Boulder City. Back in action. And back with CTF.
Having arrived early and having been greeted by Darian (who arrived EXTRA early), I grabbed my belongings out of my car as Darian graciously took hold of the giant cooler filled to the brim with Tropical Smoothies out of my backseat. He told me in advance that I was going to love what I saw as I walked into the facility, but I still wasn’t prepared for what I was getting myself into. Before we walked into the doors of the facility, I could see people setting up tables through the sun-tainted windows, which were obviously trying to blind me. As I proceeded through the doors, my mind immediately reverted back in time to elementary school gym class while growing up in my small hometown. The sense of ‘home’ it instills within you and consumes you with is enough to give you goosebumps and to make you want to move in. Possibly forever.
After laying my things down atop the piano placed (ever-so-randomly and yet so perfectly) in the refreshment room, I really began to absorb my surroundings. In the square room were three long tables (loaded with colorful confetti!) lining the front and side walls, and a few fold-out chairs just like being back in school. As I traversed through the main lobby and into the gymnasium, I could already see the cones, basketballs, footballs, and tennis balls all stationed accordingly around the perimeter of the basketball court (as Tina said: not quite a whole basketball court, but bigger than a half court). I couldn’t believe it. I stared in awe, and looked at Darian and made some kind of predictable and excited exclamation that I still heard echoing five minutes after I made my outburst. “This is incredible!!!”, I believe were my words. The old brick walls without windows and painted an off-white/yellow color, the padded mats lining the walls for protection, and the oddly-modern, shiny, wood ceilings that were perfectly out of place. I. Loved. It.
We walked back out to the lobby and began to set up the front table in which we had our sign-in sheet, nametags and markers, and where we also laid out our Connect To Fitness donation box in which we are using to assimilate money for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, which is the cause we have been actively involved with the past few months.
As Darian and I caught up a bit and basked in this incredible environment, Marcie Gibson (who supervises the main Fitness Center in Boulder City and who is incredibly active within her community) and a couple friends pulled up and popped the lid of the truck and out poured never-ending food. There was a HUGE fruit tray as well as an equally proportioned vegetable tray, there was a varied cheese tray, a big bag of dark, plump grapes, crackers of all kinds, cookies, and an enormous tray of veggie and cheese wraps that weighed as much as I do. Oh… and don’t forget the smoothies.
Shortly after having arrived myself, the always delightful and inspiring Heather Doane arrived with Crayola Markers, construction paper and, of course, folder to keep it all in. We were in mission mode. Quickly (but creatively) constructing signs detailing the games we had set up in the gym, we caught up for a bit and finished setting everything up. Just as we were finishing, Charles and Hannah Ware arrived with yet another cooler; this time loaded with bottled water and all varieties of Vitamin Water. He also came bearing gifts, as the Professional Fitness Institute always donates amazing prizes for our event giveaways. Shortly after that, more guests began arriving and within no time flat the echoes heard in the gym were reverberating all throughout the building. It was fantastic to see the familiar and faithful faces of those who are continually at each event supporting CTF, networking and enjoying each other’s company and it was just as awesome to get acquainted with the new faces from both the Vegas Valley as well as Boulder City. There were some really incredible people who arrived and it was great to mingle and make connections with each person who walked through the door.
Besides the array of amazing food we had to share, the other main attraction was the ‘game room’, where Darian and Marcie meticulously set up some fun games where guests could pay to play, as well as donate, money to our cause at the same time. We had a basketball free-throw contest, a tennis-ball toss, and a football throw where you had to manage to throw a football into a plastic bin in the front of the gymnasium. As people began piling in, it was extremely reminiscent of gym class and being a kid again, and it had a sort of carnival feel to it that was just awesome. As people played the games, others were shouting encouragement from the sidelines inbetween conversation or between snacking. It was really inspiring to see and it was fun watching the ‘crowd’ cheer the players on as they focused intently on making each toss or free throw. As I made my rounds in greeting everyone, I admit I couldn’t help but to snack myself each time I’d walk by the table. The food was immaculate and plentiful and we had an ample amount (and then some!) for the guests to stack mile-high plates.
About an hour into the event, we had our first prize giveaway, which came from Advantage Fitness Products (AFP), which was an awesome Travel-Trainer (if you don’t own or know of this great product and you are a trainer, you should definitely check it out!). The winner of this prize is always shocked at how awesome it is once they receive it, and it’s always a joy to see the faces of the winners. Another fifteen minutes went by and we gave out the last two prizes, donated by the Professional Fitness Institute (PFI), which consisted of two PFI logo backpacks loaded with more great accolades inside. It’s always a treat, as well, to give such great prizes to such great people.
After the final prize giveaway and after everyone was done playing games in the gymnasium, we began to tear everything down as people slowly began filing out the doors. We folded and stacked all the chairs and tables, put away the gym equipment and set the building up exactly how it was before we arrived. All the leftover food was happily carried away by guests and staff members and you could see and hear people were exchanging business cards and information before leaving.
As I was looking around towards the end, I took in another deep breath and just smiled to myself as another successful event had just taken place. The work that goes on behind-the-scenes is often time-consuming and a lot of work, but always, ALWAYS worth it. It has been our great fortune to have the opportunity to meet with so many amazing individuals on a monthly and daily basis through CTF and each month, and each day, there just seems to be more people reaching out and getting involved. I stood there and thought about the last week as well in which I have had the amazing opportunity of meeting with some absolutely fantastic professionals in the health, wellness and fitness industry who expressed interest in contributing for the CTF Magazine publication out in 2010. Words cannot even begin to explain the inspiration I received from these individuals as well as the excitement for having them on the CTF team. So many of my own dreams have come true as a result of CTF and it’s such a great feeling when you view and help other people reach their own dreams and aspirations through the organization as well. If you haven’t yet become an active member, now is a great time to join in as we are truly growing by leaps and bounds and the opportunities for professionals that we have to offer are growing as well. The gratitude from knowing we are helping to contribute to job-placement is just incredible and we are currently establishing a system that will be even more efficient at this process.
As I looked around and my mind travelled back to the hear and now, I picked up my belongings (and my twelve thousand Ziplock bags), and carried them out to my car while Charles rolled out the cooler of the few leftover smoothies. As I said ‘Goodbye’ to the rest of the CTF staff and remaining friends, I felt overwhelmed with great fortune as the event replayed itself in my mind and I was able to just sit in my car and let the gratitude wash over me.
As I drove out back towards Adam’s Blvd., I caught a glimpse of Marcie was pulling her car over, and getting out of her vehicle to pick up a sign on the side of the road that had fallen down. It reminded me just how big-hearted so many of the people are that I have met and how people who are passionate about being in this profession are typically the ones to do not just the big things in life to make the world a better place, but the little things as well, such as picking up a fallen sign off the side of the road. I couldn’t imagine being a better industry and surrounding myself with better people. Having moved out to Vegas, one thing I can attest for is the amount of positive energy so many people in this industry possess.
Thank you to all who came out, donated, and showed support for both CTF and Making Strides For Breast Cancer. Thank you as well for our amazing sponsors, both AFT and PFI for donating some amazing products to share with those at the event. We raised a significant amount of money with your help, and just as I mentioned above, it’s these little things that help create a balance in life and which help to improve and impact other’s lives around you. I hope that you will also join us in walking for this cause in October and that you will continue to hold our hands through this journey we like to call Connect To Fitness.
As I drove away from Boulder City, I once again came back to reality and began to plan in my mind for the rest of my evening, as well as for what lies ahead. All the while, I was filled with the feeling of accomplishment which in turn led me to reaffirm my ‘belief’ into ‘knowledge’ that anything we set our minds to in life is possible. Because it is.
Thank you again, Faithful Reader and Follower, and until next time…
“When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves.”
-William A Ward
“One of the things I keep learning is that the secret of being happy is doing things for other people.” - Dick Gregory
“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” - John Andrew Holmes Jr., American writer and minister
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Dear John Cloud of Time Magazine...
Dear John Cloud,
Upon just recently reading your article in Time Magazine entitled, “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin” (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857,00.html), I wanted to give you a sincere reply as this is a subject that I am extremely passionate about. Whether or not your article was made deliberately to cause a stir of controversy, I don’t know and I don’t care. I just can’t find it within myself to stay quiet any longer.
Being in the fitness industry prior to going to school, having went to school to become a personal trainer, having worked with and having been mentored by some of the most recognized, decorated, successful, and educated professionals in the world, having trained clients of my own, and being loyal to training myself, I can tell you first hand that if there is anything I have learned about the state of today’s people, it’s that, collectively,they need to move a LOT more and eat a LOT less.
Having introduced myself, I would therefore like to ask you what your contribution to the fitness industry has been as far as education, hands-on experience, professionalism, as well as your own training? I ask this for a number of reasons, the first being to get to know you a little better and second being I don’t believe you have had any formal training nor do I believe that you understand the science underlying the art of weight loss and of the body itself. How do I know this? Well, for one; you inquired in your article about whether, “…exercise turn fat to muscle, and doesn't muscle process excess calories more efficiently than fat does?”. If you would have done just a little bit more research, you would have found, Mr. Cloud, that it is impossible for muscle to turn to fat, or vice versa, as fat and muscle are two entirely different types of tissue. Everyone has both fat cells and muscle cells, and it isn’t a matter of transforming one into the other, but it is a matter of shrinking and growing these different tissue types to transform your body composition. This is something that can be accomplished by both moving your body and by feeding your body not only the right amount of food, but the right types of food. I was embarrassed reading your article for your own sake and am just sick that you would impede on an industry you have no business being involved in.
What many people fail to realize is that being ‘healthy’ isn’t just a term used synonymously with a quick-fix without effort, rather it is a combined effort of being healthy from the inside-out; from your brain and how you feel mentally, to your mouth and digestive system and what you are putting in it each day, to your body and how your training program is designed to help benefit your specific and individual needs physically. Being ‘healthy’ is not in style just for bikini or wedding season. Rather, it is a life-long commitment just like a marriage or any other lasting relationship between two people. It is something you need to be dedicated to and something that can’t be accomplished without all the correct elements in place. As a country, fitness and wellness has become completely commercialized and so many of us are deceived into thinking that if we all eat a certain (and similar) way and if we all move in a certain (or similar) way then we will see fast (and similar) progress in ‘6 minutes or less!’. Folks... this isn’t reality and the truth is that each of our bodies are as individual as our fingerprints in what we need to attain our own optimal health. Our features inside are as unique as the features we possess on the outside, and although you touched on this briefly, Mr. Cloud, I don’t believe you and I are delivering the same message to the public on the specifics of this topic.
Just as each human body is as one-of-a-kind as our own fingerprints, so are our specific needs for our specific fitness, wellness and health goals. You mention how vigorous exercise may not be for everyone, and certainly this is a valid and respectable point to mention as you are correct in your statement. Depending on your specific goals, vigorous exercise may NOT be the best possible answer for your body and for attaining these goals, especially if you have any contraindications permitting you from performing high intensity training or if you just simply don't need it for your personal needs. To optimize weight loss in a healthy and efficient manner, you have to incorporate not JUST clean eating or JUST exercise or JUST having a clean mental plate, but all three of these aspects meshed together to create a combined effort of life-long commitment. What controls the body controls the mind, and what controls the mind controls the body. Exercise is not a cure for negative eating habits and patterns. You can train all you want, but if you aren’t receiving the proper nutrients needed for your body to function correctly, you are still going to either plateau, maintain, or (most often) gain weight. With all the junk and processed food we have at our disposal these days, it’s no wonder people aren’t losing weight! The simple science of weight loss first involves a caloric deficit combined with movement. The calories you are expending each day, or your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), have, have, HAVE to be more than what you are taking in through food, or reaching your fitness goals of weight loss will be next to impossible.
In your article, you mentioned how obese people actually burn more calories per day than an average person who isn’t overweight might burn. Reverting back to TDEE… A person’s total daily energy expenditure is the sum of your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the calories you expend processing and digesting the food you consume, and the calories burned through activity level. The first two variables aren’t subject to too much manipulation as they are, on average, pretty standard in people of similar weight and size. Energy expenditure through physical activity (or lack of, in many cases) is extremely variable and the generally the easiest controlled of the three components that make up TDEE. Scientifically speaking, heavier people burn more calories than lighter people when doing the same work as it takes more energy to fuel and move a heavier body, no matter WHAT the activity may be. This doesn’t cultivate that overweight and obese people are ‘exercising’ any more than average or lighter people, this is just a variable that is proportionate to body weight and size. So, you were essentially correct in your 'findings', Mr. Cloud, but your presentation on the matter was vague and you used this to take advantage of your audience in misguiding them by not explaining the science behind your observation and claim.
‘Exercise’ in itself is a term in which people, like yourself, cringe upon hearing. The word itself is partly deceiving because it has been used synonymously with training in a gym or something similar, and not everyone enjoys training in that environment. It creates a narrow pathway and a sour taste in the mouth of most people and they aren’t able to open their eyes a broader standpoint that all this word essentially is referring to is ‘movement’. As a population, we in no way, shape, or form move as much as we once did. Humans report (as you mentioned) that they are moving ‘more than ever’ and that they are meeting the recommended daily guidelines established by such organizations as ACSM, NSCA and many other accredited organizations. The fact of the matter, plain and simple, is that as life and technology fuse together, we are not moving like our ancestors did, and people tend to over-report their activity levels to begin with. You claim you would be better off not going to the gym and taking up leisure activities and incorporating short bursts of activity into your day whether it be taking the stairs, walking more, etc. Have you actually TRIED doing this or incorporating this into your life? Unless we miraculously have technology stripped from our everyday lives (right down to our vehicles), we will never again, as a human race, acquire the same energy output that our ancestors did way back when no matter HOW many stairs we climb or parking lots we walk. We are a population that is now accustomed to sitting whenever possible and getting up only to sit down once again. I mean, think about it… We (humans) are the only animals on the planet that have managed to change our environment. We have established a convenient world where food can be replenished and where we can rely on technology to do most of our dirty work for us. Sure, we can (and should!) incorporate other daily activities into our lives besides our daily workout at the gym. We should definitely take stairs and walk from here to there. But my point is that we just need to collectively get up and just move no matter where you are going or what you are doing! Every little bit of activity counts and the more calories we burn… the better.
Just as well, I mentioned above that exercise does NOT undue poor eating and nutrition habits. In your case, you claim that it’s because of exercise that you aren’t losing your gut. Have you thought about what your gut might look like if you were to stop exercising?... It appears you are in a maintenance stage as you aren’t gaining or losing any weight, but that you aren’t fusing together the proper elements of an all-around lifestyle change, including the mental, physical and emotional aspects. Clean eating is a tremendous part of weight loss, just as well as eating the right portion sizes, nutrients and nutrient timing, number of meals, and so on. Have you gone or considered seeing a registered dietitian or nutritionist? Part of the problem we are facing today is that we are stuffing our faces with processed garbage, artificial flavors, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, trans fats, white everything (table salt, sugar, flour, etc…), artificial sugars and sugar substitutes, non-organic food and food products plagued with hormones, pesticides and other harmful chemicals, and the list goes on!!! What we fail to realize is that these substances weren’t made to be consumed by the human body and when we are constantly feeding ourselves these substances; our bodies aren't accustomed to digesting these substances and guess what? It stores them. That’s right. Many of them DON’T digest. Try that one on for size. In a world of processed everything and anything, we are basically the guinea pigs of these food companies luring us and feeding us this garbage. If you were to eat clean and keep up your weekly training regiment, I have no doubts that you would see more progress than you are now. Maybe start by asking yourself if you are eating good, quality food and if you are getting the proper nutrients, fiber and servings needed for weight loss to supplement your training. Are you drinking enough water and how many meals are you consuming? It also wouldn’t hurt to seek out advice from a professional who could analyze your dietary intake and give you some helpful suggestions on how to eat right.
Just as well, in your ‘findings’ you say that exercise induces appetite, when in fact just the opposite has been proven to be true (found in studies done by Les Mills, University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology, NSCA, etc…). Exercise actually suppresses appetite hormones during and after training and can actually help lead to weight loss if managed properly. When managing your diet for weight loss, it is of dire importance that you are eating the right foods for your body and at the right times. If you aren’t, then you aren’t going to lose weight the way you want and you aren’t going to see results even though you are training.
All in all, this article was extremely disappointing as the whole reason why our country and this world are in such a bad state is because of these same reasons you are advocating. As a country, we need to move more, eat better and be more cognizant of our mental state and how we are managing our stress and stress levels. We are no longer living like our ancestors and we have to (sadly) look and search for ways to incorporate activity into our lives and we also have to search high and low for good, quality food that we can feel safe about putting into our systems. Weight loss isn’t an easy task and there are many, many other elements involved in the process. As you can see, life without the caloric expenditure of the past and without clean eating has led us to become the most unhealthy country in the world. And decidedly so. If you look at less established, less industrialized and less commercialized countries where the people rely on the land and hard work through constant labor, they are far better off then we are. They are treating their bodies exactly as nature intended for them to. In America and in other advanced countries, we have the 'luxury' of sitting back and letting technology take the ropes for us in completing our daily tasks. We don’t use our minds or bodies as we used to, yet we eat more food then ever before. The body is very adaptable, but not very fast and efficient at evolving. It takes the human race over 100,000 years to evolve and we are forcing ourselves to go against the grain of Mother Nature by evolving in a way that we aren’t able to quite get a grasp on and handle efficiently.
We are more than capable of making changes, even if we start off small, and you, Mr. Cloud, are no different. Invest some time into learning more about the subject you are committing to sabotage and realize that you are taking the easy way out by looking for a quick fix. You have made yourself the poster-child for what's wrong with our country and the way we think (and what we THINK we know) about health. Dedicate your life to incorporating all aspects of health and fitness into each day with the help of qualified professionals, and you will begin to see the results you are lacking. Many people other than yourself simply aren’t educated on these subjects and therefore have troubles making decisions of their own as they have no prior knowledge to give them a solid base for their assumptions. Stand for something, Mr. Cloud, but stand for something that will help to benefit the world, not something that will give just another excuse to keep ‘sitting’ around waiting for something to happen. That solution will never and has never paid off and it’s not going to start now.
To help prevent a lot of these misconceptions Mr. Cloud so diligently reported on, Connect To Fitness is in the works of establishing a magazine made for and made by professionals and aspiring professionals who can deliver the knowledge they have attained through education, experience, hard work, and through their own misconceptions that have helped them to thrive in this industry. It is being created with the intentions to showcase and feature the best of the best in the Las Vegas Valley and will keep you up to date with a variety of subjects ranging from business to inspiration, to mental exercise to nutrition, to fitness and exercise. It will also spotlight different professionals and different facilities in the area that deserve recognition and will also include job postings and classifieds. We are currently looking to bring together a solid team and I am pleased to say that I couldn’t be happier with the select people who are already on board. You are definitely in for a treat and we want to reach out to you, Faithful Reader, in getting the word out about the opportunity to work with CTF in creating this valuable resource that will provide a wealth of knowledge to you and the public. Ideally, each professional will have a designated topic that they will be designated to report on for each issue, and they will be responsible for creating their articles and columns. CTF is going to work hard to bring you the best of the best with the promise to deliver legitimate, accurate and beneficial information from those who specialize in it. The featured professionals can benefit as well by getting their names out and by sharing their knowledge and experiences with those who desire to learn from those who know best. There is a need for quality information as millions of people read things like Time Magazine and receive deceitful information from people like Mr. Cloud. This needs to be prevented and the truth needs to be exposed.
Join us, Faithful Reader, as we take the next step in our journey to become a better organization for you and for the industry. Let’s help each other to build a solid foundation that can’t be touched and that we can rightfully call, Connect To Fitness. And Mr. Cloud, would you please take (another) seat, and quit your whining?
(If interested in contributing, please contact me directly on Blogspot, Facebook, Myspace, or by email: Epfitness@gmail.com or ConnectToFitness.gmail.com)
Until next week, Faithful Reader…
“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.” –Buddah
“A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.” –Spanish proverb
“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” -Mark Twain
Upon just recently reading your article in Time Magazine entitled, “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin” (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857,00.html), I wanted to give you a sincere reply as this is a subject that I am extremely passionate about. Whether or not your article was made deliberately to cause a stir of controversy, I don’t know and I don’t care. I just can’t find it within myself to stay quiet any longer.
Being in the fitness industry prior to going to school, having went to school to become a personal trainer, having worked with and having been mentored by some of the most recognized, decorated, successful, and educated professionals in the world, having trained clients of my own, and being loyal to training myself, I can tell you first hand that if there is anything I have learned about the state of today’s people, it’s that, collectively,they need to move a LOT more and eat a LOT less.
Having introduced myself, I would therefore like to ask you what your contribution to the fitness industry has been as far as education, hands-on experience, professionalism, as well as your own training? I ask this for a number of reasons, the first being to get to know you a little better and second being I don’t believe you have had any formal training nor do I believe that you understand the science underlying the art of weight loss and of the body itself. How do I know this? Well, for one; you inquired in your article about whether, “…exercise turn fat to muscle, and doesn't muscle process excess calories more efficiently than fat does?”. If you would have done just a little bit more research, you would have found, Mr. Cloud, that it is impossible for muscle to turn to fat, or vice versa, as fat and muscle are two entirely different types of tissue. Everyone has both fat cells and muscle cells, and it isn’t a matter of transforming one into the other, but it is a matter of shrinking and growing these different tissue types to transform your body composition. This is something that can be accomplished by both moving your body and by feeding your body not only the right amount of food, but the right types of food. I was embarrassed reading your article for your own sake and am just sick that you would impede on an industry you have no business being involved in.
What many people fail to realize is that being ‘healthy’ isn’t just a term used synonymously with a quick-fix without effort, rather it is a combined effort of being healthy from the inside-out; from your brain and how you feel mentally, to your mouth and digestive system and what you are putting in it each day, to your body and how your training program is designed to help benefit your specific and individual needs physically. Being ‘healthy’ is not in style just for bikini or wedding season. Rather, it is a life-long commitment just like a marriage or any other lasting relationship between two people. It is something you need to be dedicated to and something that can’t be accomplished without all the correct elements in place. As a country, fitness and wellness has become completely commercialized and so many of us are deceived into thinking that if we all eat a certain (and similar) way and if we all move in a certain (or similar) way then we will see fast (and similar) progress in ‘6 minutes or less!’. Folks... this isn’t reality and the truth is that each of our bodies are as individual as our fingerprints in what we need to attain our own optimal health. Our features inside are as unique as the features we possess on the outside, and although you touched on this briefly, Mr. Cloud, I don’t believe you and I are delivering the same message to the public on the specifics of this topic.
Just as each human body is as one-of-a-kind as our own fingerprints, so are our specific needs for our specific fitness, wellness and health goals. You mention how vigorous exercise may not be for everyone, and certainly this is a valid and respectable point to mention as you are correct in your statement. Depending on your specific goals, vigorous exercise may NOT be the best possible answer for your body and for attaining these goals, especially if you have any contraindications permitting you from performing high intensity training or if you just simply don't need it for your personal needs. To optimize weight loss in a healthy and efficient manner, you have to incorporate not JUST clean eating or JUST exercise or JUST having a clean mental plate, but all three of these aspects meshed together to create a combined effort of life-long commitment. What controls the body controls the mind, and what controls the mind controls the body. Exercise is not a cure for negative eating habits and patterns. You can train all you want, but if you aren’t receiving the proper nutrients needed for your body to function correctly, you are still going to either plateau, maintain, or (most often) gain weight. With all the junk and processed food we have at our disposal these days, it’s no wonder people aren’t losing weight! The simple science of weight loss first involves a caloric deficit combined with movement. The calories you are expending each day, or your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), have, have, HAVE to be more than what you are taking in through food, or reaching your fitness goals of weight loss will be next to impossible.
In your article, you mentioned how obese people actually burn more calories per day than an average person who isn’t overweight might burn. Reverting back to TDEE… A person’s total daily energy expenditure is the sum of your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the calories you expend processing and digesting the food you consume, and the calories burned through activity level. The first two variables aren’t subject to too much manipulation as they are, on average, pretty standard in people of similar weight and size. Energy expenditure through physical activity (or lack of, in many cases) is extremely variable and the generally the easiest controlled of the three components that make up TDEE. Scientifically speaking, heavier people burn more calories than lighter people when doing the same work as it takes more energy to fuel and move a heavier body, no matter WHAT the activity may be. This doesn’t cultivate that overweight and obese people are ‘exercising’ any more than average or lighter people, this is just a variable that is proportionate to body weight and size. So, you were essentially correct in your 'findings', Mr. Cloud, but your presentation on the matter was vague and you used this to take advantage of your audience in misguiding them by not explaining the science behind your observation and claim.
‘Exercise’ in itself is a term in which people, like yourself, cringe upon hearing. The word itself is partly deceiving because it has been used synonymously with training in a gym or something similar, and not everyone enjoys training in that environment. It creates a narrow pathway and a sour taste in the mouth of most people and they aren’t able to open their eyes a broader standpoint that all this word essentially is referring to is ‘movement’. As a population, we in no way, shape, or form move as much as we once did. Humans report (as you mentioned) that they are moving ‘more than ever’ and that they are meeting the recommended daily guidelines established by such organizations as ACSM, NSCA and many other accredited organizations. The fact of the matter, plain and simple, is that as life and technology fuse together, we are not moving like our ancestors did, and people tend to over-report their activity levels to begin with. You claim you would be better off not going to the gym and taking up leisure activities and incorporating short bursts of activity into your day whether it be taking the stairs, walking more, etc. Have you actually TRIED doing this or incorporating this into your life? Unless we miraculously have technology stripped from our everyday lives (right down to our vehicles), we will never again, as a human race, acquire the same energy output that our ancestors did way back when no matter HOW many stairs we climb or parking lots we walk. We are a population that is now accustomed to sitting whenever possible and getting up only to sit down once again. I mean, think about it… We (humans) are the only animals on the planet that have managed to change our environment. We have established a convenient world where food can be replenished and where we can rely on technology to do most of our dirty work for us. Sure, we can (and should!) incorporate other daily activities into our lives besides our daily workout at the gym. We should definitely take stairs and walk from here to there. But my point is that we just need to collectively get up and just move no matter where you are going or what you are doing! Every little bit of activity counts and the more calories we burn… the better.
Just as well, I mentioned above that exercise does NOT undue poor eating and nutrition habits. In your case, you claim that it’s because of exercise that you aren’t losing your gut. Have you thought about what your gut might look like if you were to stop exercising?... It appears you are in a maintenance stage as you aren’t gaining or losing any weight, but that you aren’t fusing together the proper elements of an all-around lifestyle change, including the mental, physical and emotional aspects. Clean eating is a tremendous part of weight loss, just as well as eating the right portion sizes, nutrients and nutrient timing, number of meals, and so on. Have you gone or considered seeing a registered dietitian or nutritionist? Part of the problem we are facing today is that we are stuffing our faces with processed garbage, artificial flavors, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, trans fats, white everything (table salt, sugar, flour, etc…), artificial sugars and sugar substitutes, non-organic food and food products plagued with hormones, pesticides and other harmful chemicals, and the list goes on!!! What we fail to realize is that these substances weren’t made to be consumed by the human body and when we are constantly feeding ourselves these substances; our bodies aren't accustomed to digesting these substances and guess what? It stores them. That’s right. Many of them DON’T digest. Try that one on for size. In a world of processed everything and anything, we are basically the guinea pigs of these food companies luring us and feeding us this garbage. If you were to eat clean and keep up your weekly training regiment, I have no doubts that you would see more progress than you are now. Maybe start by asking yourself if you are eating good, quality food and if you are getting the proper nutrients, fiber and servings needed for weight loss to supplement your training. Are you drinking enough water and how many meals are you consuming? It also wouldn’t hurt to seek out advice from a professional who could analyze your dietary intake and give you some helpful suggestions on how to eat right.
Just as well, in your ‘findings’ you say that exercise induces appetite, when in fact just the opposite has been proven to be true (found in studies done by Les Mills, University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology, NSCA, etc…). Exercise actually suppresses appetite hormones during and after training and can actually help lead to weight loss if managed properly. When managing your diet for weight loss, it is of dire importance that you are eating the right foods for your body and at the right times. If you aren’t, then you aren’t going to lose weight the way you want and you aren’t going to see results even though you are training.
All in all, this article was extremely disappointing as the whole reason why our country and this world are in such a bad state is because of these same reasons you are advocating. As a country, we need to move more, eat better and be more cognizant of our mental state and how we are managing our stress and stress levels. We are no longer living like our ancestors and we have to (sadly) look and search for ways to incorporate activity into our lives and we also have to search high and low for good, quality food that we can feel safe about putting into our systems. Weight loss isn’t an easy task and there are many, many other elements involved in the process. As you can see, life without the caloric expenditure of the past and without clean eating has led us to become the most unhealthy country in the world. And decidedly so. If you look at less established, less industrialized and less commercialized countries where the people rely on the land and hard work through constant labor, they are far better off then we are. They are treating their bodies exactly as nature intended for them to. In America and in other advanced countries, we have the 'luxury' of sitting back and letting technology take the ropes for us in completing our daily tasks. We don’t use our minds or bodies as we used to, yet we eat more food then ever before. The body is very adaptable, but not very fast and efficient at evolving. It takes the human race over 100,000 years to evolve and we are forcing ourselves to go against the grain of Mother Nature by evolving in a way that we aren’t able to quite get a grasp on and handle efficiently.
We are more than capable of making changes, even if we start off small, and you, Mr. Cloud, are no different. Invest some time into learning more about the subject you are committing to sabotage and realize that you are taking the easy way out by looking for a quick fix. You have made yourself the poster-child for what's wrong with our country and the way we think (and what we THINK we know) about health. Dedicate your life to incorporating all aspects of health and fitness into each day with the help of qualified professionals, and you will begin to see the results you are lacking. Many people other than yourself simply aren’t educated on these subjects and therefore have troubles making decisions of their own as they have no prior knowledge to give them a solid base for their assumptions. Stand for something, Mr. Cloud, but stand for something that will help to benefit the world, not something that will give just another excuse to keep ‘sitting’ around waiting for something to happen. That solution will never and has never paid off and it’s not going to start now.
To help prevent a lot of these misconceptions Mr. Cloud so diligently reported on, Connect To Fitness is in the works of establishing a magazine made for and made by professionals and aspiring professionals who can deliver the knowledge they have attained through education, experience, hard work, and through their own misconceptions that have helped them to thrive in this industry. It is being created with the intentions to showcase and feature the best of the best in the Las Vegas Valley and will keep you up to date with a variety of subjects ranging from business to inspiration, to mental exercise to nutrition, to fitness and exercise. It will also spotlight different professionals and different facilities in the area that deserve recognition and will also include job postings and classifieds. We are currently looking to bring together a solid team and I am pleased to say that I couldn’t be happier with the select people who are already on board. You are definitely in for a treat and we want to reach out to you, Faithful Reader, in getting the word out about the opportunity to work with CTF in creating this valuable resource that will provide a wealth of knowledge to you and the public. Ideally, each professional will have a designated topic that they will be designated to report on for each issue, and they will be responsible for creating their articles and columns. CTF is going to work hard to bring you the best of the best with the promise to deliver legitimate, accurate and beneficial information from those who specialize in it. The featured professionals can benefit as well by getting their names out and by sharing their knowledge and experiences with those who desire to learn from those who know best. There is a need for quality information as millions of people read things like Time Magazine and receive deceitful information from people like Mr. Cloud. This needs to be prevented and the truth needs to be exposed.
Join us, Faithful Reader, as we take the next step in our journey to become a better organization for you and for the industry. Let’s help each other to build a solid foundation that can’t be touched and that we can rightfully call, Connect To Fitness. And Mr. Cloud, would you please take (another) seat, and quit your whining?
(If interested in contributing, please contact me directly on Blogspot, Facebook, Myspace, or by email: Epfitness@gmail.com or ConnectToFitness.gmail.com)
Until next week, Faithful Reader…
“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.” –Buddah
“A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.” –Spanish proverb
“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” -Mark Twain
Monday, August 17, 2009
Aha!
What would you consider to be your ‘Aha!’ moment in life? Reflect for just a moment on what event or series of events lead you to where you presently are right now. What caused that moment and where would you be without it?
After completing yet another amazing, inspirational, and life-changing and monthly Boot Camp at the Professional Fitness Institute, I had an ‘Aha’ moment myself when I took a step back and reminisced how I was in the shoes of each of the remarkable students who I had the honor of spending time with this past week. I realized that just over a year ago, I was going through my own transformation without a clue of what really lied ahead for me and what destiny had laying on the table for me all along. I looked back and thought how I would have rolled my eyes and laughed had someone told me where I would be a year later.
During the week while talking to two of my best friends and brilliant coworkers, Kristina Lindquist and Alex Chavez, we got into a discussion on a book Tina highly recommended about leadership and success and what it is that might cause someone to be a leader. Interestingly enough, one of the major contributions to success is nothing short of how a person reacts to their own ‘Aha’ moment, or crucible.
In life, each person has single (or multiple) moments that come periodically every once and a while that challenge us to think on our toes and to react quickly. Most of these moments can make or break us and it’s up to us to ‘respond’ instead of ‘react’ on a whim. When the unexpected happens to us, it can be difficult if not impossible to look at it as a possible opportunity as most of the time we are caught off guard and may not notice the subliminal message behind whatever has occurred. But it is these moments that may or may not ultimately defy us as individuals and success stories. When we choose to react to these moments instead of stepping back, weighing our options, and thinking about how to respond, we are unintentionally choosing to pass up a possible life-changing/-altering moment in time.
Think about a moment when you reacted on impulse to a circumstance that affected you deeply, whether it was emotional, physical, spiritual or mental. Think about how you felt at that moment and how tousled and jumbled your thoughts were. Was the final result a positive or negative reaction? It is our natural instinct, as humans, to react to any external or internal stimuli that may put us into an extreme emotional positive or negative state. It is during these times when our ‘fight or flight’ hormones take over and our judgment and may be impaired. It is also during these times when we typically make a negative or ‘wrong’ decision as a result of not thinking things through completely. When we choose to ‘react’ instead of ‘respond’ to our crucibles, we are setting ourselves up to possibly miss a great opportunity or prospect. If we can take the time out to step back, notice when these situations arise and take a second to actually think about and ponder what is happening, we are giving ourselves the option to respond and make a resolution that will benefit us instead of put us into a disposition.
In this classic example of reaction versus response, reflect on an instance when you were so incredibly upset at the world or at a certain person and instead of taking time to sit and gather your thoughts, you begin taking out all your stress on the first person you cross paths with. How did that situation pan out? More likely than not, it was something you fully regretted after it was over because you acted completely on impulse and you weren’t ‘being yourself’. Is this ringing a bell? Sure… maybe this isn’t your ‘crucible’ per-se, but is a common denominator that frequently happens as a result of a negative reaction. A crucible can be any number of things from an unexpected opportunity, to a chance meeting with someone you can benefit from, to randomly being in the right place at the right time, to even something as simple as stepping out of your box and trying something new… and liking it. Each of these elements can be obscured in emotions and disguised as distractions, but in reality, these are the things in life we need to grasp hold of and take a moment to analyze for they could have a tremendous effect on our future and our lives as we know it. How you choose to react or respond can have either a positive or negative impact on the situation as a whole.
So, what does this ‘aha’ moment stuff have to do with success, achievement, etc… you ask? Well, a lot, actually. While many people don’t see the door opening in front of them when these situations arise, a few others can essentially use the ‘glass half full’ philosophy and find a small window of opportunity, even in situations when the outcome appears grim or even ‘impossible’. It could be a moment of clarity, a moment of inspiration or even a moment that changes your life. What these people do versus most people is they find the one positive aspect of a situation and they grasp hold of it without letting go. When things aren’t optimal, it can be difficult to remain and stay positive or have hope. It is much easier to dwell on something bad then it is to change it by doing something about it.
One of my own (many) crucibles happened right here in Las Vegas during my externship at the Professional Fitness Institute. In a time when the economy was really beginning to crack it’s whip on our country, all I could think about was how much I didn’t just want, but NEEDED to be effective in my career. I had put so much work and effort into passing one of (if not THE) most difficult exam in the personal training world and I had the most amazing training possible from both the gym I worked at (the Pennbriar Athletic Club) and an amazing privately owned personal training (only) studio that helped me discover how to apply my knowledge into practical experience (Power Personal Training), I still felt that there was an element of my life that was missing. I was happy and content, but not complete. By nature, I am not a person who enjoys being ‘comfortable’ as I have watched many people bask in their comfort and never aspire for anything more. So, naturally, I needed that ‘something more’, but felt at a loss as to where to find it. Having rarely ever left my small hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, I wasn’t expecting my solution to be so far away.
So, last July, I came out and my ‘crucible’ presented itself to me in the form of a select few individuals who gave me the best experience I had ever had in my entire lifetime. It was one of those things where you just know it was meant to be. The central void in my solar plexus was suddenly filled to the top and spilling over in the time I spent in Vegas, and as my time here dwindled I knew I had to return home. And I did. But I returned home even more ambitious and knew that against all odds, I was going to move to Las Vegas. I realized so heavily while I was out here that what I, personally, desire above all else in this world is to have an impact on as many people’s lives as I possibly can, and I realized that I just simply wasn’t able to reach enough people back home. In learning about the declining health status and the growing epidemics plaguing the nation and the world, I just couldn’t sit back and watch it happen. It wasn’t even an option. When I discovered the need for great professionals (and not just great professionals, but great FEMALE professionals) in the industry, it became physically, mentally and emotionally impossible for me to not desire with all my heart to help contribute to filling this gap. The ‘Aha’ bug had hit me, and it hit me hard. How was I going to get the word out? It was so strange how overpowering this desire was and it was only getting stronger by the day. I found my calling, but I was living 3,000 miles away from my destiny. I felt that my potential to grow in my chosen industry was stunted by residing in such a small town. Coming to Las Vegas helped me realize the potential of living in a huge city with limitless opportunity and room to grow. In the months that followed after my return home, I hit a few brick walls that I knew could make or break me and I decided to make a conscious effort to analyze every situation and take careful time to positively respond to them and not negatively react. The bumps in the road were extremely intense and Life truly did it’s best in trying to push me down and keep me down. But the thing that helped me push through wasn’t the fact that I was able to internally digest and recognize a life-changing opportunity that I wanted so greatly; it was the fact that I decided to run full-speed ahead to what I wanted and desired without putting a limitation on what I, or anyone else, deemed ‘possible’. When you are able to picture something so clearly in your mind time after time, it no longer is surrounded by boundaries. I took my ‘Aha’ moment and I decided to make it drive my aspiration forward. In going home, the temptation lied in just packing up and coming out post-haste… The problem at hand was that if I would have reacted impulsively to this stimulus, I knew I wouldn’t have been prepared for the long-haul. So, although it wasn’t by any means easy, I took the next 8 months to game-plan and find the most effective time and way to make a successful move. In planning for anything long-term, the best thing we can do is not jump into something impulsively without looking at all the consequences and repercussions that may arise.
Albert Einstein, himself, had his own ‘Aha Moment’ before he discovered the equivalence principle, which was a foundation for his General Theory of Relativity. Einstein, whom at the time was 28, was working a dead-end job completely unrelated to physics as a patent examiner when one day a random thought came to his mind, “…if a person were in free-fall, he or she would not feel their own weight…”. This thought spawned one of the greatest theories of all time. This thought was also later described by Einstein as, “the happiest thought in my life.”
If Einstein had decided to let this thought pass by without taking time to process it and to put into action a way to make it applicable to life, who KNOWS where we would be! Every person in the world has had crucibles happen to them throughout their lives. Leaders and people of success aren’t the ones who take a look around them and contently wait for things to happen. They are the ones who search for that window of opportunity, no matter how small, and do the things that others either fear doing, haven’t thought of doing, or aren’t doing.
In a final example, I want you, Faithful Reader, to realize the potential you have right at your disposal in creating your own crucible. An innovation in itself, Connect To Fitness was an ‘idea’ thought up by a man who was able to recognize the state of the health, wellness and fitness industry, and who was willing to step up the plate to do something about it. CTF President, Dr. Darian Parker, had an enormous idea that seemed crazy enough to work. So, did he sit back and wait for something to happen or for someone else to step up to the plate? No. He took a significant amount of time to find out how to respond to this idea he just couldn’t shake. And it was designed for you, Faithful Reader, to be able to channel and create your own crucibles and ‘Aha’s’ into reality. Envision your ideal future exactly how you want it to be and ask yourself what you are doing right now to turn it into reality. Nothing has to be ideal in life, and nothing is impossible if we can just believe in ourselves, our potential and in our ideas. If everyone believed only in the impossible, life as we know it would cease to exist. Connect To Fitness has been making incredible strides in connecting professionals from all over the Vegas Valley together for one common cause: To improve this industry in every facet. Just as I always say, ‘There is no such thing as a self made man.’ This couldn’t ring more true and we are going to great lengths in proving this each day. If you haven’t yet come to one of our events, you are truly missing out on a great opportunity to meet with the people of your area who share like interests and goals and also in getting to see and visit different locations and facilities around Vegas that are making strides as well. The events are a blast and it has been an honor to meet with so many amazing professionals who are motivated to see through their crucibles to the end. There has never been a more crucial time in the health, wellness, and fitness profession to unite and give rise to something so big that the world will have no choice but to listen. It’s up to you to take that initiative, that one step forward. Get out of your comfort zone and set your sights on the change you wish you see in this world. Become those thoughts and ideas and let them propel you forward. Alone, we are only one voice, one idea. Together, we are a million voices strong and unstoppable.
How would your life look years down the road if you decided to take that leap of faith into pursuing and ‘responding’ to your crucible(s)? Alone, we are only one voice, one idea. But together, we are a million voices strong and unstoppable.
Until next time, Faithful Reader…
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” –Steve Jobs
“Discovery consists of seeing what everybody else has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” -Albert von Szent-Gyorgy
“The human body has two ends on it: one to create with and one to sit on. Sometimes people get their ends reversed. When this happens they need a kick in the seat of their pants.” –Roger von Oech
After completing yet another amazing, inspirational, and life-changing and monthly Boot Camp at the Professional Fitness Institute, I had an ‘Aha’ moment myself when I took a step back and reminisced how I was in the shoes of each of the remarkable students who I had the honor of spending time with this past week. I realized that just over a year ago, I was going through my own transformation without a clue of what really lied ahead for me and what destiny had laying on the table for me all along. I looked back and thought how I would have rolled my eyes and laughed had someone told me where I would be a year later.
During the week while talking to two of my best friends and brilliant coworkers, Kristina Lindquist and Alex Chavez, we got into a discussion on a book Tina highly recommended about leadership and success and what it is that might cause someone to be a leader. Interestingly enough, one of the major contributions to success is nothing short of how a person reacts to their own ‘Aha’ moment, or crucible.
In life, each person has single (or multiple) moments that come periodically every once and a while that challenge us to think on our toes and to react quickly. Most of these moments can make or break us and it’s up to us to ‘respond’ instead of ‘react’ on a whim. When the unexpected happens to us, it can be difficult if not impossible to look at it as a possible opportunity as most of the time we are caught off guard and may not notice the subliminal message behind whatever has occurred. But it is these moments that may or may not ultimately defy us as individuals and success stories. When we choose to react to these moments instead of stepping back, weighing our options, and thinking about how to respond, we are unintentionally choosing to pass up a possible life-changing/-altering moment in time.
Think about a moment when you reacted on impulse to a circumstance that affected you deeply, whether it was emotional, physical, spiritual or mental. Think about how you felt at that moment and how tousled and jumbled your thoughts were. Was the final result a positive or negative reaction? It is our natural instinct, as humans, to react to any external or internal stimuli that may put us into an extreme emotional positive or negative state. It is during these times when our ‘fight or flight’ hormones take over and our judgment and may be impaired. It is also during these times when we typically make a negative or ‘wrong’ decision as a result of not thinking things through completely. When we choose to ‘react’ instead of ‘respond’ to our crucibles, we are setting ourselves up to possibly miss a great opportunity or prospect. If we can take the time out to step back, notice when these situations arise and take a second to actually think about and ponder what is happening, we are giving ourselves the option to respond and make a resolution that will benefit us instead of put us into a disposition.
In this classic example of reaction versus response, reflect on an instance when you were so incredibly upset at the world or at a certain person and instead of taking time to sit and gather your thoughts, you begin taking out all your stress on the first person you cross paths with. How did that situation pan out? More likely than not, it was something you fully regretted after it was over because you acted completely on impulse and you weren’t ‘being yourself’. Is this ringing a bell? Sure… maybe this isn’t your ‘crucible’ per-se, but is a common denominator that frequently happens as a result of a negative reaction. A crucible can be any number of things from an unexpected opportunity, to a chance meeting with someone you can benefit from, to randomly being in the right place at the right time, to even something as simple as stepping out of your box and trying something new… and liking it. Each of these elements can be obscured in emotions and disguised as distractions, but in reality, these are the things in life we need to grasp hold of and take a moment to analyze for they could have a tremendous effect on our future and our lives as we know it. How you choose to react or respond can have either a positive or negative impact on the situation as a whole.
So, what does this ‘aha’ moment stuff have to do with success, achievement, etc… you ask? Well, a lot, actually. While many people don’t see the door opening in front of them when these situations arise, a few others can essentially use the ‘glass half full’ philosophy and find a small window of opportunity, even in situations when the outcome appears grim or even ‘impossible’. It could be a moment of clarity, a moment of inspiration or even a moment that changes your life. What these people do versus most people is they find the one positive aspect of a situation and they grasp hold of it without letting go. When things aren’t optimal, it can be difficult to remain and stay positive or have hope. It is much easier to dwell on something bad then it is to change it by doing something about it.
One of my own (many) crucibles happened right here in Las Vegas during my externship at the Professional Fitness Institute. In a time when the economy was really beginning to crack it’s whip on our country, all I could think about was how much I didn’t just want, but NEEDED to be effective in my career. I had put so much work and effort into passing one of (if not THE) most difficult exam in the personal training world and I had the most amazing training possible from both the gym I worked at (the Pennbriar Athletic Club) and an amazing privately owned personal training (only) studio that helped me discover how to apply my knowledge into practical experience (Power Personal Training), I still felt that there was an element of my life that was missing. I was happy and content, but not complete. By nature, I am not a person who enjoys being ‘comfortable’ as I have watched many people bask in their comfort and never aspire for anything more. So, naturally, I needed that ‘something more’, but felt at a loss as to where to find it. Having rarely ever left my small hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, I wasn’t expecting my solution to be so far away.
So, last July, I came out and my ‘crucible’ presented itself to me in the form of a select few individuals who gave me the best experience I had ever had in my entire lifetime. It was one of those things where you just know it was meant to be. The central void in my solar plexus was suddenly filled to the top and spilling over in the time I spent in Vegas, and as my time here dwindled I knew I had to return home. And I did. But I returned home even more ambitious and knew that against all odds, I was going to move to Las Vegas. I realized so heavily while I was out here that what I, personally, desire above all else in this world is to have an impact on as many people’s lives as I possibly can, and I realized that I just simply wasn’t able to reach enough people back home. In learning about the declining health status and the growing epidemics plaguing the nation and the world, I just couldn’t sit back and watch it happen. It wasn’t even an option. When I discovered the need for great professionals (and not just great professionals, but great FEMALE professionals) in the industry, it became physically, mentally and emotionally impossible for me to not desire with all my heart to help contribute to filling this gap. The ‘Aha’ bug had hit me, and it hit me hard. How was I going to get the word out? It was so strange how overpowering this desire was and it was only getting stronger by the day. I found my calling, but I was living 3,000 miles away from my destiny. I felt that my potential to grow in my chosen industry was stunted by residing in such a small town. Coming to Las Vegas helped me realize the potential of living in a huge city with limitless opportunity and room to grow. In the months that followed after my return home, I hit a few brick walls that I knew could make or break me and I decided to make a conscious effort to analyze every situation and take careful time to positively respond to them and not negatively react. The bumps in the road were extremely intense and Life truly did it’s best in trying to push me down and keep me down. But the thing that helped me push through wasn’t the fact that I was able to internally digest and recognize a life-changing opportunity that I wanted so greatly; it was the fact that I decided to run full-speed ahead to what I wanted and desired without putting a limitation on what I, or anyone else, deemed ‘possible’. When you are able to picture something so clearly in your mind time after time, it no longer is surrounded by boundaries. I took my ‘Aha’ moment and I decided to make it drive my aspiration forward. In going home, the temptation lied in just packing up and coming out post-haste… The problem at hand was that if I would have reacted impulsively to this stimulus, I knew I wouldn’t have been prepared for the long-haul. So, although it wasn’t by any means easy, I took the next 8 months to game-plan and find the most effective time and way to make a successful move. In planning for anything long-term, the best thing we can do is not jump into something impulsively without looking at all the consequences and repercussions that may arise.
Albert Einstein, himself, had his own ‘Aha Moment’ before he discovered the equivalence principle, which was a foundation for his General Theory of Relativity. Einstein, whom at the time was 28, was working a dead-end job completely unrelated to physics as a patent examiner when one day a random thought came to his mind, “…if a person were in free-fall, he or she would not feel their own weight…”. This thought spawned one of the greatest theories of all time. This thought was also later described by Einstein as, “the happiest thought in my life.”
If Einstein had decided to let this thought pass by without taking time to process it and to put into action a way to make it applicable to life, who KNOWS where we would be! Every person in the world has had crucibles happen to them throughout their lives. Leaders and people of success aren’t the ones who take a look around them and contently wait for things to happen. They are the ones who search for that window of opportunity, no matter how small, and do the things that others either fear doing, haven’t thought of doing, or aren’t doing.
In a final example, I want you, Faithful Reader, to realize the potential you have right at your disposal in creating your own crucible. An innovation in itself, Connect To Fitness was an ‘idea’ thought up by a man who was able to recognize the state of the health, wellness and fitness industry, and who was willing to step up the plate to do something about it. CTF President, Dr. Darian Parker, had an enormous idea that seemed crazy enough to work. So, did he sit back and wait for something to happen or for someone else to step up to the plate? No. He took a significant amount of time to find out how to respond to this idea he just couldn’t shake. And it was designed for you, Faithful Reader, to be able to channel and create your own crucibles and ‘Aha’s’ into reality. Envision your ideal future exactly how you want it to be and ask yourself what you are doing right now to turn it into reality. Nothing has to be ideal in life, and nothing is impossible if we can just believe in ourselves, our potential and in our ideas. If everyone believed only in the impossible, life as we know it would cease to exist. Connect To Fitness has been making incredible strides in connecting professionals from all over the Vegas Valley together for one common cause: To improve this industry in every facet. Just as I always say, ‘There is no such thing as a self made man.’ This couldn’t ring more true and we are going to great lengths in proving this each day. If you haven’t yet come to one of our events, you are truly missing out on a great opportunity to meet with the people of your area who share like interests and goals and also in getting to see and visit different locations and facilities around Vegas that are making strides as well. The events are a blast and it has been an honor to meet with so many amazing professionals who are motivated to see through their crucibles to the end. There has never been a more crucial time in the health, wellness, and fitness profession to unite and give rise to something so big that the world will have no choice but to listen. It’s up to you to take that initiative, that one step forward. Get out of your comfort zone and set your sights on the change you wish you see in this world. Become those thoughts and ideas and let them propel you forward. Alone, we are only one voice, one idea. Together, we are a million voices strong and unstoppable.
How would your life look years down the road if you decided to take that leap of faith into pursuing and ‘responding’ to your crucible(s)? Alone, we are only one voice, one idea. But together, we are a million voices strong and unstoppable.
Until next time, Faithful Reader…
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” –Steve Jobs
“Discovery consists of seeing what everybody else has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” -Albert von Szent-Gyorgy
“The human body has two ends on it: one to create with and one to sit on. Sometimes people get their ends reversed. When this happens they need a kick in the seat of their pants.” –Roger von Oech
Monday, August 10, 2009
Take My (Ujjayi) Breath Away
The energy was indescribable as it radiated throughout the room. As my focus tapered to my breathing and movements, I lost track of all that was around me, including time itself, and I wasn’t even aware that my body was molding and shaping itself into positions, poses and postures that I previously had never done before. I was truly fit to be tied… in yoga class.
Although most of us already have an idea of what yoga ‘is’, not many of us know how yoga originated to become what it is today. With an array of different styles to behold and the astonishing, research-backing health benefits, you might just want to reconsider your opinions on incorporating yoga into your lives if you haven’t already. I WILL tell you this much… If you think yoga is just a place to twist into unseemingly impossible positions… you have a long way to go in understanding this art.
Although millions of people currently practice yoga and its health benefits are undeniable, there still seems to be a good number of people who are still timid on giving it a try or who haven’t reaped the benefits due to faulty experiences. I will be the first to admit that I used to be one of these people. I’m not even going to deny it because I was once a disbeliever myself. Although I had heard of yoga and how wonderful it was to do, I didn’t think it could POSSIBLY compare to lifting weights and training hard the ‘conventional’ way just in the gym. Being an avid gym-goer myself, I just wasn’t convinced no matter how much people threw it in my face that I should give it a try. It wasn’t until I really decided to take on fulfilling my destiny as a professional fitness trainer that I began to open up my mind to new and other training ideas, styles, forms, and modalities. In being a self-proclaimed fitness junkie, I began to avidly study and explore these new art forms within the fitness industry and wanted to just dive head-first into these different methods that have each done wonders for other people. Fitness becomes religious to people in the way that everyone has their own beliefs and approach to how they get the job done and it was impossible to not want to delve into these techniques. As a trainer, it is of vital importance to have an open mind as the industry is so vast and ever-changing. If you choose to be secluded and isolate your own beliefs and ideas to just a narrow pathway, you will find it extremely difficult to keep up with the industry and therefore make a difference in your client’s lives as well as your own. With so much happening in the industry today, we need to have as many tools in our toolbox as possible. So.. needless to say, I wound up in yoga class one day and every since I have been hooked.
Although I have never been ‘religious’ about going to yoga due to schedule conflicts, I still would try to make it whenever I could even if it was only a couple times a month. In moving to Vegas and in being involved with Connect To Fitness, I decided that when time (and finances) allowed, I would scope out and become more involved in yoga for it’s benefits. One of the things that interests me most with yoga is how almost all populations of people, regardless of their background, age, experience, gender, (ect..), can incorporate yoga into their lives. Also of interest was the fact that there is always room for improvement and growth due to the fact that there are so many modifications and levels of yoga to choose from. Yoga is incredibly non-biased and challenges each aspect of your being whether it’s the physical, mental, spiritual and/or emotional state. Yoga also is a great and proven way to improve flexibility as it carefully acts on all the joints of the body, including those that rarely get used or stretched in everyday life or ‘traditional’ exercise. Likewise, these well-researched yoga positions also help with constant lubrication for these joints by working the tendons and ligaments surrounding them. One of the more interesting things about yoga is the fact that it is perhaps the only form of exercise or activity which acts to message all the internal glands and organs of the body, including those that rarely become stimulated during the course of our entire lifetimes. This stimulation acts to keep away disease and to provide a forewarning if we do happen to succumb to an onset of disorder or disease. By creating a sense of awareness within one’s self and one’s body through yoga, it becomes much easier to recognize when the onset of (or symptoms of) disease or illness may appear. Yoga is also known for it’s detoxifying efforts in ensuring optimum blood supply to different and various parts of the body. This provides nourishment up to the last point and helps in ridding the body of harmful, damaging, and ruinous toxins. These detoxifying efforts lead to benefits such as delayed ageing, improved energy and a better sense of well-being for one’s self and one’s life.
In the past, the essential goal of the yogis was to achieve ‘self realization’ or ‘enlightenment’. This concept, when viewed nowadays, can be a bit impenetrable to comprehend as it something that we seldom or never practice in our own lives. By fusing together the mind-body connection, yoga can be compared to mediation in that it helps to harmonize these two vital elements together. Think of a time where you, yourself, have been in a situation where your mind was controlling your body, whether for positive or negative purposes. By synchronizing the connection between the body, spirit and mind, yoga can help a person achieve eternal bliss. This, in turn, can help eliminate such problems such as depression and anxiety, can help foster positive attitudes and moods, as well as help improve concentration, awareness, focus, memory and somatic and kinesthetic awareness.
Just knowing these benefits exist was enough for me to let curiosity get the best of me, so I have been hooked ever since and can voucher firsthand that the experience is something not to be reckoned with. In my yoga journey, I have taken a variety of random yoga classes let by different instructors, but I had yet to really experience and embrace the mind-body connection that I kept hearing about. There were brief times during class that I would get a foretaste or glimpse of that sensation, but I just wasn’t achieving it as I had hoped… Until recently.
At Las Vegas’s own Professional Fitness Institute (where my entire life as I know it unfolded), the idea of implementing an entire yoga schedule with various instructors has been tossed around a few times and just recently has that idea become a reality. Having tried yoga numerous times before, I figured this would be no different, but knowing the credentials and experience of the instructors hired, I was really eager to try out some of the new classes we now have available to the public (not to mention PFI really goes above and beyond to hire the best of the best to represent their facility and to keep their reputation at the top). So, after reading the schedule, I decided that I was really intrigued by a class I had never heard of called Dragon Vinyasa. This class, created and led by Ottavio Gesmundo and his amazing wife Naomi Brenkman Gesmundo, (and in their own words…) “is a fully integrated and flowing exercise system that combines the ancient techniques of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga with mixed Martial Art Forms. This dynamic body/mind workout is designed to improve strength, balance, flexibility, coordination, breath control and focus as well as increase energy. Through the flowing synchronization of breath and movement you will release toxins and decrease stress from both the mind and body. Dragon Vinyasa is a fun way to build lean, strong and flexible muscles while at the same time learning basic self-defense.” The Dragon Vinyasa system is carefully built around seven components including: meditation, pranayama (breath control), bandhas (energy valves/locks), drishti (gaze focus), asanas (poses), forms, and stillness. It is these seven elements that provide the benefits described above.
Not knowing what to expect, I walked into class with an open mind as I knew it would be something so different than anything I had ever done before. From the get-go, the energy possessed by both Ottavio and Naomi was just so incredible. They radiate with passion for what they do and it truly comes out during their practice as they teach. Feeding off the energy they exude, I was completely focused after just the initial breathing and stretching warm-ups. Sinking deeper into the flow, I found it easy to become so entranced and engaged in my breathing and in being aware of where my body was in space that I was able to really put myself fully into each pose and to become one with myself in the process. Ottavio and Naomi’s teaching style is also something to take note as well. Feeding off each other’s energy as well, both switch as lead and/or demonstrator fluently and as if it were choreographed and depending upon your position and where your view is, they move around the studio to accommodate your line of vision so you don’t have to move or twist to see them. They gracefully move in front, back or to the side of you (and sometimes both!) so you always have an example to follow regardless of which way you are facing. Along with being utterly astonishing, it also allows you to never break focus or form the entire class and you are able to maintain your natural flow very easily. What was very strange for me was the fact that I was SO engrossed throughout the duration of the class that the whole hour burned through like nothing. I felt I was in class only briefly and the only way I could convince myself otherwise was by how my body was feeling. Dragon Vinyasa, through the integration of fusing Ashtanga Yoga with Tai Chi & Kempo Martial Arts, has an intentional goal of helping you to become aware and focused, yet calm at the same time. It’s also not unusual during class for your heart rate to shoot up high through faster and more dynamic movements, breathing styles, and positions, then to be immediately followed with a slower, more isolated movement with slowed breath, allowing for your heart rate to drop back down to normal. By blending martial arts with yoga, they have found a way to achieve the ultimate calm-awareness. By the end of class, I felt such an empowerment with the body-mind connection that everything I told my body to do, it did. I noticed my body completely loosen up throughout the duration of the class and the way the quality of my breath drastically improved was also phenomenal. If you haven’t yet tapped into the Dragon Vinyasa system, it is something truly worth checking out and becoming loyal to as it truly is completely innovative and fun. Who knew yoga could be so in depth?
I also had time last week to attend Tara Cridland’s A.M. Energy class as well. Tara, who’s been practicing yoga for 11 years and massage therapy for 10 years, has also found an innovative way to combine her two specialties and passions together (yoga and massage) for an out-of-box experience. During class, it was once again easy to get into the rhythm and flow due to following Tara’s lead through breath and positions. Her integration comes into play during these times when you are focusing on bending into, and /or holding a position or pose. For instance, while sitting on the floor with my knees butterflied, my ankles touching and my head having the intention of lowering to meet my feet, Tara used massage to elongate my muscles and therefore allow me to easily slide into this pose AND be able to hold it. I was literally bent into static holds that I have never been able to manage myself and because my body was working with me due to the elongation of my muscles, I was not only able fall into these positions, but I was able to hold them as well. Tara was also amazing with correcting posture and form and was very hands-on and descriptive in where you should feel the stretch, where your body should be in space, how to open up so it’s comfortable and what to focus on when you and/or your body were getting tired. After class, I felt invigorated and completely stretched out, which was great because after my own training at the gym, it’s always important for me to take the time to do some deep stretching. Tara’s class totally hit the spot with that and the rejuvenation I felt after class was unbelievable. Just to open up places on my body that typically don’t get stretched or are difficult to stretch on their own was amazing. In some of the positions, my body was twisted so much into a position that it was difficult to take a deep breath, but Tara took the time to show me how to breathe correctly and what parts of my body need to be opened further to expand my airway. I had never had someone actually ‘teach’ me yoga and hadn’t realized until her class how much of the benefit I was missing before in not being corrected in my postures and positions.
In a day and age where Eastern yoga traditions have been almost commercialized to meet the current Western ‘trends’, it is a breath of fresh air to see yoga returning to it’s roots through the individuals who exhume such passion for the actual art-form itself and in sharing the benefits with others. Yoga isn’t just a fitness trend as you see it being advertized these days. It’s actually a lifestyle and a way of living that can provide longevity if practiced correctly. If you haven’t tried ‘real’ yoga, it is definitely a something you and everyone around you can benefit from. Being in the fitness industry (and as I ALWAYS stress), it’s so important to stay on top of what is happening in the fitness world. Part of my own mission in moving to Las Vegas was to seek and find the best of the fitness world out here in this amazing city, and I don’t rave about anything I do not fully believe in or am not passionate about. Yoga @ PFI has just blown me away and the program is too great for me to keep it to myself. I truly encourage those of you who are in the Vegas Valley and surrounding areas to attend a class and see the difference for yourself in how their program differs from the commercialized Western yoga we have all become accustomed to. The benefits of integrating yoga into your training are too great to ignore and it’s something to look into regardless of your current training state, age, gender and etc. If you have Facebook, type ‘Yoga @ PFI’ into your search box, get the schedule, and please do yourself a favor and attend a class (or 5). What do you have to lose? If you don’t have access to Facebook, please take it upon yourself to email me (epfitness7@gmail.com) for more information or for a schedule. We all deserve to do something for ourselves and having peace of mind should always near the top of your list.
Here, I will provide a detailed list of all the yoga instructors currently at Yoga @ PFI for you to check out for yourself:
Tara Cridland (AM Energy): Tara has been a practictioner of yoga for 11 years and a massage therapist for 10 years. Because of her love of yoga, she decided to become certified to teach in 2005 in a 200 hour Hatha Flow yoga program. During that time she discovered Ashtanga Yoga and fell in love with the therapeutic qualities this yoga possessed. She then became certified in a 200 hour Ashtanga program as well. Tara has been teaching since 2005 and has infused her knowledge of massage with yoga to take her students to a new level and teach them how to soar. She hopes to create a deeper experience with her students that will extend beyond the mat.
Shelley Lynn (Vinyasa Flow): Shelley Lynn is a performer, writer, daughter, sister, woman, yogi, cat owner, supporter of our Troops and the founder of The Vision Space, a creative coaching company. Currently based in Las Vegas Nevada, Shelley began her twenty-year career helping people shape their lives as a professional theatre practitioner and performance coach. She had a blast for over 16 years living between The UK, New York, and Boston -traveling while getting a groovy degree in Performing Arts and a grueling MA at the University of London.
Throughout the last two decades she became deeply interested in yoga, Vedic principles and the power of human transformation - Partly just to recover from the travel (: This lead her to a vocation in professional coaching with Clarity International and in 2007 she certified through the national Its Yoga Ashtanga Vinyasa teaching program.
For Shelley, Yoga is the most effective, joyful tool for integrating ones true purpose with the mechanics of everyday life. She finds yoga to be the best work out she can do - and her approach is to remain present and aware. Her main objective is to provide creative consultation – in simple practical terms - for the holistic health of the people she meets.
Lynn Loftus (Vinyasa Flow): Lynn began her search for the mind, body, spirit connection in high school with Hittleman's books on yoga and transcendental meditation. In her twenties she earned 2nd dan black belt and loved teaching martial arts. After years of teaching and competition in the arts, she rediscovered yoga. She explored various styles and holds certifications in hatha and ashtanga yoga. Her teaching is empowering.
Stacey Shipe (Power Hour): Stacey has been practicing yoga since 2000 but it wasn’t until she moved to Las Vegas in 2006 and found It’s Yoga that she realized becoming a yoga teacher was the next natural step. In 2007 Stacey became certified in Ashtanga yoga though It’s Yoga Las Vegas. A lover of Vinyasa flow, she tries to teach the same kind of class she likes to take. Stacey’s emphasis is on moving the body in order to still the mind. She helps her students focus on embracing the joy as well as the pain in class in order to bring the same awareness and authenticity into everyday life.
Tristan Jih (Power Hour): Tristan teaches Vinyasa Yoga, a style of yoga built around the benefits of flow and ease. He is a graduate from Maggie Verderame's 400-hour Apprenticeship program, where he learned how to take his yoga lessons "off the mat." He is also a Reiki Master.
Ottavio Gesmundo and Naomi Brenkman-Gesmundo (Dragon Vinyasa, Power Vinyasa): Ottavio and Naomi are certified and registered (RYT) yoga instructors with over twenty years experience guiding hundreds of individuals and groups through several modalities of movement. They are critically acclaimed stunt directors & choreographers and are firm believers that you move at your own pace. Never forcing yourself into a pose until ready, but challenging yourself when available. They are the creators of the Dragon Vinyasa system, which is an integration of yoga and martial arts. Naomi & Ottavio use the Dragon Vinyasa to warm up before each performance of their specialty act called The Crossbow Tango. In this highly skilled & extremely dangerous routine they demonstrate the ultimate in trust and focus as they shoot cigarettes out of mouth, and playing cards out hand. You don’t have to shoot an arrow near your loved ones head in order to benefit from doing Dragon Vinyasa , but if it helps their focus and concentration, imagine what it can do for you. Prior experience in yoga or martial arts is not required and these classes are open to all levels; everyone is welcome to attend.
Just as well, as PFI progresses with Yoga @ PFI, they have also just opened their brand new, state-of-the-art facility to the public for personal training as well. With highly qualified, world-class personal trainers and training based off (arguably) the most accredited certification agency in the world; The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), PFI is raising the bar for the fitness industry. As an advocate for the fitness industry and as an employee of PFI myself, I can voucher that they are going above and beyond to define to you and the world the true meaning of ‘fitness’ and ‘personal training’. The bar has been raised, Ladies and Gentlemen. Don’t wait around! Come see what all the buzz is about!
Now that the secrets out on a ‘trend’ that’s here to stay, do yourself a favor and explore the ancient form of training we call ‘Yoga’ @ PFI. Open your mind and take a deep breath… On the exhale, put your hands together in front of your heart… Bow your head… And… ‘Nameste’.
Until next time, Faithful Reader…
"The beauty is that people often come here for the stretch, and leave with a lot more." ~Liza Ciano, co-owner and co-director of Yoga Vermont, yogavermont.com
"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape."" ~Author Unknown
"Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are." ~Jason Crandell, quoted in Yoga Journal, November 2005
Although most of us already have an idea of what yoga ‘is’, not many of us know how yoga originated to become what it is today. With an array of different styles to behold and the astonishing, research-backing health benefits, you might just want to reconsider your opinions on incorporating yoga into your lives if you haven’t already. I WILL tell you this much… If you think yoga is just a place to twist into unseemingly impossible positions… you have a long way to go in understanding this art.
Although millions of people currently practice yoga and its health benefits are undeniable, there still seems to be a good number of people who are still timid on giving it a try or who haven’t reaped the benefits due to faulty experiences. I will be the first to admit that I used to be one of these people. I’m not even going to deny it because I was once a disbeliever myself. Although I had heard of yoga and how wonderful it was to do, I didn’t think it could POSSIBLY compare to lifting weights and training hard the ‘conventional’ way just in the gym. Being an avid gym-goer myself, I just wasn’t convinced no matter how much people threw it in my face that I should give it a try. It wasn’t until I really decided to take on fulfilling my destiny as a professional fitness trainer that I began to open up my mind to new and other training ideas, styles, forms, and modalities. In being a self-proclaimed fitness junkie, I began to avidly study and explore these new art forms within the fitness industry and wanted to just dive head-first into these different methods that have each done wonders for other people. Fitness becomes religious to people in the way that everyone has their own beliefs and approach to how they get the job done and it was impossible to not want to delve into these techniques. As a trainer, it is of vital importance to have an open mind as the industry is so vast and ever-changing. If you choose to be secluded and isolate your own beliefs and ideas to just a narrow pathway, you will find it extremely difficult to keep up with the industry and therefore make a difference in your client’s lives as well as your own. With so much happening in the industry today, we need to have as many tools in our toolbox as possible. So.. needless to say, I wound up in yoga class one day and every since I have been hooked.
Although I have never been ‘religious’ about going to yoga due to schedule conflicts, I still would try to make it whenever I could even if it was only a couple times a month. In moving to Vegas and in being involved with Connect To Fitness, I decided that when time (and finances) allowed, I would scope out and become more involved in yoga for it’s benefits. One of the things that interests me most with yoga is how almost all populations of people, regardless of their background, age, experience, gender, (ect..), can incorporate yoga into their lives. Also of interest was the fact that there is always room for improvement and growth due to the fact that there are so many modifications and levels of yoga to choose from. Yoga is incredibly non-biased and challenges each aspect of your being whether it’s the physical, mental, spiritual and/or emotional state. Yoga also is a great and proven way to improve flexibility as it carefully acts on all the joints of the body, including those that rarely get used or stretched in everyday life or ‘traditional’ exercise. Likewise, these well-researched yoga positions also help with constant lubrication for these joints by working the tendons and ligaments surrounding them. One of the more interesting things about yoga is the fact that it is perhaps the only form of exercise or activity which acts to message all the internal glands and organs of the body, including those that rarely become stimulated during the course of our entire lifetimes. This stimulation acts to keep away disease and to provide a forewarning if we do happen to succumb to an onset of disorder or disease. By creating a sense of awareness within one’s self and one’s body through yoga, it becomes much easier to recognize when the onset of (or symptoms of) disease or illness may appear. Yoga is also known for it’s detoxifying efforts in ensuring optimum blood supply to different and various parts of the body. This provides nourishment up to the last point and helps in ridding the body of harmful, damaging, and ruinous toxins. These detoxifying efforts lead to benefits such as delayed ageing, improved energy and a better sense of well-being for one’s self and one’s life.
In the past, the essential goal of the yogis was to achieve ‘self realization’ or ‘enlightenment’. This concept, when viewed nowadays, can be a bit impenetrable to comprehend as it something that we seldom or never practice in our own lives. By fusing together the mind-body connection, yoga can be compared to mediation in that it helps to harmonize these two vital elements together. Think of a time where you, yourself, have been in a situation where your mind was controlling your body, whether for positive or negative purposes. By synchronizing the connection between the body, spirit and mind, yoga can help a person achieve eternal bliss. This, in turn, can help eliminate such problems such as depression and anxiety, can help foster positive attitudes and moods, as well as help improve concentration, awareness, focus, memory and somatic and kinesthetic awareness.
Just knowing these benefits exist was enough for me to let curiosity get the best of me, so I have been hooked ever since and can voucher firsthand that the experience is something not to be reckoned with. In my yoga journey, I have taken a variety of random yoga classes let by different instructors, but I had yet to really experience and embrace the mind-body connection that I kept hearing about. There were brief times during class that I would get a foretaste or glimpse of that sensation, but I just wasn’t achieving it as I had hoped… Until recently.
At Las Vegas’s own Professional Fitness Institute (where my entire life as I know it unfolded), the idea of implementing an entire yoga schedule with various instructors has been tossed around a few times and just recently has that idea become a reality. Having tried yoga numerous times before, I figured this would be no different, but knowing the credentials and experience of the instructors hired, I was really eager to try out some of the new classes we now have available to the public (not to mention PFI really goes above and beyond to hire the best of the best to represent their facility and to keep their reputation at the top). So, after reading the schedule, I decided that I was really intrigued by a class I had never heard of called Dragon Vinyasa. This class, created and led by Ottavio Gesmundo and his amazing wife Naomi Brenkman Gesmundo, (and in their own words…) “is a fully integrated and flowing exercise system that combines the ancient techniques of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga with mixed Martial Art Forms. This dynamic body/mind workout is designed to improve strength, balance, flexibility, coordination, breath control and focus as well as increase energy. Through the flowing synchronization of breath and movement you will release toxins and decrease stress from both the mind and body. Dragon Vinyasa is a fun way to build lean, strong and flexible muscles while at the same time learning basic self-defense.” The Dragon Vinyasa system is carefully built around seven components including: meditation, pranayama (breath control), bandhas (energy valves/locks), drishti (gaze focus), asanas (poses), forms, and stillness. It is these seven elements that provide the benefits described above.
Not knowing what to expect, I walked into class with an open mind as I knew it would be something so different than anything I had ever done before. From the get-go, the energy possessed by both Ottavio and Naomi was just so incredible. They radiate with passion for what they do and it truly comes out during their practice as they teach. Feeding off the energy they exude, I was completely focused after just the initial breathing and stretching warm-ups. Sinking deeper into the flow, I found it easy to become so entranced and engaged in my breathing and in being aware of where my body was in space that I was able to really put myself fully into each pose and to become one with myself in the process. Ottavio and Naomi’s teaching style is also something to take note as well. Feeding off each other’s energy as well, both switch as lead and/or demonstrator fluently and as if it were choreographed and depending upon your position and where your view is, they move around the studio to accommodate your line of vision so you don’t have to move or twist to see them. They gracefully move in front, back or to the side of you (and sometimes both!) so you always have an example to follow regardless of which way you are facing. Along with being utterly astonishing, it also allows you to never break focus or form the entire class and you are able to maintain your natural flow very easily. What was very strange for me was the fact that I was SO engrossed throughout the duration of the class that the whole hour burned through like nothing. I felt I was in class only briefly and the only way I could convince myself otherwise was by how my body was feeling. Dragon Vinyasa, through the integration of fusing Ashtanga Yoga with Tai Chi & Kempo Martial Arts, has an intentional goal of helping you to become aware and focused, yet calm at the same time. It’s also not unusual during class for your heart rate to shoot up high through faster and more dynamic movements, breathing styles, and positions, then to be immediately followed with a slower, more isolated movement with slowed breath, allowing for your heart rate to drop back down to normal. By blending martial arts with yoga, they have found a way to achieve the ultimate calm-awareness. By the end of class, I felt such an empowerment with the body-mind connection that everything I told my body to do, it did. I noticed my body completely loosen up throughout the duration of the class and the way the quality of my breath drastically improved was also phenomenal. If you haven’t yet tapped into the Dragon Vinyasa system, it is something truly worth checking out and becoming loyal to as it truly is completely innovative and fun. Who knew yoga could be so in depth?
I also had time last week to attend Tara Cridland’s A.M. Energy class as well. Tara, who’s been practicing yoga for 11 years and massage therapy for 10 years, has also found an innovative way to combine her two specialties and passions together (yoga and massage) for an out-of-box experience. During class, it was once again easy to get into the rhythm and flow due to following Tara’s lead through breath and positions. Her integration comes into play during these times when you are focusing on bending into, and /or holding a position or pose. For instance, while sitting on the floor with my knees butterflied, my ankles touching and my head having the intention of lowering to meet my feet, Tara used massage to elongate my muscles and therefore allow me to easily slide into this pose AND be able to hold it. I was literally bent into static holds that I have never been able to manage myself and because my body was working with me due to the elongation of my muscles, I was not only able fall into these positions, but I was able to hold them as well. Tara was also amazing with correcting posture and form and was very hands-on and descriptive in where you should feel the stretch, where your body should be in space, how to open up so it’s comfortable and what to focus on when you and/or your body were getting tired. After class, I felt invigorated and completely stretched out, which was great because after my own training at the gym, it’s always important for me to take the time to do some deep stretching. Tara’s class totally hit the spot with that and the rejuvenation I felt after class was unbelievable. Just to open up places on my body that typically don’t get stretched or are difficult to stretch on their own was amazing. In some of the positions, my body was twisted so much into a position that it was difficult to take a deep breath, but Tara took the time to show me how to breathe correctly and what parts of my body need to be opened further to expand my airway. I had never had someone actually ‘teach’ me yoga and hadn’t realized until her class how much of the benefit I was missing before in not being corrected in my postures and positions.
In a day and age where Eastern yoga traditions have been almost commercialized to meet the current Western ‘trends’, it is a breath of fresh air to see yoga returning to it’s roots through the individuals who exhume such passion for the actual art-form itself and in sharing the benefits with others. Yoga isn’t just a fitness trend as you see it being advertized these days. It’s actually a lifestyle and a way of living that can provide longevity if practiced correctly. If you haven’t tried ‘real’ yoga, it is definitely a something you and everyone around you can benefit from. Being in the fitness industry (and as I ALWAYS stress), it’s so important to stay on top of what is happening in the fitness world. Part of my own mission in moving to Las Vegas was to seek and find the best of the fitness world out here in this amazing city, and I don’t rave about anything I do not fully believe in or am not passionate about. Yoga @ PFI has just blown me away and the program is too great for me to keep it to myself. I truly encourage those of you who are in the Vegas Valley and surrounding areas to attend a class and see the difference for yourself in how their program differs from the commercialized Western yoga we have all become accustomed to. The benefits of integrating yoga into your training are too great to ignore and it’s something to look into regardless of your current training state, age, gender and etc. If you have Facebook, type ‘Yoga @ PFI’ into your search box, get the schedule, and please do yourself a favor and attend a class (or 5). What do you have to lose? If you don’t have access to Facebook, please take it upon yourself to email me (epfitness7@gmail.com) for more information or for a schedule. We all deserve to do something for ourselves and having peace of mind should always near the top of your list.
Here, I will provide a detailed list of all the yoga instructors currently at Yoga @ PFI for you to check out for yourself:
Tara Cridland (AM Energy): Tara has been a practictioner of yoga for 11 years and a massage therapist for 10 years. Because of her love of yoga, she decided to become certified to teach in 2005 in a 200 hour Hatha Flow yoga program. During that time she discovered Ashtanga Yoga and fell in love with the therapeutic qualities this yoga possessed. She then became certified in a 200 hour Ashtanga program as well. Tara has been teaching since 2005 and has infused her knowledge of massage with yoga to take her students to a new level and teach them how to soar. She hopes to create a deeper experience with her students that will extend beyond the mat.
Shelley Lynn (Vinyasa Flow): Shelley Lynn is a performer, writer, daughter, sister, woman, yogi, cat owner, supporter of our Troops and the founder of The Vision Space, a creative coaching company. Currently based in Las Vegas Nevada, Shelley began her twenty-year career helping people shape their lives as a professional theatre practitioner and performance coach. She had a blast for over 16 years living between The UK, New York, and Boston -traveling while getting a groovy degree in Performing Arts and a grueling MA at the University of London.
Throughout the last two decades she became deeply interested in yoga, Vedic principles and the power of human transformation - Partly just to recover from the travel (: This lead her to a vocation in professional coaching with Clarity International and in 2007 she certified through the national Its Yoga Ashtanga Vinyasa teaching program.
For Shelley, Yoga is the most effective, joyful tool for integrating ones true purpose with the mechanics of everyday life. She finds yoga to be the best work out she can do - and her approach is to remain present and aware. Her main objective is to provide creative consultation – in simple practical terms - for the holistic health of the people she meets.
Lynn Loftus (Vinyasa Flow): Lynn began her search for the mind, body, spirit connection in high school with Hittleman's books on yoga and transcendental meditation. In her twenties she earned 2nd dan black belt and loved teaching martial arts. After years of teaching and competition in the arts, she rediscovered yoga. She explored various styles and holds certifications in hatha and ashtanga yoga. Her teaching is empowering.
Stacey Shipe (Power Hour): Stacey has been practicing yoga since 2000 but it wasn’t until she moved to Las Vegas in 2006 and found It’s Yoga that she realized becoming a yoga teacher was the next natural step. In 2007 Stacey became certified in Ashtanga yoga though It’s Yoga Las Vegas. A lover of Vinyasa flow, she tries to teach the same kind of class she likes to take. Stacey’s emphasis is on moving the body in order to still the mind. She helps her students focus on embracing the joy as well as the pain in class in order to bring the same awareness and authenticity into everyday life.
Tristan Jih (Power Hour): Tristan teaches Vinyasa Yoga, a style of yoga built around the benefits of flow and ease. He is a graduate from Maggie Verderame's 400-hour Apprenticeship program, where he learned how to take his yoga lessons "off the mat." He is also a Reiki Master.
Ottavio Gesmundo and Naomi Brenkman-Gesmundo (Dragon Vinyasa, Power Vinyasa): Ottavio and Naomi are certified and registered (RYT) yoga instructors with over twenty years experience guiding hundreds of individuals and groups through several modalities of movement. They are critically acclaimed stunt directors & choreographers and are firm believers that you move at your own pace. Never forcing yourself into a pose until ready, but challenging yourself when available. They are the creators of the Dragon Vinyasa system, which is an integration of yoga and martial arts. Naomi & Ottavio use the Dragon Vinyasa to warm up before each performance of their specialty act called The Crossbow Tango. In this highly skilled & extremely dangerous routine they demonstrate the ultimate in trust and focus as they shoot cigarettes out of mouth, and playing cards out hand. You don’t have to shoot an arrow near your loved ones head in order to benefit from doing Dragon Vinyasa , but if it helps their focus and concentration, imagine what it can do for you. Prior experience in yoga or martial arts is not required and these classes are open to all levels; everyone is welcome to attend.
Just as well, as PFI progresses with Yoga @ PFI, they have also just opened their brand new, state-of-the-art facility to the public for personal training as well. With highly qualified, world-class personal trainers and training based off (arguably) the most accredited certification agency in the world; The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), PFI is raising the bar for the fitness industry. As an advocate for the fitness industry and as an employee of PFI myself, I can voucher that they are going above and beyond to define to you and the world the true meaning of ‘fitness’ and ‘personal training’. The bar has been raised, Ladies and Gentlemen. Don’t wait around! Come see what all the buzz is about!
Now that the secrets out on a ‘trend’ that’s here to stay, do yourself a favor and explore the ancient form of training we call ‘Yoga’ @ PFI. Open your mind and take a deep breath… On the exhale, put your hands together in front of your heart… Bow your head… And… ‘Nameste’.
Until next time, Faithful Reader…
"The beauty is that people often come here for the stretch, and leave with a lot more." ~Liza Ciano, co-owner and co-director of Yoga Vermont, yogavermont.com
"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape."" ~Author Unknown
"Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are." ~Jason Crandell, quoted in Yoga Journal, November 2005
Monday, August 3, 2009
Conquer FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real)
Did you know that as a whole, people are more terrified of speaking in public than of death itself? If you find this tidbit to be absolutely ludicrous, ask yourself what scares You the most and consider how life might be different for you if you didn’t encompass this fear. Is it possible to be so incapacitated with fear that we not only stop in mid-stride, but we come to a complete standstill without even realizing it?
The other day while at work, I made the mistake of venting to a coworker about my newfound fascination/disgust with cockroaches that frequently co-inhabit my house on a weekly basis. Listening patiently to my entire (and pretty pathetic) story, he proceeded to tell me of some co-inhabitants he has had involving (I don’t even want to say it!) wind scorpions. Not only was the story itself absolutely terrifying in every possible facet, and not only did it cause my normally below-average blood pressure to ascend a couple hundred notches, but it made me ask the question: “Where do fears stem from… How do we get over our fears?... And why do they have the power to sometimes debilitate us?” As I began to really absorb my question and gather my thoughts on the matter, my co-worker thought it would be a great idea to show me a real photo he researched on Google of a wind scorpion, which immediately made me shiver in my britches and realize that I would rather cuddle with a cockroach on any given day than be within a ten-mile radius of one of those… those other THINGS! Needless to say, although I am still to this moment scratching at the thought of “The (now) Unspoken”, I haven’t stopped thinking about fear and how it affects our everyday lives.
After this question arose, I began to really delve into fear itself and why it has so much power over us and how we decide to live. As we’ve already talked about, Faithful Reader, ‘perception is reality’. “So what?”, you ask. Well… believe it or not, the concept of fear holds the same underlying principal. What we experience in life isn’t the main determinant of fear. Rather, it’s the way we (our brains) PERCEIVE the situation that implants that negative feeling into our being. Let’s convert this to a simple equation:
A+B=C
Let’s say:
A is the actual event,
B is our interpretation or perception of the event, and
C is our reaction to the event.
While most people think that ‘A’ dictates how we behave in a certain situation, it is actually ‘B’ that is responsible for this. When we perceive a positive, happy and blissful event as being so, the left hemisphere of our brain is enhanced. Just as well, when we interpret a situation to be negative or debilitating, the enhancement occurs on the right side of our brain. It is these interpretations that ultimately determine our behavior toward the specific event or circumstance. Basically, fear can be loosely defined as the ‘memory of danger’. When we constantly reiterate to ourselves that something is ‘scary’, we are sending constant signals to the brain which eventually become embedded as memories. Much like the snowball effect, the more fears and negative memories you perceive you have, the easier it becomes for your brain to form the connections that eventually lead to anxiety and your world as you know it eventually gives way to this so-called ‘fear-ball’ and begins to dwindle.
While meeting a few weeks back with my close friend and mentor, Darian Parker, we got into a conversation about some of the major events in our lives that sort of molded us into who we are today. During our discussion, Darian told me of his former fear of public speaking and how he dreaded it much like most of the world today does. This took me for a loop and I couldn’t help but question the validity of his statement as he is now an absolutely terrific and distinguished public speaker. So, naturally, my curiosity got the best of me as usual, and I had to inquire further on how he overcame his fear to become who he is today. Believe it or not, he responded by explaining how he eventually grew so tired of having this fear that he made the executive decision to enroll in a public speaking class to get over it. While having to speak publicly, he realized that he actually LIKED it, and low and behold, ended up becoming a college professor in Kansas City! It’s weird to think that if Darian wouldn’t have stepped out of his comfort zone in an attempt to challenge his perception, then he most likely would have ended up a very, very different person with a very, very different career path. He would have been debilitated by a fear that he never attempted to conquer and as a result, his right hemisphere would be in a constant state of over-reaction. In turn, this would continually have held him back from great opportunities and endeavors that he would have been assuming (wrongly) that he wasn’t capable of doing. And THAT, Faithful Reader, is the power of the mind itself.
In another example and in a situation I have touched on before, there was once a time where I, too, was held back by fear in leaving my comfort zone. Having experienced loss on many personal levels, I reached a point where I had fallen so hard and so many times that I wasn’t sure if I had enough energy to pick myself up again and continue onward. Having been pushed down so many times, I had begun to rely on the person who pushed me down to pick me up again and eventually when that ceased to happen, I realized that amongst the negativity, I had actually forgotten that I was capable of doing it on my own. During this time, I had to decide if I wanted to stay down and keep enabling this to happen, or if there was another way I could view this situation so that it would be in my favor. Not only did I decide to get up on my own, but I decided from that day on that I would stand tall on my own no matter what and that I would never, EVER allow myself to identify with those negative perceptions again. Although I am a very independent soul, somehow I had fallen into the trap of allowing A+B=C and I had let my fear of loss impose on my ability to move on. Although situations like these are never easy, sometimes you have to go through them to be reminded of how strong the mind really is and how just a simple change in your everyday thought-processes can make a world of difference. I can honestly say I have no fears at this point in time as I know I will never enable my mind to put me in the same disposition as I once was in (well… ok… So I lied about the ‘no fear’ thing... “The (now) Unspoken” makes me want to reside in an opaque, scorpion-proof bubble that flies at least 10 feet off the ground at all times and is weather resistant. Oh… and I would have to have access to endless sushi, have a home-gym, a Super Walmart and, of course, a laptop.).
“So…”, you ask, “if our reactions to a situation entrench fear into our minds in the form of a memory, is there any way to reverse the process?”. Yes and no. Unfortunately we cannot erase the original memory (sorry to break the bad news)… BUT there is a process you can reinforce that will essentially mask the memory called ‘fear extinction’. Fear extinction is basically an analogous neural alternative to give rise to the creation of a new memory that acts to conceal the old memory. A type of therapy called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) does essentially this in helping to force the brain to exchange negative memories of fear for those that are instead positive or neutral. By training the brain that you can survive a negative situation or fear, your brain can then allow (and accept) you to get back on the horse that threw you. Just as most people stop in their own tracks when faced with fear, CBT trains you to respond to the stimulus that affects you instead of doing nothing. This is a proven effective way to face fear and to overcome it. By doing something other than sitting… waiting… worrying… we can weaken our initial instinctive thought processes by schooling the brain to learn a new scenario. In a nutshell, this is exactly what Darian did to get over his fear. And you can too!
One of the things I promised myself I would do from that fateful day long ago was to do something I am scared of as much as possible. Even once a day if the opportunity presented itself. Instead of holding back because I felt scared or was unsure of the final outcome, I have learned to just attack the situation ‘knowing’ that something positive will come out of it. We all know those people who didn’t take a chance to activate their left hemisphere and who now have regrets and ‘wish’ they could go back in time to do whatever it was they feel they missed out on. Don’t be one of those people. Do something each day that scares you, and embrace your fears as something that you want to conquer for yourself so you aren’t held back in fear. In being a part of Connect To Fitness, I have been given a rare opportunity to always be stepping out of my box. Constantly meeting new and interesting people, finding new opportunities, reaching out to people who I would otherwise have never made contact with, responding to others who reach out, and thinking outside the box to put to life and take a chance this amazing ‘idea’ we call Connect To Fitness, there is no room for failure and it isn’t even an option. with you in mind, Faithful Reader, we are continually making strides to bring to you the best possible outlet to help make your out-of-the-box transition easier and more feasible. Although I have yet to sit down and meet a person who hasn’t already conquered their fears, there is still always another step to be taken, always another challenge to be conquered, and always a fear (no matter how small) lingering in some part of our right hemisphere. By having the opportunity to seize the day and seize what it is you strive for day in and day out, we hope to bring you the best possible outlet for you to channel your attack on the world and this industry. In watching the state of the world’s health steadily decline, I don’t know about you, but I am ready to take action regardless of how intimidating or daunting it can seem. It’s not going to be a smooth road, but I know ( fear extinction) that as a team, there is nothing we can’t accomplish. There is nothing we can’t do if we band together and run full-speed ahead without looking back. Nothing in this world is impossible if we set the tone for a trip down (positive) memory lane. Let’s traverse together to fix what is broken and utilize and balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses by making connections and networking so when the time comes, we have someone to turn to and we don’t have to fear not having or knowing the answer. We can all save time and energy and will be overall more efficient in getting the job done, and getting it done right.
Do you want to keep standing still or do you want to take action and see where you are truly destined to be? Do me two favors, Faithful Reader… 1.)Do one thing a day that scares you. 2.) Feel free to contact me should my advice lead you in the wrong direction. In your mind you may have doubts, but in mine, they are all wiped out and destroyed.
Until next time…
“The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” –John Milton
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself (or his brain).” –Leo Tolstoy
"He has not learned the lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
The other day while at work, I made the mistake of venting to a coworker about my newfound fascination/disgust with cockroaches that frequently co-inhabit my house on a weekly basis. Listening patiently to my entire (and pretty pathetic) story, he proceeded to tell me of some co-inhabitants he has had involving (I don’t even want to say it!) wind scorpions. Not only was the story itself absolutely terrifying in every possible facet, and not only did it cause my normally below-average blood pressure to ascend a couple hundred notches, but it made me ask the question: “Where do fears stem from… How do we get over our fears?... And why do they have the power to sometimes debilitate us?” As I began to really absorb my question and gather my thoughts on the matter, my co-worker thought it would be a great idea to show me a real photo he researched on Google of a wind scorpion, which immediately made me shiver in my britches and realize that I would rather cuddle with a cockroach on any given day than be within a ten-mile radius of one of those… those other THINGS! Needless to say, although I am still to this moment scratching at the thought of “The (now) Unspoken”, I haven’t stopped thinking about fear and how it affects our everyday lives.
After this question arose, I began to really delve into fear itself and why it has so much power over us and how we decide to live. As we’ve already talked about, Faithful Reader, ‘perception is reality’. “So what?”, you ask. Well… believe it or not, the concept of fear holds the same underlying principal. What we experience in life isn’t the main determinant of fear. Rather, it’s the way we (our brains) PERCEIVE the situation that implants that negative feeling into our being. Let’s convert this to a simple equation:
A+B=C
Let’s say:
A is the actual event,
B is our interpretation or perception of the event, and
C is our reaction to the event.
While most people think that ‘A’ dictates how we behave in a certain situation, it is actually ‘B’ that is responsible for this. When we perceive a positive, happy and blissful event as being so, the left hemisphere of our brain is enhanced. Just as well, when we interpret a situation to be negative or debilitating, the enhancement occurs on the right side of our brain. It is these interpretations that ultimately determine our behavior toward the specific event or circumstance. Basically, fear can be loosely defined as the ‘memory of danger’. When we constantly reiterate to ourselves that something is ‘scary’, we are sending constant signals to the brain which eventually become embedded as memories. Much like the snowball effect, the more fears and negative memories you perceive you have, the easier it becomes for your brain to form the connections that eventually lead to anxiety and your world as you know it eventually gives way to this so-called ‘fear-ball’ and begins to dwindle.
While meeting a few weeks back with my close friend and mentor, Darian Parker, we got into a conversation about some of the major events in our lives that sort of molded us into who we are today. During our discussion, Darian told me of his former fear of public speaking and how he dreaded it much like most of the world today does. This took me for a loop and I couldn’t help but question the validity of his statement as he is now an absolutely terrific and distinguished public speaker. So, naturally, my curiosity got the best of me as usual, and I had to inquire further on how he overcame his fear to become who he is today. Believe it or not, he responded by explaining how he eventually grew so tired of having this fear that he made the executive decision to enroll in a public speaking class to get over it. While having to speak publicly, he realized that he actually LIKED it, and low and behold, ended up becoming a college professor in Kansas City! It’s weird to think that if Darian wouldn’t have stepped out of his comfort zone in an attempt to challenge his perception, then he most likely would have ended up a very, very different person with a very, very different career path. He would have been debilitated by a fear that he never attempted to conquer and as a result, his right hemisphere would be in a constant state of over-reaction. In turn, this would continually have held him back from great opportunities and endeavors that he would have been assuming (wrongly) that he wasn’t capable of doing. And THAT, Faithful Reader, is the power of the mind itself.
In another example and in a situation I have touched on before, there was once a time where I, too, was held back by fear in leaving my comfort zone. Having experienced loss on many personal levels, I reached a point where I had fallen so hard and so many times that I wasn’t sure if I had enough energy to pick myself up again and continue onward. Having been pushed down so many times, I had begun to rely on the person who pushed me down to pick me up again and eventually when that ceased to happen, I realized that amongst the negativity, I had actually forgotten that I was capable of doing it on my own. During this time, I had to decide if I wanted to stay down and keep enabling this to happen, or if there was another way I could view this situation so that it would be in my favor. Not only did I decide to get up on my own, but I decided from that day on that I would stand tall on my own no matter what and that I would never, EVER allow myself to identify with those negative perceptions again. Although I am a very independent soul, somehow I had fallen into the trap of allowing A+B=C and I had let my fear of loss impose on my ability to move on. Although situations like these are never easy, sometimes you have to go through them to be reminded of how strong the mind really is and how just a simple change in your everyday thought-processes can make a world of difference. I can honestly say I have no fears at this point in time as I know I will never enable my mind to put me in the same disposition as I once was in (well… ok… So I lied about the ‘no fear’ thing... “The (now) Unspoken” makes me want to reside in an opaque, scorpion-proof bubble that flies at least 10 feet off the ground at all times and is weather resistant. Oh… and I would have to have access to endless sushi, have a home-gym, a Super Walmart and, of course, a laptop.).
“So…”, you ask, “if our reactions to a situation entrench fear into our minds in the form of a memory, is there any way to reverse the process?”. Yes and no. Unfortunately we cannot erase the original memory (sorry to break the bad news)… BUT there is a process you can reinforce that will essentially mask the memory called ‘fear extinction’. Fear extinction is basically an analogous neural alternative to give rise to the creation of a new memory that acts to conceal the old memory. A type of therapy called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) does essentially this in helping to force the brain to exchange negative memories of fear for those that are instead positive or neutral. By training the brain that you can survive a negative situation or fear, your brain can then allow (and accept) you to get back on the horse that threw you. Just as most people stop in their own tracks when faced with fear, CBT trains you to respond to the stimulus that affects you instead of doing nothing. This is a proven effective way to face fear and to overcome it. By doing something other than sitting… waiting… worrying… we can weaken our initial instinctive thought processes by schooling the brain to learn a new scenario. In a nutshell, this is exactly what Darian did to get over his fear. And you can too!
One of the things I promised myself I would do from that fateful day long ago was to do something I am scared of as much as possible. Even once a day if the opportunity presented itself. Instead of holding back because I felt scared or was unsure of the final outcome, I have learned to just attack the situation ‘knowing’ that something positive will come out of it. We all know those people who didn’t take a chance to activate their left hemisphere and who now have regrets and ‘wish’ they could go back in time to do whatever it was they feel they missed out on. Don’t be one of those people. Do something each day that scares you, and embrace your fears as something that you want to conquer for yourself so you aren’t held back in fear. In being a part of Connect To Fitness, I have been given a rare opportunity to always be stepping out of my box. Constantly meeting new and interesting people, finding new opportunities, reaching out to people who I would otherwise have never made contact with, responding to others who reach out, and thinking outside the box to put to life and take a chance this amazing ‘idea’ we call Connect To Fitness, there is no room for failure and it isn’t even an option. with you in mind, Faithful Reader, we are continually making strides to bring to you the best possible outlet to help make your out-of-the-box transition easier and more feasible. Although I have yet to sit down and meet a person who hasn’t already conquered their fears, there is still always another step to be taken, always another challenge to be conquered, and always a fear (no matter how small) lingering in some part of our right hemisphere. By having the opportunity to seize the day and seize what it is you strive for day in and day out, we hope to bring you the best possible outlet for you to channel your attack on the world and this industry. In watching the state of the world’s health steadily decline, I don’t know about you, but I am ready to take action regardless of how intimidating or daunting it can seem. It’s not going to be a smooth road, but I know ( fear extinction) that as a team, there is nothing we can’t accomplish. There is nothing we can’t do if we band together and run full-speed ahead without looking back. Nothing in this world is impossible if we set the tone for a trip down (positive) memory lane. Let’s traverse together to fix what is broken and utilize and balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses by making connections and networking so when the time comes, we have someone to turn to and we don’t have to fear not having or knowing the answer. We can all save time and energy and will be overall more efficient in getting the job done, and getting it done right.
Do you want to keep standing still or do you want to take action and see where you are truly destined to be? Do me two favors, Faithful Reader… 1.)Do one thing a day that scares you. 2.) Feel free to contact me should my advice lead you in the wrong direction. In your mind you may have doubts, but in mine, they are all wiped out and destroyed.
Until next time…
“The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” –John Milton
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself (or his brain).” –Leo Tolstoy
"He has not learned the lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
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