Its amazing for me to think that many of us have lost awareness of our bodies, but I’ve recently come to see that quite often when I give prompts to people and ask for feedback they have no idea where they are meant to be feeling it, or they feel nothing at all. This says to me that many of us have lost a subtle awareness of our bodies, and this worries me because it means we are losing touch with ourselves.

In my programs I often try to get my clients to do really simple awareness drills. These drills are basically a way of isolating certain muscles and allowing you to feel that particular muscle working, so that when you are doing more complicated movements you know how to integrate the movement of that muscle with the rest of your muscles.

One of the most important movements I think many of us have lost recently is the ability to control the movement of the pelvis. In my experience a lot of back discomfort and injury comes from instability and stiffness in the joints above the pelvis, cause by lack of mobility in the pelvis. Here is a simple drill you can do to mobilise your pelvic tilt and gain a greater awareness of it:

1. Assume  a horse stance on hands and knees.
2. Try and tilt your pelvis forwards to accentuate the lumbar curve in your back.
3. Try and tilt your pelvis backwards (tucking your pelvis under) causing your back to arch like an angry cat.
4. Now integrate these to opposites with your breath.
5. Firstly, breathe out and tuck your pelvis under. Arching like and angry cat and tucking your chin toward your chest.
6. Now, breathe in and tilt your eyes to the sky as you push your bum backwards and accentuate your lumbar curve.
7. Always stop if you feel discomfort, but continue to synchronise your breathe with your movements for 5 – 10 repetitions.

This will mobilise and free up your pelvis and lower back and is a great way to start the day!

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Getting in shape is about 3 things. Eating right. Exercising. And doing those two things consistently! Of course, that’s easier said than done but it’s the truth. Getting into shape is not rocket science! Let’s get right into it.

Food:

1. Eat every 3-4 hours. By doing this you’ll keep your blood sugar stable which is the key and also turn your body into a fat burning machine. Think of your metabolism like a camp fire. If you don’t want a camp fire to burn out, you have to constantly add wood and logs to it.

2. Never let yourself get hungry! This serves many purposes. It keeps your blood sugar stable, keeps that fire burning, but also when you’re very hungry it’s extremely hard to make good decisions!

3. Eat only complex carbs. Refined and simple carbs will spike your blood sugar which is exactly what we don’t want. Eat whole wheat bread instead of white, whole wheat pasta instead of regular, brown rice instead of white, etc.

4. Eat lean proteins! Depending on your lifestyle stick with proteins like chicken, eggs, and fish. Beans, nuts, legumes, and lentils are also awesome choices.

5. Veggies! You can never have too many vegetables. I say everything in moderation. Even moderation. Not with veggies!

6. Fruit is nature’s candy. Eat fruit when you are craving something sweet. You’ll be amazed at how little you miss junk food!

7. Drink lots of water. No need to get obsessive but try to drink a glass of water with each meal, and in between every meal. Your body will love you for it.

8. Don’t eat 2-3 hours before bedtime. And if you must – make it a protein rich snack.

9. Don’t eat until you’re stuffed. Instead, eat until you’re satisfied. You should feel like you can exercise right after you eat.

10. Eat slowly. The best way to eat until you’re satisfied is to savor every bite. The slower you eat the more full you’ll feel. It takes 20 minutes for our brain to realize we’ve eaten. We don’t need nearly as much food as we think we do!

11. No such thing as perfection! No one eats perfectly. We’re not robots! Remember: It’s what we do most of the time that generates most of our results! If you eat unhealthy make your very next meal healthy! No big deal. Just make that U-Turn! Every meal, every healthy choice, every compromise, really and truly makes a difference. Your body never lies!

12. Am I hungry? Or am I eating to change the way I feel? Ask yourself this before you eat. If the answer is yes, you’re eating for the wrong reasons! Physical hunger comes on gradually. Emotional hunger comes on suddenly.

13. Focus on eating foods that make you feel good. What does this mean? I like ice cream and cookies as much as the next guy. But I hate how it makes me feel afterward. Tired, lethargic, unfocused, etc. Instead, focus on foods that make you feel good before, during and after you’re done. You’ll never regret making a healthy choice!

Exercise:

1. Do it 4 times per week for at least 30 minutes. Seriously, doesn’t matter. Basketball, jogging, weights, push ups, etc. Unless you have a specific goal just make sure to get it done!

2. The two day rule! You can’t miss 2 days of working out in a row. You can skip one day. But not the next!

3. Don’t let the “Exercise Monster” build up. When I don’t do laundry for a while it becomes what I like to call the ‘Laundry Monster’. It builds up in my mind and I avoid doing it at all costs. Until finally, I have to. And it’s never as bad as I think it’ll be! Don’t let it happen to you. Follow the two day rule!

4. Don’t focus on exercising at a certain time. Just focus on making time to exercise!

5. Make it fun! Listen to music; join a nice gym; etc. Bonus: If you love working out with music as much as I do, only listen to your favorite music while you workout. I’ve actually exercised just to listen to my music.

6. Focus on how you want to feel. We always feel energized after we workout. Yet, we usually skip exercise when we’re feeling tired!

Remember: Exercise will give you energy. Want more energy? Exercise more! Exercise and eating right pays off big in your quality of life! If you need to spend extra money on groceries, a gym membership, trainers, etc., do it! Warren Buffet said it best. “The best investment you can make is in yourself!” And if you’re able to follow these rules consistently you’ll be well on your way to getting in shape!

This post was written by Adam Gilbert of MyBodyTutor.com.

If you’ve ever been to, or plan to go to, the Mirror Lake (also known as Lake Matheson) in the South Island of New Zealand you may very well experience something that could change your perceptions forever.

I was only perhaps 20 at the time and I remember our ‘Contiki’ tour bus arriving in the car parking area. I vividly remember standing on the edge of the lake looking at the reflection of a view that quite literally blew my mind. You see, the reflection on the Mirror Lake is supposedly about 99% perfect. There are minimal disruptions on the water and its quite literally like looking into a mirror.

For some reason it seems human nature than when you attain this ‘perfect view’ you automatically want to try and disrupt it! I actually wanted to throw a stone in this lake and cause massive ripples on the surface of the water. It seemed too good to be true.

There are a few reasons why I say that the lake has a ‘Perfect View’ and I’ll try to explain them as best as I can..

The Lake has no ego

The Lake reflects what it sees much like the reflection of a mirror. For over 14,000 years this lake has probably seen it all and yet it continues to reflect exactly what it sees unmarred by judgements, opinions, previous experience, memory or ego. It lives in the moment and reflects things perfectly as they are. It does not dwell on or compare things with the past, nor does it day dream or live hopelessly in fear of the future, it simply lives in the now, accepting everything as it happens.

It occasionally loses perfection but re-balances quickly

Even if something were to disrupt its perfect view (i.e. someone throwing a stone) it would automatically rebound to its natural state of mirror-like reflection. It may not happen immediately, but perfect view is its natural state, it is not bound to an ego, or to thought processes, so even if it loses its mirror-like reflection it will always return to its perfect, natural state – Its perfect view – because that is how nature intended it to be.

It has experienced impermanence

In the last 14,000 years I could imagine hundreds of thousands of people have stood on the shores of this lake and marvelled at its pure perfection. And each one of those people has eventually moved on (both literally and figuratively). Tree’s would have grown from tiny seeds and then eventually either been cut down or died and fell down on their own. The Lake itself is not even the same lake it was last year, last month or even yesterday because of the evaporation of water molecules. One day the lake will disappear completely, but until that day it maintains its perfect view.

It understands cause and effect

It rains. Water runs into the lake. Its sunny. The lake evaporates. The lake itself is dependant on these circumstances to exist, a never ending cycle of cause and effect that results (for the moment) in the lakes existence. Perhaps one day there will be only sun and the lake will dry up and disappear. When that happens will the perfect view still be there? Or does it only exist because the lake does?

I think there is a lot to be said for this perfect view.

Perhaps we can all learn from the Mirror Lakes and try to live without ego, judgements, memories and opinions marring the way that we see things.

Hopefully we can all learn that we are imperfect, but that deep down we have a natural perfect view that can be re-attained if we can only learn to put our egos aside.

If we are fortunate we will understand that our own reflection in the mirror is sometimes distorted by the ripples of our memories, and marred by the strong impressions that current day advertising has on our self image, but that the mirror sees us just as we are. We are Perfect.

The fitness industry evolved to cater for the basic needs of people, and even though many buzz words have come and gone these needs are still the same. In the past I would have said that the purpose of the Health and Fitness Industry was to improve the Health of people, these days I use the term Wellness.

What is Wellness?

The reason that I differentiate between Health and Wellness at all is because most of the people that I speak to think that being healthy means being skinny and fit, and unfortunately many personal trainers think the same. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Some references to Health define it as the ‘absence of disease or infirmity’ whereas other definitions focus on ‘physical, mental and social well-being’. I believe that health by definition is our natural state of homoeostasis, which is a state in which our body naturally regulates  its internal environment to maintain a constant, stable condition free from disease or infirmity.

Wellness, on the other hand, builds on the natural foundation of homoeostasis and adds the ‘constant, conscious pursuit of living life to its fullest potential’ – It is a state in which we are not only healthy, but also thriving.

How can Wellness be achieved?

My theory of Wellness builds on the basic indicators of health (weight, diet, exercise, cholesterol, flexibility etc..) and adds some of the core concepts of Needs and Motivational Theory from psychologists such as Maslow, Herzberg, Alderfer and others.

Taking into account many of the aspects of Mind, Body and Spirit we can take a broader snapshot of where you’ve been, where you are right now and where you are going, helping you make a plan to live your life to its fullest potential.

We are in the process of putting together a full Wellness Program so contact us for more information, or watch this space over the next few weeks as we elaborate and discuss the endless and limitless possibilities of human health and wellness.

]]> http://ptinyourpocket.com.au/archives/301/feed 0