Optimize Your Fitness

Harnessing Universal and Interpersonal Energy

We receive energy from the natural world- the warmth and light of the sun, the grounding force of the earth, the cycles of the moon, planets and stars. The healing practices that have come to us from the East such as Qigong, Tai Chi, and Yoga promote harnessing energy from heaven and earth through mindful movement of our bodies. If you're in a physical rut and unable to get an exercise program going, engaging in any of these practices can help boost your energy enough to get you started. If you’re already exercising, they can help optimize the modes of exercise you already enjoy in your fitness routine. One major reason for this is because these disciplines require focus on quality of movement. Slow, deliberate movements actually harness mental and physical energy - energy that you can use for explosive, high impact movement or any other high energy activity. It's a known fact that the more we move our bodies, the more energetic we feel. Moreover, mindful movement cultivates better overall health, including improved mood.

Another major source of energy transfer is what we give and receive from one another. If the practices mentioned above don’t appeal to you, consider taking up activities that connect you or at least put you in close proximity with other active people. I love to people watch at the gym. I’ve noticed that even strangers boost each other’s performance and will often knowingly or unknowingly “ride” each other’s energy waves. If you don’t like being confined to the gym, a similar positive energy exchange can happen at an ice skating rink, the pool or if you live in Southern California, at the board walk along the beach. Being around other active adults promotes positive energy, gives us a sense of strength, vitality of body and mind. From a neuroscience perspective we’re co-regulating:)

To begin, ask yourself from where you draw positive energy, whether from external sources, from within or both. For some, tuning into energy is like learning to see colors more vividly or listening to a genre of music for the first time. It takes practice and the more you do it, the more sensitized you become. Harness it and enjoy the benefits!

A Return to Vitality

Approaching Fitness With Desire and Curiosity

We’re so busy nowadays that the most we allow ourselves is savoring a cup of coffee or taking a bath. Exercise is often relegated to the gym or home exercise equipment. Yes, staying fit is hard work but it can encompass excitement, fun, and simple pleasures. When was the last time you walked in the rain, played flag football, danced to music you love, rode a bike or jumped on a trampoline? Maybe there was another such activity you loved as a child and the path to adulthood took you away from it. Would you consider challenging yourself to return to a childhood hobby or to trying an activity you’ve always wanted to engage in but never found the opportunity?

When I broke a vertebra in my neck, I had to wear a neck brace for two months not knowing if I would fully heal. I had a lot of time to think about all the ways I wanted to move my body and couldn’t. I remembered the sense of freedom I felt as a child riding anything with wheels, horseback riding or running and rolling down hills. I was lucky enough to heal and since then I’ve been exploring! Belly dancing, boxing, trampolining, rock climbing, roller blading (followed by three months of PT!), roller skating, boogie boarding, swimming in the ocean. Connect to what feels good in your body, approach an activity you’ve been curious about and feed your heart and spirit!

The Pelvis: A Very Good Place to Start

We hear a lot about the importance of strengthening core muscles. There are lots of workouts purporting to develop the core. They often incorporate movements that put a lot of strain on the body and are high risk for injury. It's like going out for hurdles when you haven't trained to run.

My experience has born out that the best way to approach strengthening the core with minimum risk of injury is to first familiarize clients with their pelvis. I'd argue that it's the single most important part of the anatomy for us to know intimately as it coordinates movement between the lower and upper body. Ideally, it would be part of our physical education in school as children. Instead, most of us never learn where it is in our bodies or its crucial role in posture and movement. We inadvertently develop bad habits in the way we hold ourselves in basic movements such as sitting and walking. It's one major factor in why so many of us suffer from chronic back pain.

Taking the time to perform targeted exercises to connect with the pelvis through a full range of motion is critical work. It can be the single most physically transformative action you'll ever take. You can serve as your own masseur, massaging the back in a way that promotes better posture, spinal alignment, elongating and relaxing the muscles throughout. It's precisely this slowing down to experience deliberate movements and to feel the effects running up the spine as far as the top of the head that will eventually give you the results you haven't achieved with those sexy workouts.