Count our blessings...

Wow! What a Christmas season. Did it blast by as fast for you? How many of us had a little trouble staying present with all of the distractions going on? I must say, there was a point during Christmas morning, in the midst of the pandemonium, that I felt a deep rush of sadness. I felt like here we were, plowing through a million and one presents and gifts, and there were families that had difficulty putting food on the table. How easy it is to forget. How easy it is to take for granted our blessed and fortunate life. Isn't it our job, as more fortunate people, to take care of those less fortunate than us? I asked myself if I gave my best effort this season. I also thought of other ways throughout the new year that I may give more frequently to those less fortunate, without just being reminded at holiday seasons like thanksgiving and Christmas. How did you do in contributing to others? How will you step up to the plate and help those less fortunate this upcoming year?
"The most difficult arithmetic, is that which allows us to count our blessings".....
Remember, January 11th at 7:00pm-9:00pm, FREE "Rules of Transformation" seminar at the Davinci Centre, 10 spots left..available only to practice members and their families or friends. See you there!!!

Redirect the ship! Or not...

There is nothing more important than health. We repeat this mantra over and over especially when someone gets sick don't we? How has the year been for you? Have you dedicated yourself to your well-being? Slipped off line? Redirected ship and back on course, or lost your way completely? The great thing about being human, is that we have choices. We, at any moment in time, can create better health. At any moment. After reading this blog you can go for a 10 minute walk and increase your health..or you can go stare at the T.V...or both. You can have a healthy snack this evening and get more vital nutrients, or, you can have a high sugar dessert. The most incredible thing, is that we can choose. We always can choose that which we want to experience more of, including our most prized and valued treasure, our health.
A well-delivered spinal adjustment or what we call entrainment, is one of the most effortless ways of increasing health. All you have to do is lay on a table, and your health is going to improve. Spinal health and motion is linked into the brain, to stimulate brain energy, and centres of ease and well-being. It really is that simple. But sometimes, just like nutrition and exercise, simple just seems too easy. We say we want simplicity, but I see us making health and life too darn tough. Too complex. It really isn't that tricky. Give yourself a break in 2012 and focus on making health and well-being simple. Simple and Essential.

Do we need that much exercise?

This blog is more of questions, but I feel extremely valid questions to begin to ask to take us to the next level. I was recently reading a blog on a person I enjoyed reading, American philosopher Ken Wilber, and the blog exposed some weaknesses in Ken's writings, as well as some contradictory information from his earlier books. A man so respected for his intellect, was being challenged for his consistency of opinion and views, as well as being challenged on his model of spiritual evolution as being unscientific, and potentially not worthy of academic consideration. As their is duality in all of existence, this led me to contemplate the potential existence of the duality of exercise.
Exercise is a big topic so I thought I would pose a few new questions. Yes, it appears that genetically we are similar to that of our ancestors. And yes, through this knowledge it appears logical that we require the same needs of movement as our ancestors. But, the but comes for me here, still no one lived in those times. Yes, there are still tribes currently in a premodern model of living, and observing them may give us insights into the past, but it still does not bring us IN the past. Unless we are living in that moment, we really do not know for 100% certainty that all of our ancestors did get as much movement and exercise as archeological research may show. It seems plausible that we were extremely fit, but what if only some were really fit. Some were moderately fit. Some were so-so fit. And some were not fit at all. What if 10% of the tribe did 90% of the work. What if there were the true hunter gatherers that moved an immense amount throughout the day, and there were others that sat around baking all day. What if there were those swinging from the tree, and others laying on a hammock or just cleaning up while waiting for the kill to be brought to them to clean and cook? What if, by evolutionary standards, you are bigger  in stature because you moved the logs in your tribe, and others are thinner and leaner because you walked for miles. What if you are more muscular because you built homes in the tribe, while you are more insulated with body fat because you spent more time out in the snow while others would have frozen because of the lack of insulation?  What if you knew what your true role in our society was, therefore explaining your body type, therefore allowing greater self acceptance of who you are? What if our knowledge of the true role you play in your community was the most important part and not trying to fit every woman and man into the same category needs of exercise?  What if a mom raising kids, lugging them around, squatting, baking, cooking and cleaning, lifting them out of cars etc. is ENOUGH? And what if a mother can be happy and content with that? What if you had higher body fat % because you spend more time in the water swimming, fishing, and gathering seaweed or plants for food?  Is it possible that we are not supposed to all look, move, lift, sit, and lunge the same way? And is it possible that we actually don't all need to do those things?? There are obviously different body types, that move differently, move energy differently, move breath differently, are more stable, are more unstable, have higher body fat %, have lower body fat %, and to place everyone with the same universal exercise needs seems a tad bit ignorant. Does everyone need stretching? Could you naturally be more rigid because you kept the tribe very organized or maybe you were the fighter of the tribe? What if stretching for someone gave them no advantage and actually made them more unstable for what their true role in society was? Does everyone need intense strengthening? What if attempting to get stronger than you need to be was stressful to the system?  What if peace of mind of who you were kept bone density strong and it had little to do with the amount of resistance training you do? What if the worry and concern you place on yourself for not being fit and in shape is actually what causes stress hormones and an internal decay of the body. What if we lived in a world where you were so in tune with your body-mind, that exercise was only a concept and that we moved and breathed and danced and meditated and exercised and stretched as our bodies told us. What if a push up was absolutely useless to some. What if doing a correct squat really didn't matter? What if those that needed to do lots of squats did it well, but those that didn't need to do it, did a squat poorly? Who cares? Did all the people who lived to 100 years old with a high quality of life, have their squat evaluated regularly? Are we just becoming too damn rigid? Do you really have to stretch 3x/wk? Did our ancestors even know what a week was? What are YOUR needs? What is YOUR role? What is YOUR style? What are YOU all about? What will create YOUR well-being? What if we created a world where you know who YOU are and what YOU need? What a world.

Gratitude Action List- Make one today

Who are the top 5 people you are grateful to have in your life?
List 3 reasons why you are so grateful to have them in your life.
Write 1 action you can do that would make them melt. Something that is so high on their values list, that you know they love to experience.
That is 5 selfless "extra" action steps in total  that you would need to do within the next week to exchange a greater depth of gratitude than usually experienced between each other.
What would this mean to them? How could it influence their day, week, month or year?
Gratitude, and the actions we take, are contageous and have the potential to ripple through humanity further than we can imagine.
Have fun with this one!

Easiest formula to get what you want...

The question of: How do I get from where I am to where I want to be? The easiest answer I have been taught through coaching is this:

Look in the direction of where you want to be
Speak in the direction of where you want to be
Act in the direction of where you want to be
And ONLY look back over your shoulder to see how far you've come.

This required that you are clear about where you want to go and the belief (if you have trouble with belief than check out www.psych-k.com)and trust that you are already there. It is a matter of creating the habits of success that will allow you to achieve what you are looking for.
Can you identify with crystal clarity what you really want? I think that is the only place to start. Good luck!

Rehearse your life

On my last blog we talked about what the three essentials were to creating your reality and the art of intention setting. The first was being crystal clear about your desires. The second was to have an actual belief that it can happen. The third was trust that all universe will align the right people, places and things to make it happen. But now...we still require something more.
The next is rehearsal. Athletes, artists and performers all understand and utilize rehearsal. We can appreciate that before we watch a play, that many hours have gone into rehearsing the movements, actions, language and lines before the play is public ready and has been mastered. So too can you do this with your life. Begin to act out what you want to take place. Let's say for example you want more confidence. You are clear about it, believe it, and trust that you can do it. Now what. Now it's time to stand tall, breath high into the chest, stiffen your body slightly and walk firm and direct. Now you have created the physiology and posture of confidence. Now your mind thinks you are confident. Train yourself enough times and then you become confident! Think of your life as a play. You are not only the director and producer, but you are also the performer. If your dream or goals were to be put in a play, how would actors need to practice for your play? This is exactly what you need to be practicing daily if you want your dreams to turn into a reality! Act as if you are rehearsing a play, and watch how you begin to look, behave and talk different to meet the needs of your desired outcome.

The 3 rules of Intending

Before I share a quick story about intentions and intending, I wanted to give you 3 rules that must be in place in order for the intentions to come to fruition. Three rules that I have found are consistent with creating your reality, and creating the life/situation/experiences that you desire are...  #1- Complete Clarity. What you desire must be fully clear in your mind and in your heart. #2- Belief- You must believe that what you are intending is going to happen. It is not a wish, a hope or a desire. It is a knowing and belief that the outcome is going to happen. No "ifs" "ands" or "buts" about it. #3- Trust- You must trust that once you truly believe and are crystal clear about your intention, that the universe will align for you the people, actions, plans and experiences for this to come to fruition. Intention does not come without action. Intention sets the wheels into motion. Six years ago as I was looking over my finances, I had figured what the amount was that we wanted for "retirement." (don't quite buy into that but hey..) So we figured I would need X amount by the time I was 33 in the long term savings. So I crunched the numbers and said, ok, I need X amount in the bank by the time I am 33. I was totally clear about the objective, I completely believed it was doable, and I just felt a knowing that it would happen and there was really no reason it shouldn't happen. It was 6 years away so I didn't get caught up in any emotion that it was not possible. Fast forward 6 years to three days after my 33rd birthday. I rarely check my bank statement (wife's job : )), but I just happened to see our statement of investments on our dining room table. I looked at it, and when I added up the total of our 3 combined accounts,  it was within $200 of the exact amount I had intended on having from 6 years ago...I was amazed that I didn't dwell on it, I really never focused on it, but it happened almost to the exact amount...And That is how intention works.

Get Present Right Now!

"The past is a concept. The future is a concept. We only have moments to live." Steven Fonso
Yes, you can quote me on that one : )
I wanted to share this thought I had with you to comtemplate.
Where are you living? What stories from the past are influencing your thoughts and actions right now? What fears of the future are influencing your thoughts and actions right now?
Can you pull yourself into right now, the present moment, observe your breathing, observe your movements, observe your position, observe your thoughts, observe YOU. Minus the stories, expectations, dissappointments, or fears. The past is irrelevant. It is now that is important. The past happened exactly as it should have to shape you for this moment. Right now. Can you accept the past and live right now?
If you have some extra time check out this video from Jon Kabat-Zinn www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc  

14 hours of straight meditation

I hear of many patients getting frustrated with their meditative practice, they have trouble making time, or staying focused during meditation time, and they can't seem to get it, or are not good at it. Here is a question. If meditation is about training your brain to stay "present," if it is about going in and out of focus, if it is about being in one single thought, or holding a concentrated focus without other distracting thoughts, then why can't we meditate through our entire waking life? I mean, what if you looked at your entire day as an opportunity to meditate? Let me clarify. Meditation to most means you sit down, and focus. Let the thoughts come together on a single sound, breath, symbol or number. What if that single focus was the person you were with? What if that single focus was your meal, lifting your fork, feeling and tasting the food or swallowing? What if that single focus was groceries? What if that single focus was your body while working out? What if that single focus was the customer you are dealing with? Get my idea? People fret about making time for meditation, and get stressed out that others can do it so well and they can't, but as I see it, from the time you rise, to the time you go to sleep, IS and CAN BE your time to meditate. Your time to be focused and present on the single thing that is in front of you. Imagine a day where you are fully present with whatever is in front of you. Not thinking about where you are going or what happened yesterday. Being completely immersed in the moment of what you are doing or who you are with. That IS meditation. That IS mindfulness. That IS "being in the present moment." Remember people sit down and practice meditation to try to get to that single focus and they bounce in and out of new thoughts. The better the meditator, the better they can hold the single focus. Make it your days mission to do that ALL day. You, at times, will be successful, and other times not. At times you will be able to stay present, and other times not. The same successes and failures are with the meditators that sit for an hour. So go ahead and brag to your friends that you meditated for 14 hours straight!

Run Now, Think Later

From Alternative Medicine, 2006, a study in Lancet Neurology showed how people who run at least 20-30 minutes twice a week during their 40's and 50's, cut their risk for Alzheimer's and dementia later in life by almost 50%! Awesome....now the reality...Movement, as we know to be an essential, will cut the risk of almost every single disease known to mankind. Why? Because movement decreases stress hormones, creates movement and circulation of the organs, stimulates the brain and immune system, and creates strength and mobility. Every major condition and disease we face in today's modern society is lifestyle based, not genetically inherited (more on that in another blog). According to M. Meany, Ph.D. 2001 Stress and Disease: Who Gets Sick, Who Stays Well. Cortext Educational Seminars: "The result of medical research over the past 20 years has clarified precisely how stress can promote various forms of illness." (heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, anxiety, and most cancers). The leading killers in society are preventable and lifestyle related! So it is no surprise to discover through research that exercise and movement, an essential to every human being, plays a  major role in minimizing disease and maximizing health. Run now!

Amazing Research for Fitness!

With the continuation of fitness month, I wanted to share some research and some comments on a paper I came across in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It read "exercise and breast health- a matter of life and death." In the article it compared 3000 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer. They were categorized by being active versus inactive. What the research found was that as little as one hour per week helped to promote survival, while 3 to 5 hours reduced the risk of death or RECURRANCE by a whopping 50%! I need to comment on a couple of things regarding this study. What is amazing is the power created by engaging in ongoing movement and exercise. In fact, these people were well below the weekly requirement for optimal health, and still managed to achieve a 50% reduction! Imagine if our goal was to be at optimal levels! What a concept. This is not a surprise to the Veressent community, as we are well aware, movement is an essential : ). If you are not moving, your dying. Period.
What boggles my mind though, is the topic of what is being researched. Medical scientists unfortunately look at specific amounts of exercise for specific diseases...Problem! We need to focus on what are the daily movement requirements to be healthy and vital and optimal, not what do we need at minimum to prevent a specific disease. Who the hell knows what you're going to develop anyways?! Could you image saying in ten years, well I exercised one hour a week to prevent colon cancer, but I'll be damned I got heart disease, if I would have known that I should have exercised 30 minutes a day like the research said for heart disease. Do you see how this type of research will never give us healthy people? How are you going to know what disease to pick to try to prevent?? It makes no sense! A family history? Research in the field of epigenetics shows consistently that family diseases are a cultural myth. The very concept disempowers us as human being to have control over our health destiny. You may, through genetics have a predisposition to a particular disease, but the genes for the disease are turned on through your lifestyle choices and your belief about the disease. Only 0.02% of disease are actually a genetic mutation. The rest is through our choices. As Deepak Chopra once stated, there is no scientific evidence that we need to be sick. A wellness based, Veressent lifestyle makes sense. Meeting all the essentials for optimal health, vitality and exceptional living. A healthy structure and nervous system, good eating and essential supplements, lots of exercise, rest and rejuvenation, positive outlook on life and a passionate, exciting, purposeful life. This is what OPTIMIZES your health and life potential. That has to be the focus for future generations if we are to evolve out of this disease treating society. What we are doing and thinking is not working. We need to focus our attention on a life of Veressence! Let's start by maximizing our movement as LIFE IS MOTION AND MOTION IS LIFE.

Veressent Community Connects program

What a great first community connects program we had last night. Thanks for the near 30 people that came out to support the event and our fitness expert Paul Hemsworth. With his vast knowledge on strength and conditioning, he spoke about the importance of movement and movement patterns not only in the gym and training, but in our everyday life. Like all things in life, there are sloppy ways of doing things and efficient ways. Movement of our body is no exception. There are a few golden rules when it comes to achieving what you want and getting the body, fitness and health you desire and deserve. As Paul explained, it begins with the end in mind. For what reason are we engaging in certain activities in our fitness? Then, it is about being mindful enough about the movement of our bodies, to be able to assess if we are moving efficiently(always best with the help of a certified fitness specialist...watch out, they aren't all the same), and then putting in the work, to train hard and time effectively to live a healthy, strong life. Start with the end in mind, be mindful of your body, and train harder than you think you can. The quality of your fitness is going to be directly proportional to how hard you push your body-mind on a regular basis. Our systems like to be challenged. We respond best to being challenged. It is Essential that we push our bodies hard, efficiently, and mindfully.
Check out Paul's programs at http://www.hemsworthstrength.com/ to see how you can benefit from one-to-one coaching or group training. Remember, 90% is just showing up. Once you are there, work hard and feel proud!

This is the experience of Veressence!

Attending a recent healing retreat in New Jersey allowed me to reflect on the concept of being Veressent. The idea that we express ourselves and live "true to our natural state of being," continues to get me excited as I think of the many possibilities and ways for people to experience a richer, greater and more exceptional life. What is it to live in our core nature? Do I still ascribe to what we created at Veressent Life? As I experienced the weekend, a few key things occurred which I understand to be living more in my natural state. The first thing that began, is the level of noise and clutter in my mind began to dwindle. The space between my thoughts began to widen. I almost seemed to become more selective to which thoughts I wanted to think about and contemplate. I also began to engage in much fuller breath, my posture became steadier and much more flexible, and I began to experience a broader range of emotions. As the weekend continued, I found the questions I was asking myself became less about me, and more about contribution to others and engaging in community. As my bodymind gained range and flexibility, I flat out became more in tune with my surroundings, not reacting, but just pleasantly experiencing being a part of what was going on. Judgements ceased, and acceptance grew. Is this the way life is meant to be experienced? I believe it is. 

The standards we have set for experiencing a Veressent Life I believe to be the gold standard for the human experience. This is a Veressent Life. 

First Program for Veressent Life!

Thanks to everyone on Thursday evening who came out to our first Illumination Program. We had a fantastic time with a blend of hands on work through Somatorespiratory Integration (SRI), theory, music, meditation, contemplation and art. For those that did not attend, we will be running future programs and for those who did, be thinking of taking this again, to refine your skills. Discovering your core nature using essentials is the foundation of Veressent Life, and the level 1 program is where it all begins.
Since we are on the topic of discovering, allow me to give you a few quick tips regarding how we can implement some of the essential awareness tools throughout our regular life. We do not need a specific program to teach us the art of being mindful and aware. Just look around you. Day to day activities gives us ample opportunity to be able to assess our state of our bodymind and emotional states. We talked in the program of living in the past,  "present", and future. We have great challenges staying present. We are often driven by emotions of the past (guilt/anger) or driven by emotions of the future (fear). Being "present" allows for us in the way of peace, connection, wisdom, calm, love, etc. Practicing the art of staying present is the best meditation you could ever practice. You could try to sit for an hour, and force yourself to flow in and out of past, present and future, or you could practice it all day, everyday. We often think we need hours in our day, which is overwhelming (like exercise), to meditate and achieve peace. But if we just realize that if we practice the art of being present, we are meditating and it is at our disposal at every moment. Think of a simple act like eating with family. Are you truly enjoying the moment with family, or are you thinking about what you need to do after supper, or about the crappy day you had. Being present means your thoughts are focused in exactly what you are doing in that moment. Think of all the other ways throughout the day to embrace the moment, and have some fun with it. This is a great way to discover where you are at bodymind and emotion.

Your Veressent Life Awaits!

WOW! What an exciting start for us with the launch party on Wednesday night. Veressent Life- living a life that is true to your natural state of being, is ready and rearing to go! One part of my talk that I shared was creating health and wellness is like baking cookies. It consists of 3 key essential parts in order to be successful. #1. We must start out with the end in mind and the motivation to begin, #2. We need a recipe and the essential ingredients, and #3. We actually need to participate and put the ingredients together in order to enjoy something new. So many of us, day in and day out, are MINDLESSLY doing #3. We just go through the motions of your day, with the same actions and thoughts leading to the same unwanted life experience. We have forgotten about who we are and where we want to go, and therefore, have not created our own recipe for success.  We forgot to do #1 and 2! We have become MASTERS at self-sabotaging thoughts, and mindless actions. Veressent Life is about a health and life philosophy, a science and an experience of navigating you toward exceptional living using the essential ingredients to get you there. I've done most of the grunt work for you, I've taken away the question of "what do I need to do". Now is your time to engage and have some fun! Engaging is the key, so keep your eye out on our website calender for upcoming events as the dates get ironed out. And while you are waiting, check out this great research study, that shows how participating with others actually lowers stress hormones, reduces the likehood of bodymind dis-ease, and accelerates healing. This is the epitome of what Veressent Life is all about! Check it out at Natural News Study on Social Interaction & Health.
P.S. It's not really medicine..they just call it that : )
Have an EXCEPTIONAL week.....Dr. Steve