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!