Workout Tips To Help You Achieve The Best You

Tips To Remember When You Workout:
1. Try not to rest between your exercises sets. Try to be the best conditioned athlete you can be in the gym. I believe you can increase your strength along with your endurance through this method of training. Believe in it and follow it!

2. Always go hard! Challenge yourself each and every day! Intensity is the key to overall success. Be intense and don't settle for nothing less!

3. Always pick challenging weight for each of your exercises. Try to increase your weight if at possible...challenge your body and make it work. An increase in weight will help you get stronger and make your body work harder during your workout. Try to pyramid your weight for each set that you do.

4. One important rule to remember is that even though you want to challenge yourself on your weight, it is not how much you lift but how you lift. One goal is to build a strong foundation that will help you perform better and longer. Your foundation supports all movements, motions, activities, and most importantly it helps prevent injuries. Always make sure you have good form and that you perform each exercise with full range of motion.

5. One way to stay motivated is to set daily goals. This concept not only helps with motivation but it helps you get mentally prepared and strong for anything you attempt. The thought of pushing yourself is one thing, but the most important thought is believing that by pushing yourself you will be successful. Try to challenge yourself with your daily goals and workouts~this will also help you create mental toughness. I believe that with mental toughness~NOTHING can stand in your way. The mind and the body should work as one unit~supporting one another through intense bouts of exercises and/or life.

6. Try to feel the burn and some after that initial burn. Try to challenge yourself physically but also mentally. I believe that both these components work together to create an overall YOU! If you do an exercise and you begin to feel an intense muscle burn~mentally take yourself to the next level and don't stop. Push through and get it done at all costs. Try to incorporate a few challenge rounds in your workout routine. This will help you improve on pushing through.

7. Think of each workout as a practice. It is getting you ready for your big event. Preparing you to be the best you can be. Even if you are not participating in a competitive event, I believe that creating an overall foundation will support you in any activity you do. For example, you want to do yard work (pulling weeds) without any problems or soreness. With a strong foundation, you can pull weeds without any pain and soreness.

8. You must think of yourself as an athlete~this is the bottom line. Be an all-round versatile athlete~strong physically and mentally, conditioned to the extreme, and unstoppable. Remember, the word athlete is what you make it for yourself.

9. Nutrition! I can not stress this enough. You are what you eat and if you are going to perform and be intense, you will need the proper fuel to support this. You must be eating right in order to have the strength and endurance to get through each and every workout with intensity. Always eat breakfast! Eat every 2 to 3 hours. Each meal must consist of a protein, carb, and a fruit/vegetable. Think well-balanced for each meal. If you are not taking care of your eating you will not have the energy to perform at the best of your potential. This in turn will lead to discouragement, fatigue, and a decrease in motivation.

10. Nutrients you get from food sources help with injuries. It also helps injured areas to rebuild and become healthy and strong. Fruits and veggies are filled with lots of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that will help support you and your injuries.

11. Always make sure you eat something after a workout. You have 30 to 45 minutes to get something in your system. This is one of the most important tips you must remember in health and fitness. Think more fast-digesting carbs along with whey protein. Protein smoothie with fruit is a good choice. Your post-workout meal helps you replenish and restore nutrients you lost during your workout. It helps with recovery and helps preserve your lean muscle. Don’t ever skip your post-workout meal. This is one of the most important meals of your day.

12. Have fun! Think of what you are doing, what it takes to get there, and where you will go. Now, think of how fun this journey will be for you. All the things you will learn about yourself along the way and what you will endure with each workout. Smile and have fun with your training! Fitness is fun~it is truly what you make of it.

The Thoughts Of My Heart

Many people will WALK in and out of you LIFE, but only TRUE friends will leave footprints on your HEART. To handle YOURSELF~use your HEAD; to handle others~ use your HEART. Anger is the only one letter short of danger. If someone betrays you once, it is their fault; if they betray you twice, it is your fault. Great MINDS discuss IDEAS; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. A person who loses money~ loses much; a person who loses a FRIEND~loses much more; a person who loses FAITH~ loses it all. Beautiful young people are accidents of NATURE, but BEAUTIFUL old people are works of art. LEARN from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself. There is no BEGINNING or END. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. TODAY is a GIFT, that's why they call it the present.

LET YOUR HEAD LEAD YOU

Never take the people in your life for granted. Appreciate them, help them, care for them, but most importantly make them FEEL SPECIAL. Each of us has a life filled with choices, and sometimes we can make a choice that could hurt someone we care about or help someone we love. 

I believe that each moment of our life is so special...and the people that are in those moments become very important and special to us. Some people will have a positive impact in your life and others will have a negative impact in your life. I have always believed in the people that are in my life, no matter if they have loved me or hurt me. I allow my heart to lead me in every aspect that I do in my life. I just think it is important to respect, love, and help everyone that enters your life...NO MATTER WHAT!

Passion and love comes from your heart. Understand what your heart tells you. Believe in the power of your heart. Never give up on the passion and the love your heart knows! "When the heart is touched, chemicals responsible for good health and a sense of well-being are released in the body.

Research has found that when a person is a recipient of an act of kindness, his or her serotonin levels increase, strengthening the immune system. But interestingly, the serotonin level also increases in the person PERFORMING the act of kindness, strengthening his or her immune system as well."-Jennifer Hawthorne

So be kind to everyone...don't take anybody for granted. Let love lead you in all the directions possible in your life. You only get one life, so GO FOR IT/BELIEVE IN IT/LOVE IT!

Know True Love And True Peace

The MIND- what a powerful tool, but yet a tool that has the power to work against you. The more and more I experience and the more and more I read...the more the message is about trying to have a MIND that is attached to nothing. Your attachments could be leading you in the wrong direction and could be the source of many of your problems. For instance, the NEED to be right, to POSSESS someone or something, to WIN at all costs, to be VIEWED by others as superior...these are all attachments that may seem to be okay on the surface but problematic within.

It is important to understand that in order to release attachments, you must make a shift in HOW YOU VIEW YOURSELF. For example, if your primary identification is with your body and your possessions, your ego is the dominant force in your life. Now this is where it is important...if you can tame your ego sufficiently, you'll call upon your spirit to be the guiding force in your life. As a spiritual being, you can observe your body and be a compassionate witness to your existence. Read the next paragraph and embrace the thought process.

If you think peaceful thoughts, you'll feel peaceful emotions, and that's what you'll bring to every life situation. If your attached to being right or absolutely need something in order to be at peace or to be successful, you'll live a life of striving yet never arriving.

Now understand, it is possible to have a burning desire yet not have attachments. "Infinite patience produces immediate results." Understand that infinite patience implies an absolute certainty that what you would like to manifest will indeed show up, in perfect order, and exactly on time. The immediate result you receive from this inner knowing is a sense of peace.

So say you have been given a choice between TWO MAGIC WANDS. The first wand gives you the power to have any physical thing you desire (guarantee of stuff) by simply waving it. The second wand gives you a sense of peace for the rest of your life regardless of what circumstances arise.

I want you to really take a moment and think about which wand you would choose. This is not a trick question, just be honest with yourself. Remember, there is no wrong answer...this question is just giving you an outlook on every possibility. Like I said there is no wrong answer, but the difference between the two magic wands is that the second wand simply allows you to have a mind that is open to everything but attached to nothing. It allows you to let it all come and go as it will. It is important that you enjoy it all (everything around you), but never make your happiness or success DEPENDENT on an attachment to any thing, any place, and particularly, any person.

They say that in all your relationships, if you can love someone enough to allow them to be exactly what they choose to be-without any expectations or attachments from you- YOU WILL KNOW TRUE PEACE IN YOUR LIFETIME. TRUE LOVE means you love a person for WHAT THEY ARE, NOT FOR  WHAT YOU THINK THEY SHOULD BE....and this is AN ABSENCE OF ATTACHMENT!

Dyer, Wayne. Secrets for Success &  Inner Peace. ppgs. 14-17.

THE STRENGTH OF FORGIVENESS

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."

-Mohandas Gandhi

In the past, I have read several books that state that many of the PHYSICAL aches and pains we carry around with us have their roots in the past. Many of us tend to carry this extra weight around (negative situations/ experiences that occurred in the past), right into our present situations. This extra baggage can affect the way we think and act...and it is FORGIVENESS that has become a "HOT NEW WAY" to manage anger, cut stress, and improve HEALTH. 

Research shows that forgiveness can reduce chronic back pain, decrease stress by up to 50 percent, increase energy, and improve mood, sleep, and overall physical vitality.

It is also important to take care of your past with something deeper than relief from physical symptoms. FORGIVING someone for something that occurred in the past does not mean what they did was okay, but instead it means to stop feeling victimized and stop making others responsible for our lives. You must take RESPONSIBILITY and never give anyone the power to determine your HAPPINESS.

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and to discover the prisoner was YOU!"

-Susan Brandis Slavin

Hawthorne, J. (2007) Life Lessons. p. 233-235

LOVE WINS

The nature of love is one of the most complex things to comprehend. One of my favorite quotes by Bruce Lee is: "If one loves, one need not have an ideology of love." Instead, love--true love--is a state or condition of being wherein the activities of the self have ceased. And in order to experience this state, an understanding of the workings of the self in all of its many varieties of consciousness is required."

You must think of love as a mutual experience of the body and the mind. When you love you must believe on one level that there is something constant about the body (physical constant) and that this physical constant is inherently and intrinsically enduring and tightly "connected" to what you perceive to be the identity of the person you love, the activity you love, or even the object you love.

However, we do change or better yet...we are change, as it is our ability to change with the change. Bruce Lee referred to this as "the changeless state." In order to have success in the people and things you love you must have its experience transcend your physical body...in order for love to evolve, you must experience the powerful emotional state as well.

In the case that the emotion of love is not present, a state of not being able to change with change results in a changed state, this will often lead to "growing apart." We must allow things in our life to evolve in its natural process, which will bring a truly wonderful experience. We must often remind ourselves not to possess or cling to the physical world.

As mentioned, the physical world is itself illusory, you're engaging in non-reality-based behavior, and this will set you up for failure. Instead allow your experience of love to happen naturally, allowing you to "let go" by not clinging to it, you will find that your relationships, goals, everyday activities will not only become more interesting, but will grow into a very strong unity of body, mind, and spirit.

Love can only exist in an environment that is free of ego--where one has forgotten oneself. To Bruce Lee, one did not have or possess "love" but rather lived the emotion in the present to the fullest possible degree and reveled in the experience of it. When love surrounds you, it becomes a tremendous physical, mental, and spiritual experience.

"Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning, a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep burning and unquenchable."-Bruce Lee

You must value happiness and know that happiness in relationships, family, workplace, everyday activities should be derived, not from a whirlwind that involves an extreme emotional state, but from a more balanced relationship/behavior...remember that true Yin/Yang is expressed through temperance and moderation--not by running to extremes.

"Nothing can be secured by extremes...only sober moderation lasts, and that persists through all time. Only the mid-part of anything is preserved because the pendulum (of life) must have balance, and the mid-part is the balance," says Lee.

So I leave you with this thought...allow life to live through you, remember that to get the most out of life lies simply in your decision to live your life with the principle of balance and to learn to cooperate with the natural patterns of our world. Most importantly, let your career, relationships, and daily activities be harmonious expressions of who you truly are.

With Love, Dofitness
 Little, J. The Warrior Within. 1996. Pgs. 64-67.

Keep Going

The person that achieves the highest vision is the one who has made the most errors along the way. A person must recognize that success is built not on success, but on past mistakes, mishaps, and errors. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, but instead embrace them, move forward, and makes sure not to make the same mistakes again. Never take the shortcut in life, take the long route because it is on this path that you will pick up the most experiences along the way. Learn from each experience good or bad and push forward....GROW and BECOME. 

Permission To Be Yourself And Your Treasure Of Kindness

I would like to share something with you...something that comes from my heart. Think of today as the day to be kind to yourself. It is OK to be you, just as you are. As old, as fat, as lazy, or as tired as you may be. Don't ever doubt yourself and embrace what truly lives inside you. Love what you are and what you can be. The concepts of loving and respecting yourself is so important because it gives you the ability to love and respect others. It is OK to struggle with these concepts, but try to remember and understand the positive outcome it will have on YOU AND ON OTHERS. This leads to the next idea I want to share with you...PRACTICING RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS.

The purpose of doing acts of KINDNESS for NO REASON makes us feel good inside and makes others feel even better. It reaffirms our connection with one another and adds to the light in the world. Remember, an act of kindness is so easy to do...putting a quarter in a stranger's parking meter takes less than minute, BUT gives a great burst of JOY. It feels so good inside to be kind for no reason. I also believe that being a kind person gives you inner strength and makes your heart stronger. So today, be a kindness angel and do something nice for ANYBODY!

Ryan, M.J. Instant Health and Happiness Boosters. ppgs. 135, 136.

You Are Strong Enough

"Problems are a sign of life. So the more problems you have the more alive you are." -Norman Vincent Peale

As the late great minister points out, problems are endemic to the human condition. No one escapes. The trick is to use whatever problem, difficulty, or hardship you are facing as a vehicle for spiritual and emotional growth. It isn't always easy, and it isn't always possible to do in the moment, but there are always hidden blessings in difficult situations, and when we discover them, we REDEEM OUR SUFFERING. We make meaning out of tragedy and grow more loving, compassionate, patient, and kind as a consequence.

The people I admire the most all say that they are grateful for the hard things they faced because of these opportunities for growth: a heart attack that reconnected them to their feelings, cancer that forced them to slow down, financial difficulties that taught them resilience.

Think about the most challenging thing you are facing right now. How is it an opportunity for you to grow your soul?

Ryan, M.J. Instant Health and Happiness. Pg. 306.

Suspension Of Consciousness

I often here my clients say they are unable to sleep because of the hundred thoughts that are crowding their brain or that they are able to go to sleep just fine, but then wake up some time in the middle of the night- when your brain flashes on like a thousand-watt bulb and can either not go back to sleep or sleep on the our.  Below is a list of helpful tricks you may want to try to help you cope with the loss of sleep. 

1. Turn the clock around so you can't see what time it is. (Knowing only makes you more anxious)
2. Read something boring (this example always makes me smile big), a dense history book filled with dates or a computer manual.
3. Make a list of the thoughts running through your head...so then you can let them go.
4. (My favorite) Leave your thoughts by concentrating on your heartbeat and listening to every breath.

Bottom line: Everyone handles stress differently...everyone sleeps differently. Figure out what works for you and embrace it. That is what life is all about discovering, exploring, understanding, and becoming. So find your way and if one trick doesn't work, then keep trying. Never give up on YOU and YOUR SLEEP!

Mayflower Oil Spill

Hi Everyone. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter holiday and enjoying the weather. Like I have stated in the past, I know this is a fitness blog but I still believe it is necessary to be aware of things that happen around us. Everything is energy and everything is connected. Everything will affect everyone at one point in time. Just wanted to use this time to share the recent events that have unfolded in the State of Arkansas. I believe awareness is key to everyone...it is always essential to know what is going on rather than find out later or never to find out. 

On Friday, March 29, 2013 at approximately 2:45 p.m, the Exxon Mobil Pegasus pipeline, which brings Canadian crude oil from Illinois to Texas, ruptured, leaking at least 80,000 gallons of oil into the Central Arkansas town of Mayflower (a small town about 20 miles from Little Rock, Arkansas). The leak flowed for about 45 minutes before they could stop the leak.

The pipeline developed a leak and oil fluids spread across gardens, residential streets...entering streams and drainage ditches running under Hwy 365 and Interstate 40. Pipeline crosses several waterways in the area and could potentially present a threat to water supplies. Forty homes have been evacuated and that number continues to rise.

According to an article in Reuters on Sunday, March 31, 2013 (5:07 p.m.est) Exxon's Pegasus pipeline, which can carry more than 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Pakota, Illinois to Nederland, Texas, was shut after the leak was discovered late Friday afternoon in a subdivision near the town of Mayflower. 

Exxon also had no specific estimate of how much crude oil had spilled, but the company said 12,000 barrels of oil and water had been recovered - up from 4,500 barrels on Saturday. The company did not say how much of the total was oil and how much was water.

Exxon said it staged the response to handle 10,000 barrels of oil "to ensure adequate resources are in place."

Fifteen vacuum trucks remained on the scene for cleanup, and 33 storage tanks were deployed to temporarily store the oil.

The pipeline was carrying Canadian Wabasca Heavy crude at the time of the leak. An oil spill of more than 1,000 barrels into a Wisconsin field from an Enbridge pipeline last summer kept that line shuttered for around 11 days.

The Arkansas spill drew fast reaction from opponents of the 800,000 bpd Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry heavy crude from Canada's tar sands to the U.S. Gulf Coast refining center. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had categorized the rupture as a "major spill."

Environmentalists have expressed concerns about the impact of developing the oil sands and say the crude is more corrosive to pipelines than conventional oil. On Wednesday, a train carrying Canadian crude derailed in Minnesota, spilling 15,000 gallons of oil.

"Whether it's the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, or ... (the) mess in Arkansas, Americans are realizing that transporting large amounts of this corrosive and polluting fuel is a bad deal for American taxpayers and for our environment," said Representative Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat.

There is more information on this unfortunate incident and will try to update you the best I can. 

Your Thoughts Create Your Reality

"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

It is important that you understand that your thoughts create your reality because your thoughts will determine how you respond to situations in your daily life. It is those responses that become the energy you have inside you. YOUR THOUGHTS ARE A FORM OF ENERGY. Everything you feel and experience is the result of attractor energies...in other words, you get back what you put out into the world. What you have attracted to you is what you have to give away to others.

Some studies show that low energy attracts low energy. Some of the low energy thoughts are anger, hate, shame, guilt, and fear. Not only do they weaken you, but they attract more of the same. I find that this is so crucial in overall well-being. You must change what's inside you creating more of positive inner thoughts and surrounding yourself with high energy in order to fulfill an overall outlook on life. By changing your inner thoughts to higher frequencies of love, harmony, kindness, peace, and joy, you will attract more of the same, and you will have those higher energies to give away.

Please read this paragraph carefully...I believe that it hits it right on the mark!
**Higher and Faster frequencies that empower you will automatically nullify and dissipate the lower energies in the same way that the presence of light makes darkness disappear.**

One of the most important concepts of them all is becoming more loving toward yourself. By doing this it creates a whole mix of possibilities for you. First, you will attract more of the higher, faster energies that will change what's inside you. Next, you will accomplish and achieve goals and challenges that you set for yourself. Then, your positive energy will help others achieve and become just as you are. So the process is that you will begin to receive this energy back and ultimately be able to send thoughts of love and joy to everyone and everything in YOUR world.

Remember, that the universe responds with the same energy that we send out. For example, if you attract a lot of people who wish to take advantage of you, you need to consider what you're doing to attract victimizers into your life. Or if you run into anger a lot, explore the angry thoughts you have inside you. If what you give is SELF-RESPECT and SELF-LOVE, the universe (attractor energy), will return the love and respect you have been radiating.

Dyer, W. Success For Success And Inner Peace. Ppgs. 37-41.

Where Does Your Inspiration Come From

It can be very difficult to stay motivated due to obstacles and challenges you face each and every day....UNFORTUNATELY, THAT IS HOW LIFE WORKS! But, YOU must believe that you have what it takes to overcome any obstacle or challenge.

Look around you...there is inspiration and motivation all around you. You must be able to recognize it and apply it to your life. People come in and out of our life everyday....some stay for awhile, while others are there for a short time. Try to learn from others and through your experiences (good and bad). Each experience, relationship, and challenge will shape you and push  you to get motivated or inspire you to overcome difficulties.

You will come across people that have overcome seemingly impossible difficulties, people who follow their dreams into uncharted territory, people who rise to incredible heights of achievement and success.

Everyone has a story and EVERYONE has overcome something. Tell your story and always be yourself...you get INSPIRATION from one person and then you are an inspiration to another person. It is quite a fascinating pattern.

Never stop searching for your spiritual fulfillment, creative expression, and deep satisfaction in life.

That Little Darkroom Where Negatives Are Developed

FEAR DEFENDING FEAR DEFENDING FEAR DEFENDING FEAR-AND INSIDE: NOTHING...

We tend to avoid all things and thoughts that might produce a sense of fear in our life. FEAR: False Expectations Appearing Real. And for the most part, fear is not real, instead it is our mind imagining something awful will happen. According to Aristotle, Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.

But instead FEAR is one of the great jokes of existence. When people have the courage to move forward and journey into the center of their fear, they find...NOTHING. The terror was only layers and layers of fear, being afraid of itself. 

NOTE TO SELF: FEAR IS THAT LITTLE DARKROOM WHERE NEGATIVES ARE DEVELOPED.

Discover Something New About A Friend

Just like love relationships, friendships can get into ruts. We can spend a great deal of time with our friends and not know very much about WHAT REALLY MATTERS TO THEM OR WHO THEY TRULY ARE.

There are all kinds of ways to deepen a relationship. One easy way is to try asking hypothetical questions (WELL, WELL, WELL...ISN'T THAT IRONIC! :) Would you rather become deaf or blind and why?) that reveal a side you've never seen before.

Or you can ask a friend to tell you what has been the most significant lesson they've learned in life and how they learned it. Or ask them to tell you a recent dream they had. Or which parent they're closer to and why. The point is to get off the surface level and deepen the encounter. It is so important to ask questions...it sets THE FOUNDATION FOR LEARNING. And merely by intending it YOU WILL FIND THE WAY!
Ryan, M.J. Instant Health and Happiness. Pg. 300.

Your Thirst

I came across this question along with this quote and I just had to share it with you. I believe that most of you will appreciate it and find its true meaning for YOURSELF.

How can you tell the dreamer from the dream?

"I've been having this recurring vision...In it, there's this fish tank--it calms me. I see a small speck floating on the water, and I look closer, it's me...I'm atop the waves. There's water as far as the eye can see, yet I can't drink. Not a drop. I taste salt in my mouth. I taste the bile. My thirst is great and it hangs around my neck like a chain. Eventually the weight drags me under. I'm drowning...I struggle, flail, kick... Then suddenly, I sense the familiar cold, hard hand of iron. I grab hold and pull myself up. This world is a vast sea but one thing remains fixed, constant...This iron. This calling. This THIRST."

Listen To The Facts

Do You Need Carbs in Your Diet?

Well...well...well...as a trainer this seems to be the question I here over and over again. Many times I come across people struggling with eating too many bad carbs at one time. While others are afraid of eating carbs all together. We all need to understand that carbs are so important in maintaining our overall health and fitness level.

First, we know that cutting carbs from your eating plan will help you lose weight, but we must also consider the flip side. Understand that your muscles use carbs for fuel whenever you train above 65 percent of maximum capacity. Also, carbohydrates are the MOST IMPORTANT FUEL FOR THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM. Cutting carbs will help you lose body fat, but you need them for high-intensity training. More than 50 years of research shows that athletes involved in heavy training perform better if they have carbs available in their diets.

So the answer is YES! Keep those carbs in your diet. You may want to lower your carbs on the days you don't train or on your light training days. You want to take in more carbs in the morning and start to taper them down after 2 p.m. Most importantly, you want to think of carbs as your friend...here to help you become better!

You Are Not Alone

IN MANY INSTANCES, SEVERAL OF US MAY THINK WE ARE ALONE IN THIS EVER FAST PACE WORLD. AT TIMES, THAT THINGS SEEM IMPOSSIBLE AND HARD TO HANDLE. UNDERSTAND THAT NONE OF US CAN MAKE IT IN LIFE, AT LEAST NOT HAPPILY, COMPLETELY ON OUR OWN. WE ARE SOCIAL CREATURES DESIGNED TO GIVE AND RECEIVE SUPPORT. IN THIS MOMENT, WHAT DO YOU NEED HELP WITH IN ORDER TO INCREASE YOUR HAPPINESS? IS IT HOUSEWORK HELP? HELP MEETING A DEADLINE? ADVICE FOR FINDING A NEW CAREER?

WE MAKE OURSELVES MISERABLE BY TRYING TO DO IT ALL ALONE. AND WE DRIVE OURSELVES AND OTHERS CRAZY BY ASSUMING THEY SHOULD AUTOMATICALLY KNOW WHAT WE NEED WITHOUT OUR HAVING TO ASK FOR IT. OR WE DON'T WANT TO BURDEN ANYONE WITH OUR PROBLEMS. UNDERSTAND THAT THE PEOPLE CLOSEST TO YOU ARE ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU NO MATTER WHAT! OUR PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO HELP AND LOVE PEOPLE...WE LEARN FROM EACH OTHER AND THROUGH OUR EXPERIENCES.

Ryan, M.J. Instant Health And Happiness. Pg. 96.

Open Your Mind To Every Possibility

I think that it is so important that you refuse to allow yourself to have low expectations about what you are capable of doing, creating, and knowing. It is important that you understand what really lives inside you. It is like an imaginary candle flame within you that burns so brightly REGARDLESS of what goes before you. And it's this inner flame that represents the idea that you are capable of manifesting miracles in your life.

We have all had our share of experiences were we had to overcome something that was considered impossible or some type of spontaneous healing. It is through these experiences that each of us at one point or time end up going through a complete reversal of personality. It is important to understand that we must have a sense of self. A mind that is open to everything , which means being peaceful, radiating love, practicing forgiveness, being generous, respecting all life, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, visualizing yourself as capable of doing anything that you can conceive of in your MIND and HEART.

We all have this unique gift that lives inside each and every one of us. We possess so much strength and the beauty of miracles is all around us, BUT we must truly believe and know it within ourselves. It is important that you understand that what you think about expands ("As a man thinketh, so is he"). If your thoughts are filled with doubt and your mind is closed, unfortunately you will of necessity act upon those closed-minded doubts. BUT, if you should decide to have a mind that is open to everything, then you will act upon that inner energy, and you'll be the creator as well as the recipient of MIRACLES wherever you are.

In order to grow and have an open mind to EVERYTHING, you must open yourself up to the spiritual ideas of all people, and listen with an open mind to crazy schemes and ideas that at first seem to be outrageous. If someone suggests that natural herbs can lower cholesterol or that levitation is possible, IT IS OKAY TO LISTEN AND BE CURIOUS. Most of us must let go of attachments to what we have been trained to believe. Open your mind to all possibilities , because whether you believe something is possible or impossible, EITHER WAY YOU WILL BE RIGHT. That is what is so SPECIAL! It is your agreement with reality and all that is possible that determines what you'll become. If you are convinced that you will never lose those 10 pounds of weight or you will never become that fit person who will run that marathon, you will act upon that inner conviction that prevents you from manifesting what you would really like to do.

So have fun with an open mind and believe that anything and everything is possible. Never close yourself off to the possibilities of what this life can offer you or what you can do for this life. Understand that what you do with your life or how you want to perceive it is your choice. But I believe that if you choose to open your mind to everything in life, you will be granted the miracle of opportunities.


"I'm passionately involved in life: I love its change, its color, its movement. To be alive, to be able to see, to walk, to have houses, music, paintings-it's all a miracle."
-Arthur Rubinstein


Dyer, Wayne. Secrets for Success& Inner Peace. p.11-13.

Focus On Stretching

How many of you struggle with touching your toes (done the proper way, with legs straight)? Or maybe you just always seem to be tight no matter how much you stretch.

Many studies have shown that people who are unable to touch their toes show a huge amount of poor flexibility which inhibits the ability to build muscle and makes them more susceptible to injuries, especially those involving your lower back.

The reality is that a thin film of connective tissue called fascia surrounds every bone, organ, and muscle in your body like a big sheet of plastic wrap. The fascia unites seemingly separate muscle groups, causing them to function together. One of the best examples of this is "superficial back line," a chain of fascia-linked muscles that run from the top of your head, down your back, and all the way to your toes. The fascia ties these muscles together in such a way that if one muscle is stiff, it can limit movement at any joint up or down the chain. So if you are unable to touch your toes or have a hard time with stretching...the limiting factor could be the muscles of your lower back, in your calves, or even on the bottom of your feet.

All of this matters because stiffness in you superficial back line prevents you from working your lower-body muscles through their entire range of motion. This also leads to poor lower-back posture when you are performing movements such as squats and lunges.

Try to add a stretching routine to your daily regimen and try to include strength exercises that a will help increase your flexibility. You want to focus on stretches and exercises that lengthen and strengthen the back, hips, calves and soles. One important fact is that tight foot muscles can reduce the flexibility of your ENTIRE LOWER BODY.

Health and Fitness. 2007. pg. 148.