Why "Finding the Void" means better health for you

Find the Void and Find Better Health

As a wellness mentor I get many opportunities to hear the struggles and triumphs of individuals who are on the path to better health. Although each story is unique, many share common threads; threads that bind each individual to the particular path they are on.

An example is the belief that one does not have enough information to live a healthier lifestyle successfully. While this may have been true decades ago when doctors still prescribed cigarettes as a great tool for relaxation, now enough sources have been shouting the basic truths on how to live a healthier lifestyle that anyone can guess the big 3 without any trouble... can you?

1. If you are overweight... eat less. If you are underweight... eat more.
2. If you feel chronically weak, have bad posture or get winded easily... exercise more.  
3. Eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits, moderate amounts of whole grains, nuts and seeds and drink plenty of clean, filtered water. 

There has not been a person yet that I have counseled that was not aware of the big 3. There is no credible study that has ever debunked the efficacy of the big 3. So what is the big struggle? Why do people continue to pay good money to have a professional tell them how to be healthier? Read on and find out. 

Don't think and get fit

More often than not the challenge is from having too much of the wrong information. This clouds the vision and confuses the mind. Our senses take in information from our environment that then get stored and replayed as patterns. Those then become our stories and those stories affect how we think, act and respond.

How do you know that you know that?

An expert in personal change technology and hypno-therapy, Dr. Patrick Porter had an incredibly powerful question he would ask his clients when they were telling their story on why they acted the way that they did; even when they no longer wanted to. He would ask, "How do you know that?"

The effect was dramatic. Eyes looked up as if searching the sky for the reason. When the reason was found (if it was) and it was verbalized, there was usually a contamination of the reason and it lost its power. This was because the reason was based on old and outdated information that was hidden from the conscious mind. Once held to the light there was a chance to change the story and therefore change how one would think, act and respond in the future.

Master your breath, master your mind

There is a place where that powerful question is automatically asked. Not a physical place but a mental space. A quiet, calm and clear space where the big 3 become obvious, intuitive and easy to act upon. And we can get there by using the simple act of breathing. Stay with me now dear reader.

Experience the void by watching this easy to follow video that uses the count of 6 to inhale fully, a 3 count hold and an 8 count to exhale. Relax completely upon exhalation and return your attention to the breath if your mind wanders to a story (it probably will.) Absorb the suggestions of wellness and notice how good you feel when it is done (6 minutes.)

You may find that you can remember to practice each day and get better and better at this technique and your ability to naturally follow the big 3 on a regular basis.  Better health is guarantied to follow.

** this video is part of a complete series of physical, nutritional and mental conditioning programs available at MyWellnessMentor.com 

21 days later... Are you still on fire?

Heap on a log that is too big and a fire can sputter and die. Start with small twigs and build up to bigger and bigger chunks of wood as the fire builds in intensity and soon enough even the biggest pieces burn. Has your dream of a healthier lifestyle this year caught fire?

Did you choose a log for a resolution? Are you sputtering or feeling overwhelmed? Didn't make any resolutions at all? Making lifestyle changes can be rewarding and natural if done at the right pace and with the right progression.

Here is how you can ignite a bonfire of lifestyle changes that will be motivating and compelling:

Chunk it Down

We don't start teaching our kids grade 12 algebra in kindergarten and white belts don't learn black belt techniques in martial arts. Why do we like to make resolutions that say things like, "I will never eat snacks again" or "I will work out every day" when we are snacking on a regular basis and haven't worked out for a month.

While it is true that a vehicle that is heading for a collision with a guardrail needs to make an abrupt and dramatic change in heading to avoid impact, too much of a change results in fish-tailing, a loss of control and a worse impact on the other side of the road. The obvious goal is to make a correction while not setting up for something worse as a result, right?

Condition Lifestyle Patterns

The best programs for wellness are irrelevant if they are not completed. It is all about lifestyle changes... not about losing weight. Getting rid of excess fat is a pleasant byproduct of living a healthier lifestyle and a healthier lifestyle must include the big three... mental, physical and nutritional conditioning.

Studies point to a greater chance of premature death and chronic disease in people who have unhealthy behaviors around the big three than being overweight on its own. In other words, although the body ages faster when overweight and will suffer from chronic ailments and pains, a body that is subjected to a poor diet, is physically sedentary and full of stress will suffer even more regardless of excess fat.

Repetition is the Mother of All Learning

It is natural human behavior to repeat what we do most often. That can happen over many years or over an intense immersion into repetition. Many believe that three weeks (21 days) can be a starting point for new patterns to take place. Although intensity and immersion make that a variable, it should be used as a minimum.

The Quantified Self

We live in an age where metrics are easily monitored. We always have a way to enter data into the cloud and therefore be able to track what works. Many people used to stubbornly cling to insanity; expecting a different result while not realizing they were just repeating the same things. I have seen many clients lose excess fat by simply consciously tracking calories. The more data about personal wellness we track the better the chances of avoiding the insanity of the weight-loss roller-coaster.

Plan not Working?

You are not wrong or broken. Just running with an insufficient plan for your needs. Care enough to try again? Try this 21 day program for improving health and wellness following the above protocol for FREE as my guest. Add it to your current healthy behaviors and challenge yourself to being consistent for 21 days. Here is what is included:

Wellness Resolution (1a)

This program is a compilation of 4 different individual programs that can be found in the "Complete Programs" list at mywellnessmentor.com.

There is one 5 minute warmup video that gets repeated each day. This should be done first thing in the am. After 21 days your muscle memory will own it.

5 Minute Refreshments (#200)

For the first 7 days you will also get a progression of strength and coordination movements with a new one added on each day; these are then all repeated each day for the rest of the program.

7 Days of Rejuvenation (#700)

Wrap up your day by conditioning your mind with a breathing activity to remove stress, steady the mind and accept the wellness suggestions.

Master Your Breath, Master Your Mind (#801)

The more complex a diet the less likely it is to succeed! Build consistency by proving that you can follow this simple yet highly effective task of staying hydrated. Can you for 21 days? Only one way to find out.

Conscious Consumption - h2o (#900)

Your task each day over the length of this compilation (21 days):

• Sign in to MyWellnessmentor.com
• Click on any active tabs
• Follow lesson and click for credit
• BE CONSISTENT!
• Use the message board to get or share ideas

There are no requirements for equipment other than a good internet connection, a good water bottle and a way to hold your mobile device in position to view if you are going to use one.

The physical movements are beginner level basics designed to just plain make you feel good! Side-effects include increased range and ease of motion, better posture, release of chronic tension and stronger muscles and bones.

Wrap up your day by conditioning your mind with a breathing activity to remove stress, steady the mind and accept the wellness suggestions.

When you open each tab, make sure to read the directions as additional information can be found such as recipes and bonus links.

Want to know what others are experiencing? Look under "Team Communication" for Wellness Resolution (1a) and get messages form anyone who has tried this program!

If you would like to join me you will receive the following:
* Complimentary membership to MyWellnessMentor.com (regular $49.95)
* Calendar of programs and success charting
* Email reminders on active days of this program
* Follow the team and leave motivational notes to other members
* Access to more complimentary programs by more Wellness Mentors

Are you already a member of MyWellnessMentor.com? 

First make sure that you are signed in and then click Member Link to add the program to your calendar.

Not a member yet? Now is the time to start! 

To get your membership to MyWellnessMentor.com click Non-Member Link (free membership) and build your profile now and be added to this team.

Yours in wellness,

Rory

Playing... the Anti-Aging Formula!

This is an article I recently wrote for Mom's in the Know, a great publication used by mom's in the Charleston, SC area. They have a lot of beneficial information that is constantly updated if you are interested in finding fun and entertaining things to do with your family in the Charleston and surrounding area!

Does aging really slow your metabolism down?

Have you heard that as you get older you lose muscle mass and your metabolism slows down making it easier to gain excess fat? We automatically attribute age with a slow metabolism but that is not completely true. Does everyone gain excess fat as they get older? Of course not. What if it is not a predetermined phase the body goes through but rather a change in how we act as we age, in particular how we play.

  

Fitness experts know that a person can improve muscle mass as an adult just as efficiently as a youngster; proving age vs metabolism to be incomplete. It may come down to the simple fact that as a child we enjoy our exercise and do it more often because we were playing just for the pure joy of it. As we age, exercise takes on new meaning and associations and we may feel we are forced to do it instead of wanting to do it.
  

Want to have an active lifestyle and a youthful body that you genuinely enjoy? Then act child-like! Run, climb, jump, hang, roll, bounce and cartwheel! But don't start trouble with your siblings. Forget how to play? If you have young children you have the template in front of you.

  Simon says, "watch an active, healthy child play and do what they do." Why?
-Inverting the body is a great way to improve digestion and circulation. 

-Hanging strengthens the wrists and reduces pain from chronic overuse for those who type a lot.
-Bouncing stimulates the lymphatic system to remove toxins and rolling in a ball helps the action of peristalsis, the unconscious contractions in the intestines that help move food through and then out of the body.

 Slow digestion, poor circulation, chronic repetitive movement pain, excess fat, a rapidly aging body and in the end metabolic syndrome is not a curse for all who age, just those who stop acting young when they play. You decide, not your metabolic clock.

There is another reason why playing like a child is so good for you. Kids play when they can, not just when they are in a playground and spreading the activity through the day has an accumulated net effect that can be greater than all at one go. 

Here is how it works:

  Run (not jog, kids don't jog,) jump, crawl... they are all bodyweight resistance movements that are proven to make the metabolism burn an increased amount of calories for an extended time past the actual workout. A 5 minute burst can give an hour of hyper-burn. So turn on your boosters for a 5 minute burst, four times a day and you can keep the metabolism at an accelerated rate longer, just like a child. It is an anti-aging formula.

  Find a game or activity you like to play that doesn't require a lot of tools or other people to depend on and enjoy! If you don't enjoy the activity you do... keep searching.

For some easy rejuvenation movements go to mywellnessmentor.com and follow the wellness calendar!

Wellness to you,

Rory

P.A.C.E. yourself into a new body in 2012 (part 1 PURPOSE)

Set a New Years Resolution?

Should you set a New Years resolution? If change is the only constant in this world, you are very likely going to have a whole bunch of changes this year anyway right? When you make a resolution you are resolving to change something in your favor, instead of taking whatever changes the world deals out. It is more like choosing to be in control or out of control. Do you prefer to be in control? Your answer to that is the answer to the first question. How about a refresher on the art and science of personal change?

The Art of Personal Change

Personal change is an art form because of the very nature of the change... personal. How can my suggestions for personal change be effective for another with each person's unique and powerful life experience and environment? It takes creativity to imagine a new and improved self that has meaning to the individual.

The Science of Personal Change

There is a never ending supply of self-help books, gurus and systems with tools and techniques to fit each individual's needs. Follow any well thought program from start to end and you will have found yourself a more capable person and better for it. Following to the end is the challenge.

When Meaningful Ideas Meet Effective Technique

Marry the art and science and you will have the changes you desire. Come up to the chalk-board with only half the equation and the teacher will end up sitting you back down feeling quite foolish. That may have flew in high-school but not in this, the real world, where the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." Knowing how to change and having the passion to see it through to the end does not have to be hit or miss, there is a way.

Goal Striving Mechanism

The human mind has been called a "goal striving mechanism"
(Bagozzi, Heckhausen, Gollwitzer, et al.) because of the way the brain wires itself to search out and repeat pleasurable experiences, presumably as a survival mechanism built in to teach us to avoid pain and danger. Jonah Leher expands upon this in his book How We Decide by going into detail about how the neuro-pathways strengthen as the dopamine receptor sites increase, causing the brain to repeat thoughts and actions in order to create a corresponding flood of "feel good" hormones into the system.

You are not wrong or broken when you cannot seem to attain your goals, only following ancient survival mechanisms deep in the brain. That being said, you are also not a plant stuck with roots in the ground below you. Your conscious brain allows you to CHOOSE to use that mechanism to your advantage.

As my mentor, Dr. Patrick Porter liked to say, "Your mind is a powerful pharmacy, able to produce perfect drugs for you instantly and for free." Learning to place an order is the best thing you can do to create spontaneous passion for personal change.

Build a New Path of Least Resistance

Making resolutions just for the fact it is New Years is not enough to engage most people for more than a few days. The old comfortable habits are stronger than the new ones. The dopamine receptors along those neuro-pathways are still the "path of least resistance" when it comes to finding satisfaction; especially when we are under stress and our body naturally points us even stronger towards those pathways, following that ancient survival mechanism. A clearly defined purpose provides a competing path to steal the attention of the brain and therefore affecting our behaviors.

Fear as Motivation to Change

Fear is one powerful ally in personal change. I once worked with a man who could not get his act together until his doctor told him he likely had less than a year to live if he didn't clean up his act. That worked great until he was out of danger. But then where was the motivation? Peer pressure as seen in extreme weight loss TV programs applies mostly fear as motivation.

As a grown man, I find the ability of my brain to actually believe a bad dream to be both fascinating and of course disturbing. I have actually woken up my wife just to not feel alone. Irrational I know but my brain refused to believe that my purple belt in Kenpo could fight the image in my mind. Damn imagination.

Imagination is the key element of personal change though. My brain created adrenaline and cortisol and prepared me for the "fight or flight" event it perceived was about to happen. Real or imagined was not taken into consideration, to the mind they are one and the same. What if every time you began to engage in an unwanted behavior the brain released "fear" hormones to disrupt the behavior? Great if you need MORE stress in your life.

REWARD is the Yin to the Yang when defining your purpose and is more powerfully aligned with the dopamine receptor building process. It is the warmth of which Ishmael speaks in Moby Dick.

*"...because truly to enjoy bodily warmth, some small part of you must be cold, for there is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself."
-Moby Dick pg55 Chapter 11 Paragraph 2

Define the Reward of Your Purpose

Ask yourself the question, "What will happen if I reach my goals by keeping to my resolutions?" Your answer will predict your chances of success.

If your answer is one sentence such as, "I will be happy and feel great..." and your heart does not quiver a touch in excitement, the brain will not build dopamine receptors for that. You are in a vast ocean without a sail or a rudder. Clearly defining your purpose so that your mind reacts to it similarly (but opposite) to how your mind reacts to a bad dream and you have the essence of a powerful purpose. A visceral response tells you that your brain is rewiring and preparing to perform as the goal striving mechanism it is.

I recently had an opportunity to attend my brothers wedding. It was a perfect opportunity to create an easily imagined purpose for taking the shape of my body to the next level. I imagined how I would see people I haven't seen in many years and how they would react, how I would change my own behaviors as a result of my added confidence and how I would show mastery of my body and choices. And what if I failed? That image lit a fire under me. It worked like magic. It interrupted bad behaviors with flashes of the end result... providing the dopamine or adrenaline I needed to delay gratification and complete my mission.

Now the Science

Having trouble? Follow these steps:
-Choose a time and place in the not so distant future where you will display mastery of your resolutions to peers.
-Be clear on how it will look. Both yourself, the way you act and stand (posture) as well as your peers.
-What will you hear coming from your voice and your peers? Form in the positive and add your favorite background music for added emphasis.
-Look again. Make it bright, alive and in moving detail. In other words, dream big! But dream realistically big.

Do you feel some excitement? Does your heart rate increase and your mouth form a smile? If not, go back to the chalk-board and fill in the full equation. Don't be foolish and expect a half effort to result in a full success, that would be insane.

Coming soon... 

Part 2 of the PACE Wellness program... ACCOUNTABILITY

Still having trouble? It is not easy, but anything doing well takes effort. Go to PACE to follow a step by step video series to help.

Wellness to you,

Rory



*Here Ishmael contemplates in the Sprouter-Inn with Queequeg prior to his voyage on the Pequod with Captain Ahab.

Eating with Love

A long time coming, this is my first official blog. As a wellness mentor and fitness trainer, my livelihood depends on the success of my clients. Simply pushing a person through the most intense training session 2 - 3 times a week cannot possibly be enough if a person is not making meaningful changes to their lifestyle during the other 160 + hours of each week. Wellness happens during the "in-between times." The following article I wrote recently for a good friend and P90X trainer's blog, Tim Lailer; I repost it here for your wellness!

It is extremely rare that I say there is one thing that will guarantee successful weight loss because we are all so unique and what we believe tends to have a great effect on the results we get (placebo effect.) But there is one thing that will guarantee a body free from an unhealthy lifestyle and body:

Eating with love.

Love your body and respect it's needs and you will find wellness. When we over-eat, binge and mindlessly consume unhealthy foods we are ignoring the fact that we are choosing to do long-term harm to our bodies for a momentary burst of shallow gratification. My mentor called it following the appetite of the mind instead of the true appetite of the body. When you were a baby you finished eating when your body was full. End of story. Later you may have learned to ignore the signals from the body, training yourself into unnatural behaviors.

Why is that hard to eat with love? When under stress we put other things in front of the love for ourselves (mind and body.) Sure, some people grow up in families and environments that make it extremely difficult to know what is healthy for the mind and body or to be inspired to be healthy, but to change your family or leave where you are and what you do is usually an exercise in futility. Change that starts from within is the only change you can control. Only you can choose to say NO when it is not time to eat and you are not truly hungry.

Loving yourself is tough for many people. Past experiences, insecurities and marketing campaigns aiming to associate joy and happiness with a product are some of the major causes. We search for love outside of ourselves and that is a gamble that will rarely pay-off. But there is a way.

Learn to ask, "How do I know this?" The next time you find yourself going to the fridge late at night to fill the unknowable void that tickles your taste buds. Ask the question, "How do I know that I need to eat right now?" This is a sure way to distinguish between the appetite of the mind and the true appetite of the body. Warning: The truth share set you free, but first it may piss you off greatly. Prepare to combat demons by pulling out your "love sword" for battle. OK, that was going a little too far and perhaps a better term could be used but you get the point. You are worth the battle… fight for your life!

Add neuro-physiology to your arsenal and you have a bullet-proof battle plan. What is neuro-physiology? The mind-body connection. Next time you are heading to chow down on a fast food bomb, STOP - BREATHE - ROLL YOUR SHOULDERS BACK - SMILE and ask the all-mightly question again. It is impossible to be angry, frustrated, overwhelmed, bored or whatever leads to the unhealthy behavior when your physiology is the same as when you are triumphant and passionate. I dare you to try proving me wrong!

OK health nuts, if you have a challenge with loving your body, then you may be looking directly at your roadblock to natural health. This is not greed or selfishness. Self preservation is a good thing; how can you protect those you care about when your body cannot perform, you are dead or at the very least insecure about your greatness? Not preserving your own health is the true form of selfishness. Why do you think that in an emergency the flight attendant tells you to fasten your own oxygen mask to your own face BEFORE you try and help someone else?

Here are the "how to eat specifics" that have worked for me and all who apply them:

-Eat slowly and be conscious of what you are eating. Being mentally aware of the tastes, textures and other nuances has been proven to promote eating less and enjoying it more.
-Prepare your own food. This shows that you care about your body and also stimulates the body to prepare for the meal, digest it better and as in the example above, be satisfied with less.
-Eat only during meal times (breakfast, lunch and dinner.) Hungry in between? Either you are not eating enough during meal-times or the appetite of the mind is active. If so, apply neuro-physiology and ask the almighty question.
-Flush the body with water and real lemon juice between meals. This improves the Ph levels in the body and is a hunger buster.
-Eat for the appetite of the body 6 days of the week and choose a consistent 7th day for adding the appetite of the mind in to the mix. You are human and you deserve it. The brain needs it! Eat healthy and add whatever comfort foods you desire! Your body at that point will happily deal with the excess and imbalance.

What to eat is is a unique learning adventure for each person to take, involves many variables and is beyond the scope of this article. Eat with love to change your body and keep the changes.

Wellness to you,
Rory.