My training is my life force. I have learned to exercise in a way that feels almost meditative. I don’t mean calm and soothing, but that the only thing going on in my head is the task at hand. My breath. My motion. My strength. My focus is complete, as my body moves to renew itself and to live … and sometimes just survive.

This is a process that has taken a long time and has been born from my joy in physical movement, my mental focus, and repetition, repetition, repetition. One day at a time, one week at a time, from moment to moment in a never-ending flow.

When I am healthy, I follow my plan with the big picture in mind, knowing that every moment spent on the health and well-being of my body and mind is worth every drop of sweat and minute of pain. That is reality for me. I realized early, coming from a family that was prone to illness and stress, that my health was a privilege and not something to be taken for granted.

A sure path to unhappiness is to avoid the reality of your immediate world. Sometimes it is easy to get stuck on something that is not real, and then a whole existence is built upon a foundation that is unstable and unreliable. Maybe this resonates with you. I think we all carry that defense mechanism; I know I do! It can be anything that hurts: a friend who is not truthful or honest (but we choose to not say anything about it), or telling yourself that smoking is not really bad for you (you smoke because you “choose” to).

And exercise really falls in the same category. The body is meant to move. Not moving causes illness and discomfort, which has been proven by endless studies. Just the phrase, “I don’t have time to exercise” usually hides other issues. But it’s like saying, “I don’t have time to be alive and healthy.”

A client of mine would come to the gym with a constant hangover, tired, grumpy, and if it wasn’t “food poisoning,” it was almost always “sore knees.” Of course, the sore knees and pains were some kind of cry for help in my ears, and it was also a clear case of this person not wanting to stare reality in the face. It was going to take sweat, effort, and sometimes pain to get healthy. It was also going to take a detox of alcohol and sugar! Defense mechanism ON! I used to be a smoker a very long time ago, and I did the exact same thing. I could light one up and completely “forget” that I was literally putting a time bomb in my mouth.

I designed a plan for my client that was not only a physical journey of the body, but also a cognitive journey of concepts. Dream world versus reality. Establishing a foundation for feeling good more often versus the instant gratification of quick fixes. When the body starts to detox, it wants more of what makes it feel better!

But without a destination we care about, we won’t end up in the right place. Without focus, the task at hand seems unmotivating and unimportant. Without repetition, we can’t establish a new healthy pattern. Next time you are slipping away from your conscious living, remind yourself of the beauty you will create by seeing and being present.

The reality is, we can’t all look like Jennifer Aniston … but we can do the best with what we have. That is one thing we all share. There is NO point in buying expensive supplements, fancy gym memberships, or personal trainers, if you don’t use your body and mind with full focus in the process.

The closer to the truth we choose to live our lives, the fewer misunderstandings and surprises we will encounter. All of a sudden, you will have created a satisfying life environment where you will experience flow, love, joy, sadness, and most of all balance. That is a foundation to build lots of goodies on and you are definitely worth it!

Live Life Loud!

Want the tools to develop life-long health habits?
Check out my e-book, Your Life Force: Training for Strength & Harmony.