YOU Control Your Body…and YOU Control Your Brain, Too!!!

Just completed day 17 of the ab challenge which is 75 sit ups, 100 crunches, 45 leg raises and 65 seconds in plank.  I did it like this:  50 sit ups, 25 crunches with knees off to one side, then 25 with them off to the other, 45 leg raises, 25 more sit ups, 25 more crunches each way and then spend 65 seconds holding plank.  By splitting up the sit ups and crunches into 2 sets, I was able to get thru without any breaks.  Took well under 10 minutes and mission is accomplished for today.  How are you doing with your challenge?  Let me know…

Mondays are a full day of fitness for me.  After class 1, I ran 2 miles outside then went back and did second (easy) class.  After lunch I hit the pool and did 35 laps.  It is the most delightful way to get in exercise.  So forgiving on the muscles and joints and something about being in and under that water that is so meditative as well.  Today, it’s all about teaching, so happy to get in the ab challenge and then cater to my students.  With senior strength training this morning, then cardio/sculpt mix at 6 and Pilates/yoga at 7.  Not sure what my theme for the 7pm class is tonight.  After 2 months of chakra education and unblocking, I feel a desire to move back to Pilates, perhaps from the beginning….hmmmm.. It’s been a long time since we have talked about the 6 guiding principles, and I am considering breaking them down for the summer months.  May start tonight.  Or may spend another week or 2 working the yoga before we transition back to some Pilates.  In any event, 7pm class will always be a mix of both disciplines and it will always be peaceful and include meditation.

The benefits of meditation and mindfulness, continue to impress me both from personal experience and from all that I read and learn.  A student recently brought me a great article from February Time Magazine, titled The Art of Being Mindful.  While there are people that continue to tell me they don’t have a need for meditation, somehow the science is proving that we ALL can benefit from this.  In the years that scientists have been studying the effects of meditation they have found that it can lower blood pressure and cortisol levels, increase immune response and and may even effect gene expression.  We know that muscles need to be trained, so by practicing mindfulness, we are apple to better deal with stress, trauma and constant distraction.    Refocusing attention can help deal with pain, and living with chronic illness.  The list of benefits goes on and on and on, but one of my very favorite things about meditation is that is just like a mini vacation.  Knowing that your responsibility, even for just a few minutes at at time, is to do NOTHING, is very liberating and something we don’t often get a chance to do, otherwise.

If you think your too busy to slow down, then I offer up this quote which I just love…

“You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day — unless you’re too busy. Then you should sit for an hour.” -Zen proverb

I just decided what I am focusing on at the 7pm hour tonight…..If you are local, hope to see you there!  Wherever YOU are, please reread the above quote and consider how 20 minutes a day might change your entire life!!!