I often enter into conversations on what are the best forms of exercise and physical activities to engage in? The answer is individual to each person and their intents. An important consideration is always taking care of yourself and your body. At Making Life Good, we believe that a healthy lifestyle is being well and active to the best of your abilities while thoroughly enjoying life.
It is important to aim to be active on a daily basis, as your body is made for movement. Choose activities that you enjoy and encompass these elements of performance, movement, and well being:
1. Challenging-Your body is constantly adapting and needs physical activities that challenge your current capabilities to be fit. Long, steady state activity, higher intensity activity and sprint activity are all needed to challenge the energy systems of the body.
2.Strength-Your muscles are use it or lose it. Your strength needs to be challenged and trained on a regular basis to maintain a strong and lean body. Physical challenges such as chinups, step ups, lunges, squats, pushups and plank need to practiced on a regular, weekly basis.
3. Movement and flexibility-Once you challenge your cardiovascular system and strength on a regular basis, maintaining your movement and flexibility is important. This can be any form of co-ordinated movement and/or stretching you enjoy such as dance, yoga, pilates.
4. Novel-Trying new movements and sensations on a regular basis (at least once a week) keeps your physical activity routine fresh, so your body can create new connections and adaptations. This could mean listening to different music, exercising in a different locale, trying a movement you have never tried before, or getting moving if you’ve been inactive!
5. Attunement/Breathing/Introspection/Meditation/Reflection/Relaxation-A balance between doing and being is needed and taking time to tune into our breath, bodies and ourselves is important. A clear mind united with a relaxed body is optimal health, performance and well being.
Challenging, strength, movement/flexibility, novel and attunement
Your Words Are Your Wand…
What we think, we become-Buddha
The quote above crossed my path last weekend. It is so true, as the mind is everything, and the thoughts you choose to have truly make a difference in the reality you create, both positive and negative. Thereafter, I came across:
Through perfect truthfulness, yogins acquire the power of having their words always come true. (The Yoga Tradition, Georg Feuerstein)
Having your words always come true sounds incredibly amazing, doesn’t it? However, the practice of truthfulness is challenging. It requires that we are committed to the truth and speak the truth, even though avoidance may feel like an easier option. The most challenging part for many of us, is to be truthful to our own heart, inner calling and our true higher purpose-to live our own truth. Even when we find clarity in our heart’s desire, courage to is needed to live our truth. Living our truth may require us to go far outside of our comfort zone, take risks, and make choices that help us to transcend our current reality, constructs and expectations. We know we are living our truth when we feel love in our heart and peace within our whole being. Peace, contentment and happiness are likely to come from this practice, if you are mindful of your words, especially when they come true…Your words are your wand when you are being perfectly truthful.
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Posted in commentary, Vivian Law
Tagged Buddha quote, truthfulness, yoga