1. Give in, ease up on the intensity and take the easy road out or

2. Dig deep and suck it up because, “Pain is just weakness leaving the body.”

So what made me choose the latter?

An array of thoughts raced through my mind as I was about to make my split second decision. So I closed my eyes and channeled my energies to visualize for a moment exactly what I wanted and needed to achieve out of this class. The vivid image of a ‘sexy six-pack’ was all I could see. With each punch and jab I repeated that phrase in my mind, just like a broken record, over and over again. And all of a sudden, there it was…my second wind; a wicked burst of energy that had the power to blast me down the home straight.

Do you have a mantra that fires you up?
Trigger words that can change your attitude in the blink of an eye?

‘Sexy six-pack’ has been my mantra for quite some time now. It is what pulls me through when I want to give up. It forces me to think of the end result and not the pain of the present moment. Because when I ask myself, “How bad do I want it?” There is only ever one answer… Real bad.

That brings me to that “second wind.” Athletes talk about it all the time, but what is it?

In the concept of mindfulness we talk about “flow,” or being in the “zone.” “Flow is a heightened state of consciousness in which one is fully immersed in. Once achieved, mind and body work in perfect unison without conscious effort.” By letting go of everything else around us we can channel all our physical and mental energies into the task at hand. During this moment in time, our mind enters a magical state of ecstasy. In this state, all else ceases as our mind and bodies work in perfect harmony to achieve the desired result.

So how do we get there?

Well it all starts with having a goal. A goal so deeply ingrained within your subconscious that it will give you the strength to soldier on when the going gets tough. Goals enable you to summon the power within yourself when you begin to feel weak. Our minds are much stronger than what we are likely to believe. By nurturing this mind power we can achieve great things. But in order to do so requires a strategic plan. Initially we can get some results by just winging it. But when you are striving for so-called perfection, winging it does not cut it. You need to take baby steps, lots of them. Baby steps are goals. You need daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, short-term goals, and long-term goals. Goals are the strategic plans that propel you towards the end result.

Goals are typically written on a piece of paper (if not verbal) in the midst of excitement and then lost in a drawer or perhaps even thrown out. So what then happens? They are forgotten. Another year passes and we are back to square one. Goals need to be acted on—everyday.

I have a little blue book where all my dreams reside. My little blue book contains pages of goals, check-points, charts, accountability calendars, quotes, pictures, and affirmations. Every morning as I eat my breakfast, I ponder over my little blue book. This is my morning ritual. I enjoy the silence as my imagination roams free. During this time I am able to let go of everything that consumes me, allowing me to create my ultimate body. Here I experience my goals in the moment; this is where total awareness is achieved. Being in the now I can see perfectly how my ultimate body will look and how it makes me feels.

Lean, athletic, tight, sexy, confident, and radiant.

These are qualities that mean the world to me. I allow myself to feel all the emotions that are attached to these words. My morning ritual puts me in a positive mindset, the perfect way to start my day. It brings me excitement, focus, clarity, and determination. It is this combination that I need to lead me down the winning path.

Visualization as described above is a vital process on the path to my success. Visualization can give us the confidence to realize that success is possible. Repeating success in our minds on a daily basis builds self-belief. The unconscious mind cannot distinguish from the conscious one. Therefore, by allowing ourselves to access this state of mind where success has already been achieved makes the physicality of arriving there all the easier.

So take your first baby step, open up your little blue book, put pen to paper, visualize, and believe. Your journey to success begins with the mind. So feed your mind positive thoughts and watch the world around you take on a new light. Know that each day that passes you by brings you one step closer to achieving your ultimate goal. And before you know it, you’ll be living the dream that you were once dreaming of.

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About Author

Chelle Jeans is a certified nutritionist and personal trainer who is dedicating this new chapter of her life to find balance in mind, body, and soul. Her passion in life is learning how to create the ultimate body through the right combination of nutrition and fitness, and inspiring others along the way.

You can check out her blog here: http://chellesultimatechallenge.blogspot.com/

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Then my heart-light flipped on. Here’s why. The brain is very much like skeletal muscle in that it adapts according to how it is or is not being used. The parts of your brain that you use a lot get bigger, richer, and more fortified. The basic structures of the brain (neurons) can change size and how they connect to each other based on when and how much they are used. That means if your circumstances trigger the “I’m stressed out” parts of your brain a lot, the areas and structures responsible for the “I’m stressed out” experience will get bigger and more efficient. By the same token, if your circumstances do not trigger the “I feel great” parts of your brain, “I feel great” areas will get smaller and less efficient. So there seems to be an anatomical reason for why regularly practicing positive thoughts tends to make us feel better for longer periods of time and why when we are sad or stressed for long periods of time, it is hard to feel better. But wait, there’s more.

It turns out that the same parts of the brain that are active in cognitive function – which include the emotional centers of the brain – are active during movement. In other words, exercise not only trains the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems, movement also trains the brain. Specifically, exercise trains the brain to think, feel, and perceive in the way that is chosen (by default or intension) during the exercise. In this way, the mental processes that are active during exercise (including your emotions, attitudes, perspectives) are being encouraged to develop. The more we practice those mental processes linked to the physical exercise, the more our neuroanatomy shifts toward the structures needed for those processes. In addition, muscles contracting during exercise produce hormones that, among other things, travel to the brain to help the neurons grow and form the connections needed to fortify the practiced experience. In other words, as we exercise the body, muscles produce hormones that provide the opportunity to the shape the brain. As the brain changes, so does the mind (and vice versa). What this means is that there is no separation of body and mind. Your mind is being trained as you move your body whether you know it or not.

We have a plethora of opportunities to train the continuum of body and mind. In meditation, we are mindfully still. What about mindful motion, especially in challenging physical environments like exercise? Exercise is a huge opportunity to train the mind to be supple, creative, open, resilient, generous, and compassionate even under challenging circumstances. How can we orchestrate salubrious interactions between the continuum of non-physical mind and physical body? By strategically placing our minds as specifically as we place our limbs and move our joints. By paying attention to the pulse of the mind with the same awareness as the pulse of our hearts. Making choices about our attitudes and emotions during exercise is just as important as proper physical form and posture.

This continuum of body and mind training is brilliantly embodied in Anusara Yoga. My first experience with Anusara Yoga was in Costa Rica with BJ Galvan as my instructor. I was profoundly affected by the experience. What was so intriguing, soothing, and transformative was that with every muscular contraction and joint position that was emphasized, BJ also cued us to precisely tune our minds. We focused on perspectives that are life-affirming, positive, and compassion toward self and others. For example, contracting the muscles that extend the spine where associated with “inner body bright” – an appreciation of your shinning energy and brilliance. The retraction of the shoulder blades and placement of the hands in preparation for a hand stand became synonymous with “the way you relate to your community and your commitment to your community”. We were strategically being offered an opportunity to condition our minds as specifically as we were conditioning our bodies. If physical and non-physical are opposites, then we were experiencing the union of the two. Like yoking opposites. We even had chances to experience the continuum of physical and mental challenges in a unique way. For example, the class was about to do handstands. This was a first for me and I thought it would be very challenging. So I began my typical mental preparation to overcome doubt, trying to shout down fear, getting ready to muscle it out, etc. BJ, without judgment, presented another way of doing this. I was inverted with my inner body bright, relating to my community, hands and feet on the floor, preparing to grunt and hoist my legs up. BJ asked me to place my right leg on her hand and “open to grace” as I pushed my leg down on her hand to elevate my legs over my torso. And just like that, I was in an easy handstand. BJ and Anusara provided the physical and mental tools to flourish through the heart. As I experienced, all challenges do not require great effort to surmount. One just needs great perspectives, tools, and to, as BJ says, “Melt your heart.”

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About the Author

Jacques Taylor is certified as a Mastery level Muscle Activation Techniques Specialist and as a Mastery level Resistance Training Specialist. He is a member of the teaching faculty for the Resistance Training Specialist programs and Muscle Activation Techniques. Jacques attended Oberlin College in Ohio where he received his BA in Neuroscience.

In his Los Angeles-based wellness practice, Jacques specializes in correcting the muscle and joint imbalances that contribute to chronic pain and injury. He does this in a variety of ways including: Neuroplasticity, Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT) and custom designed resistance training strategies. In addition to relieving pain, these techniques help restore the body’s alignment and overall function.

Jacques works with other healthcare professionals – physicians, physical therapists, chiropractors, massage therapists, osteopaths and personal trainers to make sure patients are receiving the best continuum of care on their path toward healing.

For more information please go to: www.bioconstructs.com or email Jacques at: jacques.taylor@gmail.com

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There are many ways to experience any event or experience in your life. What we suggest you seriously consider as a response is what we call “the highest expression of choice” – identifying that internal alignment or attitude within yourself that allows you the greatest level of awareness, the greatest level of choice, and the highest level of vibratory resonance with your unfolding destiny.

The highest expression of choice has to do with what you would call, the use of compassion. In compassion you are coming from an understanding that all are evolving to the best of their capabilities at any given moment. It is the understanding that people make what appears to be the best choices for themselves or they make what appears to be very bad choices for themselves. Nonetheless, that choice-making is their free will, just as you have your free will. So in those moments of your frustration, sadness, anger, blame, or whatever arises within you – the attitude of compassion allows you to shift those emotional responses inside yourself to an attitude of acceptance.

Then a quite remarkable thing happens. Compassion is a doorway by which one can reach and move into these elevated states of vibratory resonance and from which one’s destiny is altered in a most profound and beautiful way.

These are the three keys to unfolding destiny and to changing destiny:

• awareness
• choice
• vibration

If you want to unfold something, to experience something in your destiny, you must hold it in a vibration of your own consciousness. You must have the feeling of it in order for it to express itself. If you do not have the feeling or the vibration of it, then it cannot express.

Vibration is a key to changing destiny – the final key that unlocks the doorways to greater perception, greater life, greater rewards.

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About Author

Alice Chan is on the Mindful Muscle advisory panel as a resident expert on consciousness and energy healing. As Alice would say: “In 3D mandane world, I’m a lawyer, an artist, and energy healer. Beyond 3D, I’m just part of the matrix in the Oneness Universe.”

Alice ran the first Asia Consciousness Festival in 2009 and a conference for the public called “About Consciousness – Science, Health & Happiness.”

Visit their website at www.aboutconsciousness.net for more information.

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No matter how long you have been studying yoga,

Stand upon your own altar and let every pose become a prayer and an offering.

The sequencing of yoga poses within a practice session is an art form. When you attend a class, you simply follow the guidance of your teacher trusting that s/he knows best. But what to do on your own at home? There are certain styles of yoga such as Bikram or Ashtanga Vinyasa that use set sequences, however even hardcore followers of such styles might benefit from occasionally deviating from the tradition and giving their body a chance to free itself from its normal patterns of movement.

One of the comments I now frequently get about my class is the “creative sequencing” that I employ. When I first started teaching ten years ago, my vocabulary and instructions were limited because I had about one tenth of the knowledge and experience I now have… so my classes were pretty much the same regardless of who showed up! Today much of my teaching is based on my personal practice as well as study and reflection, my classes justly reflect what I have learned as I let my personal practice unfold and open to divine grace.

Advancing in yoga is less about learning advanced postures and more about developing an understanding of how we can reside in each pose and let it be a reflection of the joy in our heart.

Below is a basic framework for creating a home practice which I hope will instigate a sense of play and discovery:

• Set an intention. Start in a comfortable sitting position and begin with dedicating your practice session to someone or something. This gives your practice focus and direction.
• Connect with the breath. Aligning with your inner landscape, your internal rhythm, brings you deeper into the present moment.
• Keep the movement fairly gentle to begin with. The opening poses should be more like a warm-up so 3-5 rounds of Surya Namaskar are a possible starting place if you want to start with a flow and generate some heat. Note, however, that the intention is to maintain awareness and sensitivity in every expression of each pose, regardless of the pace in which you are flowing.
• Create a balanced practice. For instance, over a week aim to include forward bends, backbends, some inversions and twists. Be continuously attentive to the particular needs of your body.
• Modify poses as necessary. Accommodate injuries, aches and pains. Use props if necessary.
• Challenge yourself periodically with poses that seem outside your level of expertise. Explore the stages (kramas) of the asana. For instance, before attempting full handstand, get really comfortable with downward dog and then half-handstand. Don’t skip a krama. With patience, application and correct mental attitude you will transcend your limitations.
• Maintain a smooth steady breath as you flow in and out of an asana as well as when holding a posture. Let this rhythm of the breath be your steering wheel that guides you. Use ujjayi breathing to determine when you are straining or going beyond your personal edge and relax the intensity if you begun to strain in any way.
• Take time in a pose to explore your edges. Allow your exhalation to open the way for you to go deeper. Stay there awhile, riding the breath and becoming open, spacious and soft in this new place. You may find you can now go further into the pose. Do this as many times as you like. When you are ready to come out of the pose, gently take it to your maximum and then s-l-o-w-l-y come out. Finding a balance between under-doing and over-doing take practice and lots of listening within. Be patient and alert to the fact that this subtle place will shift from moment to moment, day to day. It will be affected by how we feel, what we have eaten and many other variables. Pay attention to them. Learning and practicing how to work intelligently and respectfully is the real work of yoga. This is the stuff that transforms us.
• Maintain mindfulness as you transition in and out of asanas as well as during. Be as interested in the process as the outcome.
• Incorporate meditation time into your practice. Use this time to be still and listen inward. Let your being flow with peace, calm and love. Let your essence shine through. Do not hold back. It is not egotistical to indulge in this part. It is nurturing and nourishing. It reminds of what we really are.
• Include 5-20 minutes in Savasana at the end of your practice. This gives your body the time to receive the benefits of your practice and to integrate your experience. Savasana is also a powerful practice because it teaches us to surrender, to let go of all attachment to how your intention manifested itself (or not) in your practice today. Through Savasana we learn to just be. To rest deeply and accept fully what the moment has to offer.

Complete your practice by taking Anjali Mudra (pic on the right) and bowing in reverence to the divine within. Hold your awareness in the stillness of your own being.

Take this stillness into the rest of your day. With regular practice, this sense of tranquility and deep inner peace will manifest in all areas of your life.

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About Author

Leena Patel is a master teacher of Karuna Yoga, the yoga of compassion. She empowers people to live and breathe the practices of yoga in all aspects of their life. She can be reached at http://www.LeenaPatel.net

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Clearing stress or getting to the bottom of what is causing anxiety can be analogous to cleaning a pan encrusted with grime. The pan starts off dirty and greasy, which seemingly gets murkier as you scrub. The tough job of scrubbing loosens the stuck debris and then without a struggle the particles of the past easily rise to the surface. Inevitably the debris or stuck emotions clear away with continued persistence and your trust and knowingness is that this is just the process. Once you patiently move through the process, you end up with a shiny new pan that looks nothing like it did before.

Reiki (pronounced ray-key) is a healing method that supports people in moving through the grimy and murky uncertainty of where life has taken them. It is much more than a “coping” mechanism, as it is a supportive tool in self-empowerment. Reiki embodies the very essence and consciousness of the new planetary era we have been moving into by supporting release of the old. Suffering and discomforts one might experience during the transition are minimized and peace of mind is re-established. We start to recognize how we are not at the mercy of anything. In overcoming these fears we receive personal growth support with unlimited potential.

Reiki is a Japanese word meaning Universal Life Force Energy, which stems from an unlimited supply that is always available to support us. It is non-invasive, gentle, yet powerful, and an easy-to-learn healing technique that promotes stress reduction and relaxation with many healing benefits. Reiki is a complimentary treatment that works in harmony to improve the effectiveness and benefits of all other types of therapy, treatment, and healing modalities. It is not meant to replace professional medical advice and Reiki practitioners do not diagnose or prescribe medication.

Reiki helps to stimulate the body’s own natural healing abilities for both psychological and organic diseases, while supporting a deep state of relaxation during that process. It encourages the natural flow of energy to return, releasing blockages at the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. Reiki is performed as either a light touch on the body, several inches above the body, or from a distance, in which case people respond the same as they would in person. Reiki treatments support relaxation, pain management, traditional medicine and even help empower people through life’s challenges.

Reiki is becoming more widely utilized and accepted; promoting more ease and swiftness in maneuvering into the coming era of increased peace and well-being. As western medicine continues exploring alternative methods of healing, Reiki is destined to play an important role as an accepted and valued healing practice. It has the ability to aid movement towards powerful, co-created changes for personal and planetary evolution. According to pioneer trend strategist, Gerald Celente, founder of the Trends Research Institute and Publisher of the Trends Journal, the “Heal Yourself Health Care” trend will become widely embraced and prove rewarding to the public.

It is evident that self-empowered, natural healing methods, such as Reiki, are having wide-spread influence and growth in today’s world. Reiki is one such means of support that can provide navigation in today’s world of unclarity, thus supplying hope for tomorrow while promoting peace for today.

References:
1.    http://www.reiki.org/FAQ/FAQHomepage.html
2.   http://www.trendsresearch.com/journal08.html

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About the Author

Tania Marie is a Reiki Master teacher and visionary artist, residing in Reno, Nevada. She enjoys a full Reiki practice treating and teaching, while creating original and commissioned art as meditation tools and dream-vision windows that mirror symbolic healing messages. The Universal Life Force Energy of Reiki resonates in everything she creates and is imbued in every stroke of her brush as an artist. As a crystal healing pendant designer, vegan raw foodist, world traveler, eclectic mystic, and writer she imbues her diverse experiences into her innovative creations, as expressions from the heart. Ahead of her time, Tania’s In Lak’ech and new Universal ARKitecture of the New Earth series inspire compassionate, conscious awareness.

Her company, Emerald Bridge, is an embodiment of her love shared through supportive services and healing creations that help to plant seeds of joy, freedom, and inspired direction. Through committed heart service, the desire to embrace unconditional compassion and natural, creative expression, Tania continually embarks on new journeys of creation and healing to share with the world.  You can learn more about her, her work and offerings at www.taniamarie.com
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No Pain, No Gain.

The Ultimate Truth?

Success with your body and in every area of your life is all about stepping outside of your comfort zone and that means embracing pain.

To reach high levels of physical and personal success you must approach your training, and your entire life, as an endeavor in constant growth. The ultimate truth is, you are either moving forward or moving backward; growing or dying. There’s no such thing as comfortably maintaining.

To grow, you must step above past achievements; beyond your perceived boundaries and limits. That means stepping out of the known, into the unknown; out of the familiar and into the unfamiliar; out of the comfortable into the uncomfortable. You must get out of your comfort zone.

The Late Cavett Robert, who was founder of the National Speakers Association, said something I’ll never forget:

“Most people are running around their whole lives with their umbilical cords in their hands and they’re looking for some place to plug it back in.”

Most people are scared of the new, unknown and unfamiliar. They prefer to stay in that womb of comfort. When the going gets tough; when the effort gets painful, when the work gets hard, they always pull back into safety. But the extraordinary people do the opposite. They know they have to get out of the comfort zone, and into new territory or they’ll stagnate and die.

Walt Disney once said that he never wanted to repeat a past success. He was always creating something new. They called it “Imagineering.” Disney’s mission was to continuously dream up and create things they had never done before, and look at what Disney has become today.

Here’s a little quote that you should post on your bulletin board, your computer desktop or somewhere you will always see it:

“Do what you always did, get what you always got.”

You can’t grow or change by doing what you’ve already done. You’ve got to train just to prevent yourself from going backwards. Maintenance doesn’t occur when you do nothing, maintenance is working to fight entropy (the tendency for things to naturally deteriorate).

Still, most people won’t leave their comfort zones. They won’t do it in business, they won’t do it in their personal lives. They won’t do it in their sport. They won’t do it for personal health and fitness. Why? The answer is simple… It hurts.

By definition, what’s it like outside the comfort zone? It’s UN-COMFORTABLE, right? Change is uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s physically painful, but it’s always mentally and emotionally painful, in the form of discipline, sacrifice, uncertainty and fear.

The maxim, “no pain no gain” gets knocked all the time as if it were bad advice. The fact of life is that you don’t grow unless you are constantly stepping outside the comfort zone, and outside the comfort zone is discomfort and pain.

How Champions and Winners Think

I find that it’s mostly the non-achievers who make out “no pain, no gain” to be a bad thing. But the winners get it. The champions understand stepping outside the comfort zone in a healthy context, so they embrace it.

When you’re talking about the Olympics, or pro bodybuilding or the Super Bowl or a world championship, you’d better believe it’s physical pain, it’s discipline, it’s sacrifice, it’s blood, sweat, and tears – literally. But for most people who simply want to go from unfit to fit, from overweight to ideal weight, it’s not so much about physical “pain”; it’s more like stretching yourself.

How do you develop flexibility? What does your trainer tell you? You stretch to the point of discomfort, but not to the point of pain, right? You get into a position of slight discomfort and you hold it just long enough, then what happens? The discomfort goes away, because the muscle becomes more pliable, and the range of motion is increased.

Each time, you stretch a little further, just barely into the range you’ve never been in before, and eventually, you’re doing the splits. And why do you approach it like that? Because you don’t want to injure yourself. Stretch too far, too fast and your muscle tears.

The elite athletes and high achievers really have to push themselves; they’re going to push their boundaries and test their limits. But if you’re not an elite athlete or seasoned bodybuilder, and you take the advice, “no pain, no gain” too literally, you’re going to end up getting injured.

I always say to my training partner when I watch him cringing during a set and he finishes up with that pained look on his face, “Are you injured, or just hurt?” He knows what I’m talking about. If he says he’s hurt, I say, “OK, good. As long as you’re not injured. Let’s get on with it. Next set.”

Good Pain vs Bad Pain

It’s not about injury. That is bad pain. Pushing yourself through that is stupidity. But do stretch yourself. You can’t improve unless you stretch yourself. If someone just wants too “stay fit” – OK fine. It actually doesn’t take that much to stay fit, once you’ve already achieved it.

But what if you want to improve? What if you want a new body? What if you want to change? If that’s what you want, you’ve got to push yourself a little. You’ve got to break comfort zones. And if your body is not changing, then I don’t care how hard you think you’re working, whatever you’re doing right now is inside your comfort zone.

The statement “no pain, no gain” has been misinterpreted, criticized and labeled a fallacy by many. However, the people doing the criticizing are almost always comfort zoners who haven’t achieved much. Don’t listen to them. Instead, follow the small percentage of people who step out and achieve great things.

Embrace the “good pain” of growth like the champions do. Soon it subsides, you enjoy the benefits of the change and the pain is forgotten. You’ve reached a new, higher plateau of achievement. Enjoy the view for a short while. But be on guard because it’s not long before that higher level becomes your new comfort zone and then its time to press on again.

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About the Author

Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer (CPT) and a certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS). Tom is the author of the #1 best-selling e-book, “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using the secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models.

Learn how to get rid of stubborn body fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com. To learn more about Tom’s Fat Loss Support Community, visit: www.burnthefatinnercircle.com Natasha Lepore of UCLA; and Christian Gaser of the University of Jena in Germany.

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In the foreword to The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism, Daniel C. Matt, one of the world’s leading Kabbalah scholars, and the author of a multi-volume English translation of The Zohar, the summa mystica of this ancient tradition, states: “Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition, is precious and well hidden. Its symbolism, and multiple layers of meaning have attracted and confounded readers for centuries. Having studied Kabbalah for some twenty-five years, my attraction has not abated, my confoundedness has not been eliminated, but seasoned with wonder.”

What is Kabbalah, and what makes it so mysterious to the uninitiated, and constantly endearing to those who delve into its secrets for years?

In Hebrew, “kabbalah” means several things: “tradition” or “receiving” or “that which has been received,” and also “reception” as in the welcoming sign that greets the tourist arriving in Israel when entering hotels. The spiritual seeker will likely ignore this mundane meaning of the word, and train his eager thoughts instead on the mystical sites of the country where the sages of this tradition are buried, and where thousands of contemporary students of Kabbalah pilgrim yearly. For it is in the north of the country where two important mystical foci are located: Tzvat, one of the four holy cities of Israel most closely associated with Kabbalah, and Meron, the burial site of Shimon bar Yochai, the alleged author of the Zohar, attract tens of thousands of local and international spiritual seekers, making Israel one of the world’s top mystical destination.

Such a large following means one thing: the study and practice of Kabbalah are no longer restricted to the land that endangered it as a tradition. Presently, major American universities offer courses in Jewish mysticism, classes ranging from beginner’s level to advanced study of the original works in Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew open to students from various backgrounds and faiths. Similarly, European universities have recently expanded their curriculum to include such topics, and several advanced programs are being offered in highly respected programs throughout the world. Moreover, the Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles, and its national and international satellites are offering a plethora of lectures and programs, both on location and through its online Kabbalah University programs.

So, what did/does it mean to be a student of this ancient mystical system originating millennia ago in Israel and making headlines today as the spiritual practice of choice for major entertainment and business household names?

In the past, the study of the literary and mystical corpora that made the body of the Kabbalist teachings was restricted to married male Jews, over forty, with children and a considerable familiarity with the mitzvoth (rules/commandments) of the Jewish faith, as well as with the Torah (basically the first five books from the Old Testament), and the Talmud (a central text of mainstream Judaism, in the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history). This esoteric knowledge, delivered in highly metaphorical language, and explaining complex cosmological and psychological concepts in equally categorical terms was believed to be dangerous for the uninitiated, who could fail to rise to the high state of consciousness necessary to “receive” these teachings and greatly misinterpret and misconstrue them. However, when the most advanced Kabbalist teachings made their way into the hands of learned men like Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein among many others, they allegedly helped push the boundaries of scientific inquiry and participated in the production of some of the world’s most revolutionary theories, including the laws of motion and gravitation, relativity laws, the zero point energy concept, and the wave-particle duality concept of energy. It is no surprise then that the recent import of the last two theories in particular prompted renewed interest in Kabbalist studies for scientists, mystics, and laymen alike.

For the latter, the most inclusive source of learning is the Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles. This school emphasizes the practical aspects and rewards of the Kabbalah system, which it highlights in courses and lectures open to all peoples, regardless of gender, age, marital status, or ethnic origin. Bilingual study guides, graduated courses, and lectures are available at the several national and international sites of the center, and on line through the Kabbalah University (www.ukabbalah.com). As with any other school of thought and practice, individual results are contiguous with personal effort and persistence, which are greatly encouraged by the readily available personal teachers of the center.

One of the most commonly recognized symbols of this practice is the red string worn on the left wrist. The applied Kabbalah student is wearing the red string around the left wrist for several reasons: because the left hand, arm and side of the body are most receptive to outside influences, to prevent his/her reactive judgments towards others, and to protect against any such towards himself/herself. Every morning and as many times throughout the day as possible, the student will tap into higher levels of consciousness by restricting immediate reactions and observing the Kabablistic precept of “cause and effect”: there is a cause for all effects/results in our life. Just because we cannot see, or failed to see this cause/causal seed does not mean that no such thing existed/exists beyond our realm of perception.

By way of explanation, imagine yourself in South America, felicitously (and safely) placed above the breathtaking canopy of the Amazonian forest. From your vantage point, you can see, in the heavy mist imbued with heady fragrance and myriad sounds, the tips of many branches and can guess from a distance, and witness the muffled undergoings of the life show below. As the sun rises and the mist evaporates, your eyes follow down those branch tips to the thicker arms of a majestic tree, and you realize that those spearing tips that in the veiled morn seemed to be far away and independent from each other, are actually part of the same arboreal system, with sturdy roots firmly planted in the ground. So, “somewhere in time,” a seed fulfilled its mission and produced the splendor now enchanting your eye. Moreover, the interconnectedness of something that appears to be separate and unrelated, i.e., the branch tips, are visible as intricate parts of the same unit, the tree, and everything that surrounds it.

As a Kabbalist you take this same concept of causality and effect and apply it to your every action, i.e.: plant some “good seeds.” So, how does this spiritual/horticultural activity manifest in our 21^st century daily lives?

The serious Kabbalist starts his day by reciting the Ana Bechoah, or the “prayer of the Kabbalist” (see diagram below). In itself, the prayer is a compilation of the “42 names of God” or letters believed to help human consciousness tune in with the pure energy of cosmic consciousness.

Line by line, consciousness is up-tuned to higher levels of understanding and appropriation: each line corresponds to various energy levels present in the body, and the manifestations/corrections they produce roughly mirror those resulting from uptuning the chakras in the Hindu and Buddhist spiritual practices. Here, the work is done at the sefirot level, i.e., the Kabbalist centers of energy placed as follows (diagram below):

Through daily, continuous practice, the student gradually brings his/her consciousness to ever-higher levels of functioning and balance. S/he then walks into the mundane carrying this knowledge and brings mindfulness into everything s/he does, says, or believes, as the individual self has been attuned to the perfect consciousness of the universe. Paramount is the idea that as earthlings, we are all, by cosmic design, drawn to finding answers to our existence, but that we are doing so, in different ways. Kabbalists and others pursuing spiritual enlightenment can help speed up this process by focusing on the bettering of the self and being mindful at all things and actions, at all times.

One way of maintaining this high level of consciousness is to always revisit the concept of “the big picture,” in our case, that epiphany moment above the Amazon forest. All is connected, everything that surrounds us is the manifested effect of a causal action we (all) did in the past. A seed, literal or metaphoric might rest comfortably on a shelf for years. With the right consciousness, in the right conditions, with proper care in the right soil, might create a fruitful tree with myriad other seeds, which through sharing, will feed, shelter, shade and multiply myriad times over, ad infinitum. All of this, from the same seed that could have lazed forever in dark shadows… The concept of the seed, is of course, in other forms, present in all spiritual traditions, most famously, as Jesus’ “parable of the talents” or in more contemporary takes, for those of us into Science Fiction, in Octavia Butler’s phenomenal “Parable of the Sower” novel.

Ultimately, what Kabbalah could provide for the avid seeker of spirituality is of course, subjective and proportional with the time invested in study and practice.

Personally, I cannot praise it enough!

Back in 2004, Anton Shamas, one of my professors at the time suggested that:

“I am a Kabbalist who doesn’t know it yet” and with this incendiary statement sent me “go and read!” So, I did: Barry W. Holtz’s Back to the Sources, Editor Lawrence Fine’s Essentials Papers on Kabbalah, Moshe Idel’s Absorbing Perfection: Kabbalah and Interpretation, Daniel Matt’s Zohar, the Bergs’ extensive collections on the applicability of Kabbalah to daily life, etc. I also took several amazing courses on Jewish Mysticism at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, taught by professor Eliot Ginsburg (many other universities offer such courses these days). I wanted to learn Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew, so in the summer of 2006 went to Israel and did so…joined the Kabbalah Center (www.kabbalah.com) same year and been studying ever since, happily living a “fruit-full” Kabbalist life.

Here is to you, those who wonder about Kabbalah, and all of us who search: to being kind to others, to learning endlessly, to living life in Light, let’s go and read…

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About Author

Corina Kesler is currently pursuing a Phd in Comparative Literature at University of Michigan (since 2003). Her present utopian interests have been shaped by her growing up in a communist country self-declared “utopian,” and from spending extended time in a Romanian Orthodox monastery.

Her dissertation project’s premise is that the utopian impulse has disguised itself in late forming nations of the world and that in these cases, the utopian impulse took mystical, mythological and temporal form much more often than in the case of the canonical tradition that favors rational constructs, dialectical approaches and spatial forms. To test her hypothesis Corina has read extensively on various utopian traditions, participated actively in national and international utopian conferences, visited and volunteered at several international utopian projects in England, Romania and Israel.

www.corinakesler.com

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Ever wondered why you find yourself in the same or similar situations in your life?

Depth psychology provides the framework for personal mythology. A basic premise to depth psychology is that we always move within some storied situation, some psychic framework of fantasy, fable, or myth. It’s not a difficult leap to see your life as a story that has unfolded. It’s also not difficult to recognize that life’s dramas are not all that unique; that in fact, the same basic human dynamics play out over and over again, as they have throughout history.

So what is your drama? Who is the character your life subconsciously plays out, and in what story? Are you destined by its fate?

The term “personal myth” was used by Carl Jung to describe collective stories, images, and motifs that recur in our lives. When we venture into the collective stories that have been passed down through centuries, a chord is struck recognizing one as our own. The first few similarities seem like coincidences. However, as the defining moments, core beliefs, and essence are not literalized, but used as metaphors to our own experience, exciting and awe-inspiring stones are upturned about our own predicaments.

Carl Jung also used the term “archetype”. An archetype holds a vision of existence, or a type of energy, and is a universally recurring pattern. Archetypes are general such as Child, Hero, Rebirth, and The Wise Old Man. A myth differs from an archetype because a myth is a specific story. In Greek mythology, for example, there is no Hera archetype or Hermes archetype, but there is a Divine Mother, and a Trickster. The energy of the archetype within the myth gives the underlying core of the story. As complex beings, we all carry some aspects of many archetypes. However, it is not unusual for a primary way of being to be found.

My dear friend, I’ll call him Chance, consented to my using his personal myth for illustration. I have known him for many years, and as friends, he has shared many stories and events in his life. From the Greek pantheon, he is a classic God of Communications, Hermes, the Messenger God. The archetype for Hermes is the trickster. Trickster energy permeates the myth of Hermes, as it does through the life story of Chance. Trickster energy represents a mode of the unexpected, of catching us off guard in creative ways to pursue a goal or overcome obstacles. It is also a mode of uncanny luck. Hermes was symbolized with winged sandals as he was a swift messenger, both articulate and persuasive. Shrewd and cunning with his charm and friendly nature, he always had a way with words. His antics would also win the confidence of his brother Apollo, from whom he stole some cattle. Hermes amused his brother, who then overlooked the theft, and appointed Hermes to protect the cattle. Through this Hermes became a protector. He was patron of travelers and had the ability to usher others to the underworld, the land of the dead. He was one of the few who could travel between both worlds unhindered. Roads and traffic became two of his domains.

Chance found his passion and career in the field of media communications for which he has won a half a dozen Emmy awards. Most of his accolades came his way after he left the confines of a media company and started his own. True to the Hermes nature, Chance rejects authority and constraints. Career success exceeded his expectations once his vocation in communications aligned with his core nature to work without restrictions. Through his sincere charm and grace, he is able to assemble teams that will jump through hoops for his production company to meet grueling and sometimes insane deadlines. Hermes had issues with time; likewise, Chance seems to always be scheduled far in excess of what might be considered normal. His time management becomes difficult for important people in his life that would otherwise wish to spend more time with him.

Because of Chance’s protective and supportive nature, also found in the myth of Hermes, people are drawn to him. Those who have hit hard times in their lives find a truly empathic ear to listen. He has found himself at the center of helping those in their deepest hour, and guiding them through some of life’s toughest moments.  During these times, the Hermes’ psychopomp ability of guiding souls channels through him.

Call it dumb luck, or the gift of Hermes, when Chance can talk himself out of a traffic ticket after being caught blatantly in the wrong. How does that happen when the rest of us are tagged with another fine? The patron of roads and traffic may have saved Chance’s life when he lost control of his car while entering a rain-slick freeway swerving across several lanes untouched by the onslaught of traffic. Somehow the man always lands on his feet, the feet with wings.

Another wonderful illustration of Hermes symbolism is in the movie Cast Away, whose protagonist is played by Tom Hanks. Hanks plays a FedEx employee, Chuck Noland, in charge of effective delivery of communications, a messenger. If you take notice, in the beginning, before he is set adrift, you will see several symbols of clocks and time, something of which the Hank’s character never seems to have enough, not even for his fiancée.

Once washed ashore a deserted island, a package from the cargo he leaves unopened is adorned with Hermes’ symbolic wings. Chuck finds himself at the service of his wit and ingenuity to fashion methods for his survival overcoming what appear to be insurmountable obstacles. Luck follows him as a passing cargo ship finds him when he was drifting aimlessly.

Chuck makes a conscious decision to change the script he had been unconsciously living. He became aware of the parts of his way of being that no longer served him, and moving forward he would pay attention to what was most important in his life, his relationship. The film ends as Chuck stands at a crossroad, noticing and watching another symbol of Hermes’ wings, and smiles.

One day I asked Chance if he had ever seen Cast Away. He replied, “I love that movie. I’ve seen it 20 times!” Not surprising.

I’ve shared Chance’s version of the Hermes myth, and the way it is enlivened through his experience. With awareness Chance can choose to re-script how it will play out for the aspects of his life he feels do not serve him. No one knows what the future holds, but for Chance, knowing his myth provides a useful internal compass when he reaches another fork in the road, or when another crucial life decision needs to be made. His knowledge gives him a way to validate his intuitive feel, and provides guidance of where he might want to steer clear. It’s another checkpoint to make sure his decisions are in alignment with his true self.

The realization of the story your life has been following can allow you to change the future, and keep repetitive patterns in your life from persistently taking charge. Conscious awareness provides an opening for you to choose and shape the outcomes you’d prefer, unleashing the grasp of your story’s fate.

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About Author

Rebecca Elliott holds a master’s degree in Consciousness Studies. She is a contributing author to the book Storied Lives: Discovering and Deepening Your Personal Myth by Craig Chalquist PhD.

In addition to facilitating personal myth work, she is in alignment with her myth by bringing people together to envision the type of future we want to live in, and inviting creative solutions in response to the pressing concerns faced with our environment. Her myth is revealed in Storied Lives. She can be reached through her website at www.ecoanxietycoach.com.

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It’s not good for your health to drink more than one cup of coffee a day, and I drink at least two—so I am going to do a little lifestyle makeover myself. The excuse I use is that I juggle college and a professional life, so of course I need the boost, right? Wrong. The reality is that I don’t need to depend on caffeine for energy, and neither do you if we get enough rest, exercise, and eat right.

Below is a summary for Eat to be Fit-The Truth About Fat Loss , by Michael J. Foley with Pat Walsh. I recently made Pat and Mike’s acquaintance and thought this first-person account had some great insight on the subject of chemical addictions, and what we can do to overcome them:

Overcoming Alcoholism and Nicotine Addiction with Nutrition and Fitness

Toward the end of 1999, when I was 54, my doctor said “Your liver is failing; unless you stop drinking, you’ll die.” At the time I didn’t believe I was an alcoholic and thought I could stop drinking “on my own.” I was also smoking a pack a day.

On October 7th, 2001, at the age of 56, I had my last drink. A couple of weeks later I had my last cigarette.  My recovery included losing 30 pounds of fat, reducing my blood pressure, healing a failing liver, eliminating chronic bronchitis, adding hours to each day and years to my life. What I learned about the importance of nutrition and exercise during those 22 months may be helpful to others struggling to quit harmful substance addiction.

Quitting smoking and drinking is not unusual; completely eliminating the cravings for these unhealthy substances is unusual. Nutrition and fitness are not the first things most people think of when they consider recovery today, but I wonder how a physical disease like alcoholism can be truly overcome without careful attention to the physical needs of the human body. I hope my experience brings more attention to this crucial aspect of recovery.

My Drinking Heritage and History

Alcoholism runs deep in my family. Both of my grandfathers, hardworking family men when sober, became violent, destructive and abusive when drunk. My uncles were drunks, too. As a child I was fearful and nervous around these men, but as I grew up I didn’t connect my own heavy drinking with them. My behavior when drinking was different, so I thought I was different.

My parents drank with their friends, often becoming loudly drunk, but I can’t say for sure that they were alcoholics. They drank mostly on weekends while I was growing up. Alcoholism was not talked about in our family, but drinking was a big part of everyone’s life, including mine.

I was an alcoholic from the time of my first drink of straight whiskey, probably around the age of 5 or 6. It was the remedy for toothaches, sore throats and to help me go to sleep on occasion. I loved the way it tasted and made me feel: warm, fuzzy and relaxed. It took away the pain of my frequent sore throats—transporting me from the dismal, often stressful surroundings of my home to a place of peace and quiet. Alcohol comforted me and I couldn’t get enough of it.

I smoked my first cigarette when I was ten and enjoyed the different kind of buzz I got from that. My parents both smoked and it was easy excitement to sneak cigarettes out of the packs they’d leave lying around. When I met my future husband at age fourteen I quit smoking because he didn’t smoke. I didn’t take up smoking regularly again until I was in my mid-forties. Then I smoked a pack a day or more and was completely hooked.

I was a “maintenance drinker” most of the time. I drank every day as an adult and tried to control my intake so I wouldn’t become drunk. Fortunately, during my three pregnancies I had no desire to drink alcohol. I can remember taking a sip of wine and not liking it.  So I rarely had even a small drink while pregnant; but as soon as my healthy, perfect babies were born, I went back to my previous levels of consumption.

A high-functioning alcoholic, I began attending college at night when my children were babies. I earned a BS degree in Accounting, with honors, while working part time to pay my tuition. I was recruited by a large insurance company upon graduating at age thirty and had a successful 25-year career in information technology.

Being an active, secret alcoholic consumed a lot of time, attention and energy. And it produced enormous guilt. The first drink after work felt so good, so right—I could hardly wait for it. But with the ones that followed life became shadowy, thoughts grew murky, reactions and responses less and less appropriate.

Although I performed well at work, my emotional development was stuck somewhere back in my youth. Instead of learning how to cope with the normal ups and downs of life, how to relate well to others and figure out who the heck I was at significant times in my life, those life-lessons so important for growth toward maturity were drowned out, submerged by my ever increasing reliance on alcohol.

During many years of heavy, daily drinking and in spite of many disastrous consequences, including being arrested at age 34 with a blood alcohol level of .33, I steadfastly denied my alcoholism. I refused to accept the obvious, even after my younger sister died at age 40 of alcoholism and crack cocaine.

I was able to retire early at age 54, in the summer of 1999. Then, without a job to go to, without anyone relying on me for their care (my children were grown, out on their own and I’d been divorced for years) I could drink and smoke as much as I wanted without worrying about anyone noticing my overindulgences.

Recovery

What happened to make quitting booze and cigarettes possible for me after a life of slavery to these addictions? It happened almost by accident. During one of my longest attempts to stay sober, after learning my liver was failing, I read an article about a woman who started lifting weights in her sixties and I was inspired to try it. I had two young grandsons and wanted to get healthy so I could enjoy playing with them.

I signed up for a 1-month membership at my local gym, the Lifestyle Fitness Center on Warren Avenue in Portland, and began working with a personal trainer who helped me learn to use the weight machines and free weights. She introduced me to the nutrition/fitness counselor at the gym, Mike Foley, and recommended his 12-week program which included eating nutritious foods every 2-3 hours, all day long.

Mike and I developed a daily eating plan together using foods I liked. It included three meals and three healthy snacks with the exact amounts of calories, proteins, fats and carbohydrates I needed to be healthy. It also included the time of day that each meal or snack was to be consumed. I had to keep track of everything I ate, writing it in a journal which he reviewed once a week. I also had to drink two quarts of plain water every day. No junk food or sugary snacks were allowed. These were all drastic changes in my eating habits, but I was able to assimilate them with Mike’s help during weekly consultations.

My exercise regimen included working out with weights for 30 minutes three times a week, and doing 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise (walking) four times a week. In the beginning I found all of this was a lot of work and had to push myself to go out walking with no destination in mind, no goal but to walk for 30 minutes. It felt strange, it all felt very strange, but I was determined to try. To my surprise, I felt better right away.

I began to realize all sorts of unexpected benefits from following this program, but the miraculous freedom from addictions didn’t happen overnight. After weeks of sobriety and healthy living I tried to drink like a “normal” person and failed again. But I had written a short article describing how much better I was feeling with improved eating and exercise habits, and after reading it, Mike asked me to write a book with him.

During the months that followed, I had many weeks of sustained healthy living interspersed with horrible binge drinking episodes that left me more dysfunctional and sicker than ever. Although Mike and I met every week to work on the book, I tried to keep my drinking secret, as usual. I was immersed in the process of learning and writing about nutrition and exercise, continually trying to apply the principles to myself, but still thinking I could someday drink like a normal person. Although I failed over and over, the memory of how good I felt while following the exercise and eating plan, and not drinking, kept me returning again and again to the healthy lifestyle.

Finally, in October of 2001, when we had finished writing, I tried once more to drink like a “normal” person and had one of my worst binges ever. I knew then that I could never drink again. It took that final attempt for me to finally accept my alcoholism. I made it my top priority to follow Mike’s healthy lifestyle program 100% and within two weeks smoked my last cigarette.

During my first year of sobriety I never went for more than three hours without a healthy snack (which always included protein as well as carbs), because if I did, the old cravings would immediately start again. I avoided sugar and other high-glycemic foods, knowing by then the importance of keeping my blood-sugar levels steady. I realized that my eating and exercise routines were helping me stay emotionally balanced and learning to cope with life’s ups and downs in a more productive way than I ever could when drinking and smoking.

I found a powerful weapon to keep cravings at bay while improving my quality of life in every way: healthy eating and consistent exercise. Although every human being is different and addictions are serious, complicated illnesses that exert a terrible grip on the spirit and free will of the addicted person, we all need good nutrition and exercise habits to be healthy. I hope someday information and counseling on nutrition and exercise will be available to each person struggling to break addictions and live a full, healthy life.

*Eat to be Fit-The Truth About Fat Loss, by Michael J. Foley with Pat Walsh, is available at Amazon.com

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About Author

Chris Willitts is an advocate of meditation and strength training, and the founder of Mindful Muscle. He is also a web designer, entrepreneur, and student at the University of Michigan with concentrations in psychology, sociology, business, and Asian studies.

Like this post? Buy me a green drink or send me a tip!

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The Fountain of Youth World Summit with Dax Moy, one of the four most successful achievement coaches for personal trainers in the world.

Kevin: WOW! What’s next?

Dax: What’s next is know why you want it. To be really, really honest, most people don’t know why they want what they want. Or they will never admit it to themselves. You know what, they’ll say “oh yeah I would like a new Land Rover Discovery”, in my case you know? “Why do I want it?” You know it’s a great car. And that’s when most people start, “it’s a great car; made me feel…” Basically when I actually went through the “why do I want it” phase, what it really, really, really came down to was: it would make me feel successful, it would make me feel special, it would make me feel like I made it. Those are the obvious reasons. Because it is a great car, it’s got x horsepower, and the wheels are shinning; they are not really good reasons. They are not the things that I see that are going to hold you on course when things get tough, okay? But, when you know why you want it, when you get to the bottom of the real reason well, actually you know? Again, if I even dig a little bit deeper; for most of my life I felt poor, and I felt like I wasn’t going to amount to anything. This was going to make me feel rich, like I was turning into something that I wanted to be.

Kevin: Right, fantastic stuff. So, we have gone through the “why”. So now; what are the next couple of steps?

Dax: The next couple of steps. Know the price. There is a price for everything. You know, you want new shoes, there is a price. You want to get fit, there is a price. Too many people they enter into the beginning phases of a goal, maybe thinking about what they want and why they want it, but they don’t actually say; what is this going to cost me? It might cost you in money. It might cost you in time, commitment, effort, and might cost you in things that; you know, if we are talking about health and fitness, the things that you may have to abstain from.

All I ask, in my personal training students here in the UK that we have — I just finished a team meeting just before I came up and some of my coaches were saying I am having problems with X, you know, and she is saying to me that she is unhappy with the right improvement that she is making. So, I said okay, let me see her journal. She has not been paying; we told her up front what the price was. We said no wheat, dairy, caffeine or alcohol. You’ve got to do your homework twice a day, which is, they are only 10 minute homeworks actually, but you’ve got to do them twice a day, you are going to read these books, you are going to go to sleep at this time at night, you can’t do this, you must do this… That’s not just us being really butting up; you telling me what your stated game is and me telling you the quickest way of getting there.

Kevin: I think it is fantastic that you put it so simply because a lot of people do spend a lot of time planning how they are going to be healthy, and then they get right to the point where, you know, they know what needs to be done and just freeze. What’s the tipping point there?

Dax: The tipping point is, very often what I have found is the people that, the people that struggle with paying the price didn’t commit successfully in the second phase, right? They weren’t really honest with why they wanted it.

And nine times out of ten when I find the person who fails to pay the price, it is going to be someone who wasn’t really honest with themselves about why they wanted it. The other one time out of ten will be a person that once they get there, once they get to the point of paying the price is usually because they don’t believe that the paying of the price will bring them the goods. Yeah, they are terrified. If I tell you that the price is X amount of workout per week, eat this way, go to sleep at this time and you go to sleep later, you only do half the workouts, and you have changed your nutritional strategy; you have not paid the price. And you are not going to get the goods.

Kevin: Wow! How do you practice differently now then you did when you first started? How has your approached changed with people, with the people you work with?

Dax: I’ll rap that up in really one simple answerable word, its systems. I was always a bit of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of guy. I am still very much in tune with my feelings and my emotive factors. I still pay a lot of attention to those but I’ve also tried to set systems up around things that mean, I guess I can reproduce myself. Instead of being one Dax Moy, there are twenty people in my studios doing things exactly the same way Dax Moy does them. So, you get the same workout with them that you’ll get with me. I guess that is one of the biggest things; system, I don’t just mean in terms of my business no, I’ve got a systematic approach in my year. Every single twelve weeks my family and I take a vacation, every twelve weeks without fail. I would consider my year to be spiralling down if that didn’t happened. I don’t work Wednesday or Friday evenings anymore. No, that is not part of my system. I work the rest of the week; I don’t work weekends either anymore actually. It’s kind of like saying, “look for most things there are some exceptions to the rule, but most of us, don’t live within the rule; we live within the exceptions”. I think that’s what I was doing. That is what a lot of my clients do. That is what my students do. That is what a lot of my readers do. They spend their lives living within the exceptions.

Kevin: Well, it kind of answers my last question. If everyone took and maybe you can expand on that; if everyone took one thing away from this particular call, what will it be?

Dax: Set in place a system that will make you happy. For me happiness is the ultimate aim of life. Consider these quotes; “you know I am having a great day today. Why am I feeling so great today?” “I had a great conversation with someone today. I went for a great meal at lunch time, I didn’t rush; I took my time; I still had time to read a book, you know.” “My desk was clear when I got into work this morning that made me feel completely different for the start of my day.” These are all just ingredients for the recipe of happiness and none of us have exactly the same recipe. For example, in my life, I also as well as my family value adventure. So, that is where the twelve weeks vacation comes in. My vacations are pretty adventurous. I have lived in the outback of Australia in a camp cabana. I have parachuted on to the Great Barrier Reef.

So, if I get all the other ingredients and I tell my family that I love them; my work is going great; I have a great meal and I read a book, but now twelve weeks have gone by and I go, “God I haven’t had any adventure anymore”; I start to feel less than me. I no longer feel like me. I feel that in some way I’m starting to diminish.

So, many people are going through life losing themselves. That’s because, quite simply, they are not following their own rules. If you don’t like the word rules, take that word and use the word recipe. You are not following your own recipe for what makes you happy. You know what it is; you know what the ingredients are. I need this amount of time; this amount of money; I need to read these amounts of books; this is the type of body I want; this is the type of sex life I want; this is this, this, this, this, and this, and this, and this. That’s your recipe ingredients but the only trouble is; most people either aren’t going out, you know; they are living on opposite ingredients, they are doing all the things they hate in life and they are wondering why their life is crap.

They might be getting some of the ingredients but not the rest and when they do get them, they never mixed them together. What I mean by mixing them together is creating that system. Here is an interesting thing, most people are looking; I hate people all the time telling me that they are trying to create work life balance, work life balance, work life balance; you hear this? And, I used to be a coach that tried to help people create work life balance. It only lasts six months you know; that is non-sense. We don’t want work life balance. Nothing in life is balance because once it becomes balance, it becomes still. Unless its movement, life’s action. So, we don’t want work life balance at all. I mean, you picture a see-saw right? When the see-saw is at a balance, when its in balance it is at rest; it is not moving.

Kevin: Wow! You know every time I’ve interviewed and talked with you Dax; I’ve really gotten some great insights from it. This is incredible stuff and we are running out of time.

Let me do a little talk here because I have the Magic 100 program and I did it and one of my goals was to go to California and I had no reason whatsoever to go to California and I just put it down there because I just kind of wanted to go. The funny thing about it is that things fell into place, I mean almost within 30 days I had a trip planned to go to California and I had a business meeting out there and there was an Expo out there, and then, it was just insane how it happened. Is it that once you do set the intention and you write it down and you say it out loud, man it just happens. And, just as a testimony to the Magic 100 for me is that I have done it and the power of it is just incredible!

To read the rest of this transcript as well as access more information by health experts on abundance, optimum health, and longevity just like Dax Moy, please visit (http://fountainofyouthworldsummit.com) .

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About the Author

Kevin Gianni is a health advocate, author and speaker. He has helped thousands of people in over 85 countries learn how to take control of their health–and keep it. To view his popular internet TV Show “The Renegade Health Show” (and get a free gift!) with commentary on natural health issues, vegan and raw food diets, holistic nutrition and more click here.

His book, “The Busy Person’s Fitness Solution,” is a step-by-step guide to optimum health for the time and energy-strapped. To find out more about abundance, optimum health and self motivation click here… or you’re interested in the vegan and raw food diet and cutting edge holistic nutrition click here. For access to free interviews, downloads and a complete bodyweight exercise archive visit www.LiveAwesome.com.

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