Healthy B.P.M.

Yesterday my guest blogger Marcia described what Awareness is. Today she discusses Joy and Choices-things we should know about before we get into holistic fitness.

JOY:

The entire process of building a healthy body goes from something impersonal to something very personal and meaningful to each of us as individuals. This process brings us closer to the spiritual aspect of how our body works. Let’s face it. We all have arms and legs, we all have thoughts and emotions; but something deeper within us drives us to do things that others wouldn’t even consider. This deep sense of individuality is our connection to the spiritual aspects of the self. When the physical body, mental body, emotional body and spiritual self are all in harmony, the chances for success are phenomenal.

The traditional fitness triangle of body-mind-emotion, now has a unifying aspect-the spirit that drives the individual to seek fulfillment, satisfaction and joy. Being “well� in the physical body isn’t enough for most of us. We need a deeper more personal motivation, to make the effort to find a fitness program and stick to it.

Traditional fitness is a program of regular exercise, “proper� diet/nutrition, and “proper� rest to allow for physical recovery. A traditional fitness program is built around attaining agility, balance, body composition, cardiovascular endurance, coordination, flexibility and joint range of motion, muscular strength and endurance and speed.

While this may all sound good, it sure doesn’t sound like fun. So let’s add in Joy and Satisfaction as attributes that we seek. That’s why a new approach to fitness is more realistic. A new approach which combines the elements that really matter to us, finding joy, pleasure, a sense of peace, satisfaction and acceptance in this world. This only comes by attaining these aspects in our own lives. So each of our activities now must live up to these requirements.

A healthy balance of the physical body, mental body, emotional body and spiritual self naturally leads to a sense of well-being-something each of us has experiences at least as a fleeting sensation. But what if you could feel like that 20%, 50%, 75%, 95%, or 100% of the time? Imagine how your world would change for you in your home life, your work life, your relationships, your play time! The results are imaginable and attainable. As an active participant in your life, you get to choose Joy and Satisfaction by becoming aware of your ability to choose and then making choices based on your individually driven goals. It’s time to GET OFF the treadmill of “fitness programs� and GET A LIFE WITH JOY AND SATISFACTION.

CHOICES:

Making healthy choices is an ongoing opportunity to change, to grow, to be who we really meant to be, and thereby satisfy the deep need within ourselves to BE ourselves as individuals with meaning, depth, purpose, acceptance and value.

There are a number of body-mind practices available in to us now. These include fitness fusion practices such as Nia (Neuromuscular Integrative Action, for more info see www.nianow.com), T’ai Chi, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, various forms of traditional yoga and modern forms such as Yoga Flow and Restorative Yoga. These practices use physical activity as the entryway to also working with the imaginative and intuitive parts of our minds and promote health of the body, the mind, the emotions and the Spirit. For working mainly with the energetic body, the most attainable practice is Reiki. A level 1 Reiki attunement will clear the Chakras, and allow a person to practice Reiki on themselves and others.

Reiki is a Japanese word for Universal Life Force, and is a technique that makes use of energetic healing methods that have their roots in thousand year old practices. Other methods of energy healing include Healing Touch, and working with sound. Exploring these methods allows us to develop a personal practice for health and well-being.

Marcia R. Babcock is a Ph.D, MBA, Nia Black Belt Instructor, Tai Chi Instructor, and Reiki Master. She decided to do a guest blog for me and in this two part series she discusses the newest trends in fitness and explains why fitness can suddenly be more fun and successful for You.Check out her website www.bodyenergetic.com.