2012

February 28, 2012 / soulinteraction / Leave a comment

Here are your Tuesday spiritual fitness and nutrition tips!

Fitness: Breathe. It might sound easy, but I see many people in a state of waking apnea. Breath is motion, it is essential to life. When we take control of the breath and breathe with intention we can move stagnation out of the body. When we hold our breath it is hard to move. As a fitness trainer I see many people huffing and puffing through workouts, some even turning bright shades of red by holding the breath. If you do not breathe during a workout: The blood pressure rises, your core weakens, and you can’t give 100% to the exercise since you will tire out quickly. Try running while holding your breath. It’s almost impossible. We we become conscious of the breath not only in working out, but in our daily lives we see where stagnation is present, and we take responsibility for moving through it. When the breath controls us, we end up hyperventilating. Take a moment today and see where you might be holding your breath. Exhale through the experience, inhale in new experiences.

Nutrition: Balance. Sometime in our desire to be mega healthy we forget about balancing out our nutrition. When we want to build muscle we may focus on trying to get as much protein as possible, but forget it is carbohydrates that fuel the body through those strenuous workouts. Certain levels of fats must also be taken into the body for vitamin uptake and energy. I’ve said it before, and I can’t stress enough the use of a diet journal. It does not need to be complex, but a place where you can scan your intake and see where you might be lacking. A simple dietary intake for those living an active lifestyle is: 60% of calories from carbohydrates, 30% from protein, and 10% from fats. You take the amount of calories you are planning to intake and multiply that number by the percentage (or use a calculator) and this will give you the amount of C/P/F you are supposed to intake for the day. Don’t get too hung up on exact numbers, but this is a simple guideline for creating balance in your diet. I’ve never been a big fan of math, but we can make our high school math teachers proud by using simple numbers to create balance in our diets.

Comment, share, and grow!

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

Tuesday Spiritual Fitness and Nutrition Tip: 21 Feb 2012

February 21, 2012February 21, 2012 / soulinteraction / Leave a comment

Here is your spiritual fitness and nutrition tip! Enjoy, get moving, and create the best you possible!

Fitness: The fitness world can be an overwhelming place to step into. Just like any new addition to your life you’ll want to take some time to educate yourself on what fitness is and how you can best apply it to your life. Reading books about fitness, other people’s journey into fitness, blogs, and even watching you tube videos on fitness can be a great way to get the ball rolling. This is a time you want to really activate your discernment. Trust your intuition when it comes to the things you are reading. The one true axiom in fitness is: “If it is too good to be true, it probably is.” Do not trust quick fixes and promises. Skip over advertisements and read about processes, workouts, and application of techniques. Even reading a few books on anatomy to learn about how the body works can help you understand the process your body goes through when moving into a greater state of health. Often we go running into new things without arming ourselves with the information necessary to be effective in our pursuits. Take a few moments to read and grow. I’ll post some resources in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Nutrition: Sugar. Most of us have a love hate relationship with it. It creeps in to areas of our lives, and in some ways can be addictive. We also need to take caution with the fruits we are eating. Many of us give up cakes and cookies and make a transition to heavy fruits. This is a good thing, but if you are eating too many fruits that are high in sugar you can also create the same overload effect. This is especially important if you have sugar issues like diabetes or high blood sugar. You’ll want to supplement your diet with fruits that are low in sugar. You can check this on the glycemic index. Even healthy foods have limitations as to quantity you want to consume. Having a good mixture of low glycemic foods in the body keeps the insulin levels balanced out, which will also keep you feeling satiated.

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

Tuesday Spiritual Fitness and Nutrition Tip: 2/14/2012

February 14, 2012 / soulinteraction / Leave a comment

Here is your Tuesday Tips for living a life of fitness on all levels!

Fitness: Rest. It’s a word that I typically do not personally invoke enough when it comes to my workouts. Rest days allow us to reconnect into our bodies, and it also allows us to give the body a break from a structured workout routine. During your rest days take time to meditate, or if you MUST do something active let it be something that is less impact than your usual workout. It also allows the body to heal. The act of working out is breaking down the physical to rebuild it brand new. Days off, and rotating the body parts you are working is an important way to avoid injury. Meditation is a workout for the mind, it allows us to be present, but it gives the physical body a bit of a break. Take time to allow yourself moments to rest, and pencil them into your workout schedule.

Nutrition: Keep a food journal! No, not one of those little online applications. The electronic versions are great and personally use one, but there are other things that you should also log when you are connecting to your food for greater health. We of course look at calories, fats, carbohydrates, proteins. You’ll also want to log how you feel when you eat. If you are reaching out for unhealthy foods due to an emotional upset, this will give you a few moments to detach from the action of reaching for food in a negative way. It allows you to also see where your emotions are during the day. You can also write positive affirmations for yourself that are more personalized than something you’d get online. The action of taking time to physically write something out in itself is an act of spiritual connection. We are holding something tangible, and its a more “real” connection. It slows us down. Which is very important when looking at how we are connecting to not only our food but to the world around us.

Much love and light, and happy Valentine’s Day!!!

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

Michael@michaelbrazell.com

Tuesday Spiritual Fitness and Nutrition Tip 2/7/2012

February 7, 2012February 7, 2012 / soulinteraction / 1 Comment

Finding time to integrate fitness in our day can be a challenge. Here are a few tips to get the process going!

Fitness: Consistency is important when it comes to integrating a fitness plan into action. Try and workout at the same time every day. Once you get yourself on a solid routine it will be easier for you to maintain it, and it will be also be something you can look forward to doing. Early morning workouts can be a great way to start the day, and evening workouts can be a great way to release stress from a hectic day. Choose a time that works best for you, and commit to sticking with it for a week. It might mean that you have to get up a little earlier, or cut out a happy hour here or there, but you’ll be glad you did!

Nutrition: Eating with consistency can also help us bring our metabolism into greater alignment. First be sure that you are drinking plenty of water throughout the day. This will keep toxins flushed out of the body, and it helps to keep you balanced. If you work out in the mornings you first meal should be no later than 30 min after the workout. The day should then be divided into 6-8 smaller meals and snack throughout the day. This keeps your metabolism constantly fueled. Too often we eat snacks or drink juices that are high in sugar. This causes your insulin to spike making you feel more hungry. Having a consistent diet also gives you something to look forward to every couple of hours. You’ll be less likely to binge at the sushi bar, or eat an extra dessert. If you are someone that has trouble breaking free from your computer you might need to buy a countdown timer to remind you that it’s time to fuel up the body. Write out your diet plan, journal it, and keep with it. There are also a lot of great apps that you can download to your phone for easy tracking of calories, foods, and exercise.

If you have any questions, want to see tips on specific topics, or just have comments—feel free to leave them below!

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

Tuesday Spiritual Fitness and Nutrition Tip 1/22/12

January 24, 2012 / soulinteraction / Leave a comment

Here is your Tuesday Spiritual Fitness and Nutrition Tip!

Fitness: Affirmations are powerful in how we connect or disconnect from moving into fitness. We have to take caution as to what we say less we create the experience or emotion. If we were to say, “I have no time to workout, life is just too busy”- it becomes our reality. If there is time to complain about there not being enough time, you just wasted time you could have been doing push ups, squats, or jumping jacks. “I am too tired to workout”– in the time it took you to plop down on the bed, turn on the TV, and find the perfect show to watch you could have run a few times around the block. We have to listen to what we are affirming. Some of these affirmation are stored in the subconscious (I’ll be doing an entire blog on this in the next few days). Some we speak daily.

Here are a few common negative fitness affirmations:

“I’ll never reach my goal weight”

“The gym frightens me”

“I’ll never have the perfect body”

“I’m too busy to workout”

“My life is too chaotic to spend time in the gym”

—What all of these are saying is simply this: “I do not have time to take care of the body that will allow me to be part of this wonderful physical experience. My temple is in shambles, and will not take part in its restoration. I willfully damage my connection to this divine vehicle.”

This is basically what you are saying by not committing to moving into greater states of health. What will it take for you to show up to your life?

Here are some positive fitness affirmation to add into your day:

“I make time for my body, my health and my well being”

“I am committed to my health in all areas of my life”

“My body is the temple of my life, I am committed to its upkeep fully.”

“Each day is a new opportunity for me to connect to my body through fitness”

“Fitness comes easily to me”

“I am perfect, and all my imperfections add beauty to my experience”

—You get the hint, now right a few of your own.

Nutrition: Simple, fresh and easy. Nutrition needs to be simple. This can be one of the most overwhelming areas when looking at making lifestyle changes. Start with micro shifts into more sound nutrition choices. Instead of eating fries or chips with your meal, have an apple. Keep fruit, nuts, and veggies handy through your day if you are a chronic snacker. Keep a food journal for a few days to see how many calories you are actually consuming. Not eating enough calories can be just as bad as eating too many. Many smart phones even have some useful apps that can help keep track of your daily intake.