So lately my clients have been dealing with a lot of depression, lack of motivation and an inability to stay focused due to the economy. Who can’t relate to that? I have been struggling as well. As a fitness trainer, all day long I coach people to relax, breathe, encourage them to see the best in themselves, teach them confidence and that everything that they truly need in life, comes from within.
So it seems... I had temporarily lost a bit of this insight for myself. So I decided to give myself a kick in the ass, be a victor, not a victim and work on bringing out the best in ME!! So first things first, I went back to the basics. Leading a positive life, you have to think positive thoughts and surround yourself with self contentment. We have all heard one time or another about making the mind/body connection and how useful it is and ironically I preach about this connection about 8 times a day. So I decided to self reflect, see what my inner child is so diligently screaming about.
I heard about this class at UCLA for "mindful awareness.” I thought I could pick up some good tools for myself and pass it onto my clients. How enlightening it was...I want to share a few helpful tidbits I learned.
First of all, I learned about the "monkey mind"--our minds dart around at any given moment from our past and future, but not much of our present. So day one, we did a quick 5 minute meditation of just relaxing and breathing and noticing our body. I couldn't concentrate! I felt like a child jacked up on a ton of sugar! I felt suffocated as if I was being forced to be still. It was crazy, but so informative. I must say after it was over, I was so relieved to know I wasn't the only monkey mind in the group. That is no easy task to just "be" with yourself. You try it. Sit with yourself in a quiet place for 5 minutes, and focus on just your breathing, the expansion of your breath going in and out of your body. When your mind starts to wander, notice it and bring it back to focusing on your breath. Tell me what you discovered in your stillness.
I love this and thought how useful this self awareness can be, like when properly training our muscles they grow and how our brain is a muscle that has plasticity and through consistent practice, we change our perception to positiveness. See the good in every situation, instead of the negative. Have you ever heard "change your outlook, change your outcome"? So simple, but so true and then I evaluated what is my attitude towards my struggles. I thought how day after day, from my own personal experiences and achievements from exercise and watching the transformations of my clients, it has proven to me once again that we can accomplish anything we set our minds to; we just have to remember to set them.
Fact is we all are capable of being happy and achieving. Once we get rid of that self judgment and our attitude is supportive of ourselves, we will then begin to see all that we can do. I find this leads to great achievements in health--both physical and mental. It's empowering, and I feel the best way to build self confidence and positive thoughts are through physical activity, in the art of doing. You discover what your made of, how hard you can work, how far you can push yourself and how good it feels to kick some ass! I say attitude is everything and train your brain. Don’t forget to breathe, enjoy the present, and be good to yourself! Remember pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.
About the Author: Christine Lusita , is a Certifed Personal Trainer & Nutritionist in the westside of Los Angeles for more info you can visit her on www.zenpenfitness.com.
