Kickstart Your Weight Loss Series: Step 1

Kickstart Your Weight Loss Series: Step 1 The Power of Now

“If you are still talking about what you did yesterday, you haven’t done much today.”  ~Author Unknown

I want to help as many of you as I can achieve a healthy lifestyle that no longer feels like a diet or some sort of punishment.  If you’ve been punishing yourself with your diet or your workouts, then I’m so excited to share this concept with you today.

I know from struggling myself, watching friends, and coaching clients, that this is what happens. We end up feeling like working out, eating right and being healthy is “what you get & deserve” for enjoying food, enjoying your life, eating the way you want, being weak or lazy, or whatever negative labels you paste on yourself.

But…what if I told you that all the Pilates workouts, exercise tips and healthy eating advice in the world isn’t going to give you fast results you want until you understand a key concept in achieving any of your goals in life.

Would it make you sit up and continue reading?  Are you ready to find out what’ll get you over the finish line in record time?

Ok here it is…

The secret ingredient that may seem subtle but is really quite powerful…and will alter how you approach absolutely any goal in your life…is… your Awareness.

Now, I’m not going to take you down the long windy path of total enlightenment here because quite truthfully I’m not sure that’s possible in a blog post …So, today we’re going to stick to your health and fitness.

I’m going to share with you a simple exercise you can do to drastically improve your health — I’m talking your overall health –mental, physical,  and spiritual.

Once you grasp this concept of being in the now and can clear your mind of any anticipation/worry for the future (or reminiscing/regret about the past), all of your efforts to live a healthy lifestyle will get a turbo charge in the right direction.

Keep reading and  I’ll tell you exactly what to do right now – even if you are at work.

Go with me on this people…you will absolutely feel the difference immediately.  And if you don’t … I’ll call you myself and we’ll do the exercise together.

Note: For those of you who’ve taken a lot of yoga, this might seem common place and “been there, done that” for you… I encourage you to pull out your beginner’s mind and go through the exercise anyways.

Why are we even talking about this… hello people, pilates is supposed to be a mind body practice.  That means you need to be completely conscious of each part of your body in order to get the most out of it.

What would happen if we took this concept of being completely aware of our mind and body?

First it might help to understand the benefits of being in the moment as often as possible?

1. It give your brain/body a mini break
2. It improves your focus on whatever task you are doing
3. It allows you to engage in activities without feeling scattered
4. It gives you extra energy

Here’s how you do it…here’s how you achieve that right now awareness:

• Close your eyes – Breath Deeply – Listen to the Sound of your breath, feel it filling up your lungs
• Open your eyes and simply look around the room.  This is especially good for you if you’ve been staring at a computer screen all day.  Look around at the shapes of the furniture, the walls, teh colors, the textures, the sounds or the silence.  Try to notice everything about this room around you.  Even the people. But pretend you are looking in through a window. Don’t get too wrapped up in their conversation, just observe.
• Go through each step of your body and notice how it feels.  Notice aches, pains, numbness, growling stomach, whatever. Don’t try to place any worry there, but simply notice how your body feels sitting against the chair or standing up or wherever you are.
• One other thing you can do is to do the Up & Down exercise where you start at your toes and tighten/release each area along the path up to the top of your head.  You will feel more relaxed and will make yourself pay attention to each part of your body.

15 minutes a day – each time you even take a moment or two, try to keep moving back to this focused, aware state – if you veer away, pull yourself back, and take another deep breath that you focus on.

Here’s what I want you to do:

Leave me a comment below.  I think this is going to be the most powerful tool that you develop for yourself if you decide that you want it bad enough and you are willing to drop any preconceived notions you may have.  I want to know what you notice about the exercise of staying in the moment.

If you want to learn more about practicing Living In the Moment as a way of life – here are a few resources for you to check out:

Live In the Moment Booty Camp with Marie Forleo

The Power of Now by Eckart Tolle

Working On Yourself Doesn’t Work by Ariel & Shya Kane

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Tagged as: body-awareness, power of now, weight loss

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