May Challenge: Rest and Rejuvenation

Here we are in May, month 5 of our monthly challenge. So far we have learned to listen to our bodies and have made sure we are training at an appropriate intensity. We then set some SMART goals to keep us on task. Last month we learned to make sure we were working our Mind, Body, and Spirit. This month we are going to learn the importance of rest and rejuvenation.

 When you are in optimal health all the systems of your body are in balance. When you experience inflammation, problems losing fat or gaining muscle, moodiness, problems sleeping through the night, or muddled mental clarity, your body is out of balance,

Living in this hectic society, dieting, and adhering to a demanding workout schedule can lead to a body that is out of balance. Do you feel stiff, or have you hit a plateau in your weight loss? There is a good possibility you may be overtraining or simply in the need of some rest. How do you regain your body’s state of balance? One way is rest and rejuvenation.

The first step is to ensure an adequate night’s rest. Optimally, you should have 7 to 9 hours of sleep. If you are sleeping less than that try to get to bed an hour or two earlier than you are now. Next, make sure you are taking rest days from your workouts. Additionally, to aid in rest and rejuvenation, you might participate in relaxation exercises, which can include breathing exercises, meditation and even gentle yoga.

Your challenge this month is to ensure you are getting adequate rest and performing rejuvenating exercise.

Is the hectic pace getting to you? Have you tried Meditation?

If stress has you anxious, tense and worried, consider trying meditation. Spending even a few minutes in meditation can restore you to a state of balance.  Even a 3-5 minute respite can help re-energize and help get your day back on the right track.

Anyone can participate in meditation. It's simple and cheap. All you need is YOU! You can meditate wherever you are. Even sitting in the middle of a crazy meeting, when you are out on a walk, or waiting in line at the store.

Meditation is considered a type of mind-body-spirit connection. Meditation tries to produce a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind. The focus is to take a jumbled brain, a fatigued body and spirit and focus them to aid in rest and rejuvenation. Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance.  The best part is these benefits don't end when you stop the meditation. When you meditate, it is your body’s way of clearing out all the extraneous clutter.

The emotional benefits of meditation are numerous. Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations allows you to refocus your energies and build self awareness.  It allows us to focus on the present, reduce negative emotions and have a clear thorough process. This can help to alleviate, not only stress from our day, but also depression, fatigue, high blood pressure and sleep issues, to name a few.

There are many forms of meditation that can be short or long, active or passive. Each one has its own technique and can be better suited for different individuals, but all work on helping to give an outlet for stress.

Some of the most common forms of meditation are:

Mantra meditation is the type of meditation where you silently repeat a word that has no emotional effect on you.  Like a color or object. Just keep repeating this word as you exhale; this helps to remove any distracting thoughts.  This can also be done sitting, lying or while taking a walk.

Guided meditation, also called guided imagery or visualization, form a mental picture of something you find relaxing. Try to incorporate as many of your senses as possible, focus on really being in the image.  Often times this is done with an instructor but can be done alone in a restful position or while taking a walk.

Yoga is one of the most popular forms of meditation offered today. By performing a series of postures and controlled breathing exercises you promote a more flexible body and a calm mind. It is guided by an instructor to take you through a series of specific poses that require balance and concentration. This allows you to disengage form you busy life and spend a period of time focusing on the moment.

Tai Chi is a form of gentle Chinese martial arts, which also combines movement with the breathing and mental clearing.  Tai Chi, is a self-paced practice of movement in a slow, graceful manner while practicing deep breathing.

Qi gong moves more into combining movement with the mental activity. This practice combines meditation, relaxation, physical movement and breathing exercises to restore and maintain balance. Qi gong is taught by an instructor and is part of traditional Chinese medicine.

Different types of meditation may include different features to help you meditate. In all of these paths to relaxation it is important to do what is best for you. Don’t stress out because you think you are doing it wrong, that just adds more stress. We are all individuals’ and different forms of meditation will suit each individual differently.  To ensure the most successful meditation make it your own. Focus your attention and limit distractions.  Focuses on your breathing, make it purposeful. Find a quiet setting where your will not be barraged by external stimuli and get into a comfortable position whether sitting, lying or walking (or even running).

April Challenge: Is Your Workout Affecting Your Mind, Body and Spirit?

“No Pain, No Gain”!  This mantra is repeated by individuals of all ages and fitness levels when talking about their workouts. Exercise enthusiasts believe that if they don’t feel pain, they must not be working hard enough.  Similarly, when you finish your work out and feel like a wet noodle all you can think about is “I had a great work out, but I am going to be sore for the next few days”, because you have trained every muscle to exhaustion. Folks who hold to these traditional thoughts on work out results have their heart in the right place, but the exercises they do are not always the right blend of movements. Instead of working out until sore, your workout should be one that benefits the mind, body and spirit.

There is definitely a feeling of accomplishment when you successfully finish an intense work out, and that can give you a mental lift. But does the workout also affect your body and spirit in a positive way?  Generally, an intense workout isolates a muscle to failure, bringing extreme fatigue which can last for days.  Additionally, the movements themselves are unlike any we perform in our normal day to day life. Biomechanically and neurologically, this is not giving the body what it is ideally looking for.  Spiritually, it is a mix; some people thrive on the intensity and get a lift from the accomplishments while others feel beaten down by the stress and may have to miss work outs to recover from the previous one.

The new mantra needs to be “More is not always better, sometimes more is just more”; or “Bigger is not always better, just bigger”; and my favorite “With Pain there is NO Gain”.

Is there a workout beyond the traditional training that stimulates the mind, body and spirit?   YES!  Functional Training.  When you feel pain it is your body’s way of telling you something is wrong.  Functional Training is based on the individual’s functional needs. Instead of going for pain, we can use the pain to direct us to a successful path where we can then improve function.

Functional training focuses not only on melding the mind, body and spirit, but it also works on stimulating the neurological, muscular and skeletal system.  This will simultaneously enhance strength, power, endurance, speed, flexibility, coordination, cardiovascular health, and balance.

So start exercising your body in the way it was designed to move by performing motions that enhance your biomechanics.  This way the body walks away feeling stronger and functioning better, the mind is in tune with the body and the spirit is refreshed.