Friday, December 30, 2011

January 2012 SEE PROGRESS NOT IMPERFECTIONS

I have had this blog for about four years now.  It was awesome to stumble upon the title Progress Not Perfection and have it stick.

Since I have been running my business out of South Boston Yoga I have a new theory on Progress not Perfection.

To see Progress Not Imperfection

Try this for January 2012. Love yourself.  Watch yourself get stronger. See the good, don’t get hung up on the negative.  This is something that the “yogic mindset” does better than anything I have ever encountered.
It can take around 4 weeks of hard dedication to your training regimen and nutritional compliance to SEE visible results.  On the other hand, learning new movement patterns and moving your body in a pain-free way can happen in just 1-2 sessions! Focusing on these little steps keeps you motivated and positive.  
Your mind can be your worst enemy or your best friend. Yoga helps the later to be the case :)


P.S. If you are looking for something to do this New Years Eve, check this out  celebrate the new year with health and wellness and an amazing community!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Love is my religion

Around the holidays talk of religion increases.
What are you celebrating with your family? 
Where are you going?
What are you doing?
Regardless of whether you believe in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, or Judaism there are important and vital commonalities that go hand and hand with every religion. 

Religion by definition is:  a collection of cultural systemsbelief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spiritualityand, sometimes, to moral values.[1] Many religions have narrativessymbolstraditions and sacred histories that are intended to givemeaning to life or to explain the origin of life or the universe. They tend to derive moralityethicsreligious laws or a preferred lifestylefrom their ideas about the cosmos and human nature. ( THANKS WIKIPEDIA)

Two and a half years ago when I embarked on my Yoga Teacher Training at South Boston Yoga, I had no idea that it would be so life changing. For those of you who know me...I AM NOT A BULLSHITTER.

The Body Awakening Teacher Training was just that. It was about delving deep within yourself to become a better person and secondarily a better teacher.  Patanjali and the Eight Limbs of Yoga taught me more about life than anything else I had ever been exposed to. It actually made sense.  These steps were the guide to living a meaningful and purposeful life.  Not only do they address moral and ethical conduct, the importance of self- discipline, they also take HEALTH into account.  Together these eight limbs have undeniably provided me with the most spiritual guidance in all of my 28 years.

On occasion I get asked whether I go to church on Sunday. I thought about this for quite sometime.  I go to my yoga studio every Sunday morning :) 
I have concluded that Yoga is my church and Love is my religion.

There is never a Sunday morning that goes by where I don't leave my studio feeling peaceful, content, balanced, grateful,  or as I like to call it " BLISSED OUT."

Friends and family can tell when I haven't gotten my yoga in. I am not myself. I am more anxious and stressed out.  I begin to let the chaos of everyday life affect me negatively, I get caught up in the thoughts in my head.

Since I am a trainer first and foremost people come to me and ask what yoga can do for them. 
My immediate thought is "What can't yoga do for you?!!??"
But they want to know if yoga can "tone" your arms and strengthen your core. 
I have learned to think before I speak. 
Honestly I don't think of yoga as exercise anymore.

I think of yoga as a path to get more out of life...perhaps everything you could ever want.





Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Is your present plan taking your future into account?

Throughout my experience as a trainer I have worked with a variety of clientele.  They have always been “regular people “ but I have run the gamete.
I started in downtown Boston with busy office types.  Here I tried my best to undo what these workaholics did day in and day out.
Then I went on to kettlebell specific training.  Here I had a following of former athletes and more of the “hardcore” workout type.
After this I worked in a more corrective atmosphere, this consisted of teaching people how to move better and get the most out of what they could do when they worked out.
Now out on my own, I run my business out of the largest yoga studio in Boston.  These people are already as mobile as can be, oftentimes to a fault. I teach them that getting stronger and more stable is only going to improve their bottom line.
Strength and proper nutrition have always been my common thread amongst the years.  I have experienced training atmospheres that couldn’t be more different and have been able to take what I love about each of them to create my own program.

The following question is something I ask myself and all my clients…
Are your current training and nutrition goals/programs going to work for you presently as well as in the future?

What is the point of a being able to do this


Or this


When by the age of 60 you aren’t able to enjoy everyday activities without pain?
The same applies to the way that you eat.
Are you living life so restricted that you cannot even enjoy fruit?
Or are you fueling your body with processed carbohydrates day in and day out?
Again two extremes.
My point is its all possible, it also means that you have to be ALL IN :)
It’s not about moderation or limiting your experiences when it comes to fitness or food. It’s about training smart and looking at your ultimate goal in a healthy way.

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