December 2007 Newsletter

An Inspirational Quote

"Are you willing to own the idea that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life... to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness... to make a grave for your ugly thoughts and a garden for your kindly feelings?"

Henry Van Dyke

Reduce Your Stress With Heart-Mind Integrations
by Nina Lynn, nina@totalfitness.net

We are all looking for ways to reduce stress in our lives, and with good reason. Chronic stress leads to elevated levels of the hormone cortisol, has been shown to impair immune function, reduce glucose utilization, increase bone loss, reduce muscle mass, increase fat storage (especially around your waist), impair memory and learning and the loss of important brain cells.

When we get our hearts in sync with our brains, we experience heightened intuitive clarity, reduced stress and a greater sense of well-being. According to studies done by the Institute of HeartMath, our emotional states are reflected in our heart rhythms as seen in heart rate variability measurements. Our heart rhythms affect the brain's ability to process information, make decisions, solve problems and express creativity.

Therefore, when we focus in our heart area with emotions of love, appreciation, compassion and care, we immediately shift our heart rhythm. Because the heart creates the strongest rhythm in the body, it pulls all the other body systems into entrainment, creating a harmonious flow that reduces overall stress and allows the body to function at its optimum level. This is often referred to as "being in the flow." On the other hand, feelings of anger, hostility and depression cause a lack of coherence between brain and heart and lead to increased stress and disease.

How do we achieve a mind body spirit integration? If we follow the wisdom and advice of sages and avatars, we know it's best to approach life from love and not fear. This may be easier said than done. So, here are 10 steps to try that we use with our clients at Total Fitness:

1. Meditate regularly. Even if only for 5 minutes to start, shifting into that regenerative state will help reduce stress. Try to get 20 minutes of meditation most days to help reduce stress. If you need help, try our guided meditation CD found in our web store. You can purchase the Loving Kindness Meditation CD by clicking on this link: http://totalfitness.net/1ShoppingCatalog/CDs.html
2. Focus on positive emotions. Take the HeartMath advice of radiating core heart feelings of love, compassion, gratitude and happiness throughout your day. You will be surprised at how differently you approach people and situations.
3. Have an attitude of gratitude. Spend one to two minutes every morning upon awakening to give thanks for all that is wonderful in your life. You will probably find there is more to be thankful for than you thought.
4. Live by your true values. Make a list of 100 things that you value in your life. Identify the top 10, and live your life according to those values.
5. Adjust your perceptions. It is how we perceive each event in our lives that causes us stress, not the events themselves. The body does not experience the event; it only reacts to how we perceive it. Be aware of how you react to a perceived stress, check yourself and choose not to react negatively.
6. Practice yoga, qi gong or tai chi. These mind-body forms of exercise help reduce stress and bring the heart and mind into coherence. Check out the classes taught by Catherine Carrigan in Atlanta. For a class schedule, visit the following link: http://www.totalfitness.net/classes.htm.
7. Use affirmations. Because your mind controls your emotions, affirmations are a great way to reinforce positive emotions, thereby increasing heart mind coherence and stress reduction. For help, click on the FREE file, "Using the VAKS Balance for Your Goals" at the following link: http://www.totalfitness.net/radio_show_free.htm.
8. Learn to let go. Holding onto negative past emotions and experiences will cripple you in the present. Forgiveness is a powerful tool for letting go of resentments that imprison you in negativity and ill health. If you need help clearing negative emotions, contact us at Total Fitness in Atlanta or Los Angeles. This is an area that we specialize in with life coaching. You can also download a FREE file, "The Radical Forgiveness Worksheet" at the following link: http://www.totalfitness.net/radio_show_free.htm.
9. Breathe. Next time you feel stressed, pay attention to how you are breathing. Chances are you are holding your breath. This stops the flow of energy throughout your whole system, creating incoherence and inability to think or act intelligently. At that moment, focus on your heart, breathe deeply and choose to become neutral. You will then be able to find a more balanced intuitive perspective.
10. Have compassion. Not just for others, but most importantly for yourself. When you are living in a pattern of negativity it takes time and effort to turn it around. If you improve by 1% everyday, just think of where you'll be in 100 days!

Find what brings you joy and incorporate these aspects into your life as often as possible. This simple step will go a long way to reducing your stress and increasing your good health. This could be as simple as taking a walk through your neighborhood, visiting your favorite cats and dogs along the way like Catherine does. Or, increasing your intelligence and wisdom by studying cutting edge information like James does. Or dancing the Tango and holding your new granddaughter like me. Everyone can find joy in their lives in the simple things they love to do, thus encouraging heart-mind coherence and the peaceful sense of well-being that we all deserve.

Get More From Your Workout Before Moving A Muscle
by James Williams, james@totalfitness.net

Have you ever had a really enjoyable exercise session where time just flew by?

If so, you were living, or should I say - exercising - in the moment.

Maybe the idea of being in the moment might sound a little esoteric. However, psychological scientists are studying this phenomenon and have given it a name: flow.

When you're in flow, whatever you're doing will just seem iright to you. You lose perception of time. A set of twelve repetitions that usually takes a minute can pass in intense slow motion, or it can just fly by and seem less effort than you thought it would be. This is a state of peak performance which athletes enter when they're at their best; it's an experience of both high alertness and relaxation, when all team members are connected with each other and acting in unison.

No one is thinking about what they're doing or planning ahead of time, neither are they caught in the throws of feeling strong emotions.

Instead, a team, an individual athlete - and you - perform best when simultaneously experiencing a combination of emotion and thought in the same moment. Yet, in this mindset, neither thought nor feeling are dominant and it seems as if movement is being guided almost effortlessly.

An additional component of the flow mindset is a combination of expectancy of the best outcome - such as reaching twelve repetitions with a new weight - and also letting go of any preconceived outcome.

By living in the moment and allowing yourself to be effortlessly guided, you become a participatory observer in your exercise and can enthusiastically and curiously wait and see what happens. When in a flow state, you trust that the best result will always happen.

Being in the moment helps you to connect with the energy of everyone and everything around you, which can help you to achieve major physical feats. In the gym this might mean you could lift a heavier weight, or perform an exercise with exceptional technique.

For a sportsperson, you may use the energy of the crowd to sprint the last 100 yards and score a spectacular goal or touchdown. In crisis situations, such as a car accident, a stay-at-home, 150 pound mother of three could lift a 2000 pound car so her trapped son could free himself.

The elements of flow are similar to those of selective attention, which is when you're motivated to perform a task regardless of what is happening around you.

When you are in the moment, your attention is totally focused and your awareness is on one or more parts of your body. The power of emotion provides the motivation to keep going, and your mental abilities enable you to be pay attention to your body. When in flow, you'll be aware of lots of information because you're also listening to the feedback your body is giving you.

Let's use an example of lifting a pair of dumb bells. During each repetition you are sensing:

• How your muscles feel - are they contracting enough?
• Whether you can squeeze your muscles more at peak contraction.
• Are other joints and muscles moving and spoiling your technique?
• Your technique, so you correct any mistakes on the next repetition.

How you experience flow depends on the activity you're doing. What you sense depends on several factors:

• How much experience you have with the exercise.
• Your level of body awareness, and willingness to listen to the information your body gives you during each repetition.
• Your energy levels (mental, emotional and blood sugar).
• Your willingness to be totally in flow and how long you stay in it.

When in the moment, you observe your body without judgment, and make a note of how it feels every second. Yet you're not counting the seconds and aren't consciously aware of the passage of time. Tuning into the messages your body sends is easier when you're in flow because you're giving the messages your full attention. By remaining in this mindset you automatically act on your body's feedback without trying. It is as if the act of observing automatically creates the desired response in your body, such as correcting your technique. The end of the set feels very satisfying - and you know you've done your best. You feel uplifted and after resting are ready to do another exercise or set.

How can you tell when you're not in flow?

• You're probably distracted with what's happening around the gym or outside.
• Thinking, "Oh, I'm tired and think I'll stop at 10 reps," even though you know you could do at least 12.
• Your attention is divided between what you're doing that moment and some other activity you have to do later that day, or you'll be emotionally preoccupied.

Where does the information come from during flow?

The information received during flow may come from sensory information such as how the activity feels to your skin, and the position and strength of the muscles and bones (kinesthetic sensations). The eyes and ears may also provide important information, and your intuition, which is accessed when you're in flow, helps to guide your movements. By being in flow, you are tuning into information provided by your unconscious, which is the storehouse of your habits, memories and movement patterns. Every motion your body makes is encoded in the form of motor programs in your brain, nervous system, bones, joints and connective tissue. Exercising in flow enables your body to perform an exercise or movement with the best technique you've taught it in the past. So it pays to always move using the best possible form you can, and to therefore to train in flow.??If we take a big-picture approach to a team sporting event, when all players in a team are in flow, the universe or God is co-ordinating each player's movements, and so one player passes to another, and then to another who then scores!

This idea raises many philosophical questions which aren't the purpose of this article, however the next time you exercise, reflect on whether you're in flow.

Thank You For Listening
by Catherine Carrigan, catherine@totalfitness.net

Friday, Dec. 21, 2007, was the final LIVE broadcast of Total Fitness radio show.

As many of you know, James Williams and I have worked very hard for the past 2 ¼ years to bring you the latest in fitness, nutrition and natural healing on VoiceAmerica, the No. 1 internet radio station in the world.

Our guests have been the world's leading experts in the field, and our goal has been to dispel the myths that have caused so many people to starve and overexercise or follow outmoded, ineffective methods for personal healing. Simply put, we have wanted to teach what actually works.

You can continue to listen to the archives at the following link: http://www.totalfitness.net/radio_show_past_shows.htm or you can purchase shows to listen on your ipod or MP3 player through our webstore here: http://www.totalfitness.net/1ShoppingCatalog/store.htm.

Henry Edmunds has worked very hard to rebuild an entirely new webstore to make it easier for you to download the radio shows.

We are privileged to live such happy, healthy lives, knowing that we have been contributing to the lives of others at a very high level. By concluding the radio show, we are making space for new projects that hopefully will alow us to continue to contribute at an even higher level.

Thank you for listening and for making Total Fitness radio show such a wonderful success for all concerned.

Two Goals Worth Making
by Catherine Carrigan

"I work with people I admire or on projects that stretch me." Mikhail Barisnikov.

At this time every year, I carefully consider what I want to create for the following year.

There are two goals I always feel are worth making for myself:

1. To serve God for the highest good of all.
2. To attain or maintain stage zero of adrenal stress.

While these goals may seem paradoxical, I think they are related.

"We experience our state of mind projected outward. If our mindset is of well-being, love and peace, that is what we project and therefore experience." Gerald Jampolsky and Diane Cirincione.

I will start with the second goal first.

I place my own peace of mind first because I know I have more to contribute when I have excellent energy.

Perhaps it was my personal experience having recovered from severe chronic fatigue, stage 3 of stage 3 of adrenal stress, the worst wipeout there is. Or maybe it's my weekly experience reading scientific lab stress tests on all of our new clients, absolutely none of whom are in any degree of balance in their nervous systems. Or maybe it's my own dedication to having healthy hormones, normal weight, great energy, a joyful mood, but maintaining stage zero of adrenal stress is really high on my list of personal goals.

Here's how I maintain a low-stress lifestyle:

1. Daily meditation.
2. Regular yoga and qi gong.
3. I watch myself like a hawk and reconfigure my schedule if I get too tired or stressed.
4. 4. Ongoing coaching to resolve my personal conflicts with my coach, Sue Maes of Ontario, Canada.
5. Ongoing coaching to resolve my personal conflicts with my coach, Sue Maes of Ontario, Canada.5. Ten weeks off every year to rest, have fun and pursue my own passions and interests. In 2007, that meant I spent six weeks studying healing work, 1 week of cycling vacation, 1 week studying yoga and healing movement, and 2 weeks at home just being.

1. I set my intention. Once you make serving your true intention, no other professional goal is really necessary.
2. I do all my work very prayerfully, asking for guidance every step of the way.
3. I realize there are no small tasks, no small clients, and that every task that comes my way is a means of serving for the highest good of all.
4. I realize that by feeling good myself, I can help other people come to know their own goodness. As I say in our yoga classes, "Feeling good means feeling God."

Yoga and Qi Gong Classes in Atlanta

Yoga Classes: Every Tuesday and Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Holy Spirit Catholic Church
4465 Northside Drive, Atlanta, GA.
$15 per class or $65 per calendar month.

Qi Gong Class: Every Wednesday, 5:30 p.m.
1951 Northside Drive, Atlanta, GA. $15 per class.

Booking appointments with Total Fitness

To schedule an appointment to find out about a personalized fitness, nutrition or healing program that will help you get results, please contact us:

In Atlanta

Catherine Carrigan catherine@totalfitness.net

James Williams james@totalfitness.net

In California

Nina Lynn nina@totalfitness.net

You can also visit us on the web at www.totalfitness.net