Chronic pain is one of the most costly and least understood problems in all of medical science.  An estimated 50 million Americans live with chronic pain caused by disease, disorder or accident.

An additional 25 million people suffer acute pain resulting from surgery.  Approximately two thirds of these individuals have been living with this pain for more than five years…

The most common types of pain include arthritis, lower back, bone/joint pain, muscle pain and fibromyalgia.  All forms of chronic pain have been shown to diminish ability to concentrate, work, exercise, socialize, perform daily tasks and sleep.

Chronic pain is a signal that the body and mind are not being used efficiently.  There is energy being wasted or misdirected and this causes stress on certain parts of the body.  Left uncorrected this stress becomes pain and this pain becomes neurologically linked with the emotions connected to this experience.

A perpetual cycle develops where physical pain puts one into an emotional state and that emotional state increases the sensation of physical pain.  This feedback loop solidifies this relationship deeper and deeper with each iteration.  Soon, one cannot tell the difference between the physical pain and the emotions connected to it.

Although traditional western medicine has much difficulty relieving chronic pain, there are many forms of alternative healthcare which have very high success rates on chronic pain.  Hypnosis, NLP, Quantum Touch, Healing Touch, Chiropractic, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture, Acupressure, EFT and many other alternative modalities have volumes of case studies with pain relief of all types.

The most important thing all of these successful techniques have in common is that they all treat the mind and body as one holistic entity and they all elicit what Dr. Herbert Benson called the Relaxation Response.

In his ground breaking book of the same name Dr. Benson says that the effects of meditation cause a drop in heart rate, blood pressure, metabolic rate and breathing rate and these effects have been attributed to relieve and even cure anxiety, depression, hypertension, pain, pms, infertility, irritable bowel syndrome and many other stress related illnesses.

The body, mind and spirit are not separate components, but merely different aspects of the same one experience.  The more we unify the body, mind and spirit with movement, breath and awareness, the more effortless life becomes.

Namaste,

SaTek

“In addition to priming our state of mind, exercise influences learning directly, at the cellular level, improving the brain’s potential to log in and process new information.

Darwin taught us that learning is the survival mechanism we use to adapt to constantly changing environments.  Inside the microenvironment of the brain, that means forging new connections between cells to relay information.

When we learn something, whether it’s a French word or salsa step, cells morph in order to encode that information; the memory physically becomes part of the brain…

What we now know is that the brain is flexible, or plastic in the parlance of neuroscientists, more Play-Doh than porcelain.  It is an adaptable organ that can be molded by input in much the same way as a muscle can be sculpted by lifting barbells.  The more you use it, the stronger and more flexible it becomes.

The concept of plasticity is fundamental to understanding how the brain works and how exercise optimizes brain function by fostering that quality…”

-Spark by John Ratey, MD

The brain is the most adaptable aspect of our physical anatomy.  On a daily basis 70% of the neural connections in the brain are rerouted.  Everyday the brain is rebuilt to suit our current environment.

This becomes extremely important the moment we consider that the only way we can experience the environment is through our perception.  If  the mind adapts daily to the environment, and the environment is experienced through perception, then perception is the key to rewriting the software of the mind.

Exercise is an incredibly powerful way to affect the hardware of the brain and meditation techniques reprogram the software of the mind.  Combining these two elements in any daily practice is a sure fire protocol for creating massive change and evolutionary growth.

Peace,

SaTek

Noticing the connection between emotions and sensations in the body is a beautiful thing. The image that got stuck in my mind was of time spent planting the “babies” I started from seed in the garden this past Spring. The sensation wasn’t strongly connected to anywhere in my body, it was more a sensation of ease and lightness throughout my body though it was felt in the heart center. This wouldn’t be labeled a blockage though. I would be surprised to find much blockage though since I have spent much time clearing my emotional self through Metta Meditation as well as listening to Tara Brach’s Dharma talks.
This is a exercise many people should spend time with to bring themselves more happiness.

I am making a promise that I will push myself harder than I ever have before – I am so incredibly lucky to have the physical ability to do these things, and sometimes I forget that not everyone is that fortunate. I am not going to lie… A huge part of me wants the best outcome to be the improvement of how my body looks – shape up the love handles, tighten the belly, etc. It will be a huge benefit of completing this, but I think just the feeling of accomplishment will be by far the best.

Cross posted from my page -

The second session made me aware of my physical weaknesses. I pushed myself to work through every step, but even the ones I couldn’t finish, I still did SOMETHING – even if there was only 15-20 seconds left in the workout, I still did crunches on the ball, side lunges, worked on balance, etc until SaTek had completed the step. I think this is the biggest part of why I want to do this – I need to work through all of my physical weaknesses. Not stopping at working through them, but going above and beyond them. Not only physical, but mental weakness can have a huge affect on your outlook. I am a huge believer that whatever energy you put out into this world, you get it back. I am going to start putting out more positive physical energy to the earth, as well as mental energy for myself.

SaTek – I really loved that when you knew the hard parts were happening for us, you’d throw out little words of encouragement. Bringin’ home the bacon… or working off the bacon

It looks as though I am overcoming the challenges that have stood in my way in the past of finishing tasks. It’s all about ones mindset and having supportive people around you. I am surprised to see that I am preferring a set time each day. Mornings won’t ever happen but 8:30 in the evening is ideal for my lifestyle right now. It is my time to recharge from the day. This way all the things that need to be done during the day have been attended to and I can fully focus on me and the ball.

The study of exercise physiology is to understand how the body responds to the various demands placed on it by exercise and life in general. Even within the health and fitness industries the term “fitness” is not universally defined. For this practice, we define physical fitness as the capacity of the heart, blood vessels, lungs, and muscles to function at a high level of efficiency through out daily life and recreational activities. Are we living life through energetic vitality or are we drudging along from one coffee pot to the next?…

Physical fitness is more than just a catchphrase to sell magazines and workout videos, it is a lifestyle decision which leads to health, vitality and general well being. Across the board, people who are active regularly have more energy, enjoy life more, and have fewer problems with sickness and disease.

There are five main components of physical fitness:

1. Strength
2. Stamina
3. Cardiorespiratory Endurance
4. Flexibility
5. Body Composition

To compliment these there are in turn five general motor skills:

1. Power
2. Coordination
3. Agility
4. Balance
5. Accuracy

Strength is the muscular ability to apply force.

Stamina is the ability of body systems to deliver energy continuously for long durations.

Cardiorespiratory endurance is the ability of the heart and lungs to gather, process and deliver oxygen.

Flexibility is the ability to maximize the range of motion of a given joint.

Body Composition is the percentage of the body’s weight which is composed of fat.

Power is the ability of body systems to apply maximum force in minimum time.

Coordination is the ability to combine several discreet movement patterns into a singular distinct movement.

Agility is the ability to change from one movement pattern to another in minimal time.

Balance is the ability to control the bodies center of gravity in relation to it’s environment.

Accuracy is the precision of control within a specific movement.

Together these 10 elements of fitness provide a measurable road map to the constant evolution of the body/being.  A fitness regimen develops fitness to the extent that it improves each of these ten parameters.  How does your fitness plan stack up?

Leave a comment below and tell us what you do to “get your fit on.”

Peace,

SaTek

Promises to myself during this program.

1. Commit to the daily workout and time on the ball. Good for the body and good for releasing tension from the day.
2. Not to take myself so seriously and not be pissy because I did the workout at a different time each day. I am not a morning person so afternoons/evenings will work far better.
3. Pick books that I will read from front to back and not bounce around. This is because of the fact that I have so many fabulous books and I want to read them all but tend to not have the time to commit so this will get added to the time I have carved out each day for Body Juggling.
4. Get bodywork every other week. This is important because it recharges me and makes the quality of my massages that I give to others far better. Planning ahead is the way to go about this task. Somehow the days pass and all of a sudden I realize that I need a rubdown and forgot to schedule one. I have taken care of this and have the next three already booked and on the appointment book.

What I would desire to accomplish with this BodyJuggling program is to tone up and shed a few pounds. Also, would like to follow through and stick with something to the end not allowing life to sidetrack me with other projects. There are many demands on my time but this I will follow through with and once this is complete I will move on to another project that is incomplete and create a beautiful habit of completing tasks at hand before starting new ones whether it is home improvement projects or business related projects. They will no longer drain my energy when I glance at them.