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MOVE YOUR BREATH, LOSE YOUR STRESS

by Keith Paine

This month, I’d like to ask you to focus on the way you breath. Most of us never stop to think about breathing—it’s automatic, right? It is, fortunately, but there are different ways of drawing a breath, which depend on the situation we’re in. When we’re stressed or in an emergency, we react by engaging our shoulders to lift the rib cage and “help” oxygen in. We’re in fight or flight mode, and we need as much air as we can get. Many of us continue to breath this way, however, even when we’re not in a stressful situation.

Move your breath out of your shoulders and into your torso, and you can reduce your stress immediately. Begin by feeling your rib cage and abdomen expand. Instead of breathing by contracting your shoulder muscles again and again, you’re engaging your diaphragm to create space for your breath. You’re out of fight or flight mode, and into rest and repair. Just by moving your breath, you’re taking tension out of your neck and shoulders, and re-oxygenating your blood in a much more efficient way.

Sit in a comfortable position, with your spine long. Sit away from the chair back or bench, so your rib cage has plenty of space to move. Place your hands on your rib cage, and visualize your breath moving through your rib cage into your lower torso. Consciously slow your breath down, lengthening the space between each breath. Don’t strain, and don’t take too much air. Practice this for 5-10 minutes a day, focusing on your breath, on you, instead of everything else around you. It will have a significant calming and centering effect.

If you would like to learn more, I invite you to join me on Friday, October 15th at Nimble Fitness where I will be guiding a group meditation and performing music from my new CD, Sunyata.

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CREATING SPACE

I knew at some level that it was important to take my recent trip to Spain alone. I just didn’t know why. By the end of the first day in Ibiza, it had become obvious-there were old emotions about my father’s death that came right to the surface, and I had not yet had the opportunity to release them. I was still grieving emotionally and spiritually, even after all this time. The act of creating space for myself allowed this vital process to happen, along with giving me the space to feel immense appreciation for every friend, client, family member and living creature on the planet.

I understand that we all have many important people and obligations in our lives, but ask yourself this question: what can you do now to create space for yourself? Maybe you won’t have time for a trip to Ibiza, but take a long walk in the park, sit quietly on a bench or just take extra time to enjoy your meal. These small windows of time can give us an opportunity to let go of emotions or ideas that may be clouding our consciousness.

Namaste,
Daniel

Take the ‘work’ out of your workout.

I hear so many people complain that they don’t enjoy working out. The truth is, I don’t enjoy “working out” either. I think slogging along for 45 minutes on an elliptical machine is about as much fun as waiting in line at the bank. Now, on the other hand, I love to exercise. I know what you’re thinking: “Antonio, aren’t they the same thing?” Well, that depends how you look at it. On weekends, for example, I mountain bike with my buddies for hours. The other day, I spent an entire afternoon splitting wood in my yard. Now, they may not be considered ‘workouts,’ but these activities keep me in shape. That’s how I exercise. And most importantly, I enjoy doing it. There are plenty of ways to move your body without boring yourself at the gym. Here are some activities for you to consider:

Try DANCE or TENNIS lessons.
Ride a BIKE around town.
Take up SWIMMING at the Y.
Go for a HIKE in the woods.
Try a GROUP EXERCISE class.
Take BOXING lessons.
WALK along a beach.

Get out there and live the life you deserve!

-Antonio

GET YOUR BODY ORGANIZED

by Daniel Lucas

If you’re someone that runs, bikes, lifts weights, plays in a league, does any kind of consistent training, and lets not forget the non-sport of sitting at your desk you should think about having days in your exercise program dedicated to getting or keeping your body organized.  Whether it’s the repetitive nature of different sports or the destructive effect of sitting for prolonged periods of time, committing a little time to your structural alignment will pay major dividends.

What does it mean to have an organized body?

It’s when the structure of your bones, muscle, neuro-fascial tissue and organs are functioning in a balanced, energetic way. You feel strong and flexible, have natural poise and your movements feel light, not heavy or sluggish. It’s when your body and mind are functioning together at a high level—where you can run, jump, squat, lunge, push, pull, lift or twist with strength, power and flexibility through a full range of motion, without disruption or injury.  This organized scenario creates an optimal environment for joint health, organ health, muscular development and emotional flow/release.  So how do we get there?

Here are some Nimble tips for getting organized:

1.    Give yourself permission to have deeper body awareness! This takes a little bit
of courage, but bringing your awareness inside your body, to feel how your body is moving and holding itself together, is extremely valuable.  Assess yourself–no one knows how your body feels as well as you do! Identify where you’re tight, where you’re weak, where you’re strong, and then get to work. Use your “organization day” to focus on strengthening weaker muscles, opening up tight muscle tissue, and addressing imbalances in your system.

2.   Ask yourself this question: Is my exercise routine helping me with my posture or training me out of good posture?  I’ve watched people training for hours at a time with hunched shoulders, misaligned lower backs and strained necks. I’ve even seen people read a book while walking on the treadmill! Doing this hinders our natural gait and our functional lines across the body, which in this case run from the latissimus on one side to the gluteus on the other. Examine your own training habits—are you enhancing your posture with your exercises, or working into deeper imbalance and strain?

3.    Be open to how integrated and intelligent your body naturally is. Your body was designed to function harmoniously, whether moving or at rest. That harmony is your ultimate goal. To move towards that goal, you can start with isolated movements, but be sure to end in a fully integrated, functional way. For instance, you can train your postural stabilizers (the “core” muscles) first, and progress into the integrated compound movements. A simple example of this progression would be starting with the plank exercise, which engages the core stabilizers, and continuing on to the traditional squat.   Functional training prepares you for lifting your heavy bag of luggage, squatting to pick something up from the floor or simply giving someone a big loving hug.

4.    Identify where you are prone to tightness, and be consistent in stretching/resetting those muscles. We touched on this already, but stretching muscles helps to keep balance and symmetry in your body, and improves neural flow and oxygen delivery to your tissue. Be aware of the imbalances in your system and address those. If the right hamstring is a lot tighter than the left, for example, give it a little bit more time in your stretching. This will not only help you feel better, but help you function better.

5.    Strengthen weaker muscles–the other side of flexibility. Activating weak muscles and strengthening them through a proper exercise progression will also lengthen opposing muscles and assist in proper joint function.

6.    Get some professional eyes on you!  The earlier statement we made that no knows your body better than you do is only partially true.  Working with a trainer/practitioner/coach will help you to understand your strengths, weaknesses and imbalances, and improve your program to achieve more.

A little bit of practice and dedication to these key points will pay major dividends.  Having an organized body is the path to longevity!  It’s your journey, so I encourage you to trust the guru within.

Namaste
Daniel

WORKOUT ANYWHERE, ANYTIME

by Daniel Lucas

Here are some Nimble tips for effective training, whenever and wherever you are:

1) A workout doesn’t have to be an hour to be great! If you’re pressed for time, pick a couple of compound moves that use multiple muscle groups and get your heart rate going. *Tip: For example, try a squat to press, which works the entire body, or jumping rope.

2) Workout smarter, not just harder. Knowing a bit about how to manipulate variables in your workout program can give you a much bigger exercise toolbox to work with, and help keep your results flowing. *Tip: Changing the order of exercises in your program, changing the tempo, adding instability or cutting rest are all examples of how you can manipulate your program for greater intensity.

3) Know how to get it done anywhere. Prepare a bodyweight resistance/yoga routine that you can perform anywhere. The body resistance workouts can actually be your most challenging, and the combination of strength and yoga is great for your body. *Tip: Take a beginner’s yoga class or two and start to work on some of the basic poses. You can also pick up some great tools for exercising anywhere—resistance bands, a jump rope, etc.

4) Take it outside! Walking, running or hiking can be done absolutely anywhere and will definitely give you a high-intensity workout, plus a tour of the area you’re visiting.

5) Eat clean. With food, closer to nature is our golden rule. To train at your best and recover effectively, you need great, naturally produced food and proper hydration.

If you’re consistent with your workouts, you’ll gain more and more confidence to challenge yourself wherever you are!

Law of gestation.

In prior newsletters, we’ve spoken about the universal law of setting your intention to produce the results that you want. The idea is that our reality is first created by thought, then by our actions. This month, I want to talk about another universal law – the law of gestation. This law states that for any vision or intention to be realized, a certain period of gestation and development is required. This gestation period could be a week or 10 years, depending on the scope of your vision. A child, for example, is conceived in an instant, but takes many, many years of growth and nourishment to reach their full potential. How do we apply the law of gestation in our own lives? The secret is to be consistent in your words and actions over time-to consciously follow through in your daily activities to manifest your personal vision. Believe and trust in your journey of conscious action, and the universe will deliver what you want.

Namaste
Daniel

Do you speak to your soul?

Do you take the time to listen from within yourself for answers? Communicating with our soul is best achieved with a quiet mind. In order to hear the soul our minds need to be clear so that we can receive the answers, which often come in a much gentler way than the strong thoughts of the ego. For example: when you feel the answer to an important question without thinking about it. You just know in your heart it’s true. Quiet time, rest and meditation are vital to having this healthy connection.

Set aside time to allow yourself to stop thinking from the outside and you will have a greater opportunity to hear a deeper truth. Think of it this way: It’s not about working out, it’s about working in, meaning meditation, Tai Chi, a walk in nature or anything that you find empties your mind.

Namaste.
Daniel

Ignorance is bliss …until you end up in the hospital.

Taking action requires effort but when there is no perceived disadvantage to not changing the way we live, many of us don’t bother. It concerns me to see so many people making continuously unhealthy choices. At what point do we go from oblivious to conscious? Do we wait until the doctor tells us we have high cholesterol to start eating better? Is it after we develop high blood pressure that we start exercising?

I urge you to take a proactive approach. Look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Am I doing everything I can to live a long and healthy life?”

Don’t wait for the unexpected. Follow the Nimble principles of living healthy- make good food choices throughout the day, move your body and stay active, and get sufficient rest. Follow these principles and I can almost guarantee you will live a long and joyful life.

Namaste,
Antonio

Nimble Fitness in NYC Splash Magazine

NYCSplash Magazine wrote about Nimble Fitness and our new studio on West 12th street, near Union Square in Manhattan.

“The studio is in a class of its own. I loved the décor; it’s clean and simple with personal touches of elegance. The spacious studio is stunning with high ceilings and stylish changing rooms with shower facilities. It offers a great place to workout in a relaxed, peaceful environment without the crowds.”
- Sabrina Hunter

Read the full article here

Think happy, be happy.

This year I encourage you to develop an awareness of how your mind works. After all, personal development is about having good patterns -inside and out. This can improve any and all aspects of your life as well as your interactions with family and friends. Remember, you can either be happy, or unhappy. Choose happy.

Try these feel-good exercises:

· Let someone know they’re
appreciated.

· Compliment your friends everyday.

· Be kinder than you have to be.

· Tell someone you love them.

· Be the first to say “Hello.”

· Stop rushing past life.

· Keep your promises.

· Watch a sunrise.

· Let go.

· Smile.

Health and happiness,
Antonio

Time to grow.

It’s Wednesday, November 4, and Nimble Fitness is shifting in to a new level of being, one that elevates the size of our space, our services, and our potential to offer more to our community. We just signed the lease for our new studio space, located street level on east 12th between University and Broadway in New York City. Our current home has served us well, but now its time for us to grow personally, professionally and spiritually. This move is about more than our growth, however. We’re moving with the intention of changing the planet with the change in ourselves.

In many ways, our new studio has already been created, even though it is still under construction. Life has presented this opportunity to us, and many amazing people in our lives have rallied around us to help make it happen. Being fit is much more than just moving around- in essence, it’s an exploration of body, mind and soul. Work out with an intention of love for your body-mind-soul, and amazing things happen.

Join us in this new journey of self-exploration and personal development. We welcome you to be a part of our amazing community and invite you to visit the new space.

Namaste,
Daniel

I need your help!

One of my goals is to help as many people as possible live a healthier life by eating at least two servings of fruit and at least three servings of vegetables every day.

I’ve got a long way to go.

According to the Center for Disease Control, only 14% of U.S. adults and 9.5% of U.S. teens meet the government’s goals for eating enough fruits and vegetables.

To be blunt – that stinks.

I need your help. Start with yourself. Are you eating the recommended amount of servings? If not, get to it! What about your kids? Your parents? Your friends? Below are a few suggestions of different fruits and vegetables you can add to your diet. Help me with my goal of making this world a healthier place by passing it along to everyone you know.

Fruits (eat 2 a day)
1 banana / 6 strawberries
½ Grapefruit / 10 grapes
1 apple / 1 cup raspberries

Vegetables (eat 3 a day)
1 tomato / ½ Avocado
5 asparagus / 1 sweet potato
5 broccoli florets / 1 carrot
1 ear of corn / ½ cup lentils

Stay healthy and thank you.
Antonio

TheNimbleWay… Foundation-Education-Integration

At Nimble, we believe that you are only as strong as your foundation. Your personal foundation is made up of your character, your integrity and the life you see for yourself. This mixture is bound together by your mental and physical blueprint, as well as your relationship with nutrition, movement and your deeper self. It is our intention to develop the Nimble Fitness blog to support you in your journey toward a knowingness of being strong, empowered, and living a joyful life. Namaste from the Nimble Team.

My Cleanse Adventure / Part I

I keep hearing about these cleanses – how they’re good for you and how they have helped people with all sorts of issues – from losing weight, to curing cancer!

When I hear “cleanse”, I picture some new-age spa where a woman in a white lab coat leads me into a room decorated with pictures of Buddha. She orders me to undress and put on a hospital robe (you know the kind). Next thing I know I’m laying on my stomach with some guy named Bjorn about to put a double latte frappuccino someplace I don’t care to publish. The other vision I have is of some (already too skinny) celebrity drinking a weird concoction of lemonade made with cayenne pepper …eeww.

You could say my idea of a cleanse is slightly skewed but I did find a great explanation on Wisegeek.com. This is their definition – “A cleanse is a health regimen designed to remove toxins from the body. Some cleanses target the entire body, while other focus on specific organs such as the liver, kidneys, or skin. In most cases, a cleanse requires a temporary radical change of diet, although some cleanses are designed to help people transition to a healthier diet. Many proponents of natural health engage in regular body cleanses to improve their health and treat underlying medical issues. Cleanses are also used as a weight loss tool in some communities, while others engage in body cleanses as a spiritual activity.”

That sounds pretty good but now the question is… Do these cleanses actually work? Do they do what they claim? Follow me on this adventure as I research the different cleanses and their claims. I’m going to pick the one I think is best and try it for myself. Let’s see what the fuss is all about and if these “toxin removers” really work. Stay tuned!

…follow the entire adventure here.

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