Confessions of a Blogger in Wonderland

Well, today was an interesting day. I woke up at my normal 4:30am to do walk my dogs, get ready for work, etc. I made my way in and stopped to get a cup of bold coffee then made my way into the gym to teach a yoga class. Typically, I have about 30-45 minutes of prep time before I start my class and I usually either mess around for a bit with a few poses or go through a short yoga practice to start my day.

Well, today was a little different. As I was going through my mini-practice, I suddenly had a revelation. "What the heck am I do this for?" I realized that I had lost track of why I was practicing. Was I practicing just to practice yoga? Was I just "warming-up" for my class? At that moment, the answers that I was giving to myself really did not make sense other than going through the motions. My realization was that I had not set any intention for myself for that day. Just doing something just to do it. I think that's fine sometimes, but I think what gets me into trouble is when I am just doing things just to do them and then I get caught in a rut. This action then becomes a habit, and I find myself losing interest and then really getting myself into a rut of doing NOTHING.

Well, I thought as a Soft Tissue and Movement Therapist, I really should practice what I preach. When I go into a session with anyone, I make it a priority to set an intention. It usually helps that the client or group of athletes has a common goal. From there, we can develop some strategies and then movement sequences, whether it be a post-rehabilitation or performance enhancement. I find this extremely beneficial to me and the person I am working with as creates a framework, but like I stated before, when this does not happen, well, its a little more "higgledy-piggledly" as my grandmother used to say.

This morning, I realized that I was going about things in a higgledy-piggledly way. I have been "working out" just to work out and it was without a clear purpose. Initially, I find the novelty of an activity the most exciting part of the process and I still do think its exciting, but I would not go as far as to think it's the most exciting anymore. What's the most exciting to me now is taking that activity, say yoga, and really digging deep into it. "What is my body able to do? What is not able to do? Can I become even more flexible than I am now? Can I learn to control my breathing through yogic training? " This is all so important in the grand scheme of having some intentions for my actions. Here are some the answers to the above questions:

• I do not know what my body is fully able to do because I have never tested it to that point.
• I believe the things that I am CAN DO are far more in number than those that I cannot do because I haven't tried a lot or spent enough time focusing on it; therefore, what I cannot do is not a logical question.
• I can definitely become more flexible (mobility and stability-wise) as well as become stronger.
• My breathing can be much better and I believe yoga is a great system for learning that.

To me, identifying where I can improve is a starting point. It's a place where I can start to go to a goal. For me, I am aware of of where there are weaknesses and tightness in my body. If I want to truly become more flexible, I will "clear" those areas first then move onto improving those areas. There are MANY techniques how to find that flexiblity. As far as being stronger, I can always be a stronger but I do not think its going to necessarily have to be in the form of solely lfiting weights. There is a lot of wisdom behind bodyweight exercises and tweaking them. I also think there should be a reason for me getting stronger. For instance, I have never been able to do a press to handstand because lack of shoulder and core strength and stability. Well, that's a reason to go lift weights. Will my shoulders look more ripped? Yes more than likely, but I like to think of that as a byproduct of function and not a primary objective. However, to each his own. If you want ripped shoulders that look great and you are willing to work for that goal, I say more power to you.

At 3-D Optimal Performance, we stand for maximzing the areas of your life in mind/body/spirit. There is no difference. If we optimize one, we are going to be optimizing the other two. However, intentions based on principles do pave a road, and not necessarily to hell.  I like to use a passage from "Through the Mirror" by Lewis Carroll. It goes:

Alice: Which way should I go?
Cat: That depends on where you are going.
Alice: I don't know which way I'm going!
Cat: Then it doesn't matter which way you go!

Our intention based principles will lead the way for us. However, if we do not have those, then we may be chasing our tails. Again, sometimes, we need to chase our tails but KNOWING that we are chasing our tails is the key. When I chase my tail but do not realize it, I find myself in a rut.

I check in with myself daily, and more than once per day. I urge you to do the same. That way, we both know what we are doing, how we are doing it and most importantly, WHY we are doing it.

In Health,

Will