Forget Healthy Nutrition, Just Take a Pill.

I saw the most ridiculous commercial the other day on TV. Typically most of the TV my wife Lisa and I watch is DVR'd shows that we like, thus allowing us to skip commercials. We purposefully avoid the news and prefer to create our own reality and opportunities instead of buying into the crap that gets spoon-fed to us via the tube'.

However, I was a little slow on the remote and got stuck watching a commercial that made me sick. Walgreens is running a commercial basically encouraging you NOT to pursue healthy nutrition as an option for wellness. That's right, don't listen to people who tell you to eat vegetables and fruits, no no no. Instead get down to the pharmacy and let one of their experts fill your prescription.

Seriously, when I see this bulls@$t it says to me, "Hey, you in front of the TV. We think you are a stupid mother-f$%ker. Here's another big heaping spoon-ful of s%#t. Enjoy, moron!"

Instead of pushing good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle as a means of preventing illness and maintaining wellness, just take a pill. (BTW - this works for weight-loss too!!!)

Give me a f*&king break.

If you haven't seen the video, fortunately the folks at I Live Chiropractic posted it. Hit this link to check it out for yourself.

Click HERE to watch this ridiculous commercial. Way to go Walgreens!!!!

Now please understand I'm not bashing Western medicine. I pay for my health insurance every month, and I have a fantastic doctor I see once a year for my annual physical for him to basically confirm how awesome I am.

I think doctors should educate patients on adopting healthy lifestyle practices, good nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, etc. Let's use medicine only when absolutely necessary. In a life and death situation YES give me the damn drugs. If I have the sniffles? Sorry, but I'm passing on the pills. We are over-prescribed. Yeah, it's great for big Pharma, but is it great for you?

Come on people, think for yourself and don't let these big corporations piss on your minds.

Wake up.

Stay Strong and Healthy,

Scott

The Mind and Body Connection for Optimal Health and Fitness

Today during Taiji class my Shifu, Grandmaster Shi Deru, talked about health and why we do what we do. He regularly sees people who are sick recover and get well again naturally. This is a huge topic of interest to me as it is the direction my personal training as well as the focus of my business has taken in the past year or so.

The founding fathers of Physical Culture-like George Hackenschmidt-knew the importance of developing the mind as well as the body.

I've always found it interesting that the fitness industry has become so far removed from health. It has become all about cosmetics, drugs, pills-look good at any cost. Unfortunately, in the fitness industry (I refuse to call it the health and fitness industry until things change) those who often look the healthiest are in fact very unhealthy. I fell victim to this myself. Supplements, pills, anabolics, fat burners, you name it; I tried it all in the name of (health) and fitness.

Then I had a realization. We have everything we need to be fit AND healthy. If we are not producing something, if we are getting sick, if we are not recovering-it does not mean we need to take a pill, potion or powder. It means we need to fix something within ourselves. I believe for most people this means developing the mind as well as the body. This is not just an eastern concept-it's a theme that is quite obvious in George Hackenschmidt's excellent book "The Way to Live in Health and Physical Fitness".

Shifu's comments about health today led me to ask him a question about why he thought that people who eat well and exercise still get sick. His answer was very simple but incredibly brilliant and insightful. He said they fail to do the internal work, to develop their minds. They succumb to negative energy and negative thoughts that ultimately manifest in unhealthy ways in the body.

Make no mistake, pumping your body full of chemicals and non-natural substances in an effort to "get fit" will result in anything but. Sure, you might look like Hercules for a little while, but there will be a price to pay for chemical and physical abuse. Many will argue this, and I would have to as little as a couple years ago.

Shifu told me we need to bring the mind back into training and focus on internal development as well as external development. Working hard is good. Training hard is good. However we cannot neglect the development of our mind. Strong healthy minds and positive thoughts will produce good energy and strong health bodies.

Meditation is one way to strengthen the mind, but don't let it end in the lotus position. Meditate in everything you do. Why is this important? When you meditate, when you truly quiet your monkey mind, when your mind becomes blank and allows thoughts to pass without attachment, you are now present. You embody your true nature which is pure being. Why not be present in all you do?

Shifu teaching us about the importance of mediation.

Think about how much of your time-your life-is lost to regretting past events and fearing future events. When your mind is living in the past and future it is preventing your from being here, in the now. And guess what? Now is all there is. The past is nothing more than a previous series of now moments and the future is a series of now moments that have yet to occur-so why let them rule you?

Instead, try to be present in everything you do-whether it is sport, exercise, study, driving, talking with friends and family, etc. Be present and give the present moment your full attention. I believe this is why people become addicted to adventure sports such as rock climbing-it's hard to be terrorized by the past or worry about the future when you are hanging off the side of a cliff by your fingers and toes!

When we bring our mind into training, we encourage internal development in addition to external physical development. If we truly want to be fit AND healthy we must connect the mind and the body.

I believe when good health is achieved, and all aspects of physical and mental development are in line, our potential is limitless!

"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." -Lao Tzu

Stay Strong AND Healthy!

-Scott

Meditation

Scott Trying to Calm Down his Monkey Mind

Meditation is something I've been struggling with over the past couple of years. When I first started meditating it was tedious. All I ever heard was meditate for 30 minutes every day. That didn't make sense to me.

As I understood it meditation was supposed to be a complete quieting and calming down of the mind. If I magically entered some enlightened, zen-like state, how was I to know when 30 minutes was up? If I came out of my meditation at 29 minutes, would my efforts have been a waste?


Even if I could last the 30 minutes, was I doing it wrong if I had thoughts? If I couldn't let the thought pass and dwelled on it, was I not meditating correctly?

I read as much as I could, I listened to meditation programs on CD and MP3, I read some more.

Then something happened.

Shifu Leading Meditation

When training with my Shifu, grand master Shi Deru, at my Shaolin School's annual Qi retreat this past February, he guided us through meditation each day.

That is when it hit me.

Meditation is simply about being present and rediscovering your true nature.

Rediscovering your true nature happens when you can disconnect from your ego-by ego I mean your physical self, all the things here in the physical plane that make you, you.

When you can fully quiet your mind and observe your ego - it hits you - you are not you. Your real nature is that of being, of pure consciousness. The problem is you will begin thinking about it and lose "it".

If you are meditating, simply be. Be present. That is all. Sit cross legged on the floor or a chair with your hands placed one on top of the other thumbs touching, just make sure your feet are grounded and your back is straight. Begin to relax every muscle in your body, but don't go limp. Be alert, meditation is not about zoning out-it is about pure awareness-just be relaxed. Breathe. Listen to your breathe. If a thought enters your mind don't freak out. It is fine. Just observe the thought and let it go. Do not attach to the thought. If your "monkey mind" (as Shifu refers to it) begins to take over that's ok - just calm down and focus back in on your breathing.

That is it. That is meditation.

Rediscover Your True Nature-Your True Self

At our retreat when Shifu was asking us all about our experiences many people gave great answers - but I particularly liked Shi Xiong Chen Zhe's response, he said, "When I meditate, I feel almost invisible."

Don't become particularly wrapped up in how long you meditate. I think it is a mistake to think that the only way you will achieve any sort of benefit is to meditate for exactly 30 minutes every day. If you do this you bring meditation into the realm of time which is a complete contradiction. Meditation is about being present, not yesterday and not tomorrow but now. Simply sit quietly, focus on your breathing and relax. Finish your meditation when you finish. Whether it is in 3 minutes or 3 hours.

This idea was confirmed to me when I listened to the excellent audio-book "The Joy of Living" by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.

In it Rinpoche states (and I am paraphrasing) "that it is far better to meditate properly-when you are calm, relaxed, happy and at peace-for multiple two or three minute sessions throughout the day, than one longer session where you are forcing yourself to meditate". Please keep in mind that is very loose paraphrasing, but you get the idea.

Meditation is not magic-it is simply learning to be present and identifying with your true nature, your true self.

When walking just walk, when sitting just sit. Above all, don't wobble.

However, I would venture to say that ANYTHING that brings us into the present that does not require a lot of thinking or analysis, may be considered meditation.

Think about it, a weightlifter going for a record attempt, a rock climber hanging by their toes and fingertips off a rock face, a skydiver plummeting toward the earth, a martial artist practicing a form. All of these things bring you immediately into the present.

I don't think there is a better description than the ancient zen proverb that Alan Watts reiterates in his excellent book, The Way of Zen, "When walking, just walk. When sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble."


Thanks to Tom Kreutzer for the photos!


Stay Strong and Healthy!


-Scott