Twenty Full Push-ups Done With Proper Form- That's the Goal!

Right now, I don't have the strength to do one.

How I Plan to Celebrate the New Year

I also have a rather old familiar habit of not seeing this as being at all possible for me. All previous attempts to change this got abandoned almost immediately. In this photo to your left, you can see a graphic I worked on and did not finish last year, with all the various strength training exercises that can help someone who really wants to learn how to do a proper full military pushup, with good form. 

I couldn't even bring myself to complete the illustration, much less get started with actually doing the work.

Not For Fat Kids

What stops me?  Well, I carry around this rather shameful memory of when I was 8 or 9 years old and we all got tested for the Presidential Fitness Challenge. We ran a mile and did curl-ups. Those were okay. What knocked me out of the running were pull-ups and push-ups. I failed miserably. While legions of my classmates all got their pretty patches and awards signed by  President Nixon,  I took on the label of "Fat Kid."  I don't think the intention was to discourage me, but that's what I chose to do with the experience. Over time, it has become a fixed identity and a habit that I'd like to upgrade. 

I know I'm not as alone as I felt in the third grade. In researching the program and finding a picture of the award I never got, I found out that this program was ended a few months ago. Oh well. I've decided that when I succeed with my goal of 20 pushups, I'm going to photoshop a copy of this award and hang it in my office. 

Back to my dilemma:  If I can't do one pushup, how do I get to twenty??

What I need to do is figure out what I CAN do and come up with a program that will allow me to get a little stronger every day.. The good news is that I have already done the research, and I know all the steps that can lead me there. There are things I can do today: Wall pushups, planks, using weights, reducing my weight, and building up strength. A little at a time. If I do ONE Percent more each day, I'll be ringing in the new year in my own nerdy way, and will give myself my own fitness challenge award.  I wonder if you, like me, have trouble visualizing our current POTUS dropping and giving us all 20.   ((!!!))

Implementing the GOYA FACTOR!

I'm once again adding push-ups to my new year vision board. The difference is that this year, I'm also committing to the GOYA factor. This is a concept that my supervisor Brad Pendergraft taught me years ago. GOYA= Get Off Your... Assets. Yes, get moving. I can't get strong enough to do pushups through visualizing. I actually have to lift my carcass off the couch and do some strength training.


What do I do once I get up off the couch?  Start small.

Moshe Feldenkrais, a movement educator, encouraged students to go really slowly in the process of successfully achieving a movement. I'm starting by imagining myself doing 20 full warrior pushups. What is the posture? how do I position my arms and fingers? What are the muscles being recruited? Where does the movement start? Does it start in my triceps, or in my core as I begin to exhale? What do I do with my breath? How do I know that I'm maintaining a straight line? Do I have a very clear and embodied felt sense of what a proper pushup feels like?

Once I'm there, I can go to the wall.  I can do a wall push-up. For the past four days, I've been doing three sets of 30 wall push-ups. This may seem like small potatoes, but I know that toward the end of each set, it gets a little more challenging, and I can definitely feel that something is going on in my muscles because they're talking to me.

During the first set, I pay attention to form. Hand placement. What muscles are firing? What other muscles could I recruit that would make this even easier?  I experiment with my hand angle and how much my fingers are spread apart. I put my attention on my shoulder blades and the muscles in my upper back. I experiment with what it's like to start the movement from my core. 

Suddenly, I've gone from feeling like a weenie for doing wall pushups to feeling like a total badass. My form is impeccable, and I'll keep that form as I get stronger. 

What's also great about this is I can reduce my risk of injury which would really throw a wrench in the system. If I stressed and strained and huffed and puffed to do a pushup today, I'd get frustrated, and I might end up pulling a muscle or a tendon. 


Each day, I'm writing down exactly what exercises I did that helped me gain the strength I need to do those pushups. Each day I'll be adding a little more of a challenge to the daily challenge. Every day I'll see what small addition I can make that will lead me to my first complete pushup. It's a surprisingly powerful concept behind the Weber-Fechner law of physics. 

Bear in mind, I got a D in physics in high school. My explanation will not be sciencey. If you want sciencey, I invite you to google it. Basically, it's about human perception. Imagine being in a dark room and lighting a candle.  You notice that the candle has been lit because one candle in the darkness makes a big difference. But now imagine that the lights are on in a room and you light a candle.  It's hard to notice the increase in light because the amount of light added by the candle is so slight in comparison to the amount of light already in the room. 

How does this apply to my project of doing a pushup?

I'll share an experience I had in a yoga class several years back. Toward the end of class, we were instructed to exhale, take our hands and grasp opposite elbows, bend from the waist, and hang there. My elbows were hanging somewhere just below my knees and about a foot from the floor. The instructor had us close our eyes and just focus on our breathing, staying just at the edge of flexibility. No stressing or straining. Just breathing, and with each breath, letting go a little more, with ease.

I can't tell you how many minutes this went on or how many breaths we took. I will tell you that on one exhale, the instructor pressed on the spot between my shoulder blades and gently pushed me down maybe less than half an inch. As she did, I felt my forearms touching the floor.  I was SO surprised and delighted!  

Just Noticeable Difference

The weight of a feather, barely noticeable,
can add up when multiplied

What happened in that yoga class was that I got to the floor gradually. By adding a just noticeable difference, it was within a range that seemed easily possible. I didn't perceive any change because the change was so small.  In weight training, if you add weight equivalent to the weight of a feather to someone's barbells, they won't notice the difference. Over time, that just noticeable difference adds up and compounds itself. Someone who was bench pressing 100 pounds with these slight additions could go from 100 to 150 in this way without even noticing the increase. 

Success is contagious!

The benefits of my project go way beyond the idea that by the new year I'll be doing pushups. The other cool thing is that I'll have company! I was telling my mom about it the day before yesterday. She's 30 years older than I am and now she's doing wall pushups and feeling proud. I told my next door neighbor about it a couple of days ago, and now every time I see her, she's updating me on her wall pushups. 

How about you? Are you with me?  If you already do pushups, what is your equivalent challenge? How can you break it down and find a project small enough that you can practice every day? If so, I would LOVE to hear about it!!

The Mariposa Metamorphosis Metaphor

(Say that three times fast!!)

I never metaphor I didn’t like. Metaphors awaken our imagination. They provide models and patterns that can inspire us, give us insight, and hope. They can provide symbols that can lead us through dark times on the long journey to a faraway destination.

One of my favorites is that of the mariposa, or butterfly. It has returned to my attention lately since my daily practice with SATI365 this month utilizes the butterfly metamorphosis as part of the morning guided meditation.  It's such a fabulous pattern of creative imagining that helps us envision the exquisite beauty of our heart's desire.

The story of the butterfly's metamorphosis has long been used to help people have hope when undertaking a huge new goal, or heal from a serious illness or injury.  The more outlandish or impossible the dream, the more this metaphor works. 

   "We can become what we dream of if fat, furry worms can fly."      ~Jana Stanfield

The basic story we all know is that a butterfly lays eggs on milkweed plants. When the larvae emerge, they begin to eat.  During this caterpillar phase, it will eat so much that it will outgrow and shed its skin three times.

Hmm... that sounds like my last three years....

As humanoids, we go through similar changes.  As infants, we eat, grow, sleep, learn, and will outgrow all sorts of shoes and clothing. We also develop numerous identities which we outgrow as we continue to upgrade our self concept. Our bodies change over the years.

In my time, I’ve eaten and outgrown any number of outfits. First in childhood and then, alas, in adulthood as I’ve struggled with my capacity to maintain a healthy body that allows me to do all the things I want to do. I've also struggled with maintaining the identity of being a healthy person.

But I digress…

…Back to the caterpillar…  When it has almost outgrown itself the fourth time, it develops a hard outer casing we all know as a chrysalis.  What happens inside that chrysalis is absolutely amazing. While the hard outer shell will protect what goes on within, the inner world of the chrysalis completely liquefies into a nutrient-dense soup.  Among the cells in the caterpillar soup are cells that biologists have called imaginal discs. These are cells that will form the various parts of the butterfly. They are new, and the caterpillar’s immune system which is represented by other cells in that soup do not recognize these new shapes. The  immune system begins to attack these seemingly foreign invaders. The imaginal cells that are working to grow into the various parts of the caterpillar have to ward off attacks by this immune system.

Seem familiar?  It’s like when we set new goals for growth that challenge us. There is some part of us that wants to resist the change.  A life coach named Brooke Castillo has referred to this inner resistance as “obstacle thoughts.”  These obstacle thoughts can be like the caterpillar's immune system, attacking our vision of a desired outcome. 

Sometimes when we set a goal that will require us to change, there are certain things that we need to do differently. We may need to wake up earlier, or eat different foods or actually use that gym membership.   We want to introduce these elements into our lives, but some part of us doesn’t welcome the change. We have had a set way of doing things and have held a set idea of who we are.  If our goal requires us to act or think differently, some part of us will throw up roadblocks. 

We think up all the reasons why we should just give up, or not do a thing. “Why stretch or grow?”  “Am I not supposed to be able to love myself as I am?” “It’s too hard to give up my pizza or my Netflix binge, or my (fill in the blank with your favorite indulgence..)” “I’m bound to fail and I don’t want to disappoint myself.” Chances are if you have a goal in mind right now, you can begin to identify your own obstacle thoughts. 

These obstacle thoughts are strongly biased. In a desperate attempt to save us from having to change, our unconscious mind will produce all the evidence to support the reasons for just staying the same. For not attempting and failing yet again.

It seems so frustrating, yet it is something we all do. It's hardwired in all of us to consider all the possible dangers and setbacks. It's something in our very DNA that wants to save us from doing foolish and hazardous things. It's good to discern what are legitimate concerns, and which thoughts are roadblocks to our success. 

When these obstacle thoughts arise, we need to investigate them and determine whether they are warning signs or challenges. Riddles to be solved. As we overcome each obstacle, the goal moves closer to us. 

The best way to help us to overcome these obstacles and solve the riddles is a robust, fertile imagination. 

Meanwhile,  back inside the chrysalis,  the imaginal cells persevere the assaults on their creativity from the caterpillar's well-intended immune system. Eventually those imaginal cells join forces and produce a fully formed butterfly.  

The hard shell casing becomes increasingly translucent as the butterfly transforms itself from soup into a beautiful winged creature.

Similarly, think about a time you’ve taken on a lofty goal.  The way may have seemed totally unclear to you at first, and you may have had absolutely no idea how you were going to possibly see your way through high school, or college, or graduate school, or a 45 minute exercise class three times a week.  You had to start small. Whatever you accomplished, you may have noticed that the more you could see yourself actually accomplishing it in rich sensory detail, the more possible the end result seemed. The more progress you made, the more the way seemed clearer. There have been numerous studies that have shown that successful people achieve big things by really focusing on having a felt sense of what it will be like to already have the desired achievement. Using all five senses, creating a picture of what they will see, hear, feel, smell, and taste when it is done.

Wayne Dyer often spoke of this when he described his own experiences. He never questioned that he would earn his doctorate. in his mind's eye it was already done and he just went about taking all of the many steps it took to get him to the ultimate goal. It's something we can all learn to do. 

Let's get back to that butterfly now as it gets ready to emerge from its chrysalis. 

As the butterfly emerges from the now translucent chrysalis, it pulses. It looks as though it is breathing. What is really happening is that those pulsing movements are pumping fluid from the thorax into the structure of the buttterfly’s wings. As this happens,  the wings steadily take shape. Once, the wings take shape, they become solar panels. They will remain stationery, opening and closing their wings, gaining heat and energy from the sun and when the moment is right , they will take flight.

Similarly, we gather resources and elicit help and support from our environments, we experience setbacks and perhaps criticisms from without and within. We breathe our way through all of those moments, put one foot in front of the other and when the moment is right, we step out into the world and celebrate our accomplishments.

Butterflies drinking from wet, sandy soil at the river's edge

Ah, but there's more to the story.

The part that is truly inspiring happens after metamorphosis. That beautiful, graceful Monarch butterfly that emerges from a monarch caterpillar in North America will set out on an incredible journey.

Those delicate whisper-thin wings will make their way over snow-capped mountains, great lakes, deserts, and encounter all manner of birds who will want to consume them as food. 

In one generation, these monarchs will make their way from wherever their eggs were laid in North America to a place of convergence in Mexico where they will spend the winter together. It will take the following two or three generations to make their way back to where the Michoacan Monarch Mariposas found their winter resting place.

So it often is with us that as we make our individual journeys, may we find like-minded people of similar purpose who join forces with us. Together, may we be strong, and may we encourage one another.  Butterflies may look delicate, but they are not fragile. Neither should we be. Be strong. Believe in yourself. Create a powerful vision of yourself in rich sensory detail. and get support from people who want the best for you!!

May this metaphor inspire you to see your way through the darkness that will lead you to the clarity of your own goals.  

Until then, and, as I’ve heard it said by my particularly nerdy and punny friends, “Metaphors be with you.”

If You Want to Grow PEONIES

...Let's talk about ANTS.

It was long believed that ants were required to help the peonies to bloom. Ants are attracted by the sweet resin exuding from those fist-like  buds. Gardeners are a romantic lot-- generally, and will tell you that the ants are essential to carry off the excess resins, "tickling" the buds to blossom.  Others will tell you to leave the ants in place because of their vital role in the ecology of your peony garden. They know that the ants farm aphids and caterpillars, and keep other noxious insects in check. Luckily, by the time the peonies are blooming and you're gathering a fragrant bouquet to take into your house, the ants have lost interest, having carried most of the sugary goodness away. You can shake off the blooms and the ants will plop themselves into the greenery and soil, off to tickle another bud into blooming.

You might have already guessed, though, that I'm after a different sort of Peony. 

Yes, ladies and germs, I'm here to write to you today about the peonies in the garden of your mind.

Positive Energizing Open New Ideas Evoking Success.  (PEONIES).

If you want to have positive, energizing, open, new ideas evoking success (PEONIES), you're going to have to tackle your automatic negative thoughts (ANTS).

Automatic Negative Thoughts. They're soul-killing, dream-killing patterns of thought that have an evolutionary basis. You may have already read about how the vast majority of our subconscious thoughts run toward the negative. You may already have guessed that I will now reference the early days of humanoids and their need to outrun or outwit the saber toothed tiger for survival. 

These days, fortunately, dealing with saber-toothed tigers seldom make our daily to-do lists. Our modern-day "duties to do" include things like "buy more broccoli," finish the report due on Wednesday, or "Meet with Becky" (Becky being our modern-day equivalent of said saber-toothed tiger). She has an axe to grind with you about just how that report is being written, and you need to go in there and clear the air of a three week misunderstanding.

You've been brooding all morning and glaring at her over the top of your computer screen. Whenever you turn to start on the report, thoughts of how Sarah is out to get you and ruin your chances completely overtake you.

Three weeks ago, when you told her you had convinced the boss to review some ideas you had about reducing waste in the office, she had sniffed, said, "Hmmph!" and walked away.

Because you are a mind reader, and because you know in your heart of hearts that Becky secretly wishes you were dead, and the boss always sides with her, and that you know you shouldn't finish the report anyway because it was a stupid idea anyway, and why bother because even if it was a good idea, Becky is coming for you. 

Last night, as you brooded about it with your buddy BOB, and you told him you were thinking of resigning, he told you that it might just be automatic negative thoughts and sent you a link to this article. In this article, you found a list of Automatic Negative Thoughts.  

Hey look, here they are now:

1. “Always/Never” Thinking - when you think in absolutes. This is digital yes/no, on/off thinking. There is no grey area. There is no nuance.  In this case, Becky always gets the better of you because she's never liked you.

2. Focusing On The Negative - This occurs when your thoughts reflect only the bad in a situation and ignore any of the good things. Its getting 100 reviews back and all you can focus on are the 4 bad ones, forgetting about the 96 positive ones.

3. Fortune-telling - This is where you predict the worst possible outcome to any situation. When you go into a conversation assuming that the other person won’t like what you have to say, you change the way you communicate to usually make it come true.

4. Mind Reading -This happens when you believe that you know what other people are thinking, even though they haven’t told you directly. Taking someone’s silence as “They’re mad at me” is a perfect example of mind reading. They may just be thinking.

5. Thinking With Your Feelings- This occurs when you believe your negative feelings without ever questioning them. Feelings are very complex and often based upon our past stories. Feelings are not always about truth. Feelings are your perception of certain situations.

6. Guilt Beating- Also called shoulding on yourself, guilt beating is when you think words like should, must, ought, or have to to most situations. It’s healthier to say, “I’d like to be able to help them out” instead of “I should help them out”.

7. Labeling - Whenever you attach a negative label like jerk, arrogant, irresponsible, or stupid to yourself or to someone else, you stop your ability to take a clear look at the situation.

8. Personalizing- This happens when you invest innocuous events with personal meaning. “My boss didn’t talk to me, so I must have done something wrong.” There are lots of reasons people do things. You never fully know why people do what they do.

9. Blaming -When you blame something or someone else for the problems in your life, you become a passive victim of circumstances and you make it very difficult to do anything to change your situation.

So you carefully reviewed what happened with Becky and how you may well have gotten yourself off the track. You're now bracing yourself to approach Becky and clear the air. In fact you're about to get up out of your chair when she slips into your cubicle and sits in the empty chair by your desk and says, "Can we talk for a minute?"

It turns out Becky has been harboring some Automatic Negative Thoughts of her own because it slipped your mind that the original idea had been a conversation she started with you, and she has been taken aback at your willingness to steal your thunder.

Having recognized all of the automatic negative thoughts the two of you have had, you decide to work on the report together. It ends up being three times as good and the two of you turn it in three days early.

The boss is so taken with the ideas in your ideas that will save time money and resources that you both get raises and a beautiful bouquet of ...

Petunias.

My apologies to anyone named Becky, and my hope is that you can find the pattern in your own life and keep those ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts) from doing damage to your PEONIES (positive, energizing, open, new ideas evoking success).

Footprints

Imagine calculating how many steps you have taken in your life so far...

Math is hard, but if we take the 12,000 per day average according to fitbit expectations, at my age, that's somewhere over a quarter of a BILLION steps. Each one of the steps we take are leading us somewhere. 

Maybe lots of circles, but still, somewhere.

For me, that puts things into perspective when I think about taking one small step in the direction of my goals. It makes it seem simpler and less daunting.

Going to the beach or walking in the snow is fun because the sand and the snow record all the footprints. When it snows here in Bend and I go out into the yard, it's a delight to find records of all the footprints left by people, dogs, ducks, wild birds, cotton-tail bunnies, deer, and a host of other four-legged whose footprints I can't (or should I say daren't) discern. We all were going somewhere in pursuit of something. It's interesting to guess what those pursuits might have been.

This morning, as I got out to my studio at 5am to do a livestream workout, I heard Patricia Moreno say that there’s nothing in your future except what you are thinking about.

That's a good piece of advice for those of us who still have goals eleven days into the new year. How are we doing?  We start out feeling bold and courageous, sure of success. About now, life has happened. Many goals may have been abandoned, and left for dead. Maybe to be picked up again when the Chinese New Year gets recognized.  I laugh at myself that I've chosen to improve my healthy eating habits in the year of the Pig. (If not now, when)?

In her book Dare to Lead, Brene Brown shares the idea that we should write what we need to read.  Right now,  really I need to read about keeping dedicated to a practice.

Somewhere in the last three or four years, I abandoned my early morning practice. I can't tell you exactly when or why. All I know is that it eroded, and all kinds of old, familiar, sleeping late and comfort food eating practices quickly filled the void.  In November, I got the flu. It knocked me off my feet for about two weeks, and then the coughing commenced. Racking, relentless coughs that I had gotten all the time before April 22, 2012.

For me, it was the wake up call that got my attention. I needed to do something about my health. I scheduled an appointment with a primary care physician, and finally got to see them last week (I'll save you my opinion about what health care has become in this country, and where I fear it's going. Suffice it to say I'm choosing to take responsibility for my own health by getting back on track with a healthy lifestyle.

The lab results came in the mail today. They tell a story of the consequences of poor dietary choices. My cholesterol level is off the charts, and the letter I received informed me that the physician was wanting to put me on a cholesterol reducing medication because I'm at risk for coronary artery disease.  I met with her yesterday and told her I had actively changed my diet. I have been drinking vegetable smoothies, and on Monday, I plan to start the Whole30 diet which is useful for reducing inflammation. She agreed to meet with me again in three months, get lab work, and see how I'm doing. 

So far, I've resumed my old healthy practice for 11 days. The practice is to do the following every day:
1. Get up at 5am
2. At 5, do an hourlong intenSati workout
3.write out my top three goals.
4. Drink at least one vegetable smoothie each day and eat whole foods, no ruffles potato chips which are my number one trigger food.
5. Write a love note to my mom and leave it on her chair in a book we got for that purpose.
6. Learn something.

What I learned most recently from Brene Brown's book Dare to Lead, is that I should write what I need to read. Since one of my top goals is to publish one blog a day, that is what I plan to do, as it will support this goal, and my other two (restoring my health, and creating a vibrant intenSati community here in Bend.

Today, I want to read everything I can about how to stay in the game and stay motivated to keep going. 

I'm speaking directly now to anyone reading this who set some goals a week and a half or so ago:  It’s about now that we’ve been gobsmacked by life challenges that have us questioning our goals.. One thing or a mother (sic) can lead to some dark thoughts. Anger. Frustration. The desire to just give it all up and binge watch an entire Netflix series and eat an extra large pizza,  solo. Forget the book, the play, the painting, the health program. Just wallow.

But here’s the thing. Life is about how we meet these roadblocks. If you really, really want that thing, you have to be willing to deal effectively the setbacks and stay in the game.  

Good knitters come to know their craft so well that they can pick up dropped stitches without having to give up, rip out everything, and start all over. Sometimes they do, but they understand it’s all a part of the process of making that sweater. 

Part of my practice will be about picking up stitches. 

I have committed  to publish a blog entry at least once a week this year. In order to do this, I have to be willing to make mistakes. Oh yes, there will be grammatical errors. It’s all part of the process of practicing. Oh yes, I will be judgmental about what I write. I will fear offending, or being ridiculous, confusing, or ignored. 

I’m cultivating my practice of writing. That means I must be purposeful and be willing to show up consistently. I need to practice the art of putting it out there. I need to want to do it badly enough that I'm willing to be ignored, laughed at, or judged harshly.

Since I made the decision to do what Elizabeth Gilbert advised, I'm writing for myself. 

Last week, I mentioned that in order to get good at something, we have to be willing to perform badly at it and over time, with hope, we improve.

Steven Gilligan really emphasizes the importance of having a practice.  Having had a practice regularly, then having abandoned it, and now resuming that practice, I understand that he really means it when he says that you are only as good as your practice.  What we do every day is practice at who we want to be. 

It’s very much a theme in the hero’s journey. Joseph Campbell's work refers to how we hear the call, then ignore the call, or run from the call, or reject the call. Or try and get someone else to do it. In folk tales, the hero/heroine typically makes a mistake or several mistakes before the foe is vanquished, the heart is won, Rumplestiltskin explodes in a fiery orange flame, or the farm flourishes with bountiful crops.  Prior to the ultimate achievement, the stars of these fables must face their fears, outsmart monsters, and endure hardships. They do so in order to return home victorious with their gifts.

Carlsbad Caverns. It's a long way down and contains a vast array of extaordinary treasures..

"The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek." - Joseph Campbell.

Think about your goal. What calls for you’re attention so powerfully that you’re willing to swim the shark infested moat of old fears and habits? What are you wanting so badly that you're willing to screw up big time? Imagine it with rich, full sensory details. What do you see, what do you hear? What do you smell? What do you taste? How does it feel in your body? The more fully embodied your imagination becomes, the more compelling the goal becomes. If we start each day reminding ourselves of this, we're more likely to go on to live our days in a manner that is congruent with what we want to achieve.

It’s the first step that seems the most daunting. The step you take that seems to have led us nowhere. It's too soon to expect progress, and the goal seems daunting.

The poet, David Whyte wrote a poem about this first step.  He describes it as your step. The one you don’t want to take.

Wait, what?? 

How is it that we get so freaked out about getting started? Quite often it's our crushing fear that we will fail.

There are the things that have kept us from having the goal already. Fears, doubts, old coping strategies, old messages. Stress. Sick kids. Critics. Exhaustions. Accidents. Injuries. They show up and warn us off from starting. It is inevitable. How we approach these first steps is crucial. Do we approach them from our present self state of mind, or from our future self state of mind? Can we decide that it's all working out and we can handle the challenge
The only thing between us and our goals is our unwillingness to deal with the discomfort of doing the work to get there. On the other hand, if we decide that we fear the pain and sorrow of never getting there... Maybe that will have us willing to keep skin in the game.

This takes me back to what Patricia Moreno said to us all this morning who were there at 5am Pacific Time to do her live workout:  "There's nothing in your future except what you're thinking."  If you're interested in Patricia Moreno and what she has to teach, I highly encourage you to visit her website, patriciamoreno.com

May we all think well of our collective future, and may our authentic future selves be there to walk alongside each of us to point out the way and encourage us when it gets a little scary. May those footsteps lead us in the direction of health, success, and connection.

How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?

Do I have to say it?  Okay, okay, I'll say it.  Practice. 

Rumi gave us the instruction some time ago.  "Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah…

it makes absolutely no difference what people think of you."

Here's hoping he was right. This year, I'm challenging myself to be consistent and post at least one blog entry per week. 

It’s January 2019. You know what that means. Tis the season of the almighty noble and lofty resolutions. Those of us (ever the optimists) who take time with goal-setting are busily hatching plans to make this the year. Some have already given up on going to the gym and will maybe get around to cancelling the membership in October, or will go on paying the fee in perpetuity because it’s too humiliating to quit and admit defeat to the smug receptionist with her bouncy ponytail and thigh gap, who will look at you and say, "Awwww."

Others of us are busily making vision boards, cutting out inspirational words and images, gluing them to pieces of cardboard and hanging them somewhere to remind us of our best hopes and brightest dreams.

Some of us will find within themselves the elusive GOYA factor* and meet with success. Others of us will opt for evening after evening on the sofa, binge-watching the latest show on Netflix, eating flaming hot cheetos, and washing it down with a nice Michelob Ultra, right out of the bottle.  Still others will inevitably hang laundry on the Peloton and order pizza.

In a talk he gave about death, the poet John O’Donohue told a story of when he was still a priest, performing last rites for an old  Irishman who had been a bit of a rogue… a bandito, he called him. Not a sinister, man,  just... wild. After he applied the ointments and sent the man's sins whistling, he asked the man, now that he was on his way out, what he had thought of his life, and the man said, “By Jaysus, I gave ‘er a good squeeze.”

I don’t know about you, but that sounds enticing to me.  It’s why I’ve been digging into thinking about what I need to do in order to arrive at this type of an end to my time here on earth.

We got a little fun and adventure in this year, traveling, hiking, and cycling in a fly-over state. We discovered lots of people who were anything but deplorable, which is good to know. I did finally finish turning that box of PVC bones into a functional skeleton. I improved my design on my deer-proof duck feeder. We went to THE Oktoberfest...  I hear tell we missed the Clintons by a day.

We tried on traditional costumes and drank beer at Oktoberfest. 

This year, I want to spend more time doing things like planting trees, reducing our plastic use, improving my writing skills, exercising more, eating better, and learning interesting things, and less time in a trauma trance. 

It has been nearly two years since I have written a blog entry. While it was something I wanted to do, I got to the point of where I got so overwhelmingly wrapped up in anxiety about being judged that I just gave up. So my new thing will be to please myself. Elizabeth Gilbert suggested that in her book on Big Magic. 

One of my other goals is to learn something new every day, so I may sometimes write about that. Today I learned about purposeful practice, and that if you want to get good at something, you need to be willing to do it repeatedly and purposefully.  I learned that failing is part of the process. So if I write at least one blog entry a week, maybe I might improve as a writer. How does that story go about the monkeys in the room with typewriters?  Maybe it won’t be Shakespeare. Most likely it won't be Shakespeare.

Other evidence that practice leads to improvement can be found in any grade school band concert. Have you been to one of these things as an unattached adult?  I know you love your kids and all, but JIMINY CHRISTMAS!!  Alas, amid the cacophony, sour notes, and missed beats, there lurks the occasional dirt-stained impresario who will one day, years from now, and with hours of practice, astound with his/her/xis/zer musical brilliance at a Tuba concert at Pioneer Square. Beyond that, such concerts are best enjoyed with ear plugs.

What else?  Maybe sometimes I’ll write about life with my mom now that she has moved in, and what I'm learning that makes it all a heartwarming experience or an unfortunate tragicomedy. I know there's a book in this experience somewhere.

My friend and Jackie once said that she loved hearing me tell jokes because I laughed so hard at the joke, way before I even got to the punchline. It amused her to watch me amusing myself.  My friend Jen said the same thing observing me watching a Spike and Mike Cartoon. This one:

There may be entries that will entertain. You could get lucky. We won't know until we get there. Let's hope you don't end up wanting to write me an angry screed about the four minutes and 27 seconds of your life that you will never get back again. 

So that’s my plan. I’m going to write what I want to read and enjoy the process of putting my ideas into a written form on a consistent basis, and hopefully without getting banned from the platform. If anything amuses or edifies, so much the better.  At the very, very least, my writing might get a wee bit better, or less than that, I'll be able to cross this challenge off my bucket list. Until next week

*Get Off Your Asterix.

The Practice is Going LIVE this Monday!

Coming to a computer screen near you!

Oh my golly, everyone... I've been waiting YEARS for this to happen, and it's about to go live.

This is really, really, really, really good news!

I just was informed that The Practice is going live on Monday, February 13, 2017!

(Can you sense the excitement?)

Mindset expert Patricia Moreno has been in my life since 2008 when a dear friend forced me to do her cardio kickboxing cd because she wanted me to be more active. I was pushing 200 pounds, and my friend was worried about my health. It was a hard workout, and the video really helped me get motivated to push myself. I gave it my all. At the very end of the video, while I felt sweat pouring out of me, Patricia looked right into the camera and said:

"Nod your head, if you did your best."

My friend and I both nodded vigorously and high-fives each other.   I felt fantastic because I had done my best. I got my own copy of the video, then searched on line for other videos and discovered intenSati. At the beginning of that video, she said,

This made me cry.

Because I couldn't DO it.

I couldn't imagine it. 

Something stopped me.

I was stopping myself. Until...

In 2012, I decided to upgrade my self image. I committed to doing that intenSati video every day. The goal was 30 days. I did that, then another 30. On my 3rd month, a MIRACLE happened. Patricia released a new 13-month program called Sati Life Warrior Training. Every month, a new full workout with new declarations. There was a monthly challenge, a book to study, a monthly call, and an interactive online community. 

That year, I improved my health, 

lost 50 pounds, left a soul-killing job, 

and started a private practice.

The following year, I went to New York to attend intenSati Leader training. 

I joined the training on an invitation I received from Satilife, even though at first, it was so out of character for me, I thought it was a mistake, Surely they hadn't meant to send it to me. I was assured that I could do it. And then I believed I could.

This Program CHANGED MY LIFE.

 Here's what I know:

Repetition is the Mother of Skill.  Here's my confession:  I fell out of regular practice for a couple of years.. I allowed myself to return to old, habitual responses to stress. 

Slowly but surely,I wasn't practicing every day. I found excuses and said I was too busy.  From 2014 to now, I have not felt as healthy, and I have noticed a dip in my energy level.  I wasn't practicing my own practice.

Here's the good news:  I know what to do. I also know that getting into practice means I don't have to wait to feel better. I just need to engage.

The good news is that THE PRACTICE is an upgrade from Sati Life Warrior Training, and it starts very soon! 

I've already gone back to doing the current series daily, and every day I feel a little more energy and vitality.  With only a week of daily practice, I'm already seeing my stamina improving. 

WHAT YOU GET

For $999/year you receive:

12 Months of engaged Training & practice

The Practice kicks off with a four-week online course. Patricia will lead you through four weekly webinars to help prime you for the journey ahead.  The webinars will help you develop goals that get you excited, and motivated into action. You'll work on developing ways of learning how to respond effectively to stressful situations where you may have reacted in habitual ways in the past. If you have a goal, chances are that achieving it will require that you will need to be different from the person you've been in the past. This will help you develop the tools and the confidence necessary to bring those dreams into reality.

From there, The Practice continues with a monthly focus on making progress and developing your character, opening your heart, and strengthening your body. You’ll learn change-work strategies that will help you build your personal development tool kit

You will be able to keep yourself in a high-performance state of mind and body, one day at time.

RISE & SHINE TO A STRONGER, MORE CENTERED YOU

One of the primary aspects of The Practice is the wake-up morning program. What time do you wake up now?  What if you could wake up just a few minutes earlier and practice moving and thinking in ways that will shift your experience as you enter into the day?

Get engaged in the Game!

EVERY MONTH YOU'LL RECEIVE:

• A guided morning meditation that combines mindfulness, guided visualization, intention setting and a gratitude ritual.
• A 7-minute quick fix workout that will include cardio and strength training
• A 5-minute yoga/stretch routine to do anytime to increase flexibility and peace of mind
• An hour live-recorded intenSati workout
• An audio workout to use for walking, running, biking or hiking (with intenSati affirmations!)
• A 30-day challenge intended to help you develop yourself mentally, physically or spiritually
• A lesson for the month delivered as a podcast to open your mind and heart to new solutions
• Access to a community of people who are committed to engaging in this process

ACCESS TO RESOURCES:  A yearlong access to information that will keep you going when the going gets tough. Stay inspired, stay in the practice, and create a sustainable, fun daily practice. 

Well, are you in?  Will you join me?  Are you willing to say YES to living a life you love in a body you love and YES to doing what it takes?

Great!  Click on the button below, and you'll be ready to join me, and a community of encouraging enthusiastic people around the world. Say Yes to your goals and Yes to a commitment to doing what it takes, in a state of love and gratitude, NO MATTER WHAT.

Remember, it goes live THIS COMING MONDAY, February 13, 2017!!!!

Join Me!  It will be a great investment in yourself.

  SIGN UP for The Practice HERE  

And if you're in Bend, come be my guest in class!!

(Click here for info on when and where!)