Our Bodies

“Stress is not what happens to us. It's our response TO what happens. And RESPONSE is something we can choose”. 
— Maureen Killoran

So many times has our body been declared our temple.  We should take care of it too!  I believe the way we treat it reflects how much we value ourselves as a whole.  Our bodies are beyond us in so many ways though; they betray us and remind us how vulnerable we really are.  They surface all our wounds, store our hidden emotions and become distorted into who we really are!  That injury you have been protecting and denying alters your whole form, that emotion you have been avoiding surfaces as a bodily ailment and alters who you are physically as well as mentally.  Our bodies go through a lot.  And yet so many of us are so determined to abuse it and neglect it!  Even the people who do the right thing by trying to remain fit test its limits!  Do we deliberately try to test our body’s limitations?

I used to be a distance runner.  I loved it!  Running was something I did everyday!  I would wake up a few hours early and run 5-10km.  This was fine; I got to exercise and clear my mind of stress.  Then I got into the running…  I became addicted! My 10 kilometres became 15… and then 20… and then 30+… and I wasn’t satisfied with doing this merely 1-2 times per week… I started to increase the days to every second day… and then everyday.  I could feel certain muscles tightening as I did this but pushed through anyway!  I loved the feeling, the rhythm, and time out…  I loved the sensation… I think this finally brought me to my state of flow; painters and sports people crave this sensation!  Flow is the state you reach when you become so immersed in the task at hand that you forget all physical limitations; fatigue and pain become almost blocked sensations because the task is so charged with emotion and purpose (“Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience” – Csikszentmihaly). One day, even though my hamstring was already showing signs of tightness, I decided to go for a particularly difficult 30+km run I have encountered before.  It was a difficult run because it was full of hills, the track was rough and had uninteresting scenery aside from a highway and many impatient cars and somehow the wind always worked against me!  This run wrecked me once in the past physically and emotionally so naturally, as a fitness junkie (and professed stubborn person!), I was determined to conquer it.  I started it out on a particularly warm day… yet there was still that wind working against me!  My run involved a there and back from Grovedale to the beach at Torquay.  The run there was tough.  Once you get past the highway there is still a great deal of distance from the ‘you have arrived at Torquay sign’ to the beach, which is very misleading if you compare the associated distance when driving in your car.  The sign is a false sense of security!  I thought I had arrived only to run at least another 6km more!  The worst part of the journey was the run back.  It wasn’t the distance!  I had run the kilometres before!  It was the uninspiring highway surroundings, the wind and the heat all at once… the fatigue… then suddenly there was pain in my hamstring!  My run became a shuffle… then a walk… then a stagger.  I was so angry with myself for being defeated by this run!  Yet… my body had warned me…

This injury was an issue for three years!  It still restricts my flexibility now!  I wouldn’t say I really rested it… I didn’t really feel it when teaching my Group Fitness classes… so I worked around it!  Being an instructor who is obsessed with good form and technique I became mortified when some of my exercise technique became compromised due to postural imbalances and restricted range in certain muscles.  It affected my dancing too!  I couldn’t jump or kick or split to the best of my ability and these were always things that had come quite natural to me in the past!

I have witnessed many instances of people pushing beyond what the body should do; runners racing marathons on injured legs, swimmers jumping straight back in the pool after shoulder dislocations and injuries, dancers performing on stress fractures and dislocated joints…  Many of us become angry with our bodies for betraying us… yet we betray them in so many ways!  We deny them sleep because of a fun late night activity or because work, hobbies or families take precedence, we distort our muscles and alter our postures because our sports demands it and we prioritise mastering this rather than balancing and strengthening other muscles, or our lifestyles become more convenient being hunched over a computer desk for hours at a time dedicating our time to a study or work deadlines rather than balancing these stints with a little time out. Often we choose to ‘suck it up’ rather than to acknowledge that we feel any bodily discomfort or pain because we believe that the activity we are immersed in takes precedence over our own perceived comfort levels. We are our body’s worst enemy!

There is the other extreme, those who shy away from any training when they experience any aches or pains.  A slight twinge in the lower back and they go and have a lie down rather than think of doing some gentle core exercises to get these muscles strong again, or they have a lower body injury such as a knee or ankle and choose to do nothing rather than work other muscles such as the upper body that are still functioning well and can be trained safely.  Despite us all needing to know our limitations we should all acknowledge that the body was designed to move so if we elect to do nothing we put ourselves at risk of other ailments.  We definitely need to recognize our weaknesses but this does not mean we should let go of our strengths.

Developing acute body awareness seems to be the key to a fit and healthy body.  All of us develop certain habits due to our lifestyles but if we develop an awareness of holding our posture in a certain position or if we draw attention to the fact that we sit for longer periods of time than we can find ways to break these habits.  Scheduling breaks from sitting at the desk to stand and stretch out should be rostered in regularly and take mere seconds to perform, being aware of an under active muscle during training and choosing specific exercises that isolate and activate the muscle may make us more conscious of the muscles switching on during our other training and regularly analysing and reviewing our posture sitting and standing can assist us to break bad habits and focus in on our weaknesses.  Think of other things you have perfected in your life; they improved with training, education, practice and reflection.  Why should it be different for our postures and the way our body physically functions?

Just like many other things in our lives, when something doesn’t immediately affect us, it can be forgotten.  If we are running and we don’t feel physical pain by a postural defect such as an inactive glute which can throw our pelvis out and alter our whole running stride, often we will continue to run and not think about our technique because we are so immersed in the activity itself.  Unfortunately what happens if we ignore these things for too long, they become our habits and then eventually because we have allowed and developed these imbalances, the pain does come and the activity becomes affected.  Suddenly we can’t run at all due to injury and because we have ignored these postural defects for so long, they become difficult to rehabilitate because we have repeated certain actions so often incorrectly.  They say it takes approximately 300 repetitions to perfect an action...  Imagine how many reps it will take to correct something that has been performed imperfectly thousands of times!  I am not saying we should forgo the sport we love or give up our prosperous office job;  we should merely recognise that we need to also make time to bring balance into our lives.  Weaknesses should be acknowledged, movements should seek equilibrium and time should be taken to perfect all that makes us imperfect so that we effectively heal our wounds.  That way the training that we eventually come to love will become unrestricted and a part of our lives for far longer.

The Art of Breathing Well

“Breathing is the first act of life.  Our very life depends on it.  Millions have never learned to master the art of correct breathing.” – Joseph Pilates

There are many things that the human body cannot survive long without; food, water, warmth… yet, it is the breath alone that would be the death of us if we were deprived of it for but a few minutes.  The breath is our life force; our first sign of life is when as an infant we cry out to take our first breath.  It is astounding that something so vital to us is something we often take for granted.  Many of us think breathing is an automatic process, yet so many of us have never mastered the art of breathing well.  Respiratory malfunctions such as asthma still debilitate 1 in 10 people of the Australian population; in fact in 2010 asthma caused the deaths of 416 Australians (National Asthma Council Australia).  For a condition with so many preventative measures, this is astonishing.  Shortness of breath is also been said to be a symptom of heart disease.  With these ailments we contribute many factors, external conditions, poor diet, genetics…  Not many of us consider our breathing patterns, habits or weak muscles that alter the depth and quality of our breath to be main contributing factors.     

The purpose of breathing is to take oxygen into the body by inhaling air, and to expel waste and toxins from the body through exhalation (“Breathing Your Way to Better Health” – B.B. Martin).  Oxygen (O2) is the most important nutrient that we need for health and wellbeing.  O2 not only gives us life, it also destroys harmful bacteria in our bodies without affecting the beneficial bacteria we need (“The Importance of Oxygen” – Dr. Morris F. Keller).  The quantity of oxygen that we get into our lungs depends on how we breathe and the quality of the air that we take in; aside from how we have physically trained ourselves to breathe and the depth of our breath, external factors such as air pollution can also affect the amount of oxygen that the body absorbs.  Since the body must have enough oxygen to work at its optimum, a deficiency in oxygen can contribute to many, many physical ailments; energy levels, an inability to eliminate waste products and toxins which can affect metabolism, lack of circulation which is particularly important when it comes to the health of our heart and brain, sleeping difficulties, it can affect muscle and joint health and flexibility; the muscles and joints require oxygen to build and repair and oxygen can also affect blood sugar levels (“Breathing Your Way to Better Health” – B.B. Martin). 

How Posture Affects the Breath

When we are breathing well the lungs are able to expand with ease and the breath moves down through the lungs and into the diaphragm, which is located at the base of the lungs.  The diaphragm expands on inhalation and then collapses on exhalation.  When we expel all of the outbreath, it enables us to release more toxins from the body.  For the breath to be considered deep, ‘diaphragm’ breathing the belly should expand and release with the breath.

Due to postural distortions such as kyphosis (severe slouching through the shoulders and rounding through the thoracic spine), deep breathing becomes a challenge.  If you consider how any other muscle tightness in your body restricts your movements in certain actions, it is not difficult to conclude that tightness through the muscles that surround the lungs can restrict lung capacity, thus limiting the amount of breath we are able to draw into the diaphragm.  Think of how restricted you feel when wearing a tight belt around the waistline; now imagine that belt around the lungs.  Due to the tightness through the chest, shoulders and neck, many kyphotic individuals find that they breathe into their chest due to restriction to the natural breathing path.  So breathing becomes shallower and the quality of breath is altered.

Tight abdominal muscles can also restrict the ability of the diaphragm to release.  Because of our natural tendency to brace the abs and tighten this area under load, expanding the belly while engaging these muscles at a high intensity level is almost a contradiction.  To enable a slightly deeper breath, Pilates uses a technique called thoracic breathing.  Thoracic breathing may not allow the diaphragm to expand to capacity because of the restriction of abdominal movement, but it does enable a deeper breath.  In thoracic breathing the rib cage expands outward on inhalation and collapses inward as the breath is exhaled.  This draws the breath out of the chest and enables a deeper breath.  There are many theories to support that tight abdominal core muscles are important for a healthy spine.  But, as with other muscle groups that we constantly tense and tighten, this can lead to postural distortion.  That is why it is important to occasionally remember to relax the abs and work the muscles in the back, but also to let go of these muscles on occasion, especially during times of relaxation to enable a deeper breath.

Breath-Holding

As a Personal Trainer I am always amazed by how many people hold their breath without even realizing.  Often when we undergo a task or situation that causes stress, our body stimulates a ‘startle reflex’ with one of the physical responses being holding our breath.  What causes this ‘startle reflex’ in physical training is often the concentration required to perfect a movement, especially if it is one being performed for the first time.  Sometimes the mere shock of the activity itself causes this breath holding, for example, an unexpected amount of resistance weight causing stress on the body can inspire someone to initially hold their breath.  I caught myself out the other day!  I worked through a stretch program I had been neglecting for weeks.  Knowing my posture was a little out of balance, I stretched out the muscles I perceived as overly tight to correct any anticipatory posture distortions.  As soon as I worked my way through these muscle groups, instant pain! And the shock of this immediately provoked a response where I held my breath.  My recent training in Pilates made me conscious of what I was doing and I instantly reminded myself to breathe.  But it made me think; how many other instances are there when I hold my breath?

For a week or two I decided to ‘tune into’ my breathing.  As an avid exerciser, I was surprised how much I held my breath during training!  Most of the time this was because a particular exercise was more intense than my brain was anticipating; I gasped and held my breath when I tested my working weight on a set of deadlifts.  The shock of the weight took my breath away and I had to consciously tell my self to breathe (which, by the way, helped relieve some of the shock and strain of the training).  This seemed to be a regular breathing pattern for me too!  Whenever I performed a task where the intensity level was a little higher than I was expecting, the shock of it made me gasp and hold my breath!  The most surprising occurrence of this was when I was teaching class; a program called CxWorx, which offers many high intensity options for core training, is something I teach 3-4 times per week.  The choreography is set so I am constantly forced to adapt and increase the intensity on my own training, as there are always new exercises that I haven’t experienced before.  One of the most challenging exercises I have been introduced to is being able to extend my arms and legs straight out while lying on my back and while holding a 5kg plate.  Most people, even with body weight, when you are in this posture with the arms and legs just hovering above the floor, the lack of core strength would cause them to arch the back and strain their lower back muscles.  Prior to teaching this program, as a PT this is an exercise I would have only considered giving an athlete with incredible core strength such as a gymnast.  Yet through teaching and perfecting CxWorx, I had trained myself to do this quite well.  There was something else I had trained myself to do every time I attempted to do this move… gasp and hold my breath!  Worst of all, due to the high level of repetitions in classes and the nature of teaching set choreography programs where often the same program is taught for 4-5 weeks consecutively, this breath holding had now officially become a habit! And they say it takes approximately 300 reps to perfect a movement!  How many reps does it take to correct something that has been performed incorrectly countless times??? 

The shock of strenuous activity didn’t only inspire breath holding, when I finally remembered to breathe, I noticed my breath became quite shallow.  Due to tense muscles, another result of shock; we hold our breath and almost freeze by tensing our muscles, my breathing wasn’t deep and relaxed and moving into my diaphragm (a task that is difficult when you tense the abdominal muscles which is often a requirement during training), it caused movement in my chest which is an indication of shallow breathing.

I noticed that this same habit of breath holding when the task at hand proved strenuous was common among many of my personal training clients.  It was also common when they were introduced to a new exercise.  The concentration of perfecting a new movement and all the intricate details of correct technique inspired this same breath holding.  Some clients even confessed that breathing is something they have difficulty with in other tasks; especially if they are multi-tasking or the activity requires a great deal of concentration.  In Pilates, often the breath and the speed of the movement are measured.  In many Pilates’ exercises, due to the tension required in the abdominals, thoracic breathing is often addressed to deepen breathing during training.  Yet, I have had participants come and tell me that they have only been able to feel the chest move up and down with their breath, so when it came to measuring and slowing down the breath and movements, they felt as though they were running out of air before they had completed the movement.

According to Michael Grant White, Executive Director of the Optimum Breathing Association (www.breathing.com), many of our ‘bad breathing habits’ are learned when we are young; as children we hold our breath to control our fear, anger or even love or excitement that we feel. According to White, things such as ‘normal’ parenting can create chronic tension in a sensitive child (“Breath Holding- Optimal Breathing” – Michael Grant White).  An infant or a child hearing “NO!!!” or “DON’T!!” in response to throwing food, or reaching for a pot of boiling water from an overhead bench top can induce breath holding and body tension due to the ‘startle reflex’.  If repeated often enough this can set in to cause the entire body to remain tightened up to foster potentially very irregular breathing patterns (“Breath Holding- Optimal Breathing” – Michael Grant White).

Associated Health Risks

Aside from known respiratory ailments such as asthma that holding your breath can induce, research has linked other fatal ailments with this.  Dr. David Anderson, a researcher and hypertension specialist with the National Institutes of Health believes that inhibitory breathing raises blood pressure by “knocking our blood chemistry out of kilter” (“What are You Holding Your Breath For? Let It Go for Lower Blood Pressure and Better Health” – www.highbpmed.com).  It does this by destabilizing levels of gases such as oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitric oxide in our blood, thus making it more acidic.  This makes the kidneys less efficient at pumping out sodium thus increasing blood pressure (“What are You Holding Your Breath For? Let It Go for Lower Blood Pressure and Better Health” – www.highbpmed.com).  Nitric oxide is produced by our cells and is especially abundant in the nasal airways.  Breathing slowly and deeply through the nose helps deliver the gas to our lungs and into the blood stream.  In contrast, fast erratic breathing, or no breathing, decreases the amount of nitric oxide in the blood thus resulting in an increase in blood pressure levels (“What are You Holding Your Breath For? Let It Go for Lower Blood Pressure and Better Health” – www.highbpmed.com).

Breathing for Better Health

If fast, erratic and shallow breathing can raise your blood pressure, it follows that slow regular and deep breathing can lower it.  According to Dr. David Anderson, a method called ‘slow breathing’ practiced for as little as 10-15 minutes a day has proved to produce significant and lasting drops in blood pressure (“What are You Holding Your Breath For? Let It Go for Lower Blood Pressure and Better Health” – www.highbpmed.com).  After studying and practicing Pilates I have found that metered breathing with slow, controlled physical movements also helps release stress and enhances muscle relaxation to assist with movement quality.  A lot of people who meditate find that starting with a conscious, slow breath helps relieve stress and centre energy thus taking them to a deeper state of relaxation.  Who would have thought that something so taken for granted such as focusing on each breath we take could have such an effect!

 As Joseph Pilates once said “breathing is the first act of life.  Our very lives depend on it. [Yet] millions have never learned to master the art of correct breathing”.  Inhibitory breathing is said to be a common reaction to emotions; we feel fear, anger, abandonment, surprise and we learn quite young to hold our breath.  We concentrate on the task at hand and we hold our breath, we ride out the emotional rollercoaster of our lives and often don’t realize that we haven’t drawn breath that apparently is an automatic process for our body!  Suddenly we find ourselves choking on our words, tense, our temperature rising and a feeling that the breath we were holding onto, suddenly we can’t catch it!  I for one will be taking my 10-15min a day to learn how to breathe again- just 10 minutes to slow down and feel the deep inhalation and exhalation.  Something this vital to our lives and wellbeing shouldn’t be so taken for granted.    

The Emotional Eater

The emotions aren't always immediately subject to reason, but they are always immediately subject to action” – William James.

“Sometimes the strongest cravings for food happen when you’re at your weakest point emotionally” (“Weight-loss help: Gain Control of Emotional Eating” – Mayo Clinic Staff).  Many emotional eaters realize that the sweet, starchy foods they are reaching for are wrong, however, the release of opiate-type chemicals in the brain influences choices away from what is good for the body in place of what offers a feeling of comfort.  Emotional eating can be triggered by many factors; stress at work, home or in other relationships, boredom, loneliness, unemployment or financial concerns, conflicts, health problems, bad weather and fatigue.  Unfortunately, this concept of food offering a comfort or distraction from our emotions is ingrained in us from early childhood; anyone who has been offered a sweet treat to stop crying when an infant or to stop that tantrum when a toddler has been taught to believe that food (and usually junk food) is the key to comfort.  In a fast-paced, anxious society where we barely have time to see to our emotions, how do we put our emotions at bay when it comes to our eating?

Emotional eating (which is often associated with compulsive over-eating) is when individuals attempt to preoccupy themselves with compulsive eating to distract themselves from negative emotions.  This uncontrollable eating can occur even when the individual isn’t physically hungry and often leads to feelings of guilt… which then cause a vicious circle as the guilt feelings often lead to more over-eating.  Unfortunately, this habit is taught to us when we are very young; many parents feed infants to prevent crying, some parents prefer to rely on sweet distractions in favor of controlling a toddler tantrum…  and who can blame them???  We all desire to be stress free and comfortable in our world so why shouldn’t parents be granted the same privilege???  It is a difficult thing forgoing our own comfort in search of what is really good for us.  Sugar is also a good pick-me-up; it is that simple, instant energy that instantly lifts the mood!  Why wouldn’t we seek it out when we are at our lowest???

There are several reasons why people emotionally eat; stress and anxiety, which can be inspired by work, lack of it, loved ones or a lack of those, health, the environment and financial issues.  People coping with stress can display a variety of obsessive-compulsive traits; some can exercise obsessively, some can sit and over-analyze every detail, but an emotional eater over-eats.  Standard dietary advice is insignificant to emotional eaters, because they already know that junk food is unhealthy (“Emotional Eating” – Lara Grinevich, Bijana Koga and Deborah Gibson).  They know, but when they are consumed by negative emotions, they don’t care.  Emotions do not respond to logical diet advice, they respond to comfort and as the sugar found in sweet and starchy foods offer an instant high, this drug-like effect often seems like a quick fix to all bad feelings.  Unfortunately, sweet induced comfort is often very short lived.  Most sugar highs last for only 10-15 minutes; “a reactive drop in mood often follows, and the withdrawal misery is made worse by the guilt of having had junk food” (“Emotional Eating” – Lara Grinevich, Bijana Koga and Deborah Gibson). 

There are many warning signs of emotional eating; sudden onset of hunger after a stressful event, unconscious eating (finishing an entire box of chocolates without noticing), increased hunger after eating rather than satiety, an attempt to hide junk food and over-indulgent eating from family and friends, guilt after eating, downward spiral of eating more food as self-punishment for having eaten some food (“Emotional Eating” – Lara Grinevich, Bijana Koga and Deborah Gibson).  Often the first step to altering a behavior is to acknowledge the emotion or situation that triggers it.  When the desire for food can be recognized as a comfort or a distraction, then bad habits can be replaced with good ones.

Although negative emotions can trigger emotional eating, steps can be taken to control cravings and renew healthy eating: 

If stress has been recognized as a cause of emotional eating, other stress management techniques such as yoga, meditation or relaxation can be acquired as a replacement to the comfort that over-eating provides.  In a study headed by Dr. Alan Kristal of 300 people over 10 years, those who did yoga for more than one hour per week had a significantly lower body mass index than those who did not, independent of total activity and diet (“Emotional Eating” – Lara Grinevich, Bijana Koga and Deborah Gibson).  The benefit on mindful eating was unique to yoga, and was not observed in other forms of training such as walking or running.  Yoga also teaches us to train the mind to observe discomfort in a calm and accepting way.  According to lead researcher Dr. Alan Kristal “This ability to be calm and observant during physical discomfort teaches how to maintain calm in other challenging situations, such as not eating more even when food tastes good and not eating when you’re not hungry.”

Becoming more observant of the bodily sensation of real hunger can help emotional eaters gain control of their over-eating.  If you have just eaten and are distracted by a sudden rumbling in the stomach, perhaps ask what really inspired the rumbling?  In this instance sometimes a food diary can be an invaluable tool.  Keeping a track of all foods consumed throughout the day, the times they were eaten and the emotions felt when consumed can help an emotional eater become accountable for foods consumed but, also, recognize patterns that lead them off track.

Like with all problems in our life, our support network is the key to our recovery.  When surrounded by negative people, our most negative thoughts are confirmed and our confidence to move on or change leaves us.  Most of the time our friends and family have our best interest at heart, and if this is the case turn to them in your hour of need.  However, if this is not the case, and those near and dear to you leave you feeling a sense of doubt about who you are and what you can do, seek outside support.  Support groups who have confronted similar problems to you can offer a nurturing environment.  Also, professional counseling can offer a rational prospective when we are caught up in the emotions that govern our lives.

Boredom can be a big trigger toward emotional eating.  Many of my clients who have claimed to eat very well during the day claim to do their worst nutrition behavior in those few hours at night before bed… Many people who claim to have emptied an entire tray of biscuits on a regular basis often do this unconsciously as a hand-to-mouth activity that fills these few hours.  Finding other interests to preoccupy the mind can be an easy way to replace eating with another activity.  Why not put this time to better use; read, surf the net, indulge in that interest that there never seems enough hours in the day for, call friends, listen to music, exercise or entertain that nagging pet you have that seems to crave your attention.  Time is precious, why spend our every waking minute living to eat?  If eating has become associated with a particular activity, for example, popcorn during a movie, or a snack while watching TV, replace this with a better habit such as drinking water or finding a healthier snack alternative. 

If a particular sweet is something that is really enjoyed, save this for a special occasion and, rather than feel guilty for this indulgent moment, enjoy it!  When we deprive ourselves of what we really love, it often makes us crave it more.  However, rather than give in to every weak moment, to alleviate feelings of guilt, show control most of the time, but when those very special occasions arise such as that rich chocolate sponge on your birthday or the beach side fish and chips that acknowledge a particular anniversary, why not cherish the moment?

Regular sleep cannot only help with stress levels; it assists with releasing hormones that assist with appetite suppressing.    Sleep affects several hormones in the human body.  Two hormones that play an important role in stimulating and suppressing your appetite are leptin and ghrelin (“Why Sleep Is Key for Weight Loss” – www.fitday.com).  Leptin is produced by your body’s fat cells and is responsible for suppressing hunger and Ghrelin is released by your stomach and stimulates your appetite.  Lack of sleep can lower the levels of leptin in your body and can heighten the levels of ghrelin, encouraging you to eat more.  Also, lack of sleep affects cortisol levels.  Irregular or shortened sleep heightens cortisol levels in your blood and lowers metabolism as cortisol stimulates breaking down protein into glucose.  Lack of sleep stimulates weight-gaining hormones whereas regular sleep and recovery stimulates metabolism and appetite suppressors. 

For some of us, when comfort foods aren’t stocked they become less of a temptation.  If that pack of biscuits is going to be a constant distraction through those bored, lonely hours of the evening, don’t stock them!  And if the day has proved stressful and full of comfort, don’t plan that trip to the supermarket where your every temptation is within reach or your over- indulgent fingertips!  Sometimes our biggest temptations are forgotten when they aren’t within reach.

Emotions are a funny thing; they can inspire us to our best and worst, they can weaken us when surrounded by our fears and insecurities and they can strengthen us and inspire us when surrounded by what we love most in our lives.  When it comes to our health and nutrition we can be the most admirable creatures on earth- governed by our knowledge of what is good for us, or we can be the emotional eater who lets every negative influence weaken our own self-will to do right by ourselves and succumb to our every whim.  Most of us are logical enough to decide what is right or wrong when it comes to feeding our bodies, whether we let our emotions govern our lives is something else.

Ab Blast: Why so many of us do our Core a Disservice!

"It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential".
-Bruce Lee 

There are so many reasons that people choose to train their core; rehabilitation from back injury, stability, losing body fat, vanity… yet there are so many theories and exercise suggestions on what we do to get there…  yet the common crunch seems to retain a presence no matter where we look!  A trim waistline has been proven to be a popular thing! And lower backs seem to be the most popular injury of all… With so much lack of success when it comes to the trim waist and strong back, why are so many of us so willing to cling to the old ideas about training core and not embrace the new???  Why won’t any of us, despite our education and experience, let go of the crunch???

The core is made up of inner and outer units; the inner units are made up of transverse abdominis, mutlifidus, diaphragm and pelvic floor.  These are low intensity muscles that wrap around the spine to hug and support it.  The inner units are also said to be the anticipatory core; if one moves an arm or a leg, (when functioning well) these muscles anticipate the movement and activate to serve as an anchor for the trunk.

The outer units consist of the Lats, Obliques, Recuts Abdominis, Erector Spinae, Glutes etc. and support the spine when under load and during movement.  When these muscles are balanced and strong, the spine keeps its ideal neutral state that promotes a healthy lower back and it offers a strong postural center and postural control within ongoing movement patterns.  The outer units are said to be part of the ‘reactive core’; when one goes to move arms or legs, these muscles switch on after the inner core and decipher their activation level depending on the direction of the movement (“Core Conversations: The Anticipatory vs. Reactive Core” – Julie Wiebe).

When people think of losing body fat it is often the waistline that becomes the greatest target.  It is no secret; the key to a trim waistline is diet… yet, there haven’t been more contraptions invented by home gym sellers than that which has targeted the abdominals, and classes such as ‘ab blast’ and ‘abs plus’ and ‘toned tummies’ seem to remain on most Group Fitness timetables despite industry trend changes and other programs fading in and out.  Despite all the contrary information out there, so many of us just won’t let go of the idea that 100 crunches a day is the key to the flat, toned, strong stomach!

A recent study lead by Dr Jinger S. Gottschall of Pennsylvania State University influenced the value I have placed on crunches for strengthening and toning the abdominal area.  In this study 20 participants including instructors were wired up to an ENG machine to test the abdominal activation in a Body Combat class.  The muscles wired up were the rectus abdominis and external obliques, which are the surface abdominal muscles, used in crunches.  Subjects performed the moves performed in Body Combat release 51 and then performed crunches to the same speed of the music and time of the moves in that release.  The results showed that certain Body Combat moves such as jabs, front kicks, and high knees recorded a higher level of abdominal activation compared to that of a crunch; a jab showed 1.62x the amount of abdominal activation over 20 seconds compared to crunches performed at the same speed for this duration and double front kicks showed 2.3x the amount of activation compared to that of a crunch!  When the results were compared and calculated, 1 Body Combat class equaled 1700 crunches!!!  According to Bryce Hastings (Technical Consultant for Les Mills International) Body Combat is a form of Reactive Core training; this form of training exploits the body’s natural muscle wiring and natural reflexes through repetitive movements.  The reactive core is also said to be more useful when the body is under load. 

In the late 1990’s when Pilates swept the nation, the inner unit of abdominals became the focus and the answer to all lower back pain.  The solution rested in the idea of ‘hollowing’ (“Applied Core Science” – Bryce Hastings Technical consultant for Les Mills International).  Drawing in the abdomen and flattening the spine could successfully activate the inner unit with the main focus being transverse abdominis and multifidus.  This line of thought successfully healed many lower back issues when it came to day-to-day tasks and inactive lifestyles.  Unfortunately, these muscles only offer support when the spine is in gentle postures.  Transverse abdominis and multifidus are small muscles that operate at a low intensity.

Canadian Bio-Mechanics expert Stuart McGill challenged the idea of hollowing; hollowing changed the length of abdominal muscles such as rectus abdominis and external obliques so they ‘buckled’ when hollowed and could no longer support the spine at full potential.  McGill suggested the idea of ‘bracing the abdominals’ rather than hollowing; that way the spine remained neutral and the muscles could remain at normal length so that they could support the spine from the outer unit.  It was also McGill that recommended hovers and planks as key exercises to strengthening abdominal muscles as they allowed the spine to remain neutral and the external abdominal muscles to support the spine at normal length. Dr. Jinger S. Gottschall of Pennsylvania State University also conducted a study where 10 participants were wired up to an ENG machine and the amount of abdominal activity was compared between integrated exercises such as a hover compared to isolation exercises such as a crunch.  Integrated exercises showed more muscle activity compared to isolation.

There has been so much more research done since the common crunch; yet many of us cling to it as though it is the be all and end all of abdominal exercises.  We crunch in hope of strength, a trimmed waistline, and that stronger back so that pain won’t hinder us! Yet there are so many things that have been proven to work better than the common crunch - to equal the reactive core activation shown in a Body Combat class, you would have to complete 1700 crunches!  Integrated exercises such as a hover have measured more abdominal activity compared to the isolated crunch and have been known to bring the body back to its preferred neutral spine position.  Yet, even considering all these facts the core/stretch training area of any gym the most entertaining of all mainly due to it basically representing  misinformation on display; crunches performed at back breaking speeds, crunches performed with more neck activation than abs, spines being forced into distorted positions and all this shows is ignorance of what the core is and does!  When our core is strong, our whole body is strong... yet so many of us are willing to abuse our bodies by distorting our postures to enhance the burn we feel from particular crunch type exercises that serve no functional purpose.  Why is the ‘burn’ always favoured above research and education???

Coaching a Team in the Group Fitness Arena

"Individual commitment to a group effort, that is what makes a team work" - Vince Lombardi.

Having taught Group Fitness classes at various venues for 13 years I have seen many people come and go.  Some disappear because of relocation and some because of lifestyle changes such as work or family.  Often in these cases explanations are given heart-felt farewells are made.  It is hard not to miss a familiar face even if it is only for once a week in a one hour group fitness class; no matter what level it is on I believe we all value connections we make with others because it brings us closer to our surroundings and makes us feel a part of something.  What is disappointing to me as a Group Fitness Instructor is the realisation that certain faces have 'disappeared' from class without explanation.... Others gave explanations and regretted that they would no longer be a part of the experience.... so did these others not feel a part of it?... Or did the experience no longer motivate them to come back???  I believe the best measure of a successful class isn't merely if there is a great number of attendance, it is whether the numbers are made up of the same faces attending again and again.  So what motivated the others to just 'stop' attending???

I was recently reading a Sports Psychology article by P Mauro entitled "How Mental Training Can Improve Your Performance". This article was actually in reference to how coaches could assist triathletes to perform better during competition but it did raise some valid points that made me consider the group fitness arena...  In any team sports there are the following traits; an enjoyment factor inspired by the activity itself, a Coach to provide guidance, the social camaraderie of team mates, the desire to perfect skills, the motivation of achieving goals and success at the sport; whether this be beating ones personal timed record, finally mastering a skill or the team's winning performance.  There is always a struggle from both athlete and coach to find motivation to push through set backs, but when it is found people stay passionate about the sport and stay faithful to it (on some level) for life.  With so much in common with team sports, what is the missing ingredient when it comes to this faithful bond and group fitness?

I would describe my Group Fitness career as experiencing much ebb and flow; my performing arts background made me dwell on the connection to the music, so my classes were all about 'fun and performance', then my Body Step trainer opened my eyes to the importance of technique... so I became the 'technique nazi'... and my background in PT didn't help that one... so my classes became all about muscle activation and fitness benefits... so they lost the fun...  More recently I completed some Les Mills Advanced Instructor courses and had my eyes widened further!  Not only was I informed that programs were deliberately structured to suit certain personality traits, I also learned that nearly every person that entered class attended for a different reason; some came because it was social and fun, some wanted the benefits, some wanted to feel nurtured, some wanted to be pushed beyond what they were capable of alone, some wanted to perfect skills and some just wanted to be motivated by the music, the atmosphere and the energy!  When I think back to my classes as the 'fun performer' or the 'technique nazi' I finally realize why faces faded out of my classes never to be seen
again!  It was because I was not considering everyone in my team.

I believe that P. Mauro's theories on successful triathlon coaching can be applied to the group fitness arena;  Mauro discusses the importance of competition, various aspects of motivation that affect attitude and performance, defining objectives and setting goals, encouraging athletes through mental toughness through imagery, consistency, concentration and team bonding.

It is part of human nature that we compare ourselves with others; we better our skills, appearance and performance based on a standard set by others.  In a sporting team we can better our running speed or our goal average by comparing the efforts of our mates and records set by others before us.  In the Group Fitness arena this can be done also.  We can hold a plank longer than the person beside us, perform push-ups better or even jump higher than those around us. We can remain motivated and confident based on the efforts of others.

We must never forget (as Group Fitness Coaches) the social aspect of what we do and human being's inevitable desire to connect and belong to the world that surrounds them.  I often see instructors
prepare for classes and get consumed by perfecting choreography... or they dwell on one aspect if the training and focus on physical perfection and results and suck all the fun and the social aspect out of the room.  When bonds are created , people stay true.  Why discourage the fun and chatter that draws people closer together???

Often as Group Fitness Coaches I believe we forget to connect participants to their goals.  If there is nothing measurable then how are we going to stay accountable???  And if there is no accountability, why would we remain in the room???  Our goals don't have to be to "get fit and lose weight".  They might be to perfect a push-up... or to gain more reps than the previous class.  I believe that results are often a neglected tool in the group fitness arena but, if considered more regularly, could inspire more faithful attendance; many of us took up a class for one reason or another... people may come back because of the social environment or the music... but often it was a personal fitness goal that encouraged them to participate to begin with. All class members should measure their goals regularly; perhaps we should encourage members to regularly be weighed and measured if their goal is weight-loss, perhaps the importance of diet should be mentioned more often, for fitness goals perhaps individuals could chose an exercise regularly included in the class that they usually struggle with and commit to competing it more successfully; if they usually opt out of push-ups or plyometric lunges why not encourage them to complete a full set as a test of fitness or strength. When we don't set goals we lose motivation because our training is pointless. We all should be reminded of our goals regularly and be encouraged to measure them and reassess them.

What motivates us to take on a sport or physical activity to start with can keep us coming back. I started to learn dancing because I was infatuated with Michael Jackson; this man was unique and invented ways to move! Whenever I lose the motivation to dance I look at new film clips and become inspired by how dance has evolved and how many new moves and styles have been invented, or I go back to MJ clips and remind myself of why I loved dance to begin with. I am still dancing and find I 
am drawn to teaching dance programs so I can encourage more people to dance. Often what group fitness instructors forget to remind their participants of is what motivated them to choose that particular class to begin with?  Often it is that raw motivation that holds most true to them.  We should encourage members to try out classes that appeal to them on a personal level; maybe an individual is suffering from stress or anxiety and would find the 'time-out' offered in a yoga class soothing.... or perhaps they want the opposite and want to hit it out in a boxing class and find their release that way!!!  The activity itself has to offer something interesting and personally satisfying.

Please let us never forget the music! Music in a group fitness class offers more motivation than any team sporting anthem can bring because it not only motivates a sense of team spirit with the scene set by the musical sounds and lyrics, the drive provided by the beat and music volume can inspire energy and intensity in all movements.  Music can provide soothing sounds and a steady beat to help the chilled out atmosphere of a yoga relaxation session, it can inspire one to jump higher or run faster in a Body Attack class through volume and fast tempos and it can provide a steady pace with a motivating back ground in any Pump or Cycle class.  If there was not backing music to our class experience, would we feel the same connection to the people in front of us... and would they feel this back???  Music can also help with mental imagery and offering participants a form of escapism.  In Sh'bam we are taught to 'tell stories' to keep classes light and chatty.  These stories generally stem from the music or the lyrics; a Latin track may transport a group to a Spanish bull-fighting arena, while the song "Fame" might make members believe that they are auditioning for a Performing Arts' Academy just like the movie. This takes away the pressure of participants feeling like they have to master the dance moves which often inspires self-consciousness. Music is a powerful connection tool that draws out different emotions in all of us.  It is also a powerful distraction to help motivate people through pain barriers and the self-consciousness felt when movements are not yet mastered.  Music can even help the class enjoy the physical training despite the intensity level.

After reading P Muaruo, I believe that a good coach motivates through sticking points.  Anyone who has trained physically has experienced some set backs, or a moment where progression was challenging to the point where it seemed impossible!  Offering modifications as a way of pushing through the training is essential in these circumstances.  We all have days when we are more fatigued and don't perform at our best and class members feeling this way should be assured of this and offered alternatives.  After all, we shouldn't leave team members behind!  Also, perseverance should be encouraged.  Things usually get better and easier with more practice.  If someone is feeling self-conscious because they have had to modify the intensity level or they haven't yet mastered coordination of a movement, assure them that 'coming back' is the key to their success.  As a Body Jam instructor I have witnessed many individuals run from the studio in fear of embarrassment! I have been dancing since I was 3 and I am still learning!  It always amazes me how hard people are on themselves when they don't master something on the very first attempt.

Many coaches are granted the title due to their experience with their sport.  For a Group Fitness Coach to be able to teach other's physical skills, not only should they be able to role model correct and admirable technique, they should also have knowledge of the moves and what the benefits of them are.  If someone teaching a core class such as an Abs Plus or a CxWorx class does not have knowledge of anatomy, how can he/she coach others to effectively train core?  If a Pump instructor doesn't know what muscles are being targeted and the benefits of resistance work, how can others be educated on the benefits? If a Jam instructor has never danced and has no knowledge of the genre of choreography, how are others expected to buy into it???  I believe that all Group Fitness instructors owe it to their classes not only to be educated and knowledgeable on what they are teaching, but to also physically practice and perfect the skills themselves so that others can gain more knowledge and understanding.  Understanding the benefits of certain moves gives the training purpose and encourages class members to master their training.

Successful coaches consider the whole team and bring out the best performance in everyone.  Many of us have our own beliefs on training, and our own personality traits influence what we have a natural tendency to focus on when coaching our classes.  Unfortunately, our own individual tendencies don't reflect the needs of everyone in the room. In any sporting team individual athletes have various strengths and weakness.  A good coach would recognize this, play strengths to advantage and find ways to improve and motivate through weaknesses.  If this strategy could be applied to the group fitness arena... just think of the possibilities!

Perfectionism in Life, Fitness and Wellness

“A perfection of means, and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem”.  - Albert Einstein.

‘Perfectionism has been defined as “a personality disposition characterized by an individual striving for flawlessness and setting excessively high performance standards, accompanied by overly critical self-evaluations and concerns regarding others’ evaluations” (Wikipedia).  If the person is adaptive, perfectionism can be a positive trait that motivates people to reach their goals.  People can derive pleasure from their efforts to perfect their life’s passion; whether it is at work, sport, academic or interpersonal relationships.  However, there are many maladaptive perfectionists who strive compulsively and unceasingly toward unobtainable goals and who measure their self-worth with their “productivity and accomplishment” (Wikipedia).   Maladaptive perfectionists set themselves up for failure, and in failing can develop such neuroses as fear, anxiety and depression.

In contrast to the adaptive perfectionist, sometimes, in the maladaptive perfectionist, the fear of failure becomes so great that they procrastinate and very rarely strive for the goals that they are most passionate about.  Maladaptive perfectionists can suffer from anxiety and low self-esteem.  Many perfectionists develop obsessive compulsive traits that can develop into many disorders; eating disorders, social anxiety, social phobia, work-a-holism, self-harm, substance abuse and clinical depression as well as physical problems like chronic stress and heart disease (“Being a Perfectionist can take its Toll on Health” www.msnbc.msn.com).

I understand our societies compulsion toward perfection; our role models are airbrushed and flawless, money and owning stuff gives us status so there is pressure to be important enough to make lots of that, we need to feel valued and love so we must seek out the perfect partner and then we must have the perfect children to increase the amount of love and value we feel… but then we must be unique and memorable… so we need to cultivate a talent- music, art, sport… anything we can find to define us and perfect this….  How do we find the hours in our day to be the perfect master in all these things?!!  How do we not become obsessive control freak- workaholic-chronically stressed individuals when life demands us to be so much!

Let’s look at perfectionism within the fitness world; it can mean the inability to accept our physical appearance, the desire to perfect certain physical skills, the need to treat our ‘body as a temple’ by perfecting our diet and not polluting it with harmful substances (and this can go from the obvious to the frivolous!) or the desire to obtain our personal goals.  Fitness Perfectionism can be both adaptive and maladaptive… it can inspire us to a discipline level we never thought capable of ourselves, or it can turn us into obsessive compulsive freaks that can’t let go of our regime in fear that we will deviate drastically from the results we have successfully obtained through our hard work. 

An adaptive fitness perfectionist admires his or her success; they notice admirable physical adaptations and accept their lifestyle adaptations through diet and exercise as mandatory to retain their successful fitness results…  A maladaptive fitness perfectionist finds obsessiveness and disappointment in training… failed weight reps can equal failure! discomfort can equal the same…  weight loss is great but if it does not happen to calculated measure, this is deemed unacceptable…

Maladaptive perfectionism can also inspire procrastination.  Due to the fear of failure, perfectionists may not exert themselves to full potential- whether it be by backing off their resistance weight, or holding back their cardio peak because they dread that feeling of failing to lift the bar or failing to complete that last minute’s worth of training…  The maladaptive perfectionist ties his/herself to the idea of success… whether this means they procrastinate by not changing the exercise intensity for weeks or months in fear of failure, or whether this means obsessively compulsively practicing the skill until it meets satisfaction (which is never) thus resulting in fatigue or even injury!

As a dancer and fitness professional I have felt the pressure of perfection; there is pressure to look a certain way and move a certain way, there is pressure to train the body for amounts of time some people would deem unfathomable, there a competitive pressure to keep up with all of those around in both skills and performance and there is pressure to reflect a personality others are lured to so as to cultivate any hope of success.  An adaptive perfectionist would say ‘bring on the challenge!’  They would do what they had to do to harness their skills and learn from failure so that they could stand up and be a real competitor!  A maladaptive perfectionist does not have this fate. 

When I visualize a maladaptive perfectionist, I picture Nina from the movie "Black Swan."   In this film,  Nina, trains obsessively to perfect her art, she sacrifices human connection to the point where she is social-a-phobic, she starves herself to ‘perfect’ her body and she chooses safety and technique in her dancing to ‘perfect’ the white swan in fear of really letting go and tapping into the unknown which is black and fearful!  It is true that when she does finally let go and find her black swan she consciously leaps to her death… but is this not typical of the maladaptive perfectionist?  Harm is favoured and welcomed, the lesson secondary and missed…

The fitness world can inspire this level of destructive obsessiveness; I have known body sculpting competitors who have risked kidney failure to compete, obsessive instructors who have worn their knees and hips out and had their careers end at a far too early age, people who have trained through torn muscles only to have the injury prolonged, trainers who have been hospitalised for ailments and were sprung doing pull ups from their hospital bed...!!!  It is as though we believe with becoming obsessive with perfecting our passions, we are licenced to be indestructible! 

“Perfectionism” seems like a shiny attractive thing that brings people closer to themselves and their life’s ambitions.  As an individual who has been a slave to maladaptive perfectionism, I can tell you that you are in for a world of pain!  Perfectionism has inspired a world of doubt within me and held me back!  I have taken fewer steps because I have doubted my abilities; I have closed my eyes too often because of the fear of the unknown…. Life offers change and many perfectionists shy away from it because it takes them beyond their control…. But what if control only brings ignorance, and frustration, and a lack of hope?  I guess this is where the imperfect and the more daring have an advantage.  If we learn and accept failure, maybe we can be delighted with our passions rather than obsessed with them, and  if we accept our shortcomings as unique to us, maybe they become valuable to our life’s experience.  If perfectionism is to hold any glow of positivity, it must be the inspiration to do what is better for ourselves, rather than something that hinders us and leads us to a world of non-achieving and disappointment.

Mind, Body & Spirit

"If there is right in the Soul,

There will be beauty in the person.

If there is beauty in the person,

There will be harmony in the home.

If there is harmony in the home,

There will be order in the nation.

If there is order in the nation,

There will be peace in the world." – Lao Tze

“Fundamentally, the word “health” comes from the root word “whole” (“Yoga Energy: Mind Body Spirit – Sadhguru “Huffpost Healthy Living”).  However, many of us from Western society only think in terms of our body when it comes to our health and fitness; being healthy means we are disease free and being fit means that we exercise our bodies to build strong muscles and healthy lungs.    But if we do go back to the root of the word “health” our medical health alone does not give us a sense of ‘wholeness.’  The term ‘whole’ takes into account our entire being.  If we are to take the concept of ‘health’ meaning ‘whole’ how can we not talk about our sense of wellness from within?

There have been many philosophers and scientists who have supported dualistic theories when it comes to mind and body.  According to 17^th century French philosopher Rene Descartes “I think, therefore I am;” Descartes wrote a thesis on mind-body dualism that established that he had a mind without needing to assume he had a body – “I understand the mind to be indivisible by its very nature, I understand the body to be divisible by its very nature, therefore, the mind is completely different from the body.”  A lot of western medicine seems to support Descartes theory of the body being a separate entity to the mind; ailments are physically and scientifically diagnosed and then symptoms are chemically or surgically treated.  Emotion is not recognized as a cause or a cure.

I think it is the eastern influence on our culture and developed theories on emotional intelligence and health that have influenced our culture and brought us round to the concept of ‘body-mind.’  This more unified concept argues that the body, mind, emotions and spirit are dynamically interrelated; each time a change is introduced at one level “it has a ripple effect throughout the entire system” (Wikipedia).  The belief of Body-mind theorists is that the body holds all experiences – both physical stress and emotional injury – so specific postural positions or muscle tension can bring back memories and emotions.  Body-mind therapy combines the strengths of “talk” therapy with body work, such as touch, postural alignment or movement education and exercise to increase body awareness, also known as mind-body or somatic therapy.  This therapy helps people become deeply aware of their bodily sensations as well as their emotions, images and behaviour.  Patients become more conscious of how they breathe, move, speak and where they experience feelings in their bodies (Wikipedia).  Suddenly there is a blur in the lines dividing mind and body.

In Yoga, when the term “health” is used, it isn’t in terms of either the body or the mind; it is only in terms of energy (Yoga Energy: Mind Body Spirit – Sadhguru “Huffpost Healthy Living”).  In yoga, if your energy body is in proper balance and in full flow, your physical body and mental body will be in perfect health.  Now the spirit governs our very health!

When we refer to our ‘well-being’ we are usually talking in terms of finding balance and nourishing all aspects of our life; our physical health through exercise and proper eating, our emotional health, finding success or a sense of importance through our occupation, a spiritual connection to our universe, being social and being connected to those around us, nurturing our intellect by gaining further knowledge of ourselves and our surroundings.  If this is true, there are many un-well beings among us.  As a fitness professional, I keep hearing about how time poor everyone is… people can’t spend time on their physical fitness because their work schedule is too hectic, some people sacrifice their physical fitness or their career due to overwhelming family commitments, there are people who train their body all the time but then over-stimulate it with supplements and pollute their bodies rather than nourish it through good nutrition… and then they are unwilling to enhance their education on the matter- or any other matter- because their time is so consumed with their obsessions and then the intellect becomes starved and once again the balance lost!  Many of us lose sight of our ‘whole’ health and well-being because we overindulge in one aspect of our life.

Fatigue is often a state recognised but never alleviated.  Many of us soldier on and endure the tired dragging of our feet and bodies.  Often there is admiration when we do this.  What we don’t stop to realise is that fatigue often comes when we overindulge in one aspect of our life and don’t nurture another.  If we are fatigued are we happy?  If we draw away from the centre of our well-being and focus on only select-criteria of what makes us whole, will we ever be satisfied with ourselves?  We compromise and neglect our energy constantly.

     Health and wellness are defined as being diseased free and having a functioning body.  What if the rest of our life is dysfunctional???  Are we well when we are fit to run a marathon but have no one in our lives to connect to?  Are we happy when our careers soar but feel like we are susceptible to a coronary when we climb a flight of stairs?  Is contentment found when we have the family of our dreams but our hunger for knowledge or our desire for career have been denied?  And if the wellness from within is not at a state we deem healthy, will our bodies just stand up and function as if this doesn’t matter???

So where do we focus our attention?  If we neglect our bodies we do run the risk of experiencing bad health and possibly disease… our body is our temple and should not be neglected.  There is much evidence that shows that neglecting our mind and our emotions can lead to poor health.  This once again puts our body, our physical and scientifically proven entity of who we are and what we represent, at risk… so our thoughts and feelings aren’t necessarily invisible…  I personally like the yogi philosophy of attending to our spiritual energy.  Yoga uses physical movement and mind connection to align our energy and bring it to a state of flow… and yet I can still see these three aspects of us – our mind, body and spirit- blurred boundaries and each aspect weaving through one another so that they interlock and make us whole again.