CARING FOR YOUR MIND AND BODY: by Michael Bromley

by seweekly · November 10, 2017

“Start your personal evolution.”

My vision is connecting and inspiring people to their own high value and purpose. Living martial arts and fitness as a vehicle to manifest a holistic view of the mind, body, emotions and spirit. To experience the culture of modern martial arts and its evolution, with a glimpse of history. Capturing the Way, the feeling and the science. To employ the many modern methods of exercise, human movement, functional fitness training and conditioning. Coaching and mentoring people in learning to communicate effectively especially with their self. Assisting in re mapping the central nervous system to review their own internal and external world and find one’s own pathway.

Have you ever wondered how to love and care for your body? Of course you have! Still, some of us have some confusion. When there is confusion there is no clarity. Sometimes to find clarity you need to lose the emotion and look at the abstract picture of your being and understand what is valuable to you.

To love your body means you also have to love and care for your mind. The body is a metaphor for the mind. What is out of balance in the mind may reflect what is out of balance in the body. For example; you have shoulder and neck pain, if it’s not an injury or disease, then your posture is poor and you probably feel like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Your solution is to change the environment or your perception or both. Then employ some treatment.

As a personal trainer I understand that through functional exercises we can make the body fitter, and the knowledge of what the body may accomplish over time will increase ones confidence and a wonderful cycle begins showcasing your magnificence. Confidence and competence in knowledge and skills gives us – achievement, motivation, efficiency, significance, satisfaction, contentment, pride, self-worth, reputation, the list of values that this creates and aligns us to goes on and on.

It would help you to understand what defines ‘fitness’ if you want to care for your body. Look up these elements and investigate their meanings for yourself. From semantics we learn that you may give these things your own meaning; what does it mean to you? Cardio vascular endurance, muscular strength, agility, balance, flexibility, muscular endurance and body composition are the main areas.

Which one or all of these aspects aligns with your wants and needs and why? I can help through defining these goals on paper to designing exercises to achieve your specific goals and outcomes.

As a martial artist I can look at developing, caring and loving your body and mind through other methods. How can we compress thousands of years of exercises, skills, philosophy and systems into some training sessions? Well, you would be better off making it a way of life! Why not study some martial arts concepts and extract what you need for your path. Trust that the answer will be in one or more schools or systems. Daily practise of something, in the right way, will lead you to mastery.

‘Be’ in the present. This will help you manage your ‘states’ of mind; our state of ‘BE-ing.’ It is now supposedly proven that time does not exist, and this helps us out. If we stress about what will happen tomorrow (anxiety) our internal representational map will be on a never ending loop encountering unhappiness. You may prepare for what might happen but you do not really know how events will unfold. It’s not happening yet! So stop worrying.

The past – the thing about your past is that it’s actually gone! It no longer exists. So why do we worry about that? What does exist is our memory of past events and we can think and feel about those memories. The memory is the learning! Where we have challenges is that the memory is linked to an emotion – a good or positive memory can deliver happy reflections and bad or negative emotions can link to pain. The solution is to separate the emotions and we reveal the learnings. Ask me how this can be done?

Write down what it is that’s important to you. Make a list of your top five or ten values and priorities. What are the benefits and drawbacks of doing or having those things and what are the benefits and drawbacks of not having them, right now in your life?

Practice correct and deep breathing. Be mindful and aware of breathing consciously during training times. Using your breath to coordinate mind and body enables you to visualise and direct the (chi) energy along the meridians and into the chakras. Breathe deep into the belly using the diaphragm – like an infant – and at least one point in the day avoid the shallow chest breathing the autonomic nervous system takes care of, and try to expel the stale air at the bottom of the lungs. Practice Chi Kung, (Qi Gong), Tai Chi or yoga.

Practice mindfulness. Do everything that is routine like you are doing it for the first time. The Japanese term shoshin means beginners mind. (Literally ‘front of mind’) How much do you concentrate on your actions or be mindful when you are doing things for the first time? Put that type of care into all your actions and be more present and happy.
Slowdown in life! What’s the rush?

Remember there are opposites for every situation. For every good there is going to be bad, for every up there is a down, for every success there is failure (feedback), for every challenge there is some support, where there is pleasure there is pain, rejection and acceptance. Both sides are integral to our fulfilment. Understand and accept the yin and yang, and the duality of life.

Be your authentic self. The more you want to be or look like somebody else, the more you shrink yourself. Honour yourself and forget emulating others, just take the learnings and apply it to your own values and inspiration. Inspire (to put spirit into) yourself. What part of you do you see in your hero?

In this day of functional fitness there is no reason you cannot take advantage of modern exercise science. If you are sedentary, start walking, swimming or cycling daily. Take small steps and then set bigger goals. “The journey of ten thousand miles had to start with the first step.” Seek out a trainer or a club that offers exercises and movement to assist in your daily life. What work do you do? Exercise to enhance that. What sport do you play? Exercise to enhance that. There are so many today – tabata, HIIT, complexes, body weight, strength and conditioning, Crossfit, etc. that there can be no excuses.

Talk to someone about motivation. What motivates you and why? A professional can identify your directional filters and help you on your own unique path. Think about what you want to be, and what’s required to do, to have it.

Put load on your bones! If you’re a woman and are worried about lifting weights and becoming bulky – think again. It’s a fallacy that strength training will make you all muscled up like a body builder. The training methods are different. It is proven that loading your bones and joints can prevent osteoporosis no matter what age.

Practice keeping a good posture while sitting, standing or walking. Be mindful that you are not slouching.

If you need a muscle pump and love the energy that a group provides, try a long established boot camp. If you are more introverted try a one on one or small group session with a personal trainer.

Do what you love and love what you do; choose an activity you won’t get bored of.

Always rotate, warm and open your joints before activity to prevent injury, and don’t be shy about shaking and bouncing your whole body!

Have a pre stretch or a specific stretch before activity and do a nice passive deep stretch when finished to cool down and increase your flexibility. Breathe into the muscles and joints. Visualise!

We all learn in different ways; visual, auditory and kinaesthetic take up the most of it. So, whatever your learning preference, take a moment each day to listen to your body, feel your body or look for changes.

Get up fifteen minutes early in the morning and do some sort of training each day. This is this best time for metabolism to take place. Then eat a decent high protein breakfast.
Muscle growth equals fat loss – fact.

Take the time to practice your spiritual beliefs. It could be a spiritual faith or religion, or sharing your philosophy and faith with others. So, what calms you and anchors you? What focusses you? What cannot be reached by logical reasoning? What clears your mind, builds patience and also wakes you up? Meditation can deliver these, and I highly recommend it. Meditation where the unconscious or universal mind (at the rear of the brain) can be free to roam its higher meta-frames without the chitter chatter of the conscious or ordinary (prefrontal cortex) mind. Mindfulness is perhaps deactivating this part of the brain and we can be mindful of stillness or movement in meditation. Proper breathing and visualisation are also key. A guided meditation can take you on a journey of discovery that you may not experience on your own. The increasing energies of a room full of people is blissful in itself. Your purpose of meditation may take you to an ever increasing integration or connection with yourself and the world around you.

In conclusion; focus on your own self, quiet down your conscious mind regularly and breathe and meditate. Do not reach for a quick fix with your own body. Whatever you do, align it with your higher values and purpose and make it a way of life.

Michael Bromley is a qualified fitness and personal trainer and developmental coach. He has studied and trained in many different martial arts for over 30 years including karate, various kung fu styles, jujutsu, kickboxing, tai chi and chi kung. He is certified in leadership and coaching using the principles of Neuro Semantics and Neuro Linguistic Programming and hypnosis.

Contact details: Mustang Coaching Services

mike@mustangcoaching.com.au

ph.: 0407 170 511