Top 5 Holiday Tips

Ah, "the holidays." Fraught with peril. I put "the holidays" in quotation marks because technically it's a couple of days that our media culture and inertia tries to turn into an entire season of eating crappy, running around  trying to buy gifts, and lying around the rest of the time watching football and It's a Wonderful Life. Stress, bad food, and lethargy..,whoopee!! No wonder we invented the idea of New Year's resolutions...

I say, let's resist! I say even though it's pretty nasty weather outside and there's all this pressure from everywhere to not take care of ourselves, light a candle for our country (or just your friends. Or just yourself!) and treat yourself well in the end of December. Here's a few ways to do just that - not all of them are fitness-centered, but they're all health-centered:

1. Whatever gifts you buy/make, do it with intention. You make the best choices when you're calm and centered, not when you're running around Target like an insane person shoving iTunes cards in your cart. Everyone I know has told me repeatedly that their favorite gifts to receive are the thoughtful ones, not the expensive or trendy ones. You'll end up feeling much better about the gifts you give, and be less stressed about finding them.

2. Spend at least 30 minutes a day moving your body and breathing. I'm not saying you have to get to the gym and work out for an hour and a half...trying to make time for your normal workout routine might make your life feel more stressful in this busy time of the year. But a little physical activity can keep the stress from turning into a neck spasm and low back tightness from turning into a herniated disc. Just do something, mindfully. If, on the other hand, the gym feels like an oasis in this world of crazy, then by all means get the heck in there as often as possible!!

3. Pretend it's already New Year's. I don't mean that you should bust out the champagne or (ill-advisedly) make out with your co-workers. I mean you should consider telling yourself that your New Year's resolutions are starting today, this minute. What do you want to do differently? How can you shift things in your life/thoughts to be more the person you want to be? Don't spend the next two weeks getting all the bad stuff in and over with so you can start fresh. Just...don't do all those things in the first place. I guarantee you'll feel better about yourself come January 1.

4. Get enough sleep. This season is infamous for the colds/fevers that get passed around (I've had half my clients cancel in the last week due to illness, and I'm home with my sick kiddo today). Between holiday parties and other shenanigans, our schedule gets crapped and we try to make up for it by going to bed later and/or getting up earlier. You can't really control your exposure to sick people or the weather, but you can control your rest.  Get. Enough. Sleep. Or. You. Will. Get. Sick. 

5. Enjoy food/drink in moderation - if you can't, abstain! Some people can't have anything alcoholic or sweet, even a taste - it sets off irresistible cravings and they have a hard time stopping themselves from overdoing it. For some of us, though, a little bit won't turn into a gallon...in that case, there's no reason to deny ourselves the fun and good feelings that comes from eggnog and homemade cookies. Just don't go crazy with it. 

Lastly, a reminder that all the deals listed at the top of this page are in effect through January. I'm meeting with several people this month to help them get started on a healthier path. BEFORE the New Year...lemme know if you want to be one of them! ;) 

NYC!!!

Last April I traveled to New York to train with Steve Maxwell, my favorite coach, and go for my Level 1 Kettlebell instructorship. It was really hard work and I felt physically unprepared (turns out a recent car accident had messed me up more than I knew) but I had an amaaaaazing time in NYC and felt like a badass after doing the certification.

This year I'm going back for more...certifications in Clubbells and Level 2 Kettlebells. It's starting to sink in that I have a LOT of work to do and only four months to do it. Trainer, train thyself!!! So here I go! As a part of this process, I want to post some workouts and videos on my blog (like this one, but with less sun) so you can follow along with  my efforts and maybe learn some stuff in the process. I'm also going to be posting pretty frequently about my work with my client Melina, who writes an awesome blog and who's going to be documenting her physical/mental transformation over the coming months. So the bottom line is check back in with this blog often, because there's going to be a lot of cool shit going on!

Also, the special prices on training (the "Buy Now!" thing at the top of the page) are going to be in effect until the end of January...please consider taking advantage of the deals!

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go throw some kettlebells around...

Black Friday? Naw...Small Business Everyday!!

Shopping at big box stores is soooooo pre-recession. Supporting small local businesses is sooooo 2012. From now until Xmas, I'm offering a few screamin' deals for you and those you love. Because I care.

Like, seriously, I really do. :)  

You'll find a spunky Paypal button at the top of my blog - please use it! Here's some descriptions of what I'm offering - please email me with any questions! You can purchase as many as you want, for yourself or for others...

The Starter Kit! $80 gets you (or your secret Santa person) an in-depth wellness consult, movement assessment and take-away program. It's 90 minute of uber-personalized amazingness - a $150 value.

The Mobility Month! $30 gets you (or your partner) four mobility classes at Excellence Health & Fitness. The classes are a hour long and will increase pain-free range of motion and burn tons of calories! 6:30am on Fridays - a $60 value .

The Workplace Visit! $70 gets you (or your employer) a health/wellness program consultation for a business. Want to incorporate movement and health into the office but not sure how to go about it? Get someone in there who has fresh perspective and tons of experience - a $200 value.

The Monthly Management! $150 get you (or your mom) 3 one-on-one personal training sessions, once a month. Set goals, check in, get new exercises and strong motivation, and stay accountable in the interim - a $240 value.

Consider supporting your friendly hometown personal trainer this holiday season...I've worked hard to become great at what I do, and I would love to help you (or your best friend) get even healthier and more fabulous! :)

does this dress make me look dehydrated?

I felt like a bonehead. I'm a personal trainer, I'm an athlete, I'm reasonably self-aware...and yet on Sunday afternoon I found myself feeling depressed, irritable, clammy, headach-y and tired. And I could not for the life of me figure out what was wrong. Eventually, I tied how I was feeling to the fact that I had had several glasses of champagne at a brunch that morning (that's another story) and two cups of coffee during the day, but no water. NO WATER. #facepalm

Dehydration: it happens to the best of us. I was chronically dehydrated until I became a personal trainer at 23. I had grown up drinking fruit juices, tea and soda, and never drank plain ol' ordinary water. I also ran around like a crazy person and lived in Florida for most of that time. Studying for my first personal training certification, I recognized myself in the list of symptoms for dehydration:

*Dry, sticky mouth
*Sleepiness or tiredness — children are likely to be less active than usual
*Thirst
*Decreased urine output — no wet diapers for three hours for infants and eight hours or more without urination for older children and teens
*Few or no tears when crying
*Dry skin
*Headache
*Constipation
*Dizziness or lightheadedness
--taken from the MayoClinic site

Hey, I thought, I feel most of those things, most of the time. I wonder...I started to drink more water, and I started feeling better than I even had in my life. It was hard for me to believe that such a simple fix existed for all of those physical ailments. Of course, the question then became, how much water? In recent years there's been more media emphasis on hydration and more of a business in water consumption (plastic water bottles sold at Costco, fancypants aluminum and BPE-free bottles), and you seldom see someone at a gym or yoga class without a personal water source. How much should you drink? The common answer is 8 cups a day, and that's more or less correct. The more specificity the better (in my book), though...The Institute of Medicine suggests that for men, 3 liters (about 13 cups) a day is about right...the daily intake for women should be 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) a day. I like a super-awesome level of specificity, though, and that means linking water intake to body weight, so my favorite table is here:

 Body weight Daily fluid requirements (approximate)
10 pounds 15 ounces
20 pounds 30 ounces
30 pounds 40 ounces
40 pounds 45 ounces
50 pounds 50 ounces
75 pounds 55 ounces
100 pounds 50 ounces
150 pounds 65 ounces
200 pounds 70 ounces
--taken from Medicine.net

Keep in mind, too, that if you're sweating, you're also losing sodium, so you need to replace electrolytes as well. And you get water in food and in other drinks as well as just water - yet another reason to eat lots of fruits and vegetables! So how can you test if you're getting enough through all of your fabulous methods? The best indicator isn't thirst or even how you're feeling (though you shouldn't be thirsty and you should feel good) - it's your pee. Colorless or light-colored urine gets the thumbs up, darker yellow means you need to start drinking.

And not drinking champagne, like me. That, as I said, is another story. :)

New class starting in November!!

You know what's better than being strong? Being strong, flexible AND having healthy joints so you don't get injured! Let's be honest: a lot of us don't even stretch on a regular basis, much less work on our mobility. We end up hobbling around from workout to workout, always in pain in some area, but convinced we can't spare the time to loosen things up. Unfortunately, this is totally a short term solution...eventually you will get injured (and you probably already have!) from a lack of mobility. Mobility and flexibility are different beasts - mobility movements always have strength and movement components, while flexibility exercises rarely involve strength. Practically, this means that mobility movements focus more on increased joint health than increased muscular length. People are most likely to hurt themselves where their muscles attach, which in my opinion makes mobility training more crucial than flexibility training for anyone looking to avoid injury.

SO...I'm starting a class in November at my new gym, Excellence, that will focus on increasing mobility while getting a kick-ass workout! It's gonna be Friday mornings from 6:30am-7:30am, and you can come for the month for only $40 or drop-in for $10. I'm so excited to be creating this new class...I would love you to check it out! You'll wanna be there if you're interested in:

*Circuiting mobility exercises with strength movements
*Getting stronger and more mobile/flexible
*Learning simple movements that you can add to your fitness arsenal
*Increasing your range of motion
*Living and moving more pain-free
*Building long strong muscles
*Releasing tension in the shoulders, neck, and spine
*Improving your posture
*Learning fun variations on common exercises (like pushups and planks)
*Sweating like a mofo

Questions? I got answers. :) Hope to see a lot of you there on November 8th!!

I heart squash

I don't know about you, but about this time every year I yearn for squash. The color, the flavor, the texture...everything about it reminds me of fall and my childhood. I remember my mom's dish in perfect detail - the acorn squash cut in half and the seeds scooped out, replaced with butter, cinnamon sugar and a pinch of salt. For years of my adult life, this was my go-to dish for Thanksgiving parties...I subbed out fresh minced ginger and cinnamon for the sugar. If you don't have time to bake it, you can stick it in the microwave, covered, for 6-8 minutes, and boom! You got squash. :) I'm excited to try out some of these recipes this autumn (especially the Southwest Stuffed Acorn Squash...I'm making that tomorrow!). Happy eating! :)

Where there's a will...

My husband pointed me towards an article in the latest Wired magazine...in searching for it online, I came across one published earlier this year that's more comprehensive and dealing with the same subject. Willpower. The findings of the latest studies are very interesting - let's look at the main point, and then figure out what it means for all of us.

Big Idea: Willpower is incredibly feeble. We have a hard time saying "no" all the time, and the more times we have to say "no," the easier it is to turn that "no" into a "yes." So if there were two hundred individual socks scattered around the floor and you had to bend down to pick up each one, somewhere around the 100th one (or earlier, depending on your own personality) you would probably say "Screw this, I'm going to go watch TV," leaving the rest of the socks to languish on the floor. Hmmmm...maybe this analogy only works well for parents...oh well, hopefully you get the idea. In practical terms, that means that your success at, say, eating a healthy and balanced diet has way more to do with your environment than you might think. How many times a day do you have to choose to eat an apple instead of a Snickers? Are nutritious food choices fewer and farther between in your workplace? Is there an office candy jar, and are donuts and bagels served at meetings? Every time you have to say "no," you're using up your precious store of willpower.

Willpower is limited and easily worn down...so what to do? Well, here are a few ideas:

1. Set your intentions as clearly as you can. What are your goals? To be healthier? To lose weight? Get specific about those goals...really think about what "healthy" or "weight loss" means to YOU. And this is important...once you've clarified your goals, try to bring them closer to the surface of your mind. The more conscious you make yourself of what you want to achieve, the more you'll recognize the obstacles (within and outside of you) to getting where you want to go. Once you've narrowed things down and focused in...

2. Shift your home environment. This is the area that's most under your control. Get rid of all the crap in your cupboards, just throw it out...that way the choices that you do have to make will be between one good-for-you option or another. If you have to say "no" to the ice cream every time you open the fridge, you'll end up saying "yes" more than you want to. When your home more truly reflects your intentions...

3. Shift your work environment. Pack healthy snacks to bring with you to work so that you're not trying to make a choice while you're starving (according to the article, we make poorer choices when we're tired or have low blood sugar). When it's your turn to bring the snacks for the meeting, bring nuts and fruit. Talk to your boss/coworkers about replacing the candy jar with mints or sugar-free gum - a quiet mention about rising healthcare costs would probably aid you in this one. ;)

4. Avoid temptation. The Wired article states that the most strongly-willed people that were studied "are able to intelligently steer clear of situations that trigger problematic desires. They don’t resist temptation - they avoid it entirely. While unsuccessful dieters try to not eat the ice cream in their freezer, thus quickly exhausting their limited willpower resources, those high in self-control refuse to even walk down the ice cream aisle in the supermarket." That's what all the shifting of your home and work situations is about - removing the crap so that you have plenty of willpower left over for other stuff, like exercise, reading, playing with your kids, or whatever you would do if you weren't desperately trying not to eat the chocolate in the cupboard.

Most of us will try to skip #1 and go right to the other suggestions...I'm guilty of this as well. I urge you, though, to take the time to figure out why you want to change, and who you want to change into. Pick up all the socks just this one time, give yourself a clean slate, and go boldly forward. Good luck!! :)

best laid plans of mice and personal trainers

Okay, so you're not gonna believe this...

Fate has dealt me a strange hand this year. It's been a very challenging time, demanding lots of growth and acceptance of change (which is awesome, and terrifying, and difficult). I left Zum and moved to Northwest Fitness and Conditioning, a place with a promising vision under a thin layer of sweat and drywall dust. And now here I am, a couple months later, announcing another move.

The fact that I'm reeeeeally excited about this move should tell you something, especially since I'd be hard-pressed to get excited about transition of ANY kind after the past few months! I'm going to be joining the awesome team of independent contractors at Excellence Health & Fitness! I've known the owner, John, for a while and I'm a huge fan of what he and his business partner Eli have build over the last several years. The space is beautiful, with high ceilings (and aerial silks! Aerial silks!!), a hardwood floor in the classroom space, a huge metal frame to hang on, and plenty of kettlebells and other toys to swing around. The trainers there are top-notch (and super nice). But what really sets the space apart from every other personal training studio (and gym) in Seattle is their vision of and dedication to holistic wellness.

We all know that being healthy and working towards the body you want takes more than just exercising. You have to take time to recover. You have to eat well. You have to destress and rebuild your muscles and your psyche. We all know this, but there are pieces of that puzzle that we all struggle with. I don't really have a problem eating well or exercising enough - I have a huge problem taking time for myself to relax and take care of my body. It's difficult to convince myself to focus on this one area, since I can always remind myself how well I do in the others! It'll be harder to ignore at Excellence, though, because this place is all about the whole package. Since the last time I checked them out (six months ago) they've installed a fantastic cafe with smoothies and healthy lunch options. They have a wellness center in-house that features chiropractic, massage and acupuncture. And they have a membership that includes all these things (though you can still choose your services a la carte). It's sort of like a one-stop-shop for wellness.

Yeah, I'm excited! I know I'll be personally inspired by this place and these people to make changes in my own life and the lives of my clients. So even though part of my brain is covering its ears and saying "No more transitions!!" the rest of my brain is skipping around and imagining how much fun it will be to work in this awesome environment every day. Thanks, Excellence, for bringing me on board! :)

Kettlebells 101

Here we are, folks...my very first kettlebell basics seminar. I've recently become a Level 1 Kettlebell instructor under Steve Maxwell and I'm so excited to share my enhanced knowledge with you!! Please consider coming out and learning more about how to use kettlebells in your workout...and even if you've been training with them for awhile, revisiting the fundamentals and getting your form analyzed will do you a lot of good! Tell your friends - my pipe dream is to have to schedule several seminars in September to meet demand. :) Here's the details...

And just for fun, here's a video of me doing some fancy Windmills...I won't be teaching this at the clinic, but it'll definitely be a part of the Kettlebell 201 course! ;)

Momma's got a new pair of shoes!

Well, okay, I don't actually have a new pair of shoes. But I DO have really exciting news...RenFitness is moving! My new space is in South Lake Union, right on the corner of Mercer and Fairview. It's called Northwest Fitness and Conditioning, and it is awwwwwwesome. I've been contemplating a move for awhile - I got my kettlebell certification (the experience of which is a future blog entry in itself) in New York and was excited to have a change of scene and meet/work with some new trainers. This place literally fell in my lap at the perfect time, and I couldn't be more excited. So what does this mean for all you lovelies?!

First of all, I will once again have a space with no membership or drop-in fees for my clients - you pay me and me alone. It also means you can only work out there with a trainer...no coming in and messing around on your own. But that also means you're free to belong to whatever gym you like (or just play on the playground like I do) and you can still train with me.

Secondly, I'm going to be offering kettlebell classes and clinics, and I'm really excited to get into more small group training. I've had a wonderful experience working with a rad group of women at Zum for the past few months, and it's fired me up to create more little microcosms of awesome. (I should tell you that after much deliberation they ended up giving their group the name "Ren's Bitches." I can't imagine why.)

And last but not least, the space (while unfinished - official opening day is September 1st) is tooootally awesome. Field turf, a huge sandbox filled with rubber pellets (springy!), speed and agility toys galore, kettlebells, built-in plyo boxes...it's kind of a personal trainer's pipe dream. So light a fire with me, guys...would love to see you over there! And tell your friends! :)

Chiropractic

Should you go see a chiropractor, and if so, when and for what kind of ailment? I recommend chiropractic (and specifically my chiropractors, a whip-smart pair that have taken care of me for years) fairly often to clients of mine when they ask about diagnosing and caring for an injury or certain aches and pains. I have a long and tangled relationship with chiropractic care, but have had enough people ask me about it that I thought I'd address the most common questions I get.

1. How can I tell a good chiropractor from a bad one? I've been to some bad ones...

This is what I hear most often from people - they've either had a bad/mediocre experience with a chiropractor or they haven't gone to one because they've heard negative feedback from their friends. In my experience, there are three important qualifications for a good chiropractor (or any kind of bodyworker/trainer) - time invested, types of treatments used and the holistic nature of their practice. Firstly, do they spend a good amount of time with you? Ask you questions about how you're feeling on that day, and get a detailed history? A good chiropractic appointment doesn't take 5-10 minutes...you should be with them for at least 20-30 minutes. That's the minimum amount of time it takes to get real assessments and treatments done. Also, the best chiropractors use a variety of techniques to treat the body - they don't just crack your spine and send you on your way. In my session today with one of the fab Mobility Plus chiropractors, Dr. Li did a movement screen with me, used a technique called distraction to loosen up my hips, had me resist certain movements, massaged my hand, and gave me rehab exercises for my foot. He adjusted my neck as well, but that was 5 seconds out of the whole appointment. I left feeling like he had addressed all my concerns specifically, and that he had used a myriad of ways to coax my body into loosening up. My third qualification is that they have a holistic practice, meaning that they recognize that you're not just a body sitting in the office. What has your sleep been like? What kind of stress are you under? Have you been sitting/standing more than usual? These are the kinds of questions all good bodyworkers ask, and your chiropractor should be no different!

2. I'm afraid of getting my spine cracked - isn't that bad for you?

To this I reply, look, anything can be bad for you. Too many calories, too much weight on your deadlift, an insistence on a particular kind of filtered water that leaves you dehydrated when you can't find any. The best thing to do is to find and work with a chiropractor you can grow to trust, and one that you know is invested in your well-being. If you're nervous about what a lot of people term "traditional" chiropractic, you're not alone...the best chiropractors out there will address your concerns head-on, and not do anything with you that you're not 100% comfortable with. I've already pointed out that the doctors I'm talking about have many ways of looking at and techniques for treating concerns, and can work within whatever limitations (physical, mental or emotional) a person has.

3. Okay, but why not just go to a massage therapist?

I get it, guys, I do...getting an hour-long deep tissue massage sounds a lot more fun that a chiropractic appointment. And I know some amaaaaazing massage therapists that are total miracle workers. I think the two therapies are pretty different - however, they work really well in conjunction with each other. Let's take, for example, someone who's having low back pain. A massage by itself can help alleviate the symptoms and help you feel better for a while, but not necessarily correct the problem (unless you have an amazing massage therapist, which is definitely a possibility). It could be that you have some structural issues, like a hip out of alignment or a couple vertebrae "stuck" together, that are causing the muscular tightness and pain you're experiencing. Those problems could be tended to by chiropractic, but if the muscles are sufficiently tense, they could pull things out of alignment again. You see what I mean? If you were to have a massage therapist and a chiropractor work on you within a few hours/day of each other, you could get yourself back to 100% a lot sooner.

4. I'm not in THAT much pain...if it gets worse, I'll go see somebody.

This, folks, is a big enough question that I'm going to leave it for my next post. I have a lot to say about this one... :)

Bottom line about chiropractic, in my humble opinion: There are crappy chiropractors, just as there are crappy personal trainers, chefs, doctors, and teachers. If you're interested in trying a chiropractor, the best way to increase your chances of finding a good one is to ask people you trust for recommendations. Chriopractic has helped me recover from a major auto accident, guided me through two pregnancies, hastened my rehab from ankle surgery and helped me heal my overuse injury in my left wrist - and these are only a few examples. Think about it! :)

You're sick! I mean, like, actually sick...

There's been a lot of crappy illnesses floating around Seattle the last few months...I've managed to avoid them (loudly knocking on wood here), but most of my clients and family have fallen prey. My gym has been full of sniffles and coughs, and a decent number of people just looking generally pale and wan and not super excited to be on the elliptical. So what's the rule of thumb about training while sick? When should you push through and exercise and when should you stay home and not breathe on anyone?!

There's a good article on Runner's World that talks about cardio training (especially running) in depth...here's the most pertinent quote from that article. "David Nieman, Ph.D., who heads the Human Performance Laboratory at Appalachian State University, and has run 58 marathons and ultras, uses the "neck rule." Symptoms below the neck (chest cold, bronchial infection, body ache) require time off, while symptoms above the neck (runny nose, stuffiness, sneezing) don't pose a risk to runners continuing workouts." So if you're sporting a fever or a hacking cough, it's waaaaay better to chill and recover, rather than try to run/cycle/swim through it, since doing so greatly increases your risk of future and more severe illness. If you've got a head cold, you're probably fine, but tune in to your body and watch for signs of the illness moving south. A notable exception to the "neck rule" is a sinus infection...exercising during that type of illness can lead to pneumonia or even respiratory failure. The Runner's World article suggest pool running as an alternative when you're not feeling well, since it maintains good body temperature and the moisture can ease nasal passages.

What about weight training? It's easy to understand why people are confused on this issue...it's difficult to find good answers to this question (most of the ones I came upon during my Google search were from various bodybuilding sites and not research-based at all). But I did like this one, whose advice squares with my own personal experience as well as my work with clients. The author makes a lot of good points, but the most salient one in my opinion is this: "During an infection, the body becomes catabolic (the opposite of anabolic) and breaks down muscle protein. The degree of muscle catabolism and protein loss is related to the height and duration of the fever caused by the infection...During a febrile or systemic illness, athletes should be wary of stressing muscles that are actively being broken down to fuel the body's defenses. Normal recovery after a workout can be greatly prolonged and the risk of injury may be heightened." When you're ill, your body uses energy that's normally available for exercise to fight off the illness...it also actively breaks down muscle tissue to get you back on your feet. That's the reason we feel so weak the first few days in the gym after being sick - we've literally lost muscle and have had our energy diverted to other parts of the body! So the neck rule still applies here - if the illness is systemic or below the neck, do yourself a favor and rest instead of working out. You'll get better faster and lose less muscle mass than if you're double-stressing your system!

Besides, if you cough on me and break my no-sickness streak, I'm not gonna be happy. ;) Now go drink some orange juice.

Liar liar pants on fire

I reposted this image on Facebook this morning...I unfortunately don't know the original source so I can't credit it, but I think it's both fabulous and potentially problematic. Discuss!

Well, okay, it's a blog, so I'll explain both sides as I see them, all by myself. ;)

The obvious interpretation of this "motivational poster" is that while training, most of us have a hard time getting ourselves past the point where things are easy or moderately hard. I've listened to countless clients talk about this threshold where they have to find some reason, gimmick, or mantra to get them over to the place where the most difficult (and often rewarding) work can happen. They often cite how helpful it is to have committed to doing X number of miles that day, working out with a partner, or having a trainer there encouraging them as ways to aid and abet that transition. But why is it so hard to do hard work? Where does that little voice come from? And is it always safe not to heed it? In other words, is that little voice in your head sometimes not a liar, and if so, how the heck can you tell the difference?! My theory on where the voice comes from is kind of a cheat, because I think there's actually TWO little voices in most of us, and they come from different places. One is rooted in past experience, patterns, and emotion, and the other is rooted in present sensations and gut instincts.

The first voice is the one that the photo above is calling out...it speaks about fear, insecurity, and often a desire to appear strong to others (and therefore not run until you're gasping like a fish). This voice is a self-fulfilling prophecy because heeding it too often can help reinforce an image of yourself that "can't" do certain things or cross certain barriers. I decided long ago that I just wasn't a runner. I had run before and hadn't liked it, and I wasn't naturally fabulous at running distances longer than a mile. I avoided activities that required running, and would make excuses about it to myself and others, like saying, "I'm all fast-twitch, so I hate cardio," or "I can get my heart rate up by dancing or doing martial arts...running is just so boooooring." But the reality was that the little voice in my head was telling me that I shouldn't run because it was hard and I wouldn't be "great" at it right away. Eventually I decided to confront that voice, and gradually built up my stamina so that I can now run more than a mile without stopping, and have committed this year to running 365 miles in 365 days. I figure with that goal, at the end of the year I'll finally have to consider myself (among other things) to be a runner, and I can quietly tell that little voice to stop bothering me.

The second voice, however, the one tied to the moment you're experiencing and what your gut tells you, is not a liar. That voice is giving you real information about the state your body is currently in. Even though I want to prove to myself that I can run, I listen for the signs my body is giving me that say it's time to slow down, like when I start being unable to catch my breath. That means that my heart rate is getting dangerously high (heart problems run in my family) and I need to calm it down a little or risk harming myself. That little voice tells me not to do the last few deadlifts in the set, because it's noticed that I'm not using the right muscles to support myself anymore and I need to take a break and tune in again. I listen to that voice with my clients, too...when they're pushing themselves and start unconsciously start touching their shoulder in between exercises, I know to stop them and find out what's going on, and to persist when they tell me it's no big deal. This voice can keep you from getting seriously injured, and listening to it can give you tremendous faith in your own ability to keep yourself safe!

It can be difficult to tell these voices apart, though, so I'm going to use an example from one of my favorite books, " The Gift of Fear." In this book, Gavin de Becker highlights the difference between worry and fear in many contexts. One of his main points is that worry can cause a woman to walk to and from her car with her keys in her hand "in case" there's someone in the parking lot that wants to cause her harm. That worry (and the actions it leads her to take) can actually cloud her senses and make her slow to react when a real threat materializes. Fear, he explains, is an adrenaline reaction to a dangerous situation, a compelling "Run! Now!" message that we want to obey without even fully thinking it through. Heeding that voice can save your life, whereas giving too much headroom to the "worry" voice can delay action or, even worse, cause you to put a real threat into the category where you have to think about it before you act on it. So say you're in a yoga class and the teacher is inviting you to deepen your backbend a little bit more. You might hear a voice that says, "Danger." That's it...just, "danger." Not "I dunno...this feels pretty hard already...I think I'll just hang out here." But a clear signal, noninflected by emotion, that tells you to stop. That voice is the one tied to the moment (and the one that should be heeded) while the other is basically propaganda from your ego. Even more dangerous is when the other voice says, "Oh come on, you were able to do this pose really well last class, I'm sure you're fine," and you push through and herniate your lower back. If a thought is coming through clearly and strongly, listen. If it's tied to anger, frustration, or sounds condemning in any way, you can hear it and then let it go. It's worth looking at where those thoughts come from (the root causes, I mean) but not in the moment.

Don't let the bastards get ya down. ;)