The Baroque Exercise

To be precise, exacting and clear, let us together explore the symphony of the healthy human body. As music could not exist without the ears to hear, the body will begin to retreat to non-existence without the proper playing of the notes of wellness. Can you name a necessary counterpoint to the movement of the physical body that when exercised creates optimal growth in response to the resistance? That's right…exercise!

At the onset of such a journey of exploration, one must proactively and joyfully chart a course and prepare the tools and resources to insure one will achieve the desired destination. Since we will undertake this adventure together I will prepare our list.

We will bring: A Map. We must have a picture of where we want to be. For our physical benefit and the reason for this journey we should have a clear idea of the body we would like to inhabit. For this map let us cut out pictures from magazines, take photos with our minds of the ideal figure that we wish to embody. This map is necessary for two reasons: one, we will know we have arrived if we have a clear picture of the goal, and having a map reminds us of the journey we are on.

Next we need some tools. You have many at your disposal. So many in fact that you really do not need to bring them all…you are well equipped, loved and supported. The tools you will need are light and always you are happy when you are using them. Happiness is the light, the sustenance, the path, and the clarity of vision along the journey. Happiness is the skip in the step on the elliptical machine of life!

We are ready to begin. We have all we need to realize successful co-creative relationships grounded in health and wellness. To recap: We have a map and goals clear in our mind and happiness to guide, support and remind us that we are on an important journey. This is no less than the most valuable task you will ever undertake. This is the journey of your becoming and nothing can prevent your free will from making this dream a reality.

You are loved and supported on your path to clarity, joy and abundance. Let your inner guidance radiate. Worry not about your partners along the way. Always you will meet those who will support you in this co-creative journey. You are here to teach less with your words and more with your clarity, happiness and the detailed map of your future accomplishments.

A Life of Truth - Keeping Love Sacred

"Love is the ultimate guru. Where love does not exist, life cannot exist"

Tired, frustrated, overweight, addicted, overworked, stressed with anxiety, driven by obsession, out of balance? If yes, this article may provide you with an amazing insight.

Human spirit is another word for energy. There is no ghost or spirit controlling our vitality. What controls our vitality and energy is our love for life. When our mind, our heart or our spirit withdraws from something, so our energy withdraws. We begin to feel tired, exhausted, angry or simply disappointed.

Tired is physical but its real origins are in the human heart.

The soul thinks in pictures and when the pictures become fuzzy, so the soul goes on holiday. Soulless living means the dream is lost, the love is gone, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Love is food for the heart, energy for the spirit. Really, when you find an exhausted, tired person, you find a person who has lost love. They might even be in a relationship, but the love has gone out of it. They might be in a job, but the love has gone out of it. Because we are so afraid of change, sometimes we stay in relationships and jobs when the love goes out of it. We do it because our culture, society values staying higher than going. Then, if the love goes out of it, we have to find substitutes.

Love cannot be forced. If love goes out of a relationship, it becomes a soulless union. Anything done, where the human spirit is lost, is done without soul. Then it is purely mechanical. There are allot of people who can deal with this mechanical life on the surface, but below the surface they have found a coping mechanism, a substitute for love, a way of supporting their spirit while it dies.

The four substitutes are:

Food


Greed


Sex


Righteousness

Food as a substitute. This obsession reveals itself in obesity, preoccupation with flavour and cooking, eating disorders, and substance abuse including alcohol, drugs, cigarettes and sugar. Food is not limited to what we consume by mouth. Infatuation and upper emotions are food as well.

Sex as a substitute. This obsession reveals itself in so many ways. Flirting, seeking approval, appetite for physical sex, masturbation, fantasy, affairs to name a few. Sexual drive rises as a substitute for love, not always as a mirror of it. This can include the pleasure lust for spiritual enlightenment.

Greed as a substitute. When love goes out, and therefore human spirit – energy goes out of someone's life, greed comes in as a substitute. This greed is an appetite seen in blind ambition, obsessive saving, status and power in the form of cars, success, and righteous aggression. Holding onto children, living vicariously.

Righteousness as a substitute for love. The human ego thrives on blame. It wants to be right. The human ego is what grows to replace the human spirit when love is missing in a persons life. The human ego defends the individual from what they fear, creating a feeling of identity and self importance, energy.

To change a circumstance in our life, it is wise to deal with cause, rather than effect. The cause of the need for substitutes is that LOVE is not held SACRED. When love is gone, Sacred is gone, spirit dies and we are left with no option but to fill our empty space with a substitute.

Substitutes are responsible for: affairs, arthritis, arm ache, gangrene, heart attack, gum disease, ulcers, obesity, chronic fatigue, depression, suicide, car accidents, premature ejaculation, impotence, cancer, tinea, acne, bad moods, domestic violence, low productivity and more….

Do what you love, love what you do.

The loss of the human spirit is an epidemic that's spreading fast. Have you caught it. Are you going through the motions of a relationship that's dead, a job that's about money, an exercise program that's about how you look? Are you hooked on substitutes, righteousness about the world, greed about wanting, sex about acceptance, food about consumption? If so, it can all change if you prioritise love. Where love doesn't exist – substitutes do.

Be you

Cultural norms make us stay where we don't need to be. They make us leave where we don't need to leave. Cultural conditioning make us think our parents are important after the age of 15. Cultural norms suggest the length of our relationships are more important than the quality and integrity of them. Where love stops, hearts stop.

The soul thinks in pictures. Can you see? With your inner eye? Are your dreams alive?

Remember, tiredness, ageing, stress and frustration are just signs that love is gone and substitutes have crept in.

Live with Spirit

Motivate Yourself To A Healthier You

You know you need to get moving. The benefits of exercise are well documented through research. Exercise can improve your overall health, increase your self-esteem and decrease your stress. The first prescription for people who are depressed is to start an exercise program. Physicians are encouraging most of their patients to exercise. It is the secret to a long and healthy life.

OK, great; you know it already. So how do you continue to exercise when you are mentally fatigued, the weather is lousy and your stress level is through the roof.

Here are six great tips to help you continue on your journey to a healthier you.

1. See it in black and white. Call it a calendar, diary or list – doesn't matter. What ever you call it mark the days that you have completed your exercise for the day. Seeing it in black and white can be very motivating. Put the record in a place that you will look at each and every day. It doesn't matter if you plan to work out that day or not. Look at the record each day.

2. Reward yourself for good behavior. Write down specific short term (3-5 week) goals and reward yourself when you achieve them. Make the reward something that you don't get unless you achieve the goal. If you normally stop at the local coffee shop but your reward is a Latte then the reward won't mean much.

3. Challenge yourself to achieve something you might not otherwise attempt. Is your neighborhood or community having a walk/run event? Sign up and commit to completing the event on that day. You can find these opportunities in every community – bike rides, walk/runs, or swimming for charity.

4. Be clear about your reason to exercise. Are you searching for better health, sleep better, treat depression or increased energy and a new figure? Write your reason down on a piece of paper – preferably with a picture that represents your reason, and look at it every day. Keep your reason to the front of your mind and it will be easier to stay motivated on rainy days.

5. Consider a training partner. This is someone who engages in the same exercise routines to accomplish their goals. You can find partners for running, walking, swimming, aerobics – you name it, someone is doing it. You may be motivated by having an Internet partner with whom you share your goals and achievements. Or you may do better with a partner who can exercise with you.

6. Identify your usual excuses and provide yourself with answers. If time is an issue be sure you have everything ready to go and you schedule an adequate amount of time to work out. If you have young children arrange for a neighborhood sitter to watch them for short periods, or purchase a good quality jogging stroller to take them with you. Identify what you usually use as an excuse and fix it!

Exercise has an incredible number of benefits to our health. However, unless we do more than read about them we can't benefit from exercise. So get out and do it!