Monday, 31 October 2016
Tuesday, 11 October 2016
Meditative (easy or intense) Walk or Run
Try this: put good walking or running shoes on, find a nice track away from the noise of the cars and the city in general, and go to immerse yourself into it. Take your dog with you if you have one. Whatever the time you've got you can make the most of it.
Start by taking 3 or 4 BIG breathings, breathe in deeply with your tummy and breathe out completely sucking your tummy in. Do it again, but this time add your arms in a big circle movement (hands positioned from the side of the hips and going up on the sides of your body to the top of your head). Once this is done, start to walk at slow to moderate pace for around 8 to 10 minutes.
Find a natural breathing rhythm do not force it, just make it a part of your walking pace, while you walk look at the path, see details about it, be aware of your feet stepping, feel their contact on the ground, notice if the ground is dry, rocky, sandy, wet, notice the difference you feel underneath your feet when the terrain changes. Keep this awareness about your feet and start to look around, try and see everything, the colors, the shapes of the trees, the landscape, etc. If you come here often imagine it is the first time and try and see new things, or see it with a "virgin eye".
Start to accelerate your pace a bit (or start jogging if you are a runner), do it enough to feel your heart rate increasing and your breathing adapting to the increase of intensity. While you are breathing pay attention to the smells around you, notice them, acknowledge them, enjoy them. Keep looking around you and keep feeling what is happening inside your body (feel the heat increasing, the sweat coming, the blood flow running faster).
At this stage whether you walk or run you should find a comfortable steady pace. Feel the work your body is doing and feel the elements around you (the wind, the sun, the rain, the humidity or the dryness etc.). Listen to the sounds (birds, sheep and others, dog barking, impacts of your feet on the ground etc.). Feel how close and connected you are to everything around you, and feel how connected you are to what is going on inside of your body, feel how both belong to a same unity.
After 10 or 15 minutes going at this pace or whenever you think it is the right time for it, stop for a few seconds to 1 or 2 minutes, but keep walking or running on the spot, recover if you need it and look even more closely at the environment around you. See the beauty, the abundance, feel them deeply inside, feel the love they give you at this right moment and give it back. Give all the love you've got inside to the whole world, send it from your heart, you feel it beating in your chest, it is full of life, full of gratitude, full of care for yourself and for the others. Forget about what happened before (before this moment and before starting this walk) and do not think about what you are going to do after it. Just stay here, in full presence, appreciate it, and feel how good and peaceful it feels every time you come back to it if your thoughts have taken you in the past or the future. Feel that only this moment exists, feel how it is full of truth and beauty.
Whenever you feel ready, go back to your walk or run, and every 10 minutes or when you think it is the right moment or the right place, repeat the same process, be in the moment and be aware of what is happening inside and outside of your body.
Stop again and look around you again, and feel everything again.
When you are close to the end of the walk or the run, slow down your pace again, allow your body cooling down gently. Here again, keep feeling what is happening inside and keep in touch with the outside.
Once you have stopped, say Thank You for the moment you are having, feel the love you feel for yourself and for the world around you. Take your time to stretch your legs (quadriceps, hamstrings and calves), your back, your waist, inhaling deeply before stretching and exhaling completely while stretching. Realize that you have a big smile on your face and realize how good you feel.
You'll see that the state you are in at this very moment is going to last for a long time and can be reproduced anytime you want to, and not only while exercising...!!! Anytime you decide to be fully into the moment, fully aware of yourself and the world around you!! Try it :)
Important note: When you are exercising, always stay in control of your effort. Do not push yourself to your limits and do not push yourself if you are tired, angry, sick or unfit. Know your level of fitness and work with it in all circumstances and situations. If you have health conditions follow what your doctor recommends you to do.
Enjoy your next walk :)
Start by taking 3 or 4 BIG breathings, breathe in deeply with your tummy and breathe out completely sucking your tummy in. Do it again, but this time add your arms in a big circle movement (hands positioned from the side of the hips and going up on the sides of your body to the top of your head). Once this is done, start to walk at slow to moderate pace for around 8 to 10 minutes.
Find a natural breathing rhythm do not force it, just make it a part of your walking pace, while you walk look at the path, see details about it, be aware of your feet stepping, feel their contact on the ground, notice if the ground is dry, rocky, sandy, wet, notice the difference you feel underneath your feet when the terrain changes. Keep this awareness about your feet and start to look around, try and see everything, the colors, the shapes of the trees, the landscape, etc. If you come here often imagine it is the first time and try and see new things, or see it with a "virgin eye".
Start to accelerate your pace a bit (or start jogging if you are a runner), do it enough to feel your heart rate increasing and your breathing adapting to the increase of intensity. While you are breathing pay attention to the smells around you, notice them, acknowledge them, enjoy them. Keep looking around you and keep feeling what is happening inside your body (feel the heat increasing, the sweat coming, the blood flow running faster).
At this stage whether you walk or run you should find a comfortable steady pace. Feel the work your body is doing and feel the elements around you (the wind, the sun, the rain, the humidity or the dryness etc.). Listen to the sounds (birds, sheep and others, dog barking, impacts of your feet on the ground etc.). Feel how close and connected you are to everything around you, and feel how connected you are to what is going on inside of your body, feel how both belong to a same unity.
After 10 or 15 minutes going at this pace or whenever you think it is the right time for it, stop for a few seconds to 1 or 2 minutes, but keep walking or running on the spot, recover if you need it and look even more closely at the environment around you. See the beauty, the abundance, feel them deeply inside, feel the love they give you at this right moment and give it back. Give all the love you've got inside to the whole world, send it from your heart, you feel it beating in your chest, it is full of life, full of gratitude, full of care for yourself and for the others. Forget about what happened before (before this moment and before starting this walk) and do not think about what you are going to do after it. Just stay here, in full presence, appreciate it, and feel how good and peaceful it feels every time you come back to it if your thoughts have taken you in the past or the future. Feel that only this moment exists, feel how it is full of truth and beauty.
Whenever you feel ready, go back to your walk or run, and every 10 minutes or when you think it is the right moment or the right place, repeat the same process, be in the moment and be aware of what is happening inside and outside of your body.
Stop again and look around you again, and feel everything again.
When you are close to the end of the walk or the run, slow down your pace again, allow your body cooling down gently. Here again, keep feeling what is happening inside and keep in touch with the outside.
Once you have stopped, say Thank You for the moment you are having, feel the love you feel for yourself and for the world around you. Take your time to stretch your legs (quadriceps, hamstrings and calves), your back, your waist, inhaling deeply before stretching and exhaling completely while stretching. Realize that you have a big smile on your face and realize how good you feel.
You'll see that the state you are in at this very moment is going to last for a long time and can be reproduced anytime you want to, and not only while exercising...!!! Anytime you decide to be fully into the moment, fully aware of yourself and the world around you!! Try it :)
Important note: When you are exercising, always stay in control of your effort. Do not push yourself to your limits and do not push yourself if you are tired, angry, sick or unfit. Know your level of fitness and work with it in all circumstances and situations. If you have health conditions follow what your doctor recommends you to do.
Enjoy your next walk :)
Friday, 7 October 2016
Reconnecting with Nature
In reference to a specific paragraph of my first post, you will find
underneath 2 links you could go to, they can help you to understand why
connecting or re-connecting to Nature is the way to re-connect to
yourself.
Once the reconnection is effective the pleasure we take in immersing ourselves in Nature will increase, so we will be out there more often, walking, biking, running...!!! Making the most of the moment, the most of the peace it brings us, while increasing our physical activity and in consequence our fitness level as well :)
Extract of my first post related to this: "After moving to NZ I realised how the nature and the environment around us have a strong impact onto our lives, but not only, on our moods and level of energy as well. Being out there became a need to resource myself and to re-connect to essential and very primary or elementary sensations. I realised that while exercising I could feel my body becoming one with the environment around me, in this moment I feel joy and receive an amazing amount of energy and love from it, I'm aware of the ground under my feet, aware of the smells, aware of the noises and silences in between, aware of the colours, the gravels, the grass, flowers, sea, trees, sheep and cows, rocks and birds, the sky, the sun, the clouds, aware of my heart beating, of my breathing, of the flow of my blood, aware that I'm in that moment only, in that Now, and that nothing else but that exists in that very moment..."
"Eckhart Tolle, one of the world’s leading and most beloved spiritual teachers and the best-selling author of The Power of Now and A New Earth, brings his teachings to The Huffington Post in the first-ever Eckhart Tolle GPS Guide below.
https://www.eckharttolle.com/special/nature/https://www.eckharttolle.com/special/nature/
Best wishes
Once the reconnection is effective the pleasure we take in immersing ourselves in Nature will increase, so we will be out there more often, walking, biking, running...!!! Making the most of the moment, the most of the peace it brings us, while increasing our physical activity and in consequence our fitness level as well :)
Extract of my first post related to this: "After moving to NZ I realised how the nature and the environment around us have a strong impact onto our lives, but not only, on our moods and level of energy as well. Being out there became a need to resource myself and to re-connect to essential and very primary or elementary sensations. I realised that while exercising I could feel my body becoming one with the environment around me, in this moment I feel joy and receive an amazing amount of energy and love from it, I'm aware of the ground under my feet, aware of the smells, aware of the noises and silences in between, aware of the colours, the gravels, the grass, flowers, sea, trees, sheep and cows, rocks and birds, the sky, the sun, the clouds, aware of my heart beating, of my breathing, of the flow of my blood, aware that I'm in that moment only, in that Now, and that nothing else but that exists in that very moment..."
"Eckhart Tolle, one of the world’s leading and most beloved spiritual teachers and the best-selling author of The Power of Now and A New Earth, brings his teachings to The Huffington Post in the first-ever Eckhart Tolle GPS Guide below.
Eckhart Tolle’s
profound, yet simple teachings reveal a path to inner peace and true
happiness. This guide was inspired by the video filmed for Eckhart Tolle
TV, A Walk In Nature with Eckhart Tolle,
in which Eckhart guides viewers on a walk through the majestic
California redwood trees, for an unprecedented journey of stillness and
contemplation." extrait from the first link underneath.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/06/eckhart-tolle-gps-guide_n_6367934.htmlhttps://www.eckharttolle.com/special/nature/https://www.eckharttolle.com/special/nature/
Best wishes
Thursday, 6 October 2016
Starting block!
Hello!
For months I thought about finding a different way of sharing my approach of fitness... and my son eventually convinced me to start a blog... Well why not! Let's see how it goes!!!
My name is Sandrine, I'm a French born woman living in New-Zealand since 11 years. I'm a Personal Trainer. My career started 25 years ago in South of France, where I was born. Please be indulgent with my English as it is not, as you will notice, my native language :) so it is far to be perfect... I just hope it is eloquent enough to be able to express the things I want to share with you, hoping they will be helpful if you needed some support to change or re-define your lifestyle..
After moving to NZ I realised how the nature and the environment around us have a strong impact onto our lives, but not only, on our moods and level of energy as well. Being out there became a need to resource myself and to re-connect to essential and very primary or elementary sensations. I realised that while exercising I could feel my body becoming one with the environment around me, in this moment I feel joy and receive an amazing amount of energy and love from it, I'm aware of the ground under my feet, aware of the smells, aware of the noises and silences in between, aware of the colours, the gravels, the grass, flowers, sea, trees, sheep and cows, rocks and birds, the sky, the sun, the clouds, aware of my heart beating, of my breathing, of the flow of my blood, aware that I'm in that moment only, in that Now, and that nothing else but that exists in that very moment...
I then thought : "If I can reach that, the other can either". So I decided to take my clients outside to train them and for them to be able to feel and sense what the Nature has to offer and how fantastic we feel after an outdoor session. From then on I specialized in outdoor trainings and since I tend to have a holistic approach to fitness. I think the best and maybe the only sustainable way to get good physical results is by first or simultaneously, finding peace inside and acceptance of who we are, the way we look and what we can achieve. So I use sport and the beautiful environment around us as a way or means to connect or reconnect to our true self. Both spirit and body have to work together to reach well-being and perfect balance - a healthy spirit in a healthy body- from my point of view they can't be dissociated in the search for well-being, improved fitness and optimised performance.
I always thought, thanks to what I experience on a "psychological" level every time I exercise (feeling amazing and awake), that the body was a tool to reach spirituality or increase it, and no matter if we, or not, acknowledged the "event" because as long as we feel this connection to ourselves and to the outside world, we are spiritual, same when we do things with our hearts, love and without any expectations. When there is respect, care, love and tolerance there is spirituality. Once I realized that by being connected to Nature -in my case at that time was mainly while exercising or tramping-, that by being in the moment without thinking about the past or the future (as closed both can be) I understood that my whole life could get benefits from this experience. I understood that this amazing sensation of well-being felt in that very specific instance on top of this powerful conviction that I was excactly where I should be and that every single thing was at the right place at that very moment, could be extrapolated to every other domain or moments of my daily life. From this very moment, because I knew it will take me to freedom, I got a strong will to do the right things for me, to transform my life... going from fears to peace.
I realised that for years I have been paralysed in my life because of fears I had (despite the facts I have done quite a lot and I'm not afraid to push myself). While I was thinking about them, I understood that actually; whatever the form our phobias and others mental conditions take, they are all related to one : death. So I decided to investigate the subject.
Since my early childhood, I'm convinced there is something else after our life on earth, convinced that what makes us what we are, for instance, our capabilities to love, to be compassionate, to care, to learn, to feel, to sense (our intuition), to dream etc. could not die with the body... it is too subtle, too refine, too powerful, too clever, too beautiful and too impalpable to disappear once our body dyes. I know I was born with this truth deeply anchored inside me... But my education, the society and the modern world, I belonged to, made me think that it might not be the truth or the only truth I should believe in, creating unjustified doubts... and like most of us I have been molded by the system we live in and in the way the system wants us to be, and like most of us the fear of dying became a "brake", stopping my actions, stopping or slowing down the process of developing my true self..
Through my investigation about death and new studies related to it, I discovered or re-discovered a whole world, full of hopes, and more importantly, this took me back to my deepest self, showing me the path to the reconnection to the essence, my essence, our essence. I'm talking here about the essence of love (self love first), the essence of life. My way to get back on that path was by using the physical abilities my body offers me combining them with my will of spiritual awakening. I understood that the body is the mediator in between the earth plane and the spiritual one. Again, when I talk about spirituality, it can refer to anything which makes us real, authentic, light, stress free, judgements free, fears free, in touch with ourselves and the outside world, respecting the Nature, the people and any living organism on earth (if we eat them, then it should be with respect and gratitude for the energy they provide us) and any kind of other virtue.
Everything is about Love, respect, tolerance and care for ourselves first, because only once we are able to apply these principles to ourselves, we can then be able to apply them to the others, to each event and to the world around us. Once we have accepted the way we are, the way we look, our failures, limitations, powers, conditions etc. etc. everything becomes easier and clearer and our body becomes our best support to live our material experience here on earth. By treating it in a gentle way and with respect, by grounding it and listening to it, by being aware of it in any moment, we will get to the point that it will automatically reconnect to this thing which takes us to peace and joy, to well-being and balance, to this fundamental thing which reconnects us to what truly matters : understanding that we all belong to the same source, a source of absolute love and infinite knowledge, and understanding that we are one (which means no more judgements, no more lack of confidence or self-esteem, no more anger etc.). We also understand that nothing but the present moment exists and that there is no point in getting anxious for something that could happen in the future or that has affected a moment of our past... Only the present moment determines the future, so better to live it fully and in the best condition to make sure we are designing or influencing the future to its best and with the best options that the present offers us.
That is it for today! It was an introduction to what is going to be the expression of what it means and what it takes, from my personal point of view and experience of course, to be: fit, healthy, happy and at peace.
Going through all that, we will talk about different topics like:
- how meditation can improve our fitness level,
- why losing weight only matters when there is a threat to our health or our psychological balance,
- why it is important to accept our nature and the way we look, and how we can get to that acceptance,
- how to find peace in our heart and how exercising can help,
- how and why the pressures coming from the society affect the acceptance of ourselves,
- we'll talk also about the importance of the food we eat (not only from a nutritional point of view, but also and mostly from a "spiritual" one; for instance, eating food in Consciousness and respect to get the best of its energy and nutriments benefits),
- and any subject you want to talk about or debate.
I will post articles, references to read or watch and anything which can assist and guide us to our best.
For more details about who I am and the way I work do not hesitate to go to MY WEBSITE
Thanks for reading :) and enjoy your day!!!
Sandrine
For months I thought about finding a different way of sharing my approach of fitness... and my son eventually convinced me to start a blog... Well why not! Let's see how it goes!!!
My name is Sandrine, I'm a French born woman living in New-Zealand since 11 years. I'm a Personal Trainer. My career started 25 years ago in South of France, where I was born. Please be indulgent with my English as it is not, as you will notice, my native language :) so it is far to be perfect... I just hope it is eloquent enough to be able to express the things I want to share with you, hoping they will be helpful if you needed some support to change or re-define your lifestyle..
After moving to NZ I realised how the nature and the environment around us have a strong impact onto our lives, but not only, on our moods and level of energy as well. Being out there became a need to resource myself and to re-connect to essential and very primary or elementary sensations. I realised that while exercising I could feel my body becoming one with the environment around me, in this moment I feel joy and receive an amazing amount of energy and love from it, I'm aware of the ground under my feet, aware of the smells, aware of the noises and silences in between, aware of the colours, the gravels, the grass, flowers, sea, trees, sheep and cows, rocks and birds, the sky, the sun, the clouds, aware of my heart beating, of my breathing, of the flow of my blood, aware that I'm in that moment only, in that Now, and that nothing else but that exists in that very moment...
I then thought : "If I can reach that, the other can either". So I decided to take my clients outside to train them and for them to be able to feel and sense what the Nature has to offer and how fantastic we feel after an outdoor session. From then on I specialized in outdoor trainings and since I tend to have a holistic approach to fitness. I think the best and maybe the only sustainable way to get good physical results is by first or simultaneously, finding peace inside and acceptance of who we are, the way we look and what we can achieve. So I use sport and the beautiful environment around us as a way or means to connect or reconnect to our true self. Both spirit and body have to work together to reach well-being and perfect balance - a healthy spirit in a healthy body- from my point of view they can't be dissociated in the search for well-being, improved fitness and optimised performance.
I always thought, thanks to what I experience on a "psychological" level every time I exercise (feeling amazing and awake), that the body was a tool to reach spirituality or increase it, and no matter if we, or not, acknowledged the "event" because as long as we feel this connection to ourselves and to the outside world, we are spiritual, same when we do things with our hearts, love and without any expectations. When there is respect, care, love and tolerance there is spirituality. Once I realized that by being connected to Nature -in my case at that time was mainly while exercising or tramping-, that by being in the moment without thinking about the past or the future (as closed both can be) I understood that my whole life could get benefits from this experience. I understood that this amazing sensation of well-being felt in that very specific instance on top of this powerful conviction that I was excactly where I should be and that every single thing was at the right place at that very moment, could be extrapolated to every other domain or moments of my daily life. From this very moment, because I knew it will take me to freedom, I got a strong will to do the right things for me, to transform my life... going from fears to peace.
I realised that for years I have been paralysed in my life because of fears I had (despite the facts I have done quite a lot and I'm not afraid to push myself). While I was thinking about them, I understood that actually; whatever the form our phobias and others mental conditions take, they are all related to one : death. So I decided to investigate the subject.
Since my early childhood, I'm convinced there is something else after our life on earth, convinced that what makes us what we are, for instance, our capabilities to love, to be compassionate, to care, to learn, to feel, to sense (our intuition), to dream etc. could not die with the body... it is too subtle, too refine, too powerful, too clever, too beautiful and too impalpable to disappear once our body dyes. I know I was born with this truth deeply anchored inside me... But my education, the society and the modern world, I belonged to, made me think that it might not be the truth or the only truth I should believe in, creating unjustified doubts... and like most of us I have been molded by the system we live in and in the way the system wants us to be, and like most of us the fear of dying became a "brake", stopping my actions, stopping or slowing down the process of developing my true self..
Through my investigation about death and new studies related to it, I discovered or re-discovered a whole world, full of hopes, and more importantly, this took me back to my deepest self, showing me the path to the reconnection to the essence, my essence, our essence. I'm talking here about the essence of love (self love first), the essence of life. My way to get back on that path was by using the physical abilities my body offers me combining them with my will of spiritual awakening. I understood that the body is the mediator in between the earth plane and the spiritual one. Again, when I talk about spirituality, it can refer to anything which makes us real, authentic, light, stress free, judgements free, fears free, in touch with ourselves and the outside world, respecting the Nature, the people and any living organism on earth (if we eat them, then it should be with respect and gratitude for the energy they provide us) and any kind of other virtue.
Everything is about Love, respect, tolerance and care for ourselves first, because only once we are able to apply these principles to ourselves, we can then be able to apply them to the others, to each event and to the world around us. Once we have accepted the way we are, the way we look, our failures, limitations, powers, conditions etc. etc. everything becomes easier and clearer and our body becomes our best support to live our material experience here on earth. By treating it in a gentle way and with respect, by grounding it and listening to it, by being aware of it in any moment, we will get to the point that it will automatically reconnect to this thing which takes us to peace and joy, to well-being and balance, to this fundamental thing which reconnects us to what truly matters : understanding that we all belong to the same source, a source of absolute love and infinite knowledge, and understanding that we are one (which means no more judgements, no more lack of confidence or self-esteem, no more anger etc.). We also understand that nothing but the present moment exists and that there is no point in getting anxious for something that could happen in the future or that has affected a moment of our past... Only the present moment determines the future, so better to live it fully and in the best condition to make sure we are designing or influencing the future to its best and with the best options that the present offers us.
That is it for today! It was an introduction to what is going to be the expression of what it means and what it takes, from my personal point of view and experience of course, to be: fit, healthy, happy and at peace.
Going through all that, we will talk about different topics like:
- how meditation can improve our fitness level,
- why losing weight only matters when there is a threat to our health or our psychological balance,
- why it is important to accept our nature and the way we look, and how we can get to that acceptance,
- how to find peace in our heart and how exercising can help,
- how and why the pressures coming from the society affect the acceptance of ourselves,
- we'll talk also about the importance of the food we eat (not only from a nutritional point of view, but also and mostly from a "spiritual" one; for instance, eating food in Consciousness and respect to get the best of its energy and nutriments benefits),
- and any subject you want to talk about or debate.
I will post articles, references to read or watch and anything which can assist and guide us to our best.
For more details about who I am and the way I work do not hesitate to go to MY WEBSITE
Thanks for reading :) and enjoy your day!!!
Sandrine
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