Streeeeeetch Your Life

Before I take my daily walk, I do something that has helped me avoid injury, remain fit, and extend my lifetime warranty.

I STRETCH.

I perform a series of quick and simple stretching exercises that work all the muscles of my legs, from calf to hamstring. Watch this video to see my complete stretching routine.

STRETCH YOUR BODY

I have been on a steady exercise and walking program for decades and during that time I have not had one leg cramp or pulled muscle or any number of the injuries associated with the wear and tear of persistent pavement-pounding. Why? Because stretching works. Stretching warms up and loosens muscles and joints, better preparing you for the task at hand.


But don’t stop with merely stretching your legs or other body parts. Stretch the rest of your TRIAD (Mind, Body, Spirit).

I’ve demonstrated several ways how to stretch the BODY, now lets:

STRETCH YOUR MIND

I often stress the importance of feeding your brain as much intelligent food (data) as possible. All too often, the mind is consuming too much junk food, or bad data. We all know what happens, physically, when you eat too much junk food: you gain weight, consuming too much sodium, cholesterol, saturated fats and sugars, which causes heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and other health problems.

Instead, stretch your mind, feeding it good, healthy foods (data):

* Read, every day (“A Book a Week is All I Ask“). Stretch your mind by reading diverse topics, explore your weak areas that need developing, spanning all genres, utilizing every media available: newspapers, magazines, novels, non-fiction, self-help, how-to, blogs, and websites.

* Learn a musical instrument or a foreign language. This exercises different parts of your brain, stretching you further.

* Continue your formal education. Full-time or part-time, go for that AA, or BA, or BS, or MBA, or PhD. This will not only stretch your mind, but it’s also a valuable career asset.

* Pursue your autodidactic education.
An autodidact is a self-taught person, someone who continues his or her education through methods other than formal schooling. Never in history has there been more opportunity or information at your fingertips than today.

Stretch your mind, read every day, learn something new, explore the oceans of data available only a mouse-click away, while avoiding all the negative, unproductive junk food (data) that same mouse-click away. Your brain with benefit, just like your body, in the long run.

STRETCH YOUR SPIRIT

Spiritual fulfillment, or happiness, or just contentment, especially during challenging times like these, is as difficult to attain as it is essential in becoming he complete person we all strive to be.

If you possess great physical strengths and an exceptional intellect, yet remain unhappy, your Triad of Balance is lacking, incomplete. Besides feeling the pain of being out of balance, your are also spiritually bereft.

Stretch yourself spiritually:

* Give to charities, volunteer your time to worthy causes. By helping those less fortunate than yourself, you help yourself.

* Join local clubs or groups where you can interact with like-minded thinkers. Sharing thoughts, mingling, talking and laughing in a community setting go a long way toward improving your mental, happy health.

* Meditate, practice yoga. Relax the soul, and the body and mind will follow.

* Be positive, all the time. Easier said than done, but well worth the conscious effort.

*Perform random acts of kindness. Sometimes just a smile can make someone’s day.

* Believe in the goodness in yourself, and the basic goodness in the world.

* Keep the faith.

Stretching is good for you. On those days when I do not feel like taking my walk or exercising, I still put on my shorts or sweats and slowly ease my body into my stretches…and soon I begin to feel the soothing, comfortable healthy ache that motivates me into action.

Make stretching your Mind and Spirit as much of an everyday activity as stretching your Body.

The benefits will far outweigh the effort.

Until next time…

peace,

Mike

Triade of Balance

When you get right down to it, life is a balancing act. We constantly strive to balance everything—Work and play. Self time and time spent with our significant others, children, other family members and friends. Serious, reflective moments (like this post) balanced against silly, goofy ones (see my previous post). Whether we are attempting to find the time to start or maintain an exercise program, or just steal an extra hour from our week to sink into a favorite chair and catch up on that novel we’ve been dying to read, the need for balance in our lives is a daily, often hourly, task.

But what about the need for balance inside each of us? What are you talking about, huh, Mike?

Triad of Balance.

Before we can find the time to balance our hectic lives, or begin to understand how to approach doing so, we need to balance our selves.

There are three parts of each of us that I feel need to be individually balanced—Mind. Body. Spirit. And then they need to be balanced together.

Let’s start with the Mind, because once we have our head on straight, the rest falls into place nicely. The brain needs to be fed. There are lots of things that our mind absorbs each second—this post, for instance. The good thing is: we can, most of the time, choose what we ingest mentally. I suggest we feed our mind nothing but the good stuff, by that I mean: read more, watch TV less—or watch TV programs that add interesting, informative, positive data to our brain. That goes for what we read too—read fiction, sure, but a variety of it. Also everything else that stretches our limitations, help to learn new things, or add more positive, thought provoking images to our brain. Focus on the good in the world, while acknowledging the not so good, but remaining positive throughout. The more positive, intelligent, happy, helpful, kind, intriguing, beautiful (add your own positive word here) thoughts we incorporate into our brain every day, the healthier, happier, and more balanced we will become.

We also need to exercise our Mind. Just like muscles that do not stay active, an inactive brain will become flabby, less sharp. Work both sides of the brain: do puzzles (I love crosswords; do one a day), challenge yourself by learning a musical instrument, or joining a group like Toastmasters or by enrolling in a night college course.

Let’s move from the Mind for now and focus on the Body. If we need to feed our brain with good, healthy data, you can probably guess what I’m going to say next, right? Remember that old expression? You are what you eat. What we eat and the amounts are vital in maintaining our body’s balance. Eat healthy, nutritious foods and our bodies will respond in kind. Keep portion size down, and our body will not only be the right size, but it will help reduce some of the risks of heart disease (the number one killer in America), cancer, diabetes, hypertension, gastrointestinal problems, and any number of other maladies. Add to that healthy diet a sensible exercise program (see Ten Reasons To Get Out and Walk Every Day ), and our body is going to love us. Speaking of love, let’s add that to the list of things the brain should focus on each day.

We also need to keep the Body (and Mind and Spirit) free from negative intruders—tobacco, excessive alcohol, and dangerous drugs.

Treat your Body like the temple it is and you will feel great, live longer, and get yourself that much closer to being balanced.

Now the Spirit. Spirituality means different things to different people, but with one common bond—the act of doing something positive that fulfills us. And just like with the Mind and Body, our Spirit needs to be fed and exercised daily.

Feed your soul with happy, healthy, helpful thoughts, daily, then expand outward—share a funny joke with friends, call your mother or father on the phone just to say hello, offer a random act of kindness to a stranger, (leave a nice comment on someone’s blog post). On a larger scale, we can do volunteer work, give to charity (money or time), join groups or forums with like-minded people practicing spiritual giving. And, of course, worship our higher power at our place of worship, or at home.

Now the hard part—balancing all three: Mind, Body, and Spirit.

There are times, too rare, when I have had my Triad of Balance in harmony, when I have felt mentally healthy and happy, physically strong and active, and spiritually fulfilled and content. But more often than not, one, or sometimes two, or the three need work. And when even one of the three is off, the result is: I am out of balance. Put another way: I am not complete, not the person I know I can be.

The ultimate goal, for me at least, is to have all three—Mind, Body, and Spirit—in balance all the time. While that is often a mighty challenge, it is one that, when attained, makes me the best person I can be, and well worth the effort.

Remember, all we, as flawed human beings, can do is try. Work at everything I’ve discussed in this post, each and every day, and good things are bound to happen.

Visit my website, livelife365.com, for videos about everything I talked about in this post…and lots more.

Until next time…

peace,

Mike

Are You Balanced?

Trick question? Are we talking mentally, physically, or spiritually? Actually, I'm talking about all three. Right now, for instance, I am struggling to find a nice balance between an increased workload and the need to relax. Time, it seems, is swallowed up by this blog and my vlog, my full-time job (you know, the one that pays the bills), and all the little things that go on in between the three. I cannot recall a day or hour lately when I felt bored. And that's a good thing, for the most part. I am a firm believer that human beings are happiest when they are busy, driven, leading a purposeful life. But we still need balance.

What's the old saying? All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy? Well, I don't know how dull I've been of late, but I sure am beat. More to the point: I am out of balance. I looked in the mirror the other day and almost didn't recognise myself. Gazing back at me was this sunken cheeked guy, with five days of growth on his face, huge dark circles rimming his eyes. But beneath that haggard looking facade I noted a hint of a satisfied smirk, a contented grin. Yet, still, I was not complete, whole. Balanced.

I have a program, that I am in the process of turning into a book, called "Triad of Balance." What this is--the short version--is working every day to get yourself in balance. Get your triad in balance. The triad being: Mind. Body. Soul. All the while, as you strive for balance in each area (Intellectually, Physically, Spiritually), the ultimate goal is to then get those three in balance with each other. I will touch more on these principles in coming blogs. In the meantime, if you can't wait (the book will not be out for several months), I have a video about this on my website that goes into more detail than I will in this entry.

Now, back to why I am out of balance right now. By working too many hours, I have been neglecting to work on other aspects of my life. Other areas that, if ignored too long, will rise up and bite you. It is vital to, first, understand what your mind, body, and spirit need daily to be complete. And then essential that you make yourself do these things. I know that I need to workout almost every day. That I need a certain amount of sleep. That, even though I love the work that I do every day, I also need to feed the other parts of my brain: reading for pleasure, relaxing and talking with my wife, walking outside, dining out, or just sitting in front of the TV, watching a funny sitcom, doing a crossword puzzle. Simple tasks, not as important, it seems, than working at earning a living. But vital for your balance. Essential. Any of this sound familiar to you?

I just briefly touched on the edges of the importance of living a balanced life and offered up a few remedies. Remember, the key is your understanding of what YOU need in your daily existence to make you whole. And don't forget your Triad: Mind. Body. Soul. Because, if even one of the Big Three is out of whack, you will be out of whack. Even if you are balanced intellectually and physically, but lacking balance spiritually, you will not be complete. Think about it. One step at a time. One area at a time. Then work on getting all three balanced. The good news? The more conscious you are of your needs, and the more you strive to attain them, the closer you will be to getting where it is you need to be. And even if some days you are slightly off, a little unbalanced in one area, by understanding what you need to do to get back on track you are that much better off. As for me, I vow to work less and spend more time relaxing with my lovely wife. Maybe take a scenic walk with her through one of the many wonderful parks we have here in town. In between that, think I will park it on the couch with a pile of magazines and newspapers, put the Red Sox on the tube, sip some green tea, and, if all goes well, nod off and catch up on some sleep.

Balance. Have you checked yours lately?

peace,
Mike

For more about balance, visit Mike's website: http://www.livelife365.com/