"Regular or Stinging ?" Cycle For Survival

Kids seem to have the same "ugh" attitude about going to bed that we adults have about getting OUT of bed. My twins wait till the last possible minute to use the bathroom or brush their teeth (usually after the 4th time we ask, they actually do it). Jake commandeers the bathroom that has the toothbrushes and toothpaste for his nightly ritual. Abby tries to coax him out or at least "pass out her toothbrush and toothpaste". Last week, as Kurt and I listened to this ritual, Abby asked the usual "can you pass out my toothbrush" and after a pause, he did. Then with a great sigh and roll of her eyes "Can you pass me out the toothpaste?" After a pregnant pause Jake replies "regular or stinging?"

I knew exactly what he meant (we have a few different kinds and some are a little more minty). The concept of asking "regular or stinging" was hysterical to me. To think that his perception was so radically different than ours that he had a completely different "definition" and experience/reality than we did. He wasn't wrong, strong mint does sting but for some people that is a good thing.

Almost everything we experience in our lives takes on a unique definition/reality as it gets filtered through our perceptions, beliefs, prejudices, insecurities, past experiences, preferences and senses. In many ways, none of us can ever experience anything the same as someone else can.

We do get a "say" in all this though. I believe that working on our "selves", we can let go of a lot of judgement about others and even about ourselves. In almost any experience, person or thing we can learn to "find the good". We can choose the "it's gonna be great" reality.

Choosing to be an optimist is just that, a choice. We can also choose to be miserable. The question is...why would we ?

It takes a constant effort to deflect all the "not nice" that comes at us in our lives. Not unlike how hard we train to be able to tolerate more intense physical challenges, we can get our "emotional teflon" stronger but exercising our "it's gonna be great".

I will be teaching and riding with my team f0r Cycle For Survival again this year. Jen Goodman, who started this amazing charity, is a great example of someone who is" like Wonder Woman deflecting bullets with her magic bracelets" with her "it's gonna be great". She is on her 7th round of battling cancer and still she is doing great things and living an amazing life full of purpose and meaning. Her blog is: http://youfearless.com/page/fearless-blog

We can all benefit from "flexing our optimism muscles "and making them stronger. Do good, be good and believe that there is goodness all around you and in everyone (yes everyone). That is just as much a reality as believing otherwise. There will be "good" if we allow it, become it and open our arms to welcome it.

Please give to Cycle For Survival. My team is Liquid Strength and I am grateful to be able to do this good thing. I hope you will feel as blessed giving and joining hands with Jen to feed the "good" all around us.

Story von Holzhausen

Taking on new challenges

My cousin Erica sent me this and I thought it was really worth sharing. We are all taking on some new challenges this year and keeping the right attitude about them is vital to us having a good experience. I believe (as Erica does) that our belief system influences our "outcome". The dialog and joy (or lack of) we enjoy with our bodies and our "selves" manifests itself as physical reality. We are doing amazing work right now in classes. Challenging, fun and intense work. I want everyone to work on "watching it happen". With open minds and hearts, allow your strength and power to shine and come into the world.

A message from Erica Isler:

http://erikaisler.com/blog/

Cycle For Survival

I am teaching and riding again this year for Cycle for Survival. This amazing event raises money for rare cancer research. I am asking all of my wonderful students to give. Give $1 or $100. Just give. Send the message and know that you are part of something that is making a difference for all people.

My team is Liquid Strength (shocker huh?). Please go to the site cycleforsurvival.org and GIVE !

Story von Holzhausen

The intellect/happy irony

Have you ever noticed that we, as people, strive for happiness yet it is those among us who are more withdrawn, sullen and discruntled that we think of as "cool". A person who is "happy" is often thought of as less intelligent as their peers.

Especially in youth, we seem to be drawn to and emulate the more conflicted and dark among us. The joyful and chipper teenager is rarely as interesting as the James Dean type. With age (and life) it gets harder to be blissfully optimistic. When you think of people like Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, they are usually smiling. These amazing human beings are very aware of the spectrum of joy/pain that is the human existence. The choice to "be happy" and to be hopeful and positive is available to all of us. Life gives us sometimes very valid reasons not to be happy but it is our personal choice how we let these challenges effect us.

If you really think about it, the more selfless we are the less we need or expect those around us to "feed" our personal needs (both physical and emotional). To be sad and sullen is actually to be incredibly self indulgent. We impose our needs onto everyone around us and require others to "take on" what we are feeling. There is a fine line between forming bonds and having personal connections with the people we love and trust with the struggles of our daily lives and living in a state of requiring the attention of others. In this world of constant contact via Facebook, Twitter, blogs,email and text, we are all becoming a bit narcisistic aren't we ?

Sometimes happiness needs us to fight for it. We have to hold on and refuse to let go no matter what the day brings. Holding steadfast to the beauty of our lives. Those simple joys like laughing or petting a dog that are here and now all around us. It is our choice to carry worry and fear and hate around with us, missing the wonder that we are walking by.

Perhaps it takes great "intellect" to just put that baggage down and let ourselves feel the breeze, smell the flowers and notice that we are perfectly happy in that moment. There have been a few really interesting studies this year about the "age of happiness". People seem to get happier as they get older (past 50 anyway). How many 80 year old do you know that don't smile when they see a baby ?

Perhaps there is a wisdom to happiness. When we understand how hard life can be but still we allow joy to creep into and infuse our lives, maybe it is then and only then, we truly find it.

Story von Holzhausen

Liquid Strength 2011

This new year (and new schedule at Equinox) has allowed a whole new group of people to be able to take group Liquid Strength. I welcome all of my new students and want to thank all of my regulars for their continued work and energy they bring to class.

Some changes to my website are coming. The schedule portion will be updated regularly so that I can keep everyone abreast of changes and private classes (outside of a gym setting) in my schedule. This year will finally bring classes taught by Kathleen and Scott who have been diligently working and studying to teach for years now. They bring not only their individual talents and creativity to Liquid Strength but also times and classes that I cannot offer.

There seems to be a kind of magic happening around Liquid Strength right now that is reminiscent of when I first created it. The changes that I am seeing in all of you inspire and feed the program (and all of us). Many of you have had very significant improvements in posture, confidence and body composition. This new year promises to further all of you down that very healthy and happy road.

So often during the ("meditation") closing moments of class as I ask all of you to focus on something very positive in your days or in your lives, I find myself feeling such gratitude for your presence and (as my son Jake would say) your "awesomeness" that I want to take this opportunity to say "Thank You".

Story von Holzhausen

New Year

This is typically a time that people make "resolutions". Usually it is whatever obsession they tell themselves every day that they "should" be doing. There is no secret power that comes on Jan 1st to help you make "this time" any different. Everyone knows what they "should" be doing or "not doing" to be healthy, more positive and productive people. The challenge seems to be the action needed to turn our "hopes" for our lives into our actual "lives".

Human brains seem to operate and run in deeply etched grooves. These grooves are formed from years of repetitive behavior. Sometimes the first "scratch" of a deeply formed groove can come from a childhood experience or just from some self formed belief. These grooves are so deeply formed that they become WHO we are if we do not take care and pay attention to them.

There are "addictions" of all kinds. Two nights ago there was a program on about two women struggling with strange addictions. One was addicted to eating toilet paper and the other to sleeping with her blow dryer on. It is hard not to laugh at such strange addictions. The reality is that anyone not struggling with a specific addictive behavior cannot understand "what the big deal is". Perhaps that is the secret behind it all. The build up and focus on "not doing" something places that thought foremost in our lives. If I say "don't think about a pink elephant", you do.

I would like everyone to turn the usual "resolutions" over and laugh them off. Begin just not giving the power to your own struggles. Let it be easy. Let go of the obsessive worry and energy you give your own angst.

This year, find your joy. Let your life be easy. Think about all the things you want to do, eat, say, learn and experience. Practice the art of imagination, hope and belief. It won't happen in a day but it will happen if you commit to making this change. If your current way is "not working for you", take a good look at those grooves you are etching deeper and deeper and do the work to change them.

We do not get to choose our genetics or our families. We don't get to choose our childhoods or what we look like. We do get to choose who we are and who we will become. We get to choose how we let experiences and challenges change us. Terrible circumstances can make truly amazing human beings. They can also create horrible ones.

Most people work pretty hard at "looking good", having a clean house, a nice car or a successful career. How many people work as hard at being the best person they can be? Can you just imagine how much joy there would be in this world (or in our own lives) if we all began to do just that?

I have asked a very special life coach to guest blog here and she (Erika) will be giving some very good advice about how to begin taking the first steps on that road:

Big thanks to Story for this opportunity to spend time with you! She and I always have meaningful, deep-minded chats when we’re together, so I’m thrilled to share some time with you here as well.

Here’s my first suggestion to you for 2011: Table your sweeping plans for change. Just drop them for a while. Don’t worry; you’ll be able to pick them up after considering a few points.

Step 1-Ask yourself why you’re planning the changes you’ve highlighted for the coming year. If your plan is to lose 15 pounds by June, stop for a moment and consider the source of your motivation. Is it something you think you “should” do? Any desire hinged upon words like “should,” “need to,” or “have to,” is not a sign of internal desire; it’s a sign of obligation to some norm outside of you. If your goal is weight loss, give it a positive spin in your inner and outer monologue. In other words, instead of saying “I should lose 15 pounds,” say “I want to lose 15 pounds.” The earlier version sounds a bit victim-like, doesn’t it? Sort of weighty (no pun intended) in its tone, isn’t it? Yeah, I’m not feeling it either.

However, in saying “I want to lose 15 pounds,” you’ve carefully chosen words that by their very nature feel more energized and motivating. And energized and motivated are indeed two real feelings that can certainly help you in nearly every facet of your life.

Step 2-Become a scientist in your own life. By stepping away from judging yourself, and instead simply sliding into the role of observer—a lab-coated witness to everything you say, what you think and how you act at different times—with absolutely no judgment whatsoever—can be a very revealing exercise. If, for example, I’m the type of person that sets huge goals repeatedly only to rapidly fall back into old patterns, I might ask myself why? What’s my payoff in continuing to overeat? What am I telling myself about this tendency? Which leads me to the next step.

Step 3-Gently and regularly remind yourself that your thoughts are not who you are. They are simply what they appear to be—thoughts. Start looking at where your thoughts about yourself are unkind, lacking compassion and wounding. Remember, thoughts and facts are two different things. Facts are verifiable; thoughts are beliefs built on a lifetime of repeatedly thinking them. For real clarity, start noticing and then questioning your thoughts.

So if we go to the goal of losing 15 pounds, where in your internal dialogue are you already giving up with condemnations like, “Yeah, I tried this last year. I couldn’t do it. I’m a failure and I lack discipline.” Where are the facts in that thought? More importantly, where are the beliefs?

Our source for deep, lasting improvement is inside, not outside. Our mission is to get clear on what we desire and why. If the motivation is a thinly shrouded effort to please anyone but us, success will be elusive.

Now, get your resolution list back out and spend a little time writing about your “whys.” The items on the list that are true to your essential self will feel more like a pull than a push. The plans that you feel pulled by are authentically you. Stick with those and you’ll chart a whole new kind of success.

Wishing you authentic success for the coming year!

Erika Isler is a Martha Beck-trained life coach who works with smart, motivated people ready to reconnect to what they really want. For more information on her and her work, visitwww.erikaisler.com or email her at erikaisler@gmail.com.

Happy New Year !!!

Story von Holzhausen

Believing......

This is the time of year that we believe in miracles. The shimmering memories of childhood are still palpable. Anything could happen.

The promise of magic is still there just waiting for us to believe. The connection between our minds and our bodies is still a mystery. Many people believe there is a very powerful and literal connection. Many body builders subscribe to the belief that by sheer focus, they are able to alter parts of their body. In fact, entire religions are based on the ability to "heal" through faith.

When I created Liquid Strength, it was during a time of great stress and personal difficulty. I was not feeling good on many levels. My body image was horrible and I found that the lack of joy in life and about "me" went hand in hand.

I will always be grateful for the parts of my life that nearly killed me. Every childhood agony helped teach me that joy and love were only in my life if I brought them. No amount of abuse could "make" me lose my hope or my desire to do and be "good". There was and is a tremendous power in that.

As adults, we bring that abuse to ourselves. We stand in the mirror and unleash a litany of "mean" on ourselves.

I have trained and taught thousands of people. Some rich, famous and beautiful and some very normal. The most amazing thing is that no matter what the rest of the world sees, every one of these people only get to experience (enjoy or suffer for) what THEY see.

I work with bodies. I know them. How they move. How the proportions tend to be similar in some types and how each "kind" reacts to certain things. Much of what I have come to learn and believe is not yet explained (or even mentioned) by scientists. We may never understand The amazing bodies we live in completely. Especially the effect that "We" as mental/spiritual beings have on the physical manifestation of ourselves.

I completely believe that when a person (this person can be me too) "sees" , feels and believes themselves to be / look strong and great, they do. It sounds like science fiction but it's not. I have seen it hundreds of times. When formerly heavy people start to lose weight and get excited and happy about themselves, that is when the huge changes happen.

The hard part comes when there are not huge changes to make. Most of my student/clients look great. The changes they are after are subtle and small. In some cases, literally ALL of their misery is in their head. Sometimes I wish I could put them behind glass and pull strangers off the street to give their critiques and force them to listen.....

All of us our born with a body. Hopefully it is a fully functioning healthy one. For that alone we have to be profoundly grateful. The few times I have been injured and unable to train, I have realized that there is a huge difference between not being ABLE to train and just not feeling like it.

Some of us have long legs or long torsos. Some of us are tall. There a million subtle differences between all of our bodies. We tend to love whatever it is that we don't have. It is amazing to me how much time, energy and misery humans bring on themselves contemplating their bodies.

If you take a moment and think about anyone you love or maybe even someone you are envious of, can you picture every single inch or shape of their bodies ? No. You don't really care. I have news for you. Nobody cares about the tiny "flaws" in your body either. NOBODY but you.

The minute you decide to be beautiful and "hot" is the moment you are. What makes someone sexy? Mostly it is confidence. Anyone who walks tall and with posture that screams "I am fantastic", is.

Stop reading beauty magazines. Stop reading tabloids that feed on your insecurity and create a nation of jealous and spiteful people waiting to rip apart each other. You are beautiful, sexy, unique and perfect.

What you are attracted to is as unique as you are. There is no "ideal". It is just opinion. We all get to decide if we are beautiful. I can tell you this, anyone who feels good about themselves is NOT vain. They are happy. They are free to be generous with their compliments and not threatened by beauty around them. They are joyful and have time and energy to think and do truly important things. "Vanity" is when a person (this happens a lot with celebrities) does not really believe in themselves or feel good about who they are but throws attitude around.

There is a story about Marilyn Monroe I love. She was walking with a friend down a busy street and nobody recognized or noticed her. She turned to her friend as said "Want to see me become "her"?" She suddenly changed her internal attitude and suddenly EVERYONE recognized her and mobbed her.

Today I want you to do that. I want you have all the confidence, joy and fun that you would have if you allowed yourself to believe that you looked "perfect" (whatever that means). I want you to fake it if you need to and see how it feels.

I have come to believe that if you can do this, you can change your physical body and more importantly, change your life.

Story von Holzhausen