A healthier, more fit and longer life is within your grasp. A significant amount of research shows that exercise is the magic ingredient for a better quality of life.

Regular exercise aids in weight loss and helps with weight maintenance, it increases bone density and general strength, reduces your risk for several chronic diseases and conditions, and helps to reduce stress levels. No matter your fitness level there is a place to begin for everyone. The key to exercise is finding what you enjoy and making it part of your daily routine. 

Research has confirmed that any amount of exercise, at any age, is beneficial. In general, the more you do the greater the benefits. The National Academy of Sciences has recommended that everyone strive for a total of an hour per day of physical activity. Sounds like a lot, but the hour can be made up of several shorter bursts of activity done throughout the day, and is not limited to the gym and sports alone. Depending on your fitness...

I believe in the extraordinary potential that exists within everyone. Now I don’t just mean a person’s ability to draw, or do math or whatever other tangible skill a person has. I’m including the intangibles like depth of character, ability to be empathetic, hard-working, and skill at lifting people around them and brightening a day. These are just a few examples.

Not everyone is an all-star at something tangible. And that’s okay. But everyone is an all-star at something. We are all here influencing people with every turn and are role models in our own way. I believe that finding your gift and sharing it is what creates life fulfillment. Unfortunately, too often we ignore our own gift for want of another’s. Personally, I’m not great at anything specific but I’m pretty decent at various things. However, it is my desire to learn about people and things which allows me to relate to and connect with a wide array of people that I believe to be my...

Visualization is a powerful tool. When used to enhance physical performance, help manifest something in your future, or recover from injury, visualization is incredibly useful. Our brain doesn’t know the difference between thought and action. Studies have shown that the brain of an athlete lights up the same when performing a skill or imagining it. Not only does visualization stimulate and wire the brain, it also sends blood flow to areas of the body being used in the visualization. On a personal note, in high school my volleyball coach had us do guided visualization tapes (yes, I said tapes) about twice a month. I found them very helpful and saw my game performance improve.

In the context of life we spend such a great deal of time thinking about all the things we have to do. We do it every day and with every topic of life. I spend a great deal of time coaching people to “let go” of things they are really not going to deal with in the immediate future. It’s...

Like many of you I am a participant in social media in its various forms. My blog today is fully inspired by the incredible amount of false content we have access to, and the rapid fire way in which people communicate it without fact-checking. Very often these “shares” are of the political nature, inaccurate dates and events, partial truths or lies, or true events circulated with inaccurate headlines in order to evoke outrage. To give a non-divisive example, I have literally seen memes announcing the death of “The Rock,” Dwayne Johnson at least three times. As we know, they travel in cycles. If you know people who spread untrue or misleading content, please ask them to stop.

I believe it is our duty to read past headlines and see more than the surface content of a photo. We are highly social beings who engage with one another. The integrity of our word is vital. Critical thinking obligates us to ask if something really makes sense even if we want to believe,...

We all sit so this applies to everyone, but if you have a desk job, drive for most of the day, or find yourself sitting to watch hours of television you are most affected. The flexion at the hips and rear tilt of the pelvis causes a muscular imbalance through the powerhouse of your body, your hips. Any athlete will tell you that the body’s power comes from its ability to ground itself from the center, move and adjust rapidly, and have full range of motion in any plane. Ongoing tightening causes energy build up, affects the nervous system’s response to stress and rapid motion, and causes emotional drain due to the stress signals being fired from our root, our most grounded point. The body was designed to move. Don’t you feel better physically and emotionally when you get up and walk around?

Many people have moved to standing/sitting desks and take walk breaks at work. Even stillness is an overuse activity. If you have already made desk changes, terrific! Keep...

I got a photo from a former client today, it was of her from a few years ago when she was much heavier. It popped up as a memory on Facebook and she wanted to share the reminder of her success. The memory was terrific because it reminded her how far she has come and how many things she never imagined she could do that she has! We texted briefly and she said she never wanted to go back. I reminded her that she doesn’t have to because we close doors behind us and open doors in front of us.

Every good and bad experience we have is a lesson. A lesson that we move through and leave as history. Learn from it and keep moving forward.

As a social society we are creatures who gather and find safety and comfort in likeness. Much like we see in today’s very connected, yet disconnected climate, we are still fundamentally fearful of difference and have the media resources to selectively communicate those differences, often in a negative fashion. I fear that until we as people develop more empathy and self-worth we will continue to disconnect, more so from the people we see different than ourselves. No one ever said you have to be best friends with everyone but changing the lens through which you see the world periodically helps you see things from another perspective.

Belonging can be hard, especially when we are young. Throughout the years I have talked with many adult friends and clients, as well as teens about the struggle to fit in. A client once told me how her daughter’s 13 year-old friend was suddenly being actively rude and snotty at school. I reminded her that she was probably trying to...

During a workout we push or pull weights, feel sore, stop, and after a minute do it all over again. The pain you experience during the exercise is called Acute Muscle Soreness and is often used by people to gauge workout effort. On the other hand, Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS is what you may feel 24 to 48 hours after the workout.

Studies have shown that the eccentric contraction (or elongation) of the muscle is more likely to contribute to this pain over the opposing concentric contraction. If you can imagine a biceps curl, as the weight is lowered to the ground micro tears are created in the muscle. It is with these tears that the muscle rebuilds itself and continues its growth. There are several main culprits of DOMS, however. They include:

• Micro tears signaling pain receptors that communicate with the brain;
• Calcium and white blood cells released into the muscle causing inflammation; and
• Lactic acid, a normal byproduct of muscle metabolism

While there is a long list of...

I love to share my personal insight with the hopes of lifting those around me, educating, and reminding us to have life balance and to take ownership. It’s also nice to share inspiration and kindness created by others, however.

Heart felt stories are there to lift your spirit. Not to make you sad or remind you of what you don’t have at this moment. I truly believe that where there is inspiration lies hope.

This video is a beautiful animated love story with real life couple Danny & Annie Perasa sharing their 27-year romance for StoryCorps. “As they remember their life together from their first date to Danny's final days with terminal cancer, these remarkable Brooklynites personify the eloquence, grace, and poetry that can be found in the voices of everyday people when we take the time to listen.” – StoryCorps (Aug 2010)

Click here to watch the video. It is about 5 minutes and worth the watch :-)

We find that in the most desperate times of life we make some of the poorest choices. 

For example:

* When you finally slid as far down the hill as you can go in your health and wellness and make desperate, radical choices in order to get to where you think you should be.

* When you are destitute and don’t think you have anywhere to go and you start making life and job decisions that are against who you really are or that make you miserable.

What to do.

1. Don’t get stuck in the pity cycle; letting the momentum of things that make you feel bad take control. Take over. You can stop the spin!
2. Listen to the positive inner voice. Not the one that gives excuses, or the naysayers around you.
3. Know who you are when you are emotionally strong. This gives us a pillar to ground ourselves.
4. Focus on the best of you, not the worst.
   
   You CAN do it. You WILL make positive life choices. Be mindful of what you are running to, not just what you are running from.