A client recently wrote me a text after our session that read, “I hate running, but after exercise, the whole world opens up. I have a window of time where I’m insanely mentally, emotionally and physically on fire.”

A Christmas card from another client read, “If some had told me a year ago that exercise would be the path back to my writing, I never would have believed them.”

I share all of this because I believe that exercise can be a powerful path to self-transformation—to living the lives we dream of.  In our culture, we are bombarded with messages that exercise is something that is ‘hard,’ takes a lot of discipline and will power, that we are somehow failing if we are not doing it, and perhaps most dangerously, that we will only be happy when we have six pack abs and the body we dream of.

I want to invite you to re-frame this belief. To stop seeing exercise as drudgery that must done so that ‘one day’ we can be happy when the weight has been lost; but, instead understand exercise as an access to direct happiness in the here and now.  

My own re-framing with exercise began seven years ago, in my junior year of college when I found myself in a period of lethargy and depression, unable to get back to my usual upbeat, vibrant self. I went to therapy, talked to friends, did activities I loved—but nothing seemed to help.

This all changed one afternoon when I decided to go for a run.  I hadn’t run in years and, literally, a week before had said to a friend, “you’re crazy”when he explained that he wanted to start running every day.

But now, with what I can only attribute as an act of grace, I got the impulse to go for run and  felt the cloud of lethargy, fatigue and sadness lift as I ran. The next day I went for a run again—for no other reason than it felt so darn good. Pretty soon, I was running every day, getting up to 12 miles without ever consciously meaning to. People started commenting how happy I seemed, how great I looked-- I lost weight and got toned without consciously meaning to and gained the confidence to take on projects that before felt impossible.

When we discover the joy of exercise—the pounds will naturally drop-- but more importantly, we will have a tool that can give us direct access to happiness, energy and a new perspective at any given moment.   When we begin to exercise regularly--our whole lives begin to change--we gain confidence, let go of anxieties and long held dis-empowering beliefs. Our bodies change on the inside and out as we gain access to new levels of energy, inspiration and tap into the parts of ourselves that have been lying dormant for too long. Often, I have seen clients transition careers or get promotions, re-discover passions that have been untouched for years, tap into their creativity and take their relationships to new levels, all while learning to love to run and do push-ups.

Anti-depressants are the most widely prescribed pharmaceuticals in this country-- isn’t it time we found another way of accessing our happiness?

A piece I wrote for the Medea Project’s Performance at the Planned Parenthood Fundraiser

If I could whisper tenderly to your womb,
and ask her to reveal her deepest secrets,
what would she share?

Would she speak of the synthetic hormones, elevated prostegeron and estrogen levels that make her insides churn? Would she share her grandmother’s memories of DES that left the next generation unable to have children of their own? Would she ask if you remembered Delilah, your mother’s friend, born with the truncated arms because of the oral contraceptives the doctored had advocated so many years ago?

Would she ask, “Do you think it’s really that different now?”

Pharmaceutical companies prophesying that little purple pills falling from the sky will save the day?

Is this what sexual liberation looks like? Is this what reproductive rights have come to mean?
If so, I want a new Revolution.

The New Year is often a time when we make health and fitness resolutions, with the number of people hitting the gym in January exponentially increasing. But as so many of us know all too well, the truth is that by February, most of us have lost sight of our goals, with our New Years’ intentions never realized.
 A main reason that people fall so quickly out of their New Year’s fitness routine is because they are not seeing immediate results. We often think, “I’ve been busting my butt in the gym for three weeks, and I’ve only lost a pound, this is not worth it!” We become demotivated and so we stop working out.
In hopes to help people break out of the fitness rut and truly create a fitness routine that is sustainable and enjoyable, here are:

9 Tips for Making this New Year Healthy, Joyful and Fitness Filled!

1. Keep tuning into how you feel from exercise rather than how you look

In our fast paced, results driven culture, we often want to see change NOW. And while, yes, surgery can provide that and participants who are on the biggest looser exercising 8 hours a day can achieve quick results, the truth is that for most of us, healthy, sustainable weight loss is a slow process. If we only focus on how many pounds we are losing, than we often get discouraged and give up.
If, however, instead we instead how we feel after exercise–how much better our mood is, how peaceful our mind is, how much more energy and focus we have, than we will keeping coming back to exercise because these mental and emotional benefits will be enough within themselves. The catch is that using these benefits as motivation will create a sustainable exercise routine that sticks, which is what, in the end, will bring the physical results we initially hoped for!

A woman came to me for her first fitness training  session yesterday; we’ve known each other for a couple of years in the context of a theater group but this is the first time we’ve talked one on one.

She’s been struggling with her weight since the age of 12. She’s a big woman, tall, beautiful, bold, intimidating until you get to know her softer side.

“I’ve been in Overeater’s Anonymous for 18 years,’ she explains, and then laughs, “I know everything there is to know about healthy eating and weight loss, but knowledge doesn’t seem to make a damn bit of difference.”

She’s struggling with obesity, with emotional eating, with finding the motivation to exercise.  I ask her what it would mean for her to lose weight and she replies,

I recently returned home from my first 10 day silent Vipassana meditation retreat. It’s hard to say exactly what compelled me to go as I think often our spiritual draws come from a place outside of the rational, conscious mind, but I do remember Ben, Jeremy and Brigid, friends I so deeply respect, talking about profound transformations occurring through their sitting silence.

Profound transformation sounded nice, so I thought, ‘why not!’ My ego made profound transformation mean bliss, peace, serenity, perhaps even white lights and feelings of oneness —all that good stuff that they talk about in the spiritual books! But by day nine, when my mind was still screaming, ‘why are you doing this??? Think of all the things you could be doing if you were at Home! You should be working, doing doing doing, not sitting, sitting, sitting….” I went crying to the teacher, “It’s day nine and the meditation still isn’t working, my mind is louder than ever!” The teacher looked at me softly and said, “The meditation is working perfectly, you’re exactly where you need to be, recognize your craving for something different, your aversion to what it is, recognize that this is causing your suffering, not the actual circumstances in themselves….”

“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.” ― Pema Chödrön

For the last two months, I seem to have fallen into a funk that comes without many thoughts or explanations. I am reminded of what an invisible force depression can be, that on the surface we can be smiling, and seemingly bright, but on the inside, doing everything in our power to hold back tears and just ‘keep it together.’ I am reminded how little we know of what is really happening for someone and how important is to treat our strangers with empathy and care, for who knows where they have been or where they are going, and what feelings lie just underneath the surface.

My flight to New York City is two hours delayed. So I wandered into the airport magazine kiosk to see if I could find something to read.

Now I should say that I’m pretty removed from mainstream media and pop culture these days—I don’t own a TV, my radio dial is set to KQED-the local public radio station, the only magazine I subscribe to is Spirituality and Health and most of my Facebook friends post affirmations of what they’re grateful for and photos of Rumi quotes rather than their musings on the latest Kardashian affair.

My Mom is visiting and wanted some Magnesium  (b/c Tim Ferriss claims it helps you sleep better) So we took a trip to GNC; along with Diet Shakes and supplements, this is what I found…. 

Okay, first off, to state the obvious, these products are RIDICULOUS!!!!

And…in a nation that’s facing an ever increasing obesity epidemic, I have a hunch that the Hollywood Cookie Diet is not quite providing the solutions we’re looking for…

Last night My Mom and I also saw Forks over Knives, a documentry that “…examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.”

I’ve just returned home from the Medea Project’s writing workshop. Today’s assignment was to write about miracles. One woman wrote about having her own home after being homeless and another told her of raising her granddaughter who was born in jail.

The Medea Project feels so real, there’s no bullshit, no masquerades, no pretending to be more together than we really are.  I feel like I can be myself, my worst self, and I will still be loved. It is a beautiful reminder in the power of community, in healing, in speaking our truths and coming together as women.

12 

Healthy Habit #1: Drink Water and Lots of It!

Drink at least half your body weight in ounces each day! Getting enough water is vital to helping the body flush out toxins and metabolize stored fat efficiently.

Helpful Hint: To help make sure you’re drinking enough water, keep a water bottle by your desk and drink from it at least once an hour.

Extra Bonus: Drink Clean Water! Paul Chek and others believe the chlorine found in tap water not only kills the bad bacteria, but also the good.  Instead, they recommend drinking water from a high quality water filter system, which can easily be installed into kitchen sinks. You can order a water filter at: www.seagulldistribution.com