Darryl Council Archives | Blended Athletics

The Pain Teacher is one of the oldest teachers of the Human Race. It has been with us, teaching us from trial and error since the beginning. Whether it is communicating to one person on a micro scale, or getting the attention of an entire nation; the Pain Teacher will always be heard. It’s lessons however, don’t always get remembered for long; and that is why it stays just around the corner, waiting for the next opportunity to infuse us with its knowledge. Sometimes The Pain Teacher beckons us with little whispers; that little flare of yellow or orange sensation in your awareness as we go through our daily rounds, move in a certain way, or perhaps hours after a hard workout. It lies quietly until we make that one, very exact movement, deciding then to let us know that things are not right. We rub it or perhaps try to move our limb through its range of motion, hoping it will go away. Sometimes it does, but sometimes it doesn’t.

The Pain Teacher sometimes comes like a thief in the night; striking without warning despite all the precautions you’ve taken. Maybe everything was fine with your body; until it wasn’t. Maybe you failed to heed its quiet, softer warnings for a time, until it forced you to take notice by crippling you. Now you’re hurt, pissed off, in a mental funk and your physio has made a few more dollars from your negligence.

The Pain teacher tells us when we are out of alignment or balance with ourselves. It warns us that something is wrong, and demands our attention before it ceases its warnings. Even then, its warnings will continue for minutes or even days afterwards; almost as if searing itself into your memory lest you forget what was communicated to you.

Once you’ve had a lesson from the pain teacher, the way you approach similar situations again is never the same. In the gym setting, you move much more cautiously. Every ounce of attention is paid to the body and the affected areas and movements are conducted with the utmost precision. Go ahead and try jumping back into things all willy-nilly; lest you wake the sleeping dragon and receive a second or third failing grade. The amateur repeats the lessons and grades time and time again until it clicks.The smart person receives the catalyst, works with or around it until they learn the lesson and grow from the opportunity. The Master learns from others and the self and never has to experience the lessons at all.

-You if you don’t listen to The Pain Teacher

Yes, the Pain Teacher provides opportunities; and opportunities abound. When the Pain Teacher strikes, it opens a unique window for you the student to slow down, re-evaluate what you’re doing and approach life in a different way for the time being. Maybe your leg is broken, but there is nothing stopping you from getting a massively stronger upper body or forging a set of abs made out of adamantium (shout out Wolverine). Maybe you’ve got a bummed shoulder. Your cardio has been a little slack these past few months, maybe it’s time you got on the bike or hit the road a bit more. Maybe the Pain Teacher is telling you that you’re really tired and worn out so much that everything hurts all the time. In this sense, maybe the Pain Teacher is telling you that you need to just chill for a few weeks or months and work on your relationships and lifestyle habits a bit. When you sit down and commune with the Pain Teacher, you will see a road that branches out in many directions; each one taking you not from your goals, but towards it from a different angle.

The Pain Teacher in relationships stirs the environment so that one or both parties can learn something about the nature of their relationship. If the student is introspective, it can clear the glass of the window allowing you to peer into yourself to see what role you play in contributing pain to the situation. The Pain Teacher not only teaches you, but teaches through you.

The Pain Teacher’s number one lesson is: Pay Attention Integrate Now. It’s second lesson is always: You’re doing something wrong, cut that sh*t out. Don’t make the Pain Teacher work any harder, learn your lessons early on.

Let’s be real, we’re on our phones or computers- a lot. I’ve personally been noticing that more and more people bringing their phones with them into their zones, and in effect zoning out during a good portion of the time that should be spent with the attention present in the body. This is why we come to the gym, in order to learn from the School of Movement. The best learning takes place when the mind is present with your movements, where your attention is firmly centered around tracking and observing the most minute of details when in motion. Even the so-called ‘dead time’ when we are resting or recovering seems to now be an opportunity when we are plugged in and consuming information- relevant or not and failing to make the most of the precious time we allot ourselves to be free of the chains that tie us down during the day. So today, I’m coming for your phones with five reasons why you need to bag it and leave it.

1- It’s distracting you…all the time: Everyone knows the invisible lure of the phone. Just seeing that little black, oblong rectangle in your general vicinity is enough to entice you to check for notifications; something that will give you that little dopamine hit and reinforce the notion that you’re still important in this world. But guess what? During your workout, what’s going on in the world or even in your online life is irrelevant. You drove to the gym in order to move your body and get away from the commitments of daily life so that you can better yourself and go back into the world a better person. We have enough distractions as it is, why bring the biggest one in with you to tempt you from the beginning. Bag it.

2- You’ll get more out of your workouts: Without the endless series of vibrations and dings beckoning your attention every other minute, your attention is more free to be in your body, tracking, observing and all around just focusing on what you’re doing during each phase of each movement. Instead of scrolling during a rest period, now you can pay close attention to your recovery breathing and determine just how well you are actually able to calm your body and store a bit of energy before your next set or round. You can take the time to sense into your body and ascertain the condition of your muscles and joints, knowing if you need to maybe back off for a round, or possibly go a bit harder if things feel well. You’ll never be able to get this information by responding to an email during the opportunities to be still and feel what’s happening- that is unless your phone comes equipped with a micro quantum x-ray device. Then by all means, use it. Until then, bag it.

3- You need the break: Let’s be clear about this. If you are so busy that you can’t go without your phone for 45 minutes while you workout, you probably shouldn’t be at the gym at that time. That, or you need to re-evaluate your life. FOMO is real, but only because we made it so. But you need to video yourself to check your form you say? Ok.Tape it. Watch it. When you’ve approved it, put it back in your bag and get back to work; Try uploading it when you’re done with your workout. Why after? Because the second you upload it to the Web, the urge to check it for likes will inevitably set in, creating yet another distraction. Bag it.

4- You’ll get more face to face contact: Even if from a distance, how many places can you go indoors where you can actually see another human being’s entire face? In this ‘New Normal’, we should cherish the time we get to spend in the vicinity of other people without looking like amateur ninjas. Humans are social creatures by nature. For most of us (many introverts included), interacting with a virtual person will never be better than actually interacting with their physical counterpart in real time. Like sunshine in Nova Scotia, soak up every opportunity you have to see the faces of other human beings in person, because it may be a while until you see them again. Bag it.

5- You may make some new friends or connections: With your attention free to explore your movements and the people around you, new connections, friendships and relationships will inevitably appear. That person sitting next to you in their zone waiting for the class to begin could be your next business partner, or your next lover, or your next best friend. You would never know this if you simply tucked yourself into a corner and checked out of physical reality and into virtual land whenever the coach wasn’t talking. Something as simple as not missing an opportunity to share a look of misery between you and the person across from you during a rest period could fundamentally alter the course of your entire day in profound ways. But again, if your eyes are down, all those micro-moments that are rich with potential will go completely unnoticed. Bag it.

Everywhere you look it seems that someone is giving out advice on how to perform better, be more productive, go further, get faster, do this but not that, so on and so on. In all of our efforts to do more in less time, it seems that we have forgotten one of the most important factors for our performance; sleep.

There are still many social media influencers who brag about how much work they do, and how they do it all on very little, if any sleep. Many people listen to this, see a person they wish to emulate and think to themselves “Well if I just sleep less and do more while I’m awake, then surely I’ll be great.” But is this really the answer? At what point does all this “doing” become our “undoing”?

Answer: We’re tired.

Most of us see sleep as “lost time”, something we do because we have to, and not something that is of the utmost importance to our overall health and wellbeing. I’m sure everyone reading this can relate to just how terrible a day can be following a night of lost or interrupted sleep. The next day you have trouble thinking, your patience is almost non-existent. Your temper might flare more easily. You’ll have less desire to do the things you know you should be doing. Fast foods and take out seem like a much better option than spending more energy fixing a wholesome, nutritious meal that will fuel your body properly. Job performance goes way down. You’ll be more apt to veg out in front of a screen, neglect your household duties, or even interact with those around you in a genuine way . Beyond that, you’ll spend the entire day just feeling tired; and that sucks. I mean seriously sucks. In short, your life becomes a shadow of what it can be.

Why is sleep so important? Even now in 2021, scientists still aren’t completely sure why most biological lifeforms need to sleep but we do know a few things. During sleep your mind does a “cleanup”. This is where events from the day are processed; sometimes resulting in dreams that mirror the events from waking life. Certain concepts and ideas are integrated, providing clarity or a sense of understanding. Other things are forgotten, thrown into the recycling bin of your mind and cleared out. The body during sleep does a whole host of marvellous things as well. Your digestive system is given a chance to fully process the foods you’ve eaten without being hampered by having to divert energy to moving and thinking. Muscles that you’ve wrecked during that day’s workout are given an opportunity to heal, build and store energy. Toxins and other hazardous elements are processed and sent to their proper detox zones for removal (think sweat, urine, feces). I get it though. There are only 24 hours in a day and you need 28 of them just to stay on top of life’s demands. When it’s 8:30pm and you’re exhausted but still haven’t had a second to yourself, that episode of The Mandalorian seems much more appealing than simply vanishing into a black hole of nothingness for a few hours. But I’m going to tell you why you shouldn’t fight that urge telling you to shut down. Because the signal is there for a reason. You need to sleep.

It’s that simple.

Now I’m no sleep expert, but I did bring myself back from the brink of suicide because of a tangle with chronic fatigue syndrome that left me going through life like an extra in The Walking Dead, except I didn’t go around biting other people- except when they asked me to. Below you will find a list of very useful tips on how to prime your body for an awesome night’s sleep, and hopefully wake up the next day ready to pursue your version of excellence.

– Power down your electronics and household lights a minimum of 1 hour before bedtime. That blue light frying your retinas is keeping you awake by telling your body that it’s still day time. Humans, like Blade, are day walkers and night sleepers. Those lights delay the production of melatonin, the chemical compound that makes your body wind down and actually fall asleep. Not only that, but those screens are keeping your brain active even when your body isn’t moving, as well as filling your mind with more things that will need to be processed before you can rest deeply.

– Limit exposure to emotionally stirring news, especially right before bed. That bout of anxiety you get every time you hear about another Covid case or what Donald Trump said on Twitter, yea, that’s elevating your heart rate, turning the wheels of your mind and keeping you awake longer as your body gets a flood of stress hormones designed to keep you awake until you’re safe. If you don’t know how to turn off your thoughts, skip the news for a bit. Let the world churn on until a few hours after you wake up

– Change your body temperature. For some strange reason, our bodies get primed to sleep by sudden changes in temperature. Many experts recommend keeping your room cool, taking a cold or hot shower/ bath, or anything that creates a sudden change in temperature for yourself. Dress warmly, or strip of all your clothes and go Commando. Oohrah.

– Keep your room as dark as possible. Even the glow from your alarm clock or light from the street lamp can penetrate your eyelids and signal your brain that it’s day time, thus keeping you up. Remember, when human beings magically appeared on earth, there weren’t (as far as we know) lights on 24/7. Blackout curtains are magical, especially on weekends when you need the extra sleep. Pointing your alarm clock away from your face or turning it face down is another great option.

– Keep your phone out of your room. It’s not only FOMO. The signals constantly emitted from your phone have been shown to disrupt brain patterns and keep you from getting into deep sleep states. We won’t even talk about what happens when your client decides that 2:30am is the ideal time to send a text and you decide that 2:31am is the best time to respond.

– Find time to reflect on your day’s events before you sleep. For some this can be as simple as journalling, talking to someone, or simply going through your day in your mind to see just how you did for the day. If you’re the type of person who lays down super tired, only to be suddenly wired when your mind explodes with mental checklists and worries, this one’s for you. Get it done early, and watch as your mind quiets down.

– Limit water intake before bed. Waking up 5 times a night to pee is probably a good sign you drink too much water before bed. But hey, at least you’re hydrated…right?

Go to bed early. Seems like a simple no-brainer, but this one requires the utmost discipline. You have to make sleep a priority in your life and know just what isn’t as important. When you go to bed early and wake up feeling like you could wrestle the Kraken (and win), you’ll have found your sweet spot.

Sleep well my friends, and may your dreams be full of awesome adventures.

I don’t know a single person who went through the first Covid lockdown and didn’t come out different on the other side. The ironic thing about being a fitness instructor in the fitness industry is that even I struggled to keep myself motivated to workout. Like so many people have told me in the days since our first re-opening, “it just isn’t the same” when you’re not in a room full of people, sweating it out in mass, grunting together, hurting together and vibing to the same music that’s vibrating every molecule in your body.

Despite my years of training in gyms, all that I had achieved, I just didn’t have that zest in me to get going. It all seemed so pointless to me. Couple this with a head full of stress, a son who wouldn’t sleep and a serious concern about the safety and future of my family; working out literally seemed like such a ridiculous thing to be concerned about.

On the other hand, I did know and understand that I had spent the last 20 years building my body, getting my shape in what I then thought was the best shape of my life, and I knew that I didn’t want to let it all go. I knew that as my son got older, I wanted his old man to still be the strongest man in the world in his eyes, as my father was to me. I wasn’t ready to just let it all go; and so I decided to really dive into a way of “exercising” that really doesn’t feel like exercise at all, but has without a doubt gotten me into the best shape of my life without destroying my body or even taking a lot of time. Enter what the staff here at Blended have dubbed “Micro-Dosing”.

No, I’m not talking about cannabis or magic mushrooms; we can save that topic for another thread. I’m talking about doing small bouts of exercise spread throughout the day. I know that you’re probably thinking that it just can’t work, but let me tell you why it does.

First, the thing we think of as a workout is a man-made concept. When we workout, we put on our superhero costumes, parade into our squares, grab weights, go through a series of movements within a very short window, call it a day and then go back to life. We have tricked ourselves into thinking that the only way that movement can benefit us is if it’s all stacked one on top of another in such a way as to leave us sweating and curling into the fetal position. We tend to ignore the fact that it’s not the “workout” that provides the signal for our bodies to adapt, but the stimulus we give to our bodies and how often that stimulus is given. Consistency is the key.

If we look at my own personal template as an example; you will find that my x4 days a week routine looks something like the following. Before the end of my workdays, I will typically have completed the following, 100 Russian Kettlebell Swings, 50-100 Goblet Squats with the same kettlebell, 50 push ups, 50 pull ups. Multiply this by 4, and by the end of each week I’ve done 400 KB Swings, 200-400 Goblet Squats and 200 Push Ups and Pull Ups. That’s a lot of volume, and it’s all strict work. The results have been amazing for someone like me who’s been in this game for quite some time. Not only have I put on muscle in my entire body, but I no longer suffer from any of the joint pain I used to have from my strenuous workouts. I no longer feel depleted at the end of my day, and my cardio has improved (credit Nasal Breathing- but we’ll talk about that later).

See, I’m a busy guy. With 4 am wake up calls 3 days out of the week, 8 hour shifts, then parenting until 8 pm most nights after work, I’m left with little to no time for myself. Actually, that’s a lie. I have plenty of time to myself, but only in 5 to 10 minute increments spread throughout my day. This is why Micro-Dosing works so well. Regardless of how busy you are during the day, you will always, and I do mean always have lulls in your day. Instead of scrolling through social media or watching cat videos, why not take that time and bang out some push ups? Why not use that time wisely, instead of wasting it on low-value entertainment?

If you have goals in mind, but lack the time or will power to do hour long workouts, combined with showering and commutes, Micro-Dosing may be just what you need.

About a year ago I read a brilliant book entitled “Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World”. This book completely changed the way that I interacted with technology as well as social media. I felt compelled to buy this book while taking a walk through a bookstore. I randomly and immediately found myself backing up as my head snapped to the right. This book was on the bottom shelf in a bright yellow colour. I grabbed it and walked to the checkout without even opening the book or looking at the back. This book changed my life.

Diving into the book, readers are asked to tackle a 1 month tech detox where they set strict and non-negotiable rules for their use of tech and make a vow to avoid using technology in any way other than what is required for work or life. My rules were as follows: 1) Check my email or phone only 3 times a day. 2) Avoid all social media (I wasn’t on it anyways). 3) Check the news once a day. 4) Can use tech for work between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm. 5) No Youtube or media sites that offer millions of hours worth of mindless distraction. 6) No news or radio. At all.

Here’s what happened:

1- I got a lot of stuff done. I mean…a lot. Suddenly I had hours worth of extra time in my life. Before, I would feel this almost alien compulsion to check a site like Youtube, looking for…something? What that something was, I could never say. All that I know is that I felt this need to look, scroll, find something that was “recommended” to me, watch it for 2 minutes and shut it off without ever learning anything. What I hadn’t realized before is that even though I felt like I never had any time to myself, I was spending what time I DID have mindlessly scrolling the internet looking for something to give me a little bump, or to confirm something that I already knew. I was wasting the little time that I had. Now, I had a few extra hours to my day. I got back into my favorite hobbies such as drawing. I worked out more. I read or reread books. I went for more walks with my dog. I cleaned my house more, I organized my clothes and got rid of ones I wasn’t wearing. I spent more time in the evenings talking with my wife, instead of huddling in separate corners and checking out of reality on tech. I enjoyed more quality time with my kid, and gave him my full and undivided attention when I had but a few precious hours with him a day.

2- I had significantly less anxiety: After just a few short (but incredibly long feeling) days, I noticed that I was no longer on edge. I didn’t realize that underneath my awareness, this ever present hum of anxiety was always there; always colouring my reality in shades of yellow or red. Without the news and media endlessly shoving the negative events of the world into my ears all day long, I began to see that in my current world, things were indeed quite alright. The problems of the world were no longer mine to bear, and I was free to just live life, focusing on what was happening in my immediate environment. The amazing thing was, in my immediate environment, things were almost always quite peaceful, and for once I could see that without having a background narrator telling me about how terrible things were somewheres else.

3- I felt extremely lonely, especially in crowded places: I was never really one to pull out my phone when I was out and about, as usually I left it in my car or at home. Now that I had made the conscious decision to intentionally avoid it, I began to notice just how many people around me were physically there, but completely out of reality. I began to notice all the people walking down the street whose bodies were guiding them through pedestrian traffic, but without a shred of awareness as to what was happening. I began to notice people walking out into traffic while distracted, driving while distracted, eating while distracted, even trying to talk while distracted. I began to notice more and more, groups of people sitting together, completely silent, engaged with virtual versions of others while completely ignoring the real, the physical person right there in the presence. I began to feel utterly lonely, like a ghost walking among the undead….or maybe the other way around?

4- I began to notice a sharp contrast in the difference between people’s online and physical versions: More and more, I began to pay more attention to people’s phone and tech habits around me. More and more, I began to notice a very strange phenomenon. People would look very normal, or usually quite sad as they went about their days. They would put their camera up to their face, put on a smile, snap a picture, check it, re do it if needed, then go back to looking normal or just plain sad again. It became increasingly clear that many people were in fact living a lie in the virtual space; appearing to their online viewers as a happy-go-lucky, always joyous person, while in reality they were as sad as the people they were trying to influence. Not only did this realization strike me as absurd, it also made me hate getting my picture taken even more; where people would tell me to smile. I began to feel incredibly fake myself, putting on a smile when nothing genuine was making me smile, only to look “happy”; for the sake of looking happy. Still to this day, I can’t understand why every picture we take has to be with a smile.

5- I realized the true value of face to face human connection: This realization probably hits harder now during our Covid dominated dreamscape, but I realized that no matter how many videos I had watched, no matter how many online forums I was a part of, no matter how many virtual conferences I do or Zoom Hangouts I do; nothing will ever compare to a genuine and face to face interaction. To be in the midst of another human being, to see the micro movements of their face, to catch the subtle changes in their voice when they respond to questions or even smell them is not something a computer can ever capture or recreate. The feeling of a handshake, or even a warm, all embracing hug will never be replaced by a virtual counterpart. Call me old school, but I for one am going to miss the time in our lives when other humans weren’t something to be afraid of, but something to be cherished and loved by virtue of having been human.

To sum it all up, the tech detox was one of the most useful challenges I’ve ever embarked on. I continue to put many of those rules into practice still, using technology as a useful tool, and not a crutch to fill some void I fill every time something isn’t needing my direct attention. That being said, I implore you to consider your current tech habits, and ask yourself: Are you using your tech, or is your tech using you?

Anyone who has attended my classes on a regular basis knows that I typically end my classes with a certain phrase. I know this because I’ve seen some of you mouth the words as I’m saying them . Every Friday however, I add a few additional sentences. I ask my attendees to do one simple act of kindness that weekend. The only rule is to do it and not tell anyone what you did and why you did it.

One Friday after telling this to my classes, I left the room, only to return an hour later with a box of superhero bandaids on the DJ booth. It was wrapped with a piece of string, and underneath the string was a small piece of paper that said “Not all superheros wear capes, but some do!!”. There was no name on the box, and even to this day I have no idea who gave it to me. This one act from a stranger not only made my heart blossom, but also inspired me at that point to try and be a real life superhero for anyone who comes to me for help. It completely reshaped the way I saw myself in an instant, and made me want to try and be an even better person. This is the power that a random act of kindness has.

Kindness, like Covid and chlamydia, is extremely contagious. The amazing thing about kindness is that it brings people closer together. One of the hardest things about our collective experience right now is that humans are more divided than ever before. Not only are we divided by our political views, we are divided by our opinions on science, child rearing practices, the cars we drive, even by the types of fitness classes we attend. Everywhere we look, it’s “us” versus “them”; I hardly ever hear the word “we”. Now add in the fact that most people walking around see every other human standing near or around them as their potential killer from an invisible virus, and you can clearly see where humanity is going.

Enter the paradigm buster. Kindness.

With one simple act of kindness, you completely alter the course of many people’s day. I remember reading a section in The Coast years ago from a girl who was going to commit suicide by jumping off the MacDonald Bridge. On her way to the bridge, a random man smiled at her. This one smile was enough to make her change her mind completely. How utterly powerful is that? A smile?! A tiny minuscule movement of your mouth and cheeks combined with a moment of eye contact. A smile! That’s what kindness does. Now what I believe the most amazing thing about acts of kindness is, not only does your action alter someone’s day for the better, but since that person feels better, they bring more joy to someone else, who brings more joy to someone else, who brings more joy to someone else, who brings more joy to someone else. Like a torch passed from one human being to another, the world is made a brighter place with ONE simple intention. Beyond that, when you do an act of kindness for someone, it makes YOU feel better. And when you feel better, you do more kind and genuine things for others.

But why do it and not tell anyone? That part is simple; you don’t do kind acts to boost your own ego or win “likes” or hearts on social media. When you do a kind act and remain anonymous about it, you accept that deep down good deeds don’t need to be recognized by the masses. You know you did your part to help reshape the world in a positive way. You feel better about yourself for having done so, and that’s the biggest reward of all.

Now I know that the idea of a simple act of kindness can seem obscure, so let’s dive briefly into some things that you can do. Know beforehand, that the list of things you can do with kindness is literally endless, but hopefully the following will jog some ideas in your mind. You can buy someone in line behind you a coffee or pay for someone’s bill without them knowing. You can let someone into traffic (yes, in 2020 that counts as an act of kindness). You can give someone a genuine compliment in a non-creepy way; and no “Your butt looks amazing today” doesn’t count. You can smile (with your eyes or mouth) at someone. If you see someone who looks troubled, you can invite them to open up; then sit back and listen without needing to give advice. You can buy someone a meaningful gift that calls your attention when you’re out and about. You can buy coffee or lunch for your team. You can randomly drop money on the ground and let it find its way into someone’s pocket. You can do a few chores for someone, or invite someone to take a much needed break while you cover for them. Not all acts of kindness need to revolve around exchanging money, so get creative and see where it takes you.

Now that it’s all said and done; what are you waiting for? Are you going to sit around and complain that the world is a cruel place and do nothing, or are you going to step up to the plate and change it? Try this today. Bring joy to someone; then sit back and watch the world glow.

Kaizen!

How a little shift in mindset can lead to huge changes!

There is a little known Japanese business concept known as Kaizen that’s become a staple for how I live my life. The main premise behind Kaizen is to make small, incremental improvements in key areas that overtime result in massive changes within an organization. But does this concept only apply to you if you wear a suit and tie and drink your coffee out of diamond studded travel mugs? Nope. This concept can be applied to absolutely everything from how you work, to your hobbies, to your relationships, even to how you workout.

In fitness culture, we tend to look mainly at the numbers on a paper or screen. How many reps did you do? How many pounds did you lift? How long did you go for? How much weight dropped off the scale? I could go on for days, but I think you get the point. But what happens when we check back in a week or month later, only to see that those numbers didn’t budge? If you’re like most people, you feel a stab of psychic pain that’s accompanied by an onslaught of mental self-abuse about how you didn’t get any better. But is this really true? What if that couldn’t be further from the truth? And how many more questions am I going to ask before I make a good point??

Let’s look at an exercise as an example. Last week, you did a 10 rep max of Back Squats at a set weight. This week, you did it again but failed to add any more reps or weight to the bar. Failure?

Nope.

Maybe the first few reps you did were easier than the last time. Kaizen. Maybe you shifted your weight in a minute way and had more core, glute or quad activation. Kaizen. Maybe you controlled your breath a little better and noticed you weren’t light headed when you racked your weight. Kaizen. Maybe your knees or back didn’t hurt this time, or if they did, maybe not as much. This my friends, is Kaizen as it can be applied to fitness.

When we set goals, there is a tendency to set our eyes on the prize, to march forward without delay, never averting our gaze from our destination until we’ve set foot upon it. Every set back or delay is looked at as something that’s keeping us from our goal. Don’t get my wrong, there is honour in that sort of single mindedness approach, but in doing so we miss out completely on the journey that got us there. We don’t stop and look at the scenery, smell the smells or hear the cacophony of sounds around us. We don’t taste the delights of the foods we intake and don’t stop to enjoy the feelings that motivate us. We don’t see how our bodies are continuously moving us towards our goal even when it feels like we’re on life’s version of a treadmill. Above all else, we certainly don’t see the delays, pitfalls, detours and problems as learning opportunities that our path reveals to us for growth.

When you start practicing Kaizen on a personal level, you start looking at the most minute of things to see if your goal is any closer. You know where your goal is, but you’re free to take your eyes off of it and embrace the journey in its entirety. You remember that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a shot of tequila and a bad decision- or maybe it was a single step.

You notice that while your 5k run time hasn’t improved any, you can now climb a flight of steps without sounding like your Great Aunt Gretchin who smoked a pack of Marlboro Lights a day. Picking up your ever growing child is just as easy to you as it was when they were first born. Your shoulders hurt a bit less everyday. You feel a bit more energized and focused during the day. You now have 3 good days a week with your spouse instead of 1. Those push ups happen with a bit more finesse and ease. With Kaizen, you don’t expect problems to go away and your goals to materialize instantly; but everyday you seek to make it a little better than it was the day before.

Imagine how your life would feel if you could find a 1% improvement in any area of your life daily. You would never hit a “plateau”. You would never “fall off the rails”. You would never need a triple shot of motivation just to get you moving, because you would know that just by showing up, trying at all and paying attention to yourself that you’ve improved just a little.

If Humanity was a kid in the school yard, this Covid ordeal is the bully that’s smacked us right in the face repeatedly day after day, week after week and month after month. We’re stressed; more so now than any other time in most of our lives, and stressed about so many different things it’s hard to fathom just how we can make it through to the next month. While the challenges of this year are seemingly endless, there are ways that you can RIDE these “Waves of Change”, instead of sinking, or worse yet, drowning. When it feels like Life has you in a headlock and there is no where to go; consider using any of these time tested techniques to re-calibrate your mental, emotional and physical compass.

– Breathe: Not just any breath however, I want you to breathe with your belly “But Darryl, you can’t breathe with your belly!” you say. Hush that noise silly goose. When situations arise and we find ourselves tensing up, almost universally you will notice that your belly draws inwards; a natural protection mechanism. Since “stress” doesn’t take a day off, it is common place to find people with excess tension that they are completely unaware of, particularly in the belly area. These protection mechanisms may save our lives in the short term, but when we don’t know how to turn it off, we not only drain our own energy reserves, but we also keep ourselves stuck in “fight or flight” mode. Try this right now, relax your belly, and take a deep, DEEP inhale through your nose using your diaphragm so that your belly moves horizontally and your chest remains (for the most part) still. Feel that? Good. Now take another breath just like that. Ooooh yea, that feels nice right? Try one more. Do it. Now take stock of your body and see what’s changed. At the very least you got yourself out of your head and into your body, even if for just a few breaths. And that my friends is the magic. 1 conscious breath is the shortest meditation you can possibly do. Pat yourself on the back, you got that box checked for the day.

– Observe Your Thoughts: For most of us in the so called “First World”, our basic needs for survival are more or less covered. Many of us have enough food to eat, enough clean water, enough clothes to wear, a roof over our heads and hopefully some sort of “tribe” that we are a part of. That being said, our stressors are mostly mental. When something gets at you and sets you off, what happens? You will likely notice a never ending stream of thoughts rolling through your mind. You will find yourself working that situation or problem over, and over, and over again in your head. You try to do something, that thought comes back. You find a moment of mental clarity, only to have it return full force and literally suck you out of reality and send you tumbling like a mental gymnast on too much pre-workout. Stop yourself. Observe the thought as a detached witness. See your mind as an entity that is separate yet a part of you. Look at the story you are telling yourself, and see how those rolling thoughts are producing physiological changes in your body. Don’t try and change anything, just watch them like you would clouds in the sky.

– Is It Relevant? Right now, in this moment, with what you’re doing, is that thought process even relevant? If you’re in the middle of a meeting, or talking with a friend, or driving, or teaching, or playing with your dog, is that “thing” that’s stressing you out relevant RIGHT NOW? I would argue that in many cases, no it’s not. So if it’s not relevant to what you actually have going on in this exact moment, why are you focusing on it? In the words of Eminem, “Snap back to reality, oops there goes gravity”. Get out of your head and into the moment. Right now is all that really matters. Let the past be the past (you damn sure can’t change it), and let the improbable future take care of itself when it comes (things won’t likely play out how you imagine). For now, give yourself over fully to whatever is happening in your direct experience, right now. Embrace THIS MOMENT with your entire Being, from the sights, to the smells, to the feelings and sensations, and deal with your problem when it is time to.

– Unplug: For goodness sake, turn off your friggin phone for a bit- WAIT!! Not now! Read this first and THEN turn off your phone. The interesting thing about our online lives is that due to algorithms and our inherent confirmation biases, we live in online echo chambers. If you’re on your computer or phone watching videos or reading articles about things that are currently stressing you out, your phone is going to do a very good job of making sure that issue is in your face 24/7. I made the mistake of looking at 1 cat video, and my Youtube feed hasn’t been right ever since. You would be amazed at how much clearer things are when you don’t have the online personas of thousands of people filling your head with their thoughts. Get clear about what’s yours and what’s not yours. At this point in time, are you even aware of just how much of your mind is the result of things other people have told you? Take a break, I can promise you the Zombie Apocalypse won’t happen in the 30 minutes you’re away from your phone. If it does; you’re better off grabbing some canned corn instead of seeing how the Kardashians are fairing through the ordeal.

– Change Something: When the time for action arises, act on it. The world never changed by people thinking about how things should be done or what needs to change. It changed because people got off their butts and made some moves. If you remember nothing else from this post, remember this: You always have choices, even when it seems as if you don’t. That fork in the road where you can go left or right, yep, you COULD choose to go straight through the sign, or do a U-turn, or drive in reverse, or get out of your car and lick the pavement. There is always, always, always something that you can do to improve the situation. So instead of complaining about how things are, do something to make your life a little easier. What that is, I don’t know, but do something.

– Relax: Remember that at the end of it all, we are finite beings having a finite experience on this Pale Blue Dot we call Earth. One day, you and everyone you have ever known and will ever know will die. All that remains between now and then is what you choose to do with your remaining time. Do you want to be stressed out all of the time, or do you want to get out of the mental grind and be a bit more carefree? Note that I didn’t say careless, but carefree. Even if you have a million things to do, try approaching some things with a “F*ck It” mentality. Life is too freaking short, chill out. You’re going to die one day, so why sweat the small stuff? Take a deep breath (again), relax a bit, pull up your pants, brush yourself off and make some changes happen, but only after you’ve Zen’d out for a second or two. Wanna learn how to do that better, give me a call.

– Talk to Someone: Someone that will listen. Hopefully there is at least one person in your life that you can go to and feel safe enough around to express how you feel without fear of shame or ridicule. Don’t be afraid to express yourself to those around you who want to listen. Often times simply saying something out loud to someone can give you more clarity than writing it in a journal or even hearing a response. When good friends listen and in turn share their own feelings and observations, growth is possible for all parties involved. I can’t count the number of times a conversation with a co-worker has shifted the course of my day from a fumble to a touchdown. If there’s no one to talk to about it; write about it, draw about it or talk to yourself. Get it out of your system and you’ll notice your mind will be more at ease.

Developing Self Awareness: Why It’s Essential for Lasting Change and How to Practice It

At this very moment, every square inch of your body that has functioning nerves is communicating with you.

Are you listening?

Do you know how to listen?

Here in the West, we tend to pride ourselves on our mental abilities; our ability to think, rationalize, form opinions (about everything), to judge, to solve complex problems and think our way through situations. We have advanced technology the likes of which we have never seen. We have holograms, cord free ear phones, iPhones galore, self-driving cars. We have instant pots, instant food, jet packs, never ending bits of information strewn across the internet; and yet our health as a whole is suffering more and more each year.

Oddly enough, despite all of our technological progress, we have become utterly disconnected from our bodies, and as a result our health, our minds, and the very quality of our lives have diminished more and more. We have issues abound, and yet very few seem to know what’s wrong with us and how to fix our problems in any long lasting way.

I know this is starting to sound a bit grim, but bear with me; for in the very near future, I foresee a re-emergence of a lost forgotten Art, the Art of Self Awareness.

From my personal observation, people want change in their lives in some way, shape or form. We have all sorts of tips for how to change, but no one ever seems to touch on the main obstacle that stands in the way of long lasting change. That is; without Self Awareness, change is impossible, or at best short lived.

But what is Self Awareness? In short, it is the ability to sense, viscerally, your body and mind from the inside. Sounds weird and a little “woo woo” right? Well it’s not. It’s your birthright, something you were gifted with from the time you entered into this world; and yet most of us live our lives without ever considering it, much less developing it.

As such, we live our lives day in and day out; stuck in a stream of thoughts, caught in our heads, or worse our phones, sleep walking through life, wondering what’s wrong with our bodies that we feel trapped in, instead of living in.

Our bodies endlessly communicate to our Awareness through feelings and sensation for you to take notice of or act on every waking second. The problem is that we have forgotten HOW to FEEL; and if we allow ourselves to feel or better yet communicate those feelings it is seen as “weak” or being “too sensitive”.

The ironic thing is, it takes an incredibly strong person to stand in front of raw emotions, pain and discomfort and not look away. It takes a strong person to watch their own thoughts flow through their mind. To see your own hypocrisies, the lies and stories you tell yourself, the judgments, the ridicules you unknowingly pass on others, to see your own faults and bad habits, and to accept that it comes from you.

It takes a strong person to accept their bodies, its limitations, all of its perceived strengths as well as faults and to Love and cherish that body for no other reason other than the fact that it’s yours. It takes a strong person to accept themselves as they are, and to change not because of what others may think, but because they feel for themselves the need to change to better themselves and those around them. Best of all, it takes a strong person to accept the fact that the only way the world will change is if it comes first from within yourself.

Self Awareness is natural for children, but for us adults it can seem like a daunting challenge to develop; and it is. The process is slow, confusing, full of downsides, pitfalls and turmoils as you learn to systemically break down and empty the contents on your mind and develop a deep and profound sense of self.

But that is where your liberation lies. For along the way you will meet the best companion you’ve ever had and finally find that one thing that you’ve always felt was missing from your life.

Yourself.