Your Muscles Are Your Mind

Your mind = your body and brain in a looped system. The wellbeing of your muscles are crucial to the wellbeing of that system. In other words, take care of your mind by taking care of your muscles.

In today's newsletter, here's how we explore that ?? idea:

• How One Client Changed Her Life by Changing Her Body
• How to Create a Zombie (caveat: you may already have)
• States of Consciousness are Made of Muscles
• What Every Body Needs
• Sensory Motor Amnesia and How to Avoid It
• The Opposite of Forgetting Your Body
• Stop Fighting the Problem - Start Pursuing the Dream
• Smart People's Muscles To Model

How One Client Changed Her Life by Changing Her Body

My client and her company culture were dying a slow death. She was passionate about the business and its mission, and once, not so long ago, she felt happy and good most of the time. But that all seemed to be gone. She was at the end of her ever-more-frayed rope.

The result of us working together:

She regained her health, wellbeing, happiness, performance, and brought her company's culture back to life.

The secret to our success? It was in her muscles.

Here's How We Did It

My first step is always a question about the best you've ever felt. Try it on.

Ask yourself: What's one of the most amazing moments I've ever had?

To even make sense of the question your eyes dart off into space for a micro-second and you adjust your body and breathing. And...you have a feeling. This is how you access your answer to the question. It already exists in your consciousness, you just need to fetch it.

The small adjustments are your mind's way of reorganizing to give you the actual, body-based answer. That answer is experiential. For most people, the access and experience happen so quickly they're not even aware of it. But it did happen.

With this particular woman, the next step was slowing it down so she could have a full-blown experience right there in the moment. This is called amplification. You don't just want a memory, you want the experience of how your body and senses are organized when you're in the actual state.

This is how you configure your senses and muscles when you're "at your best".

Once we had reestablished what it was like for her to actually be in her body, present and aware, it was easy for her to understand what had gone wrong.

Like many, she had gotten lost in grind mode. As a result of ignoring her circadian rhythms, skimping on sleep and exercise, and sipping on energy drinks in order to work at all costs, her body had become chronically constantly tense - the system's way of eeking out more energy, by squeezing every muscles so she could pay attention and "ship the code!"

How to Create A Zombie

This is how modern day zombies are created. No voodoo necessary. Just sit in a chair, stare at a screen, consume endless caffeine and make your body an after thought. After all, training yourself to be dead from the neck down is a small price to pay for the material success you'll be too uncomfortable to enjoy.

For my client, once "back in her body," the next step was easy.

Choose this way of being not the other. Make a habit of it.

There are some actionable steps we put into place. I'll get to those in a minute.

What's important is to recognize this simple fact:

States of Consciousness are Made of Muscles

She had gotten used to a state that gave her attention and energy but diminished quality of life and wellbeing. It didn't happen overnight. It took time. It took practice. Then, one day, she realized...she hated what she had done to her muscles. She hated her new "self".

Here's the thing: There are states where you feel like sh*t and there are states where you feel balanced and ready for anything.

You were born to be balanced and ready. You're an evolutionary success story and evolution designs winners.

However, states are configurations of muscles. If you train your muscles into constant tension or poor posture, you'll get good at being in a suboptimal state.

On the other hand, if you train yourself for wellformed posture and movement: balance, sensitivity, flexibility, body unity and freedom of movement - you'll find ever-greater levels of health, happiness and performance. And that "at best" way of being becomes your default.

What Every Body Needs

Understand: your mind is a looped system of your brain and body. If your brain (and body) don't get what they need, your mind won't do what you want. Treat it well.

Simple things every body needs:

• sleep
• good nutrition
• exercise / movement
• sunlight
• water
• full breaths (not tense, constricted, mini breaths because your posture has collapsed your lungs or your intercostal muscles - the ones between your ribs - are too tight to allow full expansion of your lungs)

Sensory Motor Amnesia & How to Avoid It

Your body is made of muscles. Those muscles shape your experience. In order to create experiences your muscles tense and soften in various ways. That's as true for fear as it is for happiness and sorrow. Not convinced? Try having a response without your muscles moving.

Now, the insightful part. When we're young, things happen, for example, a dog scares our three-year-old self, we feel the fright, cry it out, and come back to neutral.

However, when you have an experience that's either super intense or lasts a long time - after the system flexes that muscular configuration, when it's time to reset, the system doesn't come all the way back to neutral. It comes back to neutral...plus a little bit of tension.

That little bit of tension is now the shape of the new you. And unless you reset it, it'll stay that way. Always a little anxious? You're probably slightly tensing some of the muscles needed to create anxiety. Sad? Depressed? Angry? Same thing.

Thomas Hanna, a pioneer in body awareness, called this chronic tension, Sensory Motor Amnesia. Amnesia, because you forget how to move fully. Sensory Motor, because it takes place in your muscles and sensory systems.

SMA means you've lost voluntary control over specific muscles or muscle groups, which has led to a reduced ability to sense and move them freely. It isn't due to any problems with the muscles themselves, but rather a problem with the communication between the muscles and the brain... degradation due to learned responses to stressors, injuries, or repetitive movements.

If you have chronic muscle tension, pain, reduced mobility, or postural distortions - you probably have SMA. Your brain and muscles are partially stuck in a feedback loop of contraction and don't remember how to release and relax. Until you remind them...

The Opposite of Forgetting Your Body

Become Aware of Your Body By Learning to Relax

Everyone's life is enhanced when they learn to relax. Sensory Motor Amnesia is a natural part of life. Sometimes in response to events, our muscles get tense and stay that way. And so, in a body that has muscles that get tense, knowing how to relax those muscles is a skill worth having. Pro tip: learn how to relax every muscle in your body.

Stop Fighting the Problem, Start Pursuing the Dream

We live in a problem-oriented culture. Most people would sell their least favorite child to become mediocre at something they think is valuable. On the flip side, very few people will put any effort into achieving mastery at that same thing.

Change your settings: Aim to be a master at everything. But do it in a low-key way.

Instead of trying to stop bad behaviors or end problems, spend your time pursuing their opposite. Changing the bad behaviors that stand in the way of excellence comes automatically as part of that bigger, better mission.

So, what's the opposite of Sensory Motor Amnesia?

Pushing the limits of your strength, flexibility, cardio, physical awareness, and body unity. ??

A Few Smart People's Muscles To Model

Personally, I like to find people that are doing things that seem almost super human and aim to expand my limits in that direction. I don't set any expectation other than that. This way there's no stress, just intention and constant improvement. And humility. Cause when you're always following the foot falls of masters, humility is unavoidable.

In the domain of straight forward physical ability, I love Ido Portal. The way he moves is magnificent. It's worth exposing yourself to what's possible in the human form and he's wonderful to watch.

In the world of self awareness and martial ability (body unity, balance, freedom of movement) I love the teaching of Al Ridenhour and the book by him (and his co-authors'), Attack Proof. It's about being able to protect yourself, but the principles of body use are second to none. And if you ever get a chance to “touch hands” with Al Ridenhour — seize the opportunity.

Finally, a special note on protein. Most of us are not getting nearly enough protein. And, at a certain age, we are all fighting sarcopenia. We need a far greater amount of protein than most people suspect. Dr. Gabrielle Lyon just released an eye-opening book, Forever Strong, about why it's so important to put on muscle for health and longevity. Grow your muscles and keep them in good working order.