Last weekend, I was honored to amongst the first graduates of Brian Johnson's Hero Training. Brian, a highly successful entrepreneur and devoted philosopher, is is a world class Optimizer, strategically combining wisdom of the ancients and contemporary masters with the rigors of modern science, to create strategies for highest success in life. His articulation of the science behind how simple daily practices lead to optimal health and human performance is unparalleled.
You might know of Brian's prolific work, Philosopher's Notes, or www.Optimize.Me, where he presents summaries (PDF's and audiofiles) encapsulating the highlights of books on health, peak performance, mindset, psychology, philosophy, and more, and connecting the dots on how to implement key elements into one's life. I am a huge fan!!
Brian and I share a common goal of creating a movement of individuals committed to being a little bit better every day; in mindset, physical health, and purposeful living; cheering each other on as we take consistent small steps towards empowering ourselves and those around us to live to our fullest potential, and to feel the vitality that ensues.
Critical to this is getting rock solid on the fundamentals; moving well, eating nourishing foods, sleeping and recovering optimally, and practicing positive mindset techniques which allow us to use stress constructively rather than destructively. Eating, moving, sleeping and thinking optimally ensure that we satisfy our primary needs (consider Maslow's hierarchy of needs beginning with food, shelter and safety), and this give us the foundation from which we can pursue higher goals, extending our energy towards lives of service to the world (Maslow's self actualization). These higher needs then become as essential to our lives as breathing, eating and drinking water. Fulfilling these higher needs generates feelings of value, purpose, joy and love. The equation is clear; Healthy people are happy people, and love giving doing great things for the world. Getting rock solid on the fundamental pillars of health--moving, eating, sleeping, and thinking optimally--- is the first step in creating joyful, fulfilling lives.
One of my favorite ideas inspired by Brian is turning fear into excitement.
FEAR---->EXCITEMENT.
We have all experienced the feeling of a racing heart, sweaty palms, and anxiety as we face a stressful event such as public speaking, performing onstage, or going on a first date! Based upon the work of Alison Wood Brooks, a researcher at Harvard Business School, Brian explains that viewing fear as excitement is a powerful way to harness the power of a high arousal state (sympathetic nervous system driven) and use it to inspire success. Get excited about getting stronger, rather than be stifled by fear!
I used this technique last year, right before my first major surgery, and can attest to its power! I have faced many pulse racing situations in my life, particularly as a professional dancer feeling the surge of adrenaline every time I go onstage, scrubbing in on surgeries in medical school, traveling solo around the world, or scaling to the top of rock walls. I have learned to use this heightened physiological state to enhance my performance. I know how to prepare myself with mindset, physical training, and research to attain optimal outcomes. Yet, I had never been faced with the unknown inherent in trusting my body and life to a surgeon, and all the variables of hospital conditions, staff preparation, and others that go along with it. These were out of my control. That made me more than a little anxious! I chose to channel all my fear into excitement, getting myself fired up about being in top physical condition again, moving powerfully, the way I love to, and begin able to direct my energy outward towards others again, using my own experiences to help guide others to health and optimal living. This kept my arousal state high, and propelled me to do all the work necessary on my part (research, physical and mental conditioning), to set the conditions for a great outcome.
This simple technique, shifting one's perspective, is life changing; using high sympathetic drive for constructive outcomes, rather than being inhibited by them. Practice saying, "I am EXCITED", in the face of fear, and observe the results for yourself. Feel how fun it is to get great at operating in high arousal states!
Other favorite key ideas Brian conveyed over the weekend include;
1. Be Committed to Being Committed! (Whatever the commitment, just do it!)
2. Create Masterpiece Days; Determine keystone habits for your mornings and evenings which set the day up to be fantastic. You are the master. Create the days that fire you up!
3. Determine Deep Work time blocks; Set aside key time for the tough stuff, requiring creativity and innovation. Set yourself up for success by honoring your most innovative time of day, and blocking out distractions.
4. Be a Thought Warrior; Inspired by Pema Chodron, pull the weeds of toxic thoughts from the garden of your mind. Acknowledge negative thoughts for what they are and bid them farewell. Being a consistent gardener of a vibrant mind, or pour concrete on your blooming garden. What do you choose?
5. Prioritize Your Life Force. Know what fuels it, and what drains it. Choose activities and relationships that fuel it. Let go of those that do not.
6. Identify your desired Identity first thing in the morning. I AM A WORLD CLASS .......... (athlete, teacher, wife, whatever drives you). Envision yourself being that, and what it feels like. This plants the seed that directs all the decisions you make during the day, and the feelings that will follow.
IDENTITY ------> BEHAVIORS AND THOUGHTS----------->FEELINGS (which then reinforce the identity!)
So many more great ideas to share! Get ignited about actualizing your potential, and check out Brian's work at www.optimize.me. Join the tribe. Get fired up about actualizing your potential! Here's to the best May ever.
Jennifer
Happy Spring to All!
May this find you enjoying more time outdoors, walking by the ocean, hiking trails blooming with color, and appreciating the wondrous environment we are blessed with. This month marks the one year anniversary of my hip surgery, and I am deeply grateful to you, my community. Your support has inspired me, as I have progressed little by little, to now to be dancing, rock climbing, hiking and enjoying being strong and fluid in my body again. The joy cannot be explained in words, and drives me more each day to share all I learn with my students; from optimizing the healing power of the body, to healthy joint biomechanics, and key techniques to awaken the core/powerhouse--the foundation of all healthy movement. It is incredibly inspiring to see students awaken their power to move with efficient strength and grace. And to know the impact this has on one's entire life experience.
Wishing you a month filled with the joy of moving forward to all your goals, and realizing all you choose to be.
Thank you,
Jennifer
Although long neglected in medical research, fascial health is now understood to be a critical element of human movement and structure. Indeed, when I was a medical student at UCSF, our anatomy lab cadavers were cleared of all fascia before we even got into the lab. Fascia was deemed to be "filler", and its functions had not yet been realized. Fascia is intriguing. It is the connective tissue matrix running through the entire body, investing itself like a giant web around organs, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bone. It even has its own nervous system and is a superhighway of signaling in the body. Stress (psychological or physical) can lead to "stickiness" in fascia and resistance to the flow of movement, energy, and electrical signaling. One may liken healthy fascia to a springy elastic band, strong and supple. Youthful movement quality depends on this healthy, springlike action in well hydrated fascia. Pilates is an excellent vehicle for restoring and maintaining the healthy quality of fascia. With its three dimensional movements in full joint range, deep breath work and gentle oscillations, pilates targets key aspects of fascial health. Join me at Malibu Fitness for pilates on the mat and equipment classes and feel your fascia spring back into youthful action!
To your health,
Jennifer
Pilates = Strength+Flexibility with Control.
This definition was articulated by Romana Krysanowska, ballet dancer and personal student of Joseph Pilates. While Pilates has branched into many forms, this is the fundamental equation upon which it is based.
Key principles include Precision, Core Connection, Centering, Co-ordination, Breathing, Balance, Fluidity, Rhythm and Dynamic Full Body Movement flowing outward from a strong powerhouse.
Working with an excellent pilates teacher guides one to be strong and centered in mind and body. The result is not only powerful athleticism, but vitality, resiliency, and streamlined focus for life.
Join me at Malibu Fitness to feel the power of pilates mat and equipment classes. I am honored to be in a new series of videos with master teacher Niedra Gabriel, and outside of class times at Malibu Fitness, you can find me online at www.PilatesAnytime.com.
Realize your strength. The distance is not as far as you may think. Best always, JenniferA friend recently sent me this inspiring quote...
“Every cell of your body is eavesdropping on your thoughts” The Happiness project.org
Indeed, our thoughts have the power to shift the way we respond to our environments, right down to the cellular level. The placebo effect has exemplified this in scientific experiments time and time again. What we choose to focus on, becomes our reality. Our expectations will create our perceived experience.
To play with this concept, last week I determined to envision myself as aligned and well, (despite feeling some frustrating asymmetries in my body) and began repeating the mantra, "I am aligned". Simple as they are, visualization and intention produce dramatic results. Quite beautifully, my body has responded with small, but consistent shifts towards a new sense of symmetry and fluidity. I am standing with weight more evenly distributed on both feet instead of hanging out on my left leg as I usually do. My hips and spine are more centered in my daily movements because I have planted the intentional seed of being aligned. This consciousness infuses my posture even when I am not thinking about it. This becomes my new model of reference.
As my expectation has shifted, my perceived reality follows suit. Author Todd Hargrove eloquently explains how our expectations influence perception;
“Our internal model of reference shapes how we integrate perceived sensory information and the nervous system's output signals for action.......For example, if you have a good deal of experience where flexing your low back causes pain, you will start to build an internal model of your back that predicts it will hurt with flexion. This will strongly bias you to feel pain each time you bend, even if the back isn't actually producing that much nociception.
You can reduce the contribution of top-down factors to your pain by updating the model of your back. To do this, you need to cause a prediction error by violating your expectation that bending will hurt. A good strategy would be to perform low back flexion in some novel way, perhaps in quadruped or supine, while paying attention to how it feels while bending so that any predictions errors are not disregarded. That sounds like a high percentage of movement therapy in a nutshell.
Either way, good internal models and good predictions are the basis for generating functional perceptions and actions”.
One of the hardest lessons I have learned is not to push through pain. As Hargrove explains in his his book, Better Movement, pain is a danger signal to protect us, an output signal from the brain, in response to a perceived threat (tissue damage, stress, inflammation, body position, etc) in the body. A keen awareness of alignment has become the prevalent focus of my training. While I have previously been frustrated by limitations in my symmetry, I am now discovering a capacity to establish "joint centration"--- aligning the bones of the legs deep in the hip socket. While my new titanium hips are technically centered-- the new femoral (thigh bone) head precisely placed within the new acetabulum (hip socket)--the entire body is in dynamic equilibrium and must adapt and accommodate to the new forces of compression and tension in three dimensions throughout the body. Therefore, the ability to now center my hips creates the opportunity to find new alignment in all the surrounding muscles, ligaments, tendons and fascial lines. I am experiencing adaptations in the muscles of my core, neck, feet and more. Everything is connected.
I discovered the power of visualization and intentionality during high school. I read of flow states described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and the power of visualization to advance the performance of champion athletes. I began to practice this regularly and felt its power to advance my athleticism and dance performance to the astonishment of my teachers. Alongside passion, discipline, and focus, this practice guided me to a professional dance performance career despite my late start in ballet at 17 years old. I have embraced it ever since.
This power lies within each of us and is waiting to be unleashed. I know that if I envision myself as balanced, symmetric, fluid, healthy, whatever optimal state I am seeking, (though it may be in contrast to the state that I am consciously experiencing), and if I prioritize this in my training, I will realize my goals in health and life. It is not a matter of "if", it is simply a matter of "when".
Now eight months after my surgery (bilateral hip replacements), I am feeling more stable, strong and fluid than I have in more than a decade. With discipline, optimism, persistence, and the guidance of insightful teachers, I continue progressing and am happily surprised by new abilities each week. However, this is not without frustration and setbacks. After surgery, I embraced a beginner's mind, knowing that I would need to learn to sit, stand, walk, and move in complex ways all over again. But with a clean slate, (ie. new hip joints), my body would be able to process the information in a more aligned way than I ever possibly could have with bone on bone impingements.
Daily pilates, stabilization and mobilization work, and a spirit of curiosity in the process, have led me to truly amazing discoveries in the power of the body to heal itself and leap forward to meet higher demands. Last weekend, I was thrilled to be flying through space, dancing on walls with Project Bandaloop. Suspended by ropes from the ceiling we learned to do cartwheels, back flips and move together in unison in a horizontal plane...truly dancing on the walls! My mindset is--and has been-- that healing and optimal performance are the only options for me. Guided by wonderful therapists and teachers, I am elated to be moving fluidly and powerfully as a dancer again.
I know the progress will continue and I am driven to share the knowledge with others seeking to move optimally without pain. Visualize your higher self and know it will happen. With focus, determination, discipline, and compassion towards yourself, you will realize your goals. It is just a matter of time, and being ready to receive it.
Please enjoy the inspiring work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his Ted Talk.
Health and Vitality to all,
Jennifer
May health and happiness abound for you and yours. What better gift is there than vitality? This holiday season, present the gift of alignment, strength and power. Through December, purchase a pilates gift certificate for new students at a $25 savings on a private session, or receive one free private session with every series of 10 gifted to a new student. You can also shake up the holiday spirit with the healing powers of the Vyper and Hypershere, myofascial release tools enhancing circulation and elevating recovery to a whole new level. Save $20 on each purchase through December.
Thank you for your devotion to your health and well being through pilates. As a teacher, it is a gift to be witnessing your continued evolution. I wish you a beautiful holiday season, filled with vitality and light.
Best always,
Jennifer
October 13 marked the six month mark post surgery (bilateral hip replacments) for me. This is a landmark in the healing timeline. At this point, bone has ossified securely about the prosthetic, soft tissue has healed and the entire system has adapted to new demands of compression and tension, co-ordination and organization of movement. In simple terms, things get really good again! Friends and colleagues kindly ask if I am out of the rehab window and back to 100%. I appreciate the kind concern. But it is honestly a difficult question to answer.
Certainly, I am far better than I was before surgery. But I am constantly striving to rebalance my body, optimize function, and surpass where I have been. Thus 100%, representing optimal performance, is always a step higher, outside the window of where I am at any point in time, on this constantly up-spiraling staircase of progress.
Every day I reassess; the laboratory of my own body is a dynamic experiment, responding to the variables I subject it to; new mobilizations, resistance, functional challenges, technical cues. And the movement options expand as I enhance the four prime determinants of movement capacity; tissue quality, joint capsule tension, strength, and nervous system control. After years of compensating for impinged hip joints, within the context of a highly demanding dance performance career, tissue tensions and motor patterns have compensated. For example, overactive hip flexors have taken over for dormant gluteal muscles. The body does an incredible job of meeting the demands we impose upon it, even if it means using inefficient muscles and pulling the system out of alignment. Therefore, a keen focus on movement symmetry, efficiency, and firing of the correct muscles are essential to reprogramming for optimal movement and function. And when dormant muscles do wake up, the reward is phenomenal. Feeling the correct muscles fire is like plugging a cord into the correct socket and seeing the light bulb go on. My entire body feels the difference; a feeling that is so innately “right”, after compensating with misalignment for so long.
Advances in hip replacement surgery are astounding, and returning to a high level of function is a true gift. I hope that my own progress can inspire others who may be hesitating about the surgery, as I did for many years. Hearing the success stories of fellow athletes was the key which unlocked my decision to undergo surgery. Along the way to this six-month mark, I have enjoyed returning to activities I adore. Hiking in Yosemite has been a highlight. Scrambling up the rocks to Yosemite falls and diving in the ice cold pools, climbing the trails and scanning majestic vistas from the top. Returning to ballet class is elating; keeping my legs low and focusing on proper alignment, I am restoring strength and range. Traveling to Paris, navigating metro stations with luggage, walking and climbing stairs for hours, without fear of pain is a newfound freedom I recently enjoyed. Strong functional workouts and pilates training begin each day. Brisk beach walks with my dog are a reward at the end of the day. I now realize how much energy had been lost to my body's struggle with inflammation prior to surgery. Energy and a spirit of play resurge when pain diminishes. The lights are on again!
I am extremely grateful to all my friends and the professionals that have guided me with expertise, wisdom and compassion. Special thanks to Master surgeon, Dr. Jason Snibbe, and his assistant Jennifer Cabrera, PA-C; my physical therapists at Body Logic, Ethan Ezaki and Tali Duer; Scott Campbell, PT; Dr. Chang Park, LAC; Dr. Corie Tappin, LAC; and Lonnie Galate, director of Malibu Fitness, for allowing me constant access to the pilates equipment…my healing playground!
It is extraordinary to feel how the body heals in response to the correct information; whole foods, clean water, balanced movement, ample rest and recovery, healthy behaviors/relationships and determined mindset. When one has determined that healing is the only option, and commits fully to the path, the hard work is filled with reward. May everyone seeking to enhance their health, experience the joy of committing to this path.
Best to all,
Jennifer
The transformation of seasons is upon us, and provides an opportune time to reflect on change. I am very grateful to be visiting Paris this month, a city where I activated a huge shift in my life, moving from my third year of medical school at UCSF, into an international dance career. Visiting my friends in Paris fills me with excitement, as I remember the transformational times I have experienced there. Reflecting on pivotal times in our lives, when we have risked going against the grain, believed in our own abilities to initiate change, trusted in the process, and expanded our worlds, conjures within us the strength to ignite these systems again. It can propel us forward to take on new risks, expand our worlds, and optimize our lives in new directions. I will be taking classes while abroad, and look forward to sharing ideas with you. Wishing you the courage to take on positive new challenges in your lives. A Bientôt, Jennifer
Happy September to All. As we bid farewell to summer and return to work and school rhythms, it is a prime time to imprint healthy patterns for the season ahead. Committing to whole foods, a revitalizing movement practice, and rest/recovery time are foundations to a thriving life. Take on one new challenge at a time, and commit to it with curiosity. Make it fun, a personal experiment. Observe the difference in your energy, mood, clarity of thought, digestion, and reduction of pain. In my last newsletter, the neurodegenerative changes associated with chronic pain was highlighted, and how a mindful movement practice such as pilates, can offset this. Pain is a danger signal that something is out of balance; the body's intelligence signals us to stop, to protect the system. A favorite book of mine, expaining the physiology of pain is Explain Pain, by David Butler. The key is to listen to the body and address the source of the pain. Stress from all sources, physical, mental, and emoitional, will amplify pain signals. With alignment, rest, efficient movement and nourishing foods, we unleash the healing potential of the body to move out of pain, and into vitality.
