Cultivating Body

Exercise & Fitness

This Week’s Intentions:

Weekly Essay:

Hey everybody, AJ here with this week in Cultivating Purpose. This week we are diving into Purposeful Movement, also known as exercise, stretching, pilates, yoga, martial arts, or any other related physical activity.

This, along with last week's nutritional topics, are personal cornerstones for Cultivating Purpose. Without these two aspects in place, I am unable to Cultivate Purpose for myself or others.

So, this week is all about Cultivating Purpose through biomechanical wellness. Specifically, it's about each one of us identifying our optimal exercise and movement regimens, as well as working to expand our exercise and movement regimens to maximize our fitness and our ability to Cultivate Purpose for ourselves and others.

When thinking about Purposeful Movement, I like to think about early humans and other primates, and how their minds and bodies were built specifically for physical exertion. Running, jumping, crouching, lifting, and maintaining flexibility would have been supremely important to hunter gatherers. Since our anatomies have build complex reward systems to keep our bodies pursuing optimal health, these early humans must have felt incredibly alive and vibrant while physically exerting themselves.

When I am working out, I like to think I am tapping into the animal kingdom, and the ecosystem as a whole. I feel like it is my body's purpose to be in motion, and to overcome physical resistance. In a way, it resets my physical being to a more optimal, natural state. This in turn provides me with clearer thinking and clearer purpose in life.

The mind-body connection is also supremely important to Cultivating Purpose. Having our physical, emotional, and spiritual planes all working in harmony allows us to live our happiest, most meaningful lives. Having our whole existence on the same plane also allows us to properly understand the world, and how we can positively affect it. By establishing the mind-body connection, we can heal ourselves and heal the world.

Physical exercise is a great way to integrate the mind and body into a unified ecosystem. Below is a great link about learning from Arnold Schwarzennegger, and one of the things Arnold talks about is the mind body connection. Even though he had no formal anatomy training, Arnold correctly identified that if you consciously focus more on your resistance training activities, it will actually lead to more muscle growth. In other words, thinking about muscle growth while working out makes your body more able to grow those muscles!

Since your brain is an organ in your body, and that organ has control over the rest of the body, then it makes sense that we can potentially consciously control how our bodies work. I encourage all of you to be contemplative and mindful of your muscle growth and elasticity while you are exercising and stretching. 

When I am contemplative and mindful of my muscle growth, I notice many things. First, it helps me perfect my technique. I can 'listen' to my muscles, and find the optimal way for me to work those and complimentary muscle groups. Additionally, it makes me feel the strain and 'pushed-to-the-limit' aspect of my workout. It makes me feel super accomplished to pay attention to how my body is reacting to the resistance I place upon it.

I also like to think about all the healthy things I am doing to my body while exercising and stretching. Dr Rhonda Patrick has been monumental to my understanding of this subject; so if you are interested I suggest you learn more about her work. As she explains it, the norepinephrine and aceacetylcholine production during optimal exercise is just about the best thing possible for your body and mind. And the overall hormetic responses your body undergoes are incredibly life-affirming.  When I think about these things while I'm exercising and stretching, I am invigorated and energized to keep at it and push harder. I highly encourage all of you to try the same.

Check out more resources and action items for the week below.

Namaste!

Original Content:

Community Blog Post - Purposeful Movement and Feeding Your PurposE: gETTING oVER THE HUMP, AND WHY WE'RE REALLY DOING THIS

my favorite workouts

• Bicep Curl and Overhead Press

• Incline and Decline Pushups

• Dumbbell Bench Press

• Dumbbell Bench Fly

• Dumbbell Rows

• Wrist Curls and Reverse Wrist Curls

• Shoulder Shrugs

• Planks

• Pull-ups and Chin-ups

Recommended Reading & Viewing Links:

Action Items for Exercise & Fitness: