I recieved an email asking how I integrated spirituality into my health and wellness profession.   This post flowed very easily from that excellent question.

I was introduced to true physical culture at 17 in the form of martial arts. My instructor was in his 40’s and could barely speak English. There was not a shred of western culture or mindset present once inside the doors of his dojo. In a matter of fact way, the philosophy of the body as a temple, self defense as a means of decompressing violence, commitment to cultivating the mind, and working through life from a base of harmonious integration was always in the air as we trained our bodies. Every training session started with 15 minutes of sitting meditation, followed by another 15 minutes of form movement gradually increasing to full speed movements. Training was completely engaging of our total physical and mental self as we practiced refining our strikes, kicks, attacking and evasive movement, defending techniques, interspersed with fitness exercises for strength and athletic explosiveness for 90 minutes, 6 days per week. We trained without acting the fool, showing emotion or taking a fraction of our focus and concentration off our actions. This was my introduction to physical culture and spirituality. For 10 years I floated in and out my practice, at times getting as far away from a spiritual base as one could. After enough futile effort at living a selfish, unhealthy, external based life I returned to my base and have never swayed. The paths to self realization are many and varied, one certainly does not have to be an athlete or practice a martial art to find enlightenment. One must, though, take care to do all within one’s ability and means to illuminate  their personal health and energy.

“Your body is precious. It is your vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care” - Buddha

I believe that energy capacity is paramount in getting through life’s winding, at times, uneven, and challenging terrain. To navigate this physical path, and integrate into its limited time space our personal self realization takes optimized energy. It is not about getting in shape but creating a system of continual enhancement so as to be able to serve at the our individual capacity and potential. It must also be noted that with an applied system of continual enhancement, capacity and potential is continually expanded allowing you to increase your value to the world.

“….man acts as a guardian of his body. It becomes his duty to take such care of his body as to enable it to practice the idea of serving to the best of its ability.” - Gandhi

Creating a healthy vibrant, performance able, physical vehicle is each of our obligation to God, self, and humanity. Outside of physical limitations there is no rational to argue or excuse of not pursuing such a state of being. It is not about muscles, and sexiness, but about creating a capacity that allows us to perform physical labor, have balance, compassion and empathy in our emotions, clarity and stamina in our intellectual efforts, and a harmonious, humble, altruistic spirit.

Whether my client be a senior rehabilitating, an athlete improving performance, or a fitness client desiring more energy, improved health or cosmetic body improvement my guidance, educating, and recommendations include an integrated approach of breathing meditation, sound nutrition and hydration, functional movement training, and energy system development incorporated into their program. To provide anything less would be irresponsible, and a gross underachievement on my part. It is my belief that to provide those I touch with the means of improving their ability to accept responsibility, and self manage their own health, fitness will help them serve better and find their own desire and pursuit of self realization.

A state of integrated health and fitness supports a natural transition of evolving spiritually — Blue Collar Zen

There is nothing wrong with wanting to look good. It is human nature to want to look our best and if passing by the mirror after getting out of the shower does not elicit a, “That’s what I’m talking about ” response to your reflection, the culprit is, for the most part, your diet, it is not the mirror. What you see is what you have earned. You are what you eat. That is the absolute bottom line. To look and feel your best your must have diet habits that fit your needs. The undeniable fact is that what you eat and drink is a pillar of your health and performance ability. Before you can expect results from your physical activity, you need to ensure you are fueled for the performance. In referring to performance, I am talking about not only game day performance but your every-day performance.

The key to maintaining a base of balanced wellness is a healthy diet and adequate physical activity. Your diet gives you the fuel and your activity maintains or enhances your physical vehicle. They are inseparable. Activity without the fuel breaks down the components and/or limits your efforts. Although the main activity in my services regards varying methods and degrees of physical activity, I always emphatically emphasize diet as an irreplaceable, foundational component in any program whether it be health, fitness or competitive in its objective. A healthy, sufficient diet combined with daily low intensity exercise is more beneficial to wellness than moderate to high-intensity exercise supported with poor nutritional habits. Bottom line is, what you eat is more important than what you do physically. Ignoring a sound nutritional base is the equivalent of building a custom, million dollar home on an unstable, imbalanced foundation.

We are what we eat. As a society we are fat, lacking energy, suffer from sexually dysfunction, depression, and a plethora of degenerative diseases, yet for the most part, are accepting of it. People will take a pill before taking the first step in attempting a holistic approach to self healing, by refining their diet. I do not get it. How is it not possible for our education system to provide an applicable understanding of this? How irresponsible is it for a college course in nutrition to pass a student without equipping them with the knowledge and ability to create a personal diet plan that provides specific nutrition for optimal performance? Think about it.

As a believer in the benefits of the human potential, I promote healthy living to create a foundation of quality of life. Everything we do starts with that foundation. A healthy body leads to a healthy mind which is what’s needed as a base to realizing potential and self. Blue Collar Zen promotes physical culture as a method of creating a base for service productivity and enlightenment

Physical Culture is a philosophy, regimen, or lifestyle seeking optimal physical development through a healthy diet, mental discipline and varied means of physical activity such as martial arts, yoga, dance, weight training, aerobic activity, and athletic competition. Benefits include improvements in health, mental clarity and capacity, appearance, strength, endurance, flexibility, speed, and general fitness as well as greater proficiency in sport-related activities.

As you can see from the above definition, the exact combination of activities you may choose for your own state of physical culture is vast. You have choices to fit your specific needs, personality, climate, facility or equipment availability at your disposal. Just like the wild animal, the human animal needs movement and to expend physical energy to maintain physiological and mental balance. Without that needed movement animals become lethargic, atrophied, stressed, neurotic and fat. Although there are countless recreational activities, sports and fitness approaches that will satisfy our activity needs, your diet has personalized, specific volume and composition requirements.

The problem with the plethora of information and advice on physical activity and diet choices is that they much of the time contradict each other, and are simply attempting to negate the ill effects of unhealthy, degenerating life style habits instead of promoting good health.

I can guarantee if you get your food intake right every aspect of your health will improve. You will have more energy, better workouts day and night, better recovery and improved mental clarity. It astounds me that this is not understood and applied. Getting it close is not good enough. Your oxygenation, hydration and nutrition are the foundation of your health and performance ability.

Healthy Diet Guidelines

• 5-6 small to moderate complete meals per day
• Eat plenty of high-fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, to get 30-50 grams of fiber daily.
• Consume raw food: green, orange, and yellow fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds. Eating a salad with raw vegetables and a little bit of raw seeds or nuts with lunch and dinner is a good recommendation. Baby carrots and edamames are good snack and boxed lunch ideas.
• Cut the sugar; eat mainly complex carbs: Limit your intake of sugary foods, refined-grain products such as white bread, and salty snack foods.
• Avoid all saturated and trans fats.” Saturated and trans fat calories hurdle their way past metabolic adjustments and sit themselves in the fatty tissue of the body.
• Consume lean protein products with each meal.