Building Mindfulness

Now that we are starting to treat our bodies well, let’s focus on fostering our mindfulness. Being mindful is about allowing ourselves to be in the present moment by slowing our mind and breath so that we have the opportunity to be in touch with our inner thoughts. Meditating/focusing on your breathing is a great tool to achieve mindfulness. Slowing down our minds and focusing only on the moment is an extremely hard task to accomplish; we are all surrounded by so much internal and external noise that it is hard to listen to what we are truly feeling and thinking. Thoughts, anxieties, and emotions race around our head constantly and can make us feel lost and confused. We lose the ability to think and act rationally because many of us are unable to connect to our inner desires and beliefs in a single, present moment. When I began to drown in anxieties and worries, I grabbed onto meditation and exercise as a life raft to keep me afloat. I started mediating as soon as I was diagnosed with cancer and returned to New York City to begin treatment. Meditating was my way of holding onto my inner self in the face of uncertainty. I did not want to lose my hair or my identity.

I could not believe that I had been ripped away from my abroad experience in Argentina to begin a 6th month long chemo treatment. The world did not make sense to me. My sister went through the same treatment just four years before me. How could three women in the same family all go through chemo within five years of each other? How could a mother and daughter plan their chemos at the same time so they could sit next to each other with IVs in their arms? Nothing made sense to me, but all I could do was embrace what was about to happen. I used meditation as a way to train myself to only focus on the moment at hand. I only allowed myself to be concerned with the present since I learned there is nothing you can change about the past or control about the future.

I targeted my energy to focus on my breathing. Almost every morning, I sat by our terrace overlooking Central Park and practiced being mindful of my breathing and how my body was feeling. When I first sat down, I noticed how I was not breathing in fully and how tense my jaw, neck and shoulders were. I released that tension by siting up straight with my legs crossed and my head held up high. I would focus on my breath by breathing in for five counts and exhaling out for five. This was my tool to catch my breath and get control of the rhythm of my mind and body. I visualized the breath entering my body to give me strength and health, and exiting my body, ridding me of toxic thoughts and emotions. Sometimes I could only sit there for 2 minutes- other times 10 or 20 minutes. The most important thing was getting me to sit down so I could create that awareness, which grew stronger over time.

Being mindful and in control of my breath was one of the best tools I have been able to teach myself. It not only was my life raft, but also became my lifeline when unfortunate events took a turn for the worse.

Suggestions: Get yourself to stop and listen to your own breath and mind at least once a day. If you do not have the time or obedience to do it every morning or evening when you are home, then try to do it sometime during your daily routine. This could be during your commute to/from work, on your lunch break or anytime you find yourself alone. It is important to stop yourself: put away your phone, ipad, or newspaper and just try to create that mindfulness connection. Be present in the moment and be in touch with your breath, which helps you connect your body and mind. It is ok if there is noise or commotion around you since that is the world we live in. However, this time is meant for you to check in with yourself: make sure you are breathing and ask yourself:

"What could make me feel better at this moment?"

"What does my body need?"

If you can only do this 1 minute a day, that is ok. The important point is to be mindful of the moment, expel all your cluttered thoughts, and find your inner self. Knowing your inner self is crucial to living and acting well, as you must always stay true to your own intentions.

One body, one mind.

The Need for Exercise

Some form of exercise is a necessity in everyone’s life. I know some people are not fans of sweating, being in a gym, making the effort or feeling they do not have time during their busy schedules, but people WAKE UP! You have one body and one mind so you must start to treat them right this very moment. Exercise/ being active is so important for not only your physical health, but your mental health. If you are not physically and mentally healthy, then you are not able to be productive or help anyone else. It's important for us all to build healthy and beneficial habits into our daily routine so that we can start functioning on a higher level. The earlier in life you do this the better since it becomes part of your foundation and the way in which you can live a healthier and happier life. I never used to like exercising until I discovered Pilates. I have been practicing Pilates since I was 14 years old and got so addicted to it that I decided to become a certified instructor four years ago. I love practicing and teaching Pilates Mat classes because it not only helps you build strength and tone your body, but it creates a deeper mind body connection. For those of you who are not familiar with Pilates Mat, it consists of a series of exercises completed on a mat that systematically target little muscles through out your whole body. These exercises do not focus on building the superficial muscles of the body, but target strengthening the deepest fibers. Imagine exercising from the inside out. In order to understand how these deeper muscles work, your mind needs to become in tune with your body so that you can really feel yourself working. After practicing Pilates for a couple months, you will be amazed by all of the tiny muscles in your body that you never knew existed!

If Pilates is not your thang, that is ok, too. It's really just important to incorporate some sort of strength training and cardio regime into your week. I know it can be hard to motivate yourself to get moving, but once you are finished with your regime (even if its only 20 min), you feel that much better. You feel blood moving through your body, a release of stress tension and a boost of endorphins that give you a little high for the day.

Some suggestions of how to get moving: 1. A simple way to become more active during your daily routine is walking more. For those of you that know me really well, you know how much I love to walk (as I used to wear a pedometer ha). If this means leaving yourself more time on your commute to and from work so you can walk to the next train/ bus stop, that is great! And/or you take the stairs instead of the elevator…even better! (get those gluts working)

2. Bring your gym bag with you to work/school/your daily activities to help ensure that you will make it there before you return home for the night and fall into a lazy pattern.

3. Get an exercise buddy that will help motivate you and keep you on track. Schedule times/ locations to meet so you feel committed to someone, not only something.

4. Sign up for races, triathlons, pick up sports games…anything that maybe targets your competitive side that needs to work towards a certain goal or compete.

5. Purchase some simple home equipment like light dumb bells, bands or balls where you can create your own workout (make sure someone shows you proper form- you could hurt yourself).

The main point here is to get moving and make it as enjoyable as you can! Do not think of exercising as a choir, but a blessing. You have a healthy functioning body and that is a beautiful thing that no one should put to waste. Take advantage of your mobility!

YOU have one body and one mind so treat them both right!

Ode to my Mother

Life is not always that picture perfect story that we are told it will be once we grow up. Life is hard. I think we all create some fallacies in our mind of what we expect our life to look like and when we hit a road bump along the way, it shatters that picture and it's hard to put the pieces back together. When road bumps like this happen we feel that sensation of our stomach drop and the sense of imbalance that prevents us from feeling like we are going to land softly and safely back on the ground. Our whole foundation is shaken since everything we expected, understood and imaged crumbles around us. The safety net in which you thought life would stay protected in breaks as you fall, crashing to the ground...hopefully to only bruise your tailbone instead of becoming paralyzed. About two years ago, my protective safety net broke. Not only was I sent home from my study abroad experience in Buenos Aires because I was diagnosed with cancer, but I ended up losing my mother and best friend to cancer while I myself was going through chemotherapy. Already being in such a fragile and delicate physical and mental state, I had to face the reality that I would not have my mother to rub my back and comfort me or help me deal with daunting medical issues.

During difficult times, there are only two roads you can choose to take. You can pick the road that will get you lost and lead you to a dark place or you can choose the road that helps you find your strengths and see the light in everyday. I took the latter road out of my challenging time, which allowed me to hone in on my inner strengths and gain the perspectives I have today. One of the most important things that kept me on a positive path was meditating and exercising. These were skills I learned from my mother and I use them today as my way to stay connected to her and help center myself amongst all the instability. Through these blog entries, I'd like to pass along these skills to you in hopes they can help you or someone you know through difficult times and learn to enjoy life!

Mind & Body

Creating a mind body connection is one of the most important lessons we can teach ourselves in this world. To have a mind body connection entails one being able to really be in tuned to what the body is feeling, thinking and craving. This is an extremely hard task to accomplish as our daily routines are filled with so much internal and external noise, but with practice, patience and determination a sense of mindfulness can develop. We must connect with our breath, listen to our internal thoughts and not let our "monkey minds" get the best of us. We must try to enjoy every moment and fill our days with little things that bring us joy. The ability to be mindful enables us to be mentally and physically fit so we are able to tackle what life throws in our direction. This blog will be a series of lessons, ideas, stories and sources of inspiration that will hopefully help people strengthen their mind body connection.