To Bra or Not to Bra? 

A woman’s breasts are naturally designed to move, bounce, and jiggle as she moves. This is the way that evolution has crafted women’s breasts over thousands and millions of years to support optimal health and human lifestyle. Bras inhibit the natural movement of the breasts, and this interferes with the way the breast is designed to optimally function.

In my previous article Viva la Boobies: 7 Things to Know About Breasts, I shared how breasts want freedom because there are health benefits to going bra-free. That article generated a powerful response, and was shared all over the world. I read hundreds of messages from women (and men), and the majority of the comments were about bras.

The responses ranged from enthusiasm from bra-free women, curiosity from women who were not sure how to go about not wearing a bra during work or exercise, to rigid skepticism that bras could negatively impact breast health, to full on horror at the idea of not strapping one’s breasts in place all the time.

Think about it. Tight underwear for men decreases sperm count, tight socks can give someone a headache, a tight waistband can cause intestinal pains, and a tight elastic around the wrist can cause numbness and tingling. In the same way, a bra can cause breast discomfort and health issues through the restriction and compression of the tissues.

When a woman is not wearing a bra, her daily actions allow the breasts to move naturally, from side-to-side, up-and-down, to shimmy, and bounce. This supports the circulation of the lymph and blood. The natural movement also supports the vitality of the connective tissue and skin, supporting the perkiness of the breasts.

Many women wear bras because of fear of their breasts sagging, but the recent 15 year French study shares that women who go without a bra actually have perkier breasts, even if they have breastfed a child. Larger breasts will naturally sag over time, and that cannot be stopped by whether or not a woman wears a bra. The CEO of the bra manufacturer Playtex John Dixey, was quoted as saying. “We have no medical evidence that wearing a bra could prevent sagging, because the breast itself is not muscle so keeping it toned up is an impossibility.“

However, I believe that nutrition, hydration, and exercise are also a critical part of this issue for achieving healthier and perkier breasts for longer in life. The more a woman allows natural movement of the breasts, the better. If you wear a bra, it should fit right but not too tight, and take it off when you get home.

The Amazing 3 Dimensional Breast

Oprah did a big show in 2005 called the Bra Revolution in which she brought in lingerie experts, thousands of bras, and fitted every member of her audience for a new correctly sized bra. They found that over 80% of the women were wearing the wrong sized bra.

Most women are found to wear a bra that is too wide around, which doesn’t provide enough support, and too small in the cup, so the breast tissue is compressed. Improperly fitted bras are known to cause health challenges such as back and shoulder pain.

There is no standard sizing for bras, and women’s breasts are all different shapes and sizes. Bra size measurements are based upon two dimensions, which does not do justice to the three-dimensionality of the breast.

Bras are designed for appearance through squishing, pushing, or forming breasts into the fashionable curve of the times. This consistently changes of course. Flapper era bras were designed to flatten the breast, some bras push up the breasts, and others shape them.

If you must wear a bra, go to a real lingerie store and get professional fitted. Then try on the bras. Your breasts change size due to various reasons, including through each menstrual cycle. Try on bras when your breasts are at their biggest, usually before your period. Also, if you’ve gained or lost weight, are pregnant or postpartum, had breast surgery, or had other changes recently get refitted. Avoid underwires.

For the best bet, wear a bra as little as possible, wear a soft natural fiber bra, or just go bra free.

The Newfangled Bra Invention

The bra is a recent invention. Women do not need to wear bras except for fashion purposes. The bra burst onto the breast fashion scene in the late 1800′s, replacing the tight corset, which was known to damage the organs, spines, and health of women.

By the 1930′s large-scale commercial production began that made the brassiere available widely to women. The bra industry is now a multi-billion dollar market dominated by large multinational corporations.

Bra wearing has becoming such a commonplace part of the Western women’s lifestyle, so much that many women feel obligated to wear them for work and any time they are out in public, some women even wear them 24 hours a day.

The bra industry does not want you to think that your bra could be harmful to your health, but increasing information leads that very conclusion.

The Big Bra Cover-Up

The book “Dressed to Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras” is written by two medical anthropologists Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer. This book details the authors extensive Bra and Breast Cancer (BBC) Study and the link it exposes between higher breast cancer risks with prolonged bra wearing.

The BBC study interviewed over 4,700 women, with and without breast cancer, in five major cities across the US about their bra wearing habits. They found an dramatically increased risk of breast cancer in women who wore their bra more than 12 hours a day,  and this risk sky-rocketed in women who wore their bra 24 hours a day, even to sleep.

The BBC Study Results: 

• Women who do not wear bras (or rarely ever) have a risk of 1 in 168 chance of developing breast cancer.
• Women who wear a bra less than 12 hours a day have a 1 in 152 chance of developing breast cancer.
• Women who wear a bra more than 12 hours a day, but not to sleep have a 1 in 7 chance of developing breast cancer.
• Women who wear a bra 24 hours a day have a 3 in 4 chance of developing breast cancer.

The information in this book is convincing, yet has been either ignored by cancer researchers, dismissed, or covered-up. The media has not covered this information positively because of the conflicts of interest of companies who have paid advertising from organizations that provide drugs, technology, or services for cancer treatment, because cancer treatment and prevention are at odds with one another.

Additionally, there was a Harvard study, published in the European Journal of Cancer in 1991 that showed double the increased risk of breast cancer in perimenopausal women who wear bras compared to women who did not.

At the Flinders Medical Centre Foundation, Professor Neil Piller is conducting research on the connection between bras and lymphatic health, and reports that bras do compress and restrict the shallow lymphatic system and prevent drainage for some women.

There has also been research from Japan that tight fitting bras can increase the temperature of the breast tissue, and the increased heat can cause a reduction in the production of melatonin by the pineal gland, which is a risk factor for breast cancer.

There are many reasons why bras can negatively impact health, including the decrease in lymphatic circulation due to tight clothing, the heating of the breast tissue interfering with hormone production, and longer bra wearing by women with known risk factors such as obesity and early onset of puberty. Combine that with an already compromised system, such as the modern breast that is overloaded with toxins and xenoestrogens, the bra may be the trigger that prevents the body to naturally heal and repair.

There is definitely a lot more research needed, and it would be great to see such an important issue for women today to be more fully studied and not so quickly dismissed. In the meantime, prevention is key.

Let the Bra Go

If your breasts are sensitive or painful when you go bra-free, that is a sign of congestion which will go away between a few days to a few months when your breasts get used to the enhanced circulation and movement. Pain in the body is a sign of inflammation, toxicity, hormone imbalance, or something else, it is not normal for the body to regularly feel pain for no reason.

Dr. Elizabeth Vaughan of Greensboro Integrative Medicine has an website called Bra Free, in which she shares information from over 25 years of encouraging her patients to go bra free including the health benefits, reduced discomfort, and greater breast health they achieved.

Increased bra wearing is also due to the increase in the average breast size of women today, as well as the earlier onset of puberty, which may be triggered by the increase in estrogen in the body due to environmental factors, as well as resulting in an increase in the amount of estrogen in the body longterm, which is also a risk factor for breast cancer.

Uncomfortable breasts may also be a sign of hormonal imbalance and high estrogen levels, which can cause breasts to grow larger and more tender. If you have painful breasts, you may want to look into a cleanse and nutritional support to support your breasts and endocrine system to be naturally vibrant and healthy.

Your nutrition, your environment, your beliefs, and even what you wear all influence your breast health and whole body health. You are the one responsible for your health and body, so make an informed choice for yourself and be a conscious caretaker of your body and breasts.

Tips for Taking the Girls Out

• Go bra-free whenever possible.
• If you are nervous about your nipples showing, either get over it, or use a scarf, bolero, jacket, layers, or a camisole.
• If you must wear a bra to work or to leave the house, take it off as soon as you can.
• Do not wear a bra more than 12 hours a day or to sleep.
• Get professionally fitted for a correct sized bra at the time of the month when your breasts are the biggest (usually before your period if you are menstruating).
• Invest in a comfortable, properly sized bra with no underwires. For soft organic bras, including breastfeeding friendly ones, try Blue Canoe.
• Look at your breasts and body in the mirror when you take off your bra. Do you have any red marks or lines? That is a warning sign your bra is cutting off circulation.
• After removing your bra, or several times a day, gently jiggle and move your breasts to stimulate circulation.
• Massage your breasts in the morning after your shower before getting dressed, and at the end of the day, after you have taken off your bra.
• Pay attention to your breasts and notice how they feel. Touch them, look at them, and go bra free as much as often as you can.

Breasts are amazing just the way they are!

Naturally supporting your breast health promotes longevity, sensuality, and vitality.

Let them jiggle and bounce and move naturally. Movement is life.

Take care of your breasts and take off your bra!

Do you wear a bra less than 12 hours a day? Are there ways you can reduce your bra-wearing time and/or support more natural movement for your breasts? Are you bra-free and loving it? Please share in the comments.

Written By Kara Maria Ananda – View her site

This post may give you a bit of an idea why we haven’t been into making videos for almost a year, we’ve been a bit busy!

It’s with great pride that we introduce Soleil Ariya Struve. She was born at 7 lbs, 13 oz, and 22 inches. We filmed my birth experience as a memory, but also to support women considering giving birth outside the hospital. The article below is my thoughts about my pregnancy and birth experience.

I hope it inspires you.

Everyone recommended that I get an epidural to avoid the pain…

But after reading about all the benefits of natural birth, both in the short term and long term, I decided to give birth naturally.

It’s really easy to eliminate the pain of natural birthing with our hospital system. Doctors these days offer epidural shots to anyone who wants one. They offer to induce labor with pitocin. They offer to schedule cesarean operations so women don’t have to inconvenience themselves with an unknown time of delivery. Does it mean it’s safe? No. But so many of us readily go that direction and never ask if there are any consequences.

It seems from the time we were born into this culture, that everything is done for us, so we don’t have to think or struggle. But there are consequences. Avoiding life challenges over and over makes us not trust our own bodies and inner judgment. It builds bad habits of shifting responsibility onto others. After years of this, we almost never question anything.

Maybe this is why do so many of us women think we are physically limited and weak. Why we are intimidated by the thought of giving birth. Instead of acknowledging what we are truly capable of, historically, we would rather escape the effort of learning about ourselves, our strengths and our capability. Why do we keep running away from nature?

If you knew you were fit enough to run a marathon and you knew that you would finish no matter how tired you became, would you be more inclined to run it? I see the challenge of birthing in a similar way.

I decided against an epidural because I didn’t want to be stripped of my physical and psychological transformation into the strength of motherhood. The perseverance it takes to make it through birthing is essential to strong motherhood. It isn’t a nuisance to me.

During the first 7 months of my pregnancy, we lived in Florida. I went to the doctor twice. It was during my 1st trimester. It was an awful experience for me. The guy (I won’t even call him a doctor) scolded me for not having already completed routine tests that he recommended (like down syndrome testing, which is an invasive test, and should be left to a woman’s discretion). Both times I left the appointment I felt very discouraged, confused and emotional. Not the way a healthy mother should have to feel. But this told me how the healthcare system would treat giving birth too. Many times it seems doctors are more concerned with managing procedure than giving attentiveness to the emotional state of the woman and the impact it has on a healthy delivery. They just expect you to take their advice as gospel. It’s so much harder to communicate that way.

I didn’t want to give birth in an impersonal hospital environment. When I considered it, I imagined getting invaded, in one way or another, held captive, confined to a bed, with doctors coming in and out with prodding speculums, forceps, needles and chemicals. Then I imagined the paperwork, ‘red tape’ and the confusing manner they explain themselves, which makes me feel like something is always wrong with me . They always leave you guessing. Their ability to offer solid council has been compromised by the fear of malpractice lawsuits. Yes, they are justified as they are stuck in a healthcare machine, but where does that leave a woman like me?

I started looking into alternative methods. When I first watched a water birth video, it was so different. Beautiful, expressive, and powerful. The woman seemed like she was stable and knew what she was doing. The people around her looked very loving and attentive instead of cold and callous. It was a little strange to me. I used to believe that birthing without a doctor and instruments was only something when there was no other option, and of course I thought it was very risky and dangerous.

After reading more, I understood how important privacy and concentration is. Better to not have many distractions, to have the ability to move around as you wish, and have the option to be surrounded by people of your choosing. I learned that it takes preparing yourself and realized that it’s exactly the opposite from what we are conditioned to believe.

I’m not saying my birth was perfect or orgasmic like some women say. Despite all my preparation and learning, birth challenged me more than anything else. I couldn’t have predicted the way I reacted. I went from being super excited about my first contraction, to being worried, to panicking when they intensified, to absolutely doubting myself, to thinking about the disturbing indifference of nature, even though Matt and other supportive people were around me. During the peak contractions, I questioned my sanity for choosing to do this without drugs.

After a few hours, the contractions increased in strength and frequency and I didn’t think I could bear it any longer. I asked Matt to take me to the hospital. Inwardly I hated that I was giving up, even for just mentioning it. I felt like i was letting him down, letting myself down. Matt knew that I wanted to do it naturally. He was so amazing. When I begged him to tell the midwives, he didn’t say he wouldn’t, but at the same time he told me that this is what I truly wanted and that hospitals were not the best choice and it could end up really bad in the long run.

He and Suzy (my midwife) finally calmed me down. Suzy offered to hold my hand through every contraction.She knew what I was going through, and trusting her authority made a big difference.

As time went on, I tried everything I could to force relief of the pain. I tried the water, I laid down on the bed, I stood in the shower, got on my hands and knees, I even sat on a toilet. My attitude gradually changed. When i realized that nothing could be done, and that it was MY responsibility to deliver my baby, I began surrendering to the force in my body that created the pain. I realized that hating each contraction wasn’t working. It gave no relief. I began mindlessly floating inside and breathing in a different way. Very long and drawn out exhalations. I figured out how to emotionally “flow.”

Matt stayed behind me, breathing with me and loving me, while my midwife was holding my hand and looking into my eyes silently telling me that I’m doing it fine, that I was progressing perfectly, that I was making it through the hardest part of the labor.

When it finally came time to push, the buoyancy of the water felt the best and I stayed in the bathtub. Resisting each contraction was long gone, I had nothing but total focus on the present moment, and just “went with it.” It was definitely brought me to a true self realization and a spiritual discovery of a strength I never thought I had in me for a million years. The experience gave birth to a more powerful version of myself.

And I was able to return home two hours after delivery.

—

In spite of how challenging it was, the entire process felt simple and pure. My body (without all the distractions and bright lights and beeping noises and doctors apprehensions in a hospital) instinctively knew what to do every step of the way. My midwife reminded me of that many times.

But it seems the hospital business of giving birth these days is built on building women’s fears. There are more cesareans than ever now. Why? Because there are more epidural procedures than ever now, messing up the delicate hormonal balance that ensures delivery. Why? Because the shot is so convenient. The doctor offers it freely so why wouldn’t you? If you are going through the greatest struggle you’ve ever felt, and some doctor offers you relief, you will probably take it! Hospitals and modern culture have enabled us from finding deep inner strength.

I would agree that epidurals are okay in some specific cases, but not for the majority. Cesareans, inductions, and heavy doses of pain medication shouldn’t be the norm, yet they are. If women were given proper education about both sides (the benefits of natural and hospital) and still choose to do it with an epidural, that’s fine. I’m all for freedom of choice. My REAL problem is that we aren’t told the true consequences from doctors. They only gave me information to be fearful and suspicious of.

Of course I prepared for the worst case senario, just in case. But that didn’t mean I had to “expect” complications. I knew there is always a risk with everything. You might get in a fatal car accident driving to the dry cleaners, but does that mean you should hide away in your house for the rest of your life? Throughout history women have given birth just fine. Yes there were fatalities, but there were no hospitals for back up plans either. Yes my pain was earth shattering at times, but I knew it was there for a reason. It’s supposed to be painful. Sometimes its good to be shattered.

What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.

But for me it wasn’t really about being brave or tough, or about being counter culture, or crunchy granola, or some other birth fad. It was about protecting myself and my baby from all the unnecessary interventions that get pushed on you inside a hospital setting. I’ve believed in nature for years, and felt it was my responsibility to give birth in the best natural way.

We must seek answers from each other, not from systems with hidden financial agendas for recommend procedures and medications. There is plenty of unbiased information and true facts across the internet. Bravely facing natural birth takes preparation and endurance – mentally and physically. It may be not for everyone.

Now more and more women are “choosing” to give birth outside of the hospital. This is wonderful. But so many still don’t even know they have an option. I feel a need to reach out to them, to offer my story and my compassion, to empower them to know they don’t have to make fear based decisions. That’s why Matt and I made this video.

I hope this article and video leaves you with inspiration to learn more about natural birth. Stay strong and know you can do it!

With love and sincerity,
Katya

Are you staying resolute with your resolutions?

Don’t fall victim to dead end resolutions… here’s a few tricks:

Number one, always be specific. If you make a resolution of “eating better”, I would bet against you sticking to it.  Why?  Because it’s too vague.  You might start out okay, but after a while, when the stresses of life set back in, and the feeling of newness from the year’s transition fades away into memory, your longer term eating habits will surface, and without the vigor of the new year turning, your old habits will easily find ways of convincing you that something bad is actually okay.  This is why you need to be specific. If your resolution is to blurry or vague in detail, there’s more wiggle room to come up with reasons to slip up.

Think about the worst foods that you know you should quit eating. Desserts for example. In my opinion, if a person resolved to never eat desserts again, they would fail. Why? Because sometimes in life, we all need a little comfort food.

Instead of overshooting to give up all desserts, think about the main ingredient in desserts.  Sugar.  Now imagine giving up eating sugar instead. If you resolve to eliminate “only” sugar from the foods you eat, you might actually succeed. Why? For one, there are many alternative desserts out there! There are many other sweetners to choose from. Yes, they aren’t sugar, but your willpower will be able to remind you how bad sugar actually is, why you wanted to quit eating it, and how the alternative isn’t that bad compared to all the bad health issues that sugar brings.

See where this is going? Give your resolutions a bit of forethought, knowing ahead of time that your willpower will get lazy in the future, and will come up with reasons and excuses that you can’t imagine right now.

Also, if you did give up sugar, an ingredient that is inside MANY varieties of unhealthy foods with additives, preservatives, and other junk ingredients, then as a side result, you will also be giving up all those foods (without having to make a resolution for them). You kill more birds with one stone.

Sugar is only one example btw, and is pretty tough to quit cold turkey, considering how available it is, and how much people accept it, even knowing how bad it is for them.

Another example is going to the gym more and getting in shape.  If you resolve to “go to the gym” more this year or “get in better shape”… again, it’s too vague. You will likely fail. Instead, resolve on a specific number.  Go to the gym at least 2, or maybe 3 times a week. No matter what.  Or resolve to drip with sweat for 30 minutes at least 3 times a week. Even if it’s from having sex! if you are sweating, it’s still exercise.

With fitness results, the key to weight loss and muscle gain is staying consistent, and making your body adapt to this new level of energy usage. Consistency is everything.

The next trick is another way of not setting yourself up for failure. If you only have 1 resolution, and you don’t succeed with it, you will let yourself down and face feelings of inadequacy and subconscious depression as a result of not committing to yourself.  This can build up in the back of your mind year after year, leaving you feeling like a loser to yourself.  Instead, if you make multiple resolutions, and succeed with 1 of them, instead of all 3, then you will still feel a sense of progressing forward. Yes, the brain can outwit itself.

In 2012, my specific resolutions were to give up all coffee, dairy, sugar and yeast — cold turkey. I started out good, but after a few months, I was weak and had sugar during a road trip, then dairy followed, then yeast… But, somehow my resolve to quit coffee held firm!  It’s been 674 days since I’ve had it.  Yes, I felt bad for not sticking true with my other resolutions, but, when I think back to the many times I wanted to quit coffee, I smile, and know that I am better for resolving to one.

And the reason I quit coffee, instead of caffeine, was how enabling coffee is. When I drink coffee, I have to have it every morning. This means that every single day, I’m having loads of caffeine. It turns into a ritual for me. I love the flavor, the creaminess, the energy. But the longer I drink it, the more I need, and because it’s everywhere, the more enabled I am to drink it more often.

For me, tea, or even energy pills, don’t create a ritual. Sometimes I need a pick-me-up and tea works fine.  It doesn’t create a habit. I can use an energy pill for a specific purpose, then stop using them for months at a time.  Therefore my adrenal glands aren’t ruined long term.  With coffee, if I drink a little, it’s all over. I like it too much.  I start drinking it every single day. You might not be the same as me, but if you observe your own habits, your own soft spots in willpower, you might find your own weaknesses, and target those for resolutions instead of picking something to unrealistic.

For 2013, I have 3 resolutions to increase my vitality.  I’m (again) giving up sugar, yeast, and dairy, cold turkey. The biggest reason for giving up sugar and yeast is that they contribute to the overgrowth of a parasite called candida. This is a very overlooked problem in the US. When you have too much candida, your body’s vitality really degrades. These little parasites are responsible for many, MANY health ills. Make sure to read this article. http://www.candidamd.com/candida/symptoms.html

In 2012, Vitality Advocate went on the backburner. I was working way too much, making ends meet by helping other people build their businesses. I was sitting behind the computer from waking until sleeping much of the year. I’m 6’4″ and at my lowest last year, I weighed 159. My metabolism ate all my muscle away. Thankfully, because I was eating naturally and clean (overall), I didn’t really gain fat. Just lost practically all   my muscle weight.

Which brings me to my second resolution for 2013. I want to put on 30 pounds of lean muscle and maintain myself at 190-195 at 7 to 8% bodyfat by the end of the year. So far, with the new workout routine I came up with myself and am testing out before I make a product out of it… I’ve gained 17 pounds in less than 3 weeks (will post pics later). Not all of it is lean muscle of course, there’s some water retention as am I’m supplementing with kre-alkaline. But my strength is shooting back up fast due to this new routine, so I’m really happy I’ll be able to meet my resolution.

Looking forward to sharing this new routine after I know for sure it works 100%.  All I can say is it deals with shocks, negatives, burnouts, and targeted deep neuro-muscular relaxation. The only supplements are Kre-alkaline, L-Argenine (or Large as I call it), coconut oil, black strap molasses, and Saint Johns Wort.  That’s it.

9 days into 2013, so far, so good. No dairy, no sugar, no yeast products. But if by the end of 2013, I am only successful with one of them, I will still be happy.

Last month, December 2011, Katya and I decided to move back to North Carolina to a city called Asheville. Some call it the Boulder Colorado of the east coast. In other words, many people who live there are into natural living, health mindedness, and are philosophically opened minded. Not to mention it’s surrounded by absolutely gorgeous views, hiking and biking trails, waterfalls, rich forests, and a very active community scene. Totally our type of people! We’ve moved 5 times in the last 2 years, from Oregon, to Texas, to North Carolina, to Florida and now back to North Carolina. But after visiting Asheville a few times, it feels like a place we can call home.

So my last resolution is with sharing more. That’s a little vague right?  I want to settle in Asheville, and get Vitality Advocate redesigned, and at the very least, post unique content twice a month, even once a month! More videos, more shared perspective, more advice on things that increase vitality.

Katya and I wish you the best with your resolutions and a happy and successful new year!

Every decision in your life.

 ~ by Michael Josephson

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.

So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won’t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.

It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.

Even your gender and skin colour will be irrelevant.

So what will matter?

How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought but what you built.

What will matter is not what you got but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when your gone.

What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.

It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.

First off, a book can be written about this one topic alone.  That said, one big tip for anyone transitioning in the beginning is stay aware that your body will resist forming a new habit. Expect it, then catch it when it happens, and remind yourself to stay focused.

All you want to do in the few first weeks is ANY kind of movements that get your heart rate up.  Walking, running, swimming, light lifting, just make sure it’s not heavy resistance, and make sure you do it for at least 30 minutes everyday (make sure you break a sweat). Exercises don’t have to be intense. These exercises will become easy very quickly as your body and muscles adapt to putting our effort. So don’t worry about specifics, challenge your intensity over time gradually.

Don’t put the cart before the horse. Your main goal is securing a new habit.  Breaking out of a non-exercising lifestyle is just staying “consistent” with moving your body. Once you have daily basic routine/habit in place, then you can get more technical with specific exercises or challenges.

Inch by inch you’ll get there. Expect huge difference in the mirror (btw, throw out your scale unless you are a competing athlete) after about 4 to 5 weeks of staying consistent.

If you start with realistic expectations, you will definitely succeed.

Besides, the only way to get that perfectly sculpted body you see in your physique role-models  is with about 2 years of training and proper nutrition. Remember, those role models live fitness as a lifestyle.  It’s not a 30 day quick fix.

Best of luck to you, and let us know if you have any questions as you go!

Matt & Katya

by Lonnie Lowery, PhD

Warning: This is the type of article you’re either going to love or hate. Unfortunately, the aggressive types who laugh at the following “hippie psycho-babble” are probably the ones who could benefit from purposeful relaxation the most. The trick is to browse the available material and pick only what helps you while discarding the rest. Promise to keep an open mind and I’ll promise not to call you grasshopper.

Relax and Get Buff?

Ever wonder about what meditation is all about? Ever wonder what it can do for you but didn’t know who to ask? Me too.

After posting a blog entry regarding my personal forays into meditation, I was stunned to instantly receive over 30 private messages. It seems that many readers are as interested in this stuff as I am. But I’m no expert. Unlike my usual position of authority when I write on sports nutrition topics, I’m going to preface this article by saying that I’m a meditative intermediate at best.

So, rather than act like a psychologist or Buddhist monk, I’m going to focus on the areas of behavior modification in which I’m actually trained (nutrition and fitness) while simply offering a number of personal observations that you might find helpful. “Helpful in what way?” you may ask. Good question.

You should first decide why you’re even looking into meditation, because it takes time and practice. Aside from the pursuit of an abstract goal like “enlightenment,” there appear to be real benefits to be had, especially for Type A driven individuals, worriers, sleep-deprived persons, evening overeaters, and even hyped-up guys who frequently go off in the gym. (At times I’m all of the above!) Here are some potential rewards of daily practice:

1. Lowered risk of overtraining (8)

2. Reduced stress hormone concentrations like cortisol and aldosterone (5, 7, 12, 15, 16, 22)

3. Higher DHEA-Sulfate as well as increased Testosterone and growth hormone response to stress (3, 12, 22)

4. Improved kidney function, lower sodium-potassium ratio and reduced urinary loss of calcium and zinc (22)

5. Remarkable success getting off drugs, even after being dependent (13)

6. Enhanced immune function (7, 16)

7. A shift toward fat oxidation (“fat burning”) (6, 9)

8. Improved focus and sports performance (11)

9. Enhanced reaction time (19)

10. Improved carbohydrate metabolism (data is mixed, however) (1)

11. Reduced evening-time overeating (15) and better chance for long term weight loss (4)

12. Slowed biological aging (according to biomarkers) up to 5-12 years (21)

13. Improved antioxidant effects indicated by 15% lower lipid peroxides (18)

14. Ability to levitate and snatch flies with chopsticks (20)

Unbelievable? Yes, these things would certainly seem so if there wasn’t a growing body of hard science to support them. These are in fact scientifically referenced. Hence they aren’t just subjective, touchy-feely opinions or hopeful delusions.

Although I remain guarded until a consensus forms concerning each of these effects, I have to say, the preliminary (and sometimes greater) science does interest me. Now you know why I’ve been digging through this literature and meditating for many months now. And of course, how can I hog such potential benefits all to myself?!

Do You Need to Meditate?

If you’re stressed out, a workaholic, or are seeing signs of overtraining, then you may be a candidate for meditation. Also, if you’re experiencing high cortisol concentrations, reduced fat burning, premature signs of aging, poor carbohydrate handling, poor sleep, and evening emotional overeating, then you might just be a prime candidate for purposeful mediation and relaxation.

The Basics

After critically evaluating audiotapes on meditation from various perspectives (Buddhist, Christian, Sidhi, non-religious) and reading books from various doctoral-level authorities, I’ve come to a few conclusions.

First, the general idea is often to stop the internal dialogue that chatters beneath the surface of our everyday lives. You know what I mean: repetitive worrisome thoughts about an upcoming deadline, internal debates over what to do about a predicament, racing thoughts at bedtime.

Believe it or not, there’s a way to stop it for a while, to calmly abide in the space between the thoughts. And the duration of that calm abiding grows longer and longer with practice. A chatter-free mind can become an unbelievably focused mind, and that spills over into physical benefits as listed above.

So how do we get our own brains to shut up? The three ways I’ve discovered to work are

1) Use of a mantra or repeated sound or even breathing style.

2) Listening to guided meditation or music to draw my attention.

3) Purposefully focusing exclusively on the present moment.

There’s some overlap but let’s look at these briefly in turn.

1) Mantras, Vocalizations and Focused Breathing

Mantras and repeated prolonged sounds like “Ahhh” and “Ohmmm” interspersed with slow deep inhalations can certainly come across to others as hokey or weird and therefore are best done in private. Perhaps there’s somewhere in your home or even a parked car where you can find 20 minutes during which no one can hear you.

Dr. Wayne Dyer is one proponent of doing this at rising and bedtime and (yes, here it comes) sells a CD, Meditations for Manifesting. Although he considers meditative sounds far more powerful than what I describe, his CD does seem well received by most who are new to this type of calming meditation. He even touches on the concept of bodily chakras, which may send certain conservative organizations like quackwatch.com into a tirade.

The general idea, to me, is that these vocalizations take just enough mental focus to draw you away from the noise of your ongoing internal dialogue. I believe I’m on the right track here, according to other educated authorities. Even the charismatic but controversial Deepak Chopra, who’s an MD, refers to mantras as analogous to a taxi. It’s not the vehicle that matters, it’s the destination. Repeated meditative sounds simply hold your focus until, after a while, you get to a state of clear mindedness.

If any of this sounds way too over the edge for you, ask yourself if the benefits are worth it. Or wait for a more open-minded state when you’re either more interested or indeed in need of these mental techniques. You may find yourself reconsidering meditative vocalizations when anxiety is causing your mind to race and you really need to get to sleep. In such times you may be desperate enough to give it a go!

At the end of this article, I’ll list several websites containing free audio and additional info. (But remember, if you find yourself overly anxious or have other real emotional concerns, go talk to a licensed counselor. These professionals can address and incorporate mediation and relaxation into approaches like cognitive behavioral therapy and other treatments.)

A similar approach to mantras and “humming” vocalizations is to perform deliberately slow, controlled breathing. Thinking “one” with each slow deep inhale (filling the belly, not the upper chest) and “two” with each slow exhale is surprisingly effective. Becoming aware that you’re clenching your jaw and breathing rapidly from the chest is itself helpful in getting yourself to relax. Clenched jaw, intense facial expressions have been shown to alter our biology in a “fight or flight,” aggressive way. (10)

Although there’s a time and place for it, such as under a heavy squat bar, there’s also a time to let it go, relax and recover. My personal experience here is that I ironically try to “hurry up and relax” by breathing this way just a few times, then letting my focus slip back to other racing thoughts. This won’t do.

Twenty minutes or more of these deep breathing “ones and twos” is best, but even an uninterrupted five minutes is something. I don’t, however, count consecutively upward or downward with each breath (say, up to 50) during such five-minute cool downs, as this reaffirms a hurry-up-and-finish mentality that’s counter-productive.

2) Guided Meditations

The next category is guided meditations. During these, a (hopefully) qualified leader talks you through a relaxation phase by asking you to focus on various facilitative things. Examples might include “move your head gently from side to side to release any tension while unclenching your jaw,” then after a few minutes perhaps “breathe as if you could do so directly into and out of the heart” or “imagine now that your mind is not confined to your head but fills the entire room.”

These sound funny as text but can help get a person very relaxed and clear minded. Jack Kornfield (legitimate psychology Ph.D. and counselor) is perhaps my favorite, but many such guided meditation audio examples exist. Your Buddha Nature is one of Kornfield’s offerings and can be found in many bookstores and as a free check-out from some libraries. A company called Sounds True is involved with these, as is the Spirit Rock Center.

Now let’s take a look at the final, and perhaps most unfamiliar, technique.

3) Present-Moment Focus

My last pseudo-category for reducing internal dialogue also appears quite Buddhist in nature and involves an elusive focus on the present moment in time. At least during the meditation there are no memories, no planning, just right now. (Bear with me.) Of course, the mind naturally wanders and has been dubbed a “story factory” by some, so this is somewhat harder than it sounds.

As a start, spiritual persons like Ekhart Tolle suggest moving your focus to something as simple as the sense of touch in the fingertips. It can indeed be calming and gratifying to see how long such focus can be maintained before the story factory naturally brings other thoughts to the surface. Simply identifying the random thought intruder for what it is and re-focusing on the present sensation is all that’s needed as a corrective action.

But topical sensory input or even a focus on something external like a candle flame isn’t the only way to get into the present moment and become calm. Others recommend progressive relaxation, which basically involves sequential tensing and full relaxing of muscles while keeping the eyes closed and maintaining a comfortable seated or lying position.

An example involves five to ten second contractions each of:

• Arm extension with tight fists (then fully relax arms)
• Forehead/brow tensing and grimacing (then relax completely)
• Neck flexion — isometric not forward movement (relax)
• Shoulder shrugging (relax)
• Upper back contraction (then relax)
• Lower back tensing (then relax)
• Chest contraction (then relax)
• Abdominal tensing (relax)
• Quad and hamstring contraction (relax)
• Calf and tibialis anterior (shins) contraction (then relax)
• Feet and toe tensing (relax)… followed by a heavy and warm but aware whole-body relaxed state for about three minutes.

Concentrating on sensory input, stimulated externally or internally, is an almost anti-Rene Decartes-like method (that is, “depending on” rather than distrusting your senses) but the latter seems to meld with a bodybuilder’s mind-in-the-muscle ability very well. And purposeful attention on your muscles is a great way to both systemically relax and to stay in the “now.”

With weeks or months of practice in any number of techniques, you can become highly conscious and aware yet free of chattering thoughts (memories, plans, labels and associations, emotions, etc.) for many minutes consecutively. This isn’t easy for non-meditators but can even be developed for use in competition or under duress. Think of the scene in Last Samurai when the young villager counsels Captain Algren (and I paraphrase loosely): “You have too many minds… mind on village, mind on people watching… you must have no mind…”

Do you see how total present-moment consciousness (“right now” focus) can be superior to internal dialogue-entangled consciousness? Some would argue that an overexcited internal dialogue isn’t conscious at all. I believe the Eastern word for a thought-free mind is “Mushin…” Okay, okay, I apologize if this is getting too deep or esoteric. But this kind of “no mind” thing takes practice, practice, practice. Remember to check out that list of web sites and books at the end of this article.

Relax, Focus and Grow

Planning time for meditation and relaxation isn’t unlike planning for nutritional success or training progress. It starts with an open mind and an appreciation of the benefits to be had. Meditation doesn’t come naturally or easily to those who mock it. As we’ve seen though, the benefits are real.

Take another look at our list of fourteen (okay, thirteen) items above. How many of those look attractive to you? If they were the proven benefits of a dietary supplement, would you take it?

So you see, meditation is valuable and not solely the realm of the hippie chic or monastery resident. Bodybuilders, dieters and performance athletes are all great targets for systematic types of relaxation and calm mental focus. As with progressive resistance training, so too does meditation practice lead to ever-greater results over time. You can start by looking into just a few of these techniques, hopefully with expert guidance from reputable meditators or even licensed therapists.

Now that you have some places to start, you can begin to address a heretofore-untreated aspect of your mental and physical growth. And I didn’t even ask you to roam the desert like David Carradine.

Websites and Free Audio

http://www.learningmeditation.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/confidence/learn/staying_2a.shtml

http://caps.unc.edu/4audios.htm

http://www.calming.org/audio.htm

http://www.greatbigisland.com/paulcantelon/

http://www.calming.org/audio.htm

http://www.relax-online.com/imageryonline.htm

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/145/story_14571_1.html

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/53/story_5396_1.html

http://www.beliefnet.com/index/index_35904.html

http://www.soundstrue.com/

http://www.heartspring.net/meditation_music.html

http://www.audible.com (search for ‘meditation’ or names mentioned herein)

http://mediaserv.unc.edu:7070/ramgen/caps/audio/Musclete.rm

Also try borrowing from your FREE public library!

References and Further Reading

1. Aikens, J., et al. Psychological predictors of glycemic change with relaxation training in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Psychother Psychosom. 1997;66(6):302-6.
2. Fehr, T. Therapeutically relevant effects by transcendental meditation? Psychother Psychosom Med Psychol. 1996 May;46(5):178-88.
3. Glaser, J., et al. Elevated serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels in practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi programs. J Behav Med. 1992 Aug;15(4):327-41.
4. Golay, A., et al. New interdisciplinary cognitive-behavioural-nutritional approach to obesity treatment: a 5-year follow-up study. Eat Weight Disord. 2004 Mar;9(1):29-34.
5. Infante, J., et al. ACTH and beta-endorphin in transcendental meditation. Physiol Behav. 1998 Jun 1;64(3):311-5.
6. Jevning, R. Integrated metabolic regulation during acute rest states in man, similarity to fasting: a biochemical hypothesis. Physiol Behav. 1988;43(6):735-7.
7. Jones, B. Changes in cytokine production in healthy subjects practicing Guolin Qigong : a pilot study. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2001;1(1):8. Epub 2001 Oct 18.
8. Kellmann, M. (Ed.) Enhancing Recovery. 2002; Human Kinetics Publishers: Champaign, IL. pp.65-66.
9. Kesterson, J. and Clinch, N. Metabolic rate, respiratory exchange ratio, and apneas during meditation. Am J Physiol. 1989 Mar;256(3 Pt 2):R632-8.
10. Levenson R., et al. Voluntary facial action generates emotion-specific autonomic nervous system activity. Psychophysiology. 1990 Jul;27(4):363-84.
11. Loehr , J. Mental Toughness Training for Sports. 1982. The Stephen Greene Press: New York, NY. pp. 82, 123, 181
12. MacLean, C., et al. Effects of the Transcendental Meditation program on adaptive mechanisms: changes in hormone levels and responses to stress after 4 months of practice. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1997 May;22(4):277-95.
13. Monahan, R. Secondary prevention of drug dependence through the transcendental meditation program in metropolitan Philadelphia. Int J Addict. 1977 Sep;12(6):729-54.
14. Nagler, W. and Androff, A. Investigating the impact of deconditioning anxiety on weight loss. Psychol Rep. 1990 Apr;66(2):595-600.
15. Pawlow, L. et al. Night eating syndrome: effects of brief relaxation training on stress, mood, hunger, and eating patterns. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2003 Aug;27(8):970-8.
16. Pawlow, L. and Jones, G. The impact of abbreviated progressive muscle relaxation on salivary cortisol. Biol Psychol. 2002;60(1):1-16.
17. Quackwatch.com
18. Schnieder, R., et al. Lower lipid peroxide levels in practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation program. Psychosom Med. 1998 Jan-Feb;60(1):38-41.
19. Sudsuang, R., et al. Effect of Buddhist meditation on serum cortisol and total protein levels, blood pressure, pulse rate, lung volume and reaction time. Physiol Behav. 1991 Sep;50(3):543-8.
20. You really looked for this reference? This one’s a joke!
21. Wallace, R., et al. The effects of the transcendental meditation and TM-Sidhi program on the aging process. Int J Neurosci. 1982 Feb;16(1):53-8.
22. Walton, K., et al. Stress reduction and preventing hypertension: preliminary support for a psychoneuroendocrine mechanism. J Altern Complement Med. 1995 Fall;1(3):263-83.

© 1998 — 2004 Testosterone, LLC. All Rights Reserved.