While there is no sense in wasting energy resisting what we have to do out of duty, there is also no reason to let what we love most languish because of a misspent sense of discipline.

When it comes to our fitness practice, how do we know when to start building new routines and structures that fit where we want to go, not where we have already been?

New research indicates that the heart and the brain grew from the same embryonic parent cells. There is a stage in embryonic development in which the head literally bows to the heart. As the body develops and matures that connection remains intact in the form of 40 million neural cells that reside in the heart.

This embryo comes to life only when the perfect alchemy of water, sun, and pressure from the earth creates a chemical reaction, relaying a message that it is time to shed its warm winter coat, grow tall, root itself in the ground, and GROW. Such initiations are not unlike the way my trainer uses gentle pressure to give me something concrete to push against, catalyzing untapped powerhouses of strength and flexibility within.

Delicate as they may seem, the wrists and hands are powerhouses that transform infinite possibility into concrete action. If you surrender to their delicate grace, your hands may take you to all kinds of beautiful places.

Much like the bones of the pelvis, which move along vertical and horizontal planes simultaneously, creating the shape of a figure eight as we walk, life is unfolding in more than one direction at once. If we keep dancing to its rhythm, we may trust that our lives and our bodies are taking shape just as nature intended.

The problem is being trapped into rigid and outdated beliefs that keep us thinking that change can’t be comfortable and challenging at the same time. When we let go of these old beliefs, a natural fluidity arises to take their place. Instead of a zone, we find ourselves in place of playful buoyancy, expansive enough for all there is.

There are whole muscle groups lying dormant in our bodies, not because they are lazy, unhealthy, or unimportant, but simply because another muscle group took over the job they were designed to do, so they never learned how.

Just under the forest floor, trees send messages to each other via electrical signals traveling an intricate network of roots and fungi not unlike the human nervous system!

Whether or not we choose to listen, our mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies are in constant communication. Over-scheduled as we are, our workouts can often feel like our only chance to hear the conversation! What if we could incorporate more moments of mind/body consciousness throughout the day? These micro-meditations might just have the power to change us, inside and out, through the life-giving power of attention.