I came across a blog on bodybuilding.com written by Maureen Meehan, and she mentions someone who inspires her – Dee Lazard. I thought I would check out Dee’s background to find out more about what makes her so inspiring to Maureen.
“From Houston, Texas, this 64 year old is an NCSF and AFAA
certified personal trainer and an AFAA certified aerobics
instructor with over 13 years experience. Dee’s clients include
men and women of all ages. In addition to overall fitness,
health maintenance, and weight loss, she offers strength
training, cardiovascular conditioning, and nutritional
counseling. For those interested in competing, she can
assist with all aspects of contest preparation. Dee has
been weight training since 1994 and competing since 1998.
Dee recently took 7th place in the middleweight class
at the 2008 NPC USA, in Las Vegas and 1st place in the
2008 NPC Masters Nationals in the 55+ class, 4th place
in the 45+ Lightweight and 6th place in the 35+
middleweight in Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to Dee’s
busy competitive schedule she placed 5th Lightweight
at the 2008 Arnold Amateur in Columbus, Ohio. Dee
plans to do a lot more competitions.”
~Biography from HDphysiques.com
Looks like she started competing when she was in her 50’s
and still going strong. Goes to show you that it is never too
late to start competing.
Here is a video of her at a competition where she finished in 5th place...see if you can spot her...
Two inspiring athletes come to mind when I think about overcoming great obstacles...
Christopher Reeves and Lance Armstrong both had insurmountable obstacles and managed to not only survive but thrive in their own way.
I can’t help but think of Christopher Reeves when I think of someone who really took the most difficult of circumstances in his life and made the best of it.
Christopher used his situation to make a difference in the world. Although, he spent his entire life, after the accident, in a wheelchair; he also spent the rest of his life educating, researching and inspiring the masses. With the support of his wife, who truly believed in him, and his friends and family, he was able to make peace with his situation. He used this difficult situation toward some positive outcome. He was truly a leader and someone who showed the world how to live life, despite its challenges, with dignity and style.
Christopher Reeves also wrote an inspiring book called Still Me, which is a warm account of his life before and after the injury. In it he says...
"When the first Superman movie came out, I (Reeves) was frequently asked, 'What is a hero?' I remember the glib response I repeated so many times. My answer was that a hero is someone who commits a courageous action without considering the consequences - a soldier who crawls out of a foxhole to drag his injured buddy to safety. And I also meant individuals who are slightly larger than life: Houdini, Lindbergh, John Wayne, JFK, and Joe DiMaggio. But now, my definition is completely different. I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming circumstances...."
If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or Fight Like Hell.
~Lance Armstrong
Exercise: run 30 minutes, turbulance training
Menu: Protein and veggies
Until next time…
Think, Believe, Act, Adjust, Never Give up
Dakota
Today’s Mantra: At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable.
I don’t exactly know why it is so important for me to watch or read over and over again about success stories or inspiring stories or ideas that motivate; but for some reason it really helps me to stay focused on my goals, especially when I am feeling down.
I like positive thinking and positivity in general, but the practice of it is really challenging for me when things aren’t going my way. I guess I am learning how easily disappointment can throw me off and how far I need to grow and mature in order to keep inner peace.
Some times seeing other people struggle and then achieve something that seems impossible (especially if it is a true story...but Hollywood style movies are good too) makes me feel motivated to continue on.
I think set backs can help point the way. Anyway, I am a big fan reading Tarot Cards, as some of you may know, and I just pulled three cards that were really helpful.
I use the Tao Oracle deck by Ma Deva Padma. She does beautiful artwork for the deck. Ma Deva Padma is a painter, illustrator, and designer, whose Osho Zen Tarot has sold over 150,000 copies: her fine art has been exhibited in the United States, Europe and Asia. She lives in Northern California and India.
Click here if you want to see what the cards look like.
The cards I pulled were called Limitation, Oppression and Excess. Interestingly, these cards all really fit in with what is going on in my life. The idea is that the cards respond to your subconscious messages and give you some clarity.
First I will tell you the meaning of the cards I pulled and then I will tell you why they fit.
Limitation:
Meaning: Introspection, cultivate patience, practice, self respect, self-discipline, ritual, build up energy
Purpose: “Becoming really good at anything takes practice and repeated effort...can take many years of discipline.” “When discipline is willingly taken on, self-imposed, rather than endured because of external pressure or coercion, it will nourish your growth and deepen your maturity.” “...without limitations it is impossible to maximize our potential.”
Purpose: “Difficult circumstances are life’s way of provoking a leap from one level of consciousness to another...with restrictions...if we can receive them and work with them, help to strengthen the inner qualities we need in order to keep growing and expanding.”
Excess:
Meaning: stress, overload, exhaustion, obsessiveness, gluttony, burdens, worries, breaking point
Purpose: “You have chosen to ignore your own limitations...realignment is necessary...realignment diminishes stress and in an incremental way helps alleviate the weight of the world.”
All of these things are in the forefront of my mind now. I am in a situation where I have to make some big decisions that will have consequences. Many of you understand how the “economic crisis” is impacting jobs and home owners...etc. I am also feeling the impact and it is really causing me to spin out and stress out rather than grow and expand. I tend to get worked up about it, but I also see how necessary it is for change like this to happen, because it is like a forest fire...however terrible the fire is, new growth happens on the ashes of destruction. Usually, something richer and stronger comes from destruction.
I am feeling Oppressed by my own circumstances, but also feeling the need to figure out to work with it rather than allowing it to consume me
I am feeling overloaded (Excess) with responsibility and finding it necessary to realign my self and priorities
I am feeling the Limitations of my circumstance, but I can also see the possibilities...but need the discipline to get there.
What does this have to do with exercise and health and fitness? It has a lot to do with dealing with the limitatons of your body and any disappointment that comes along with massive effort and unlocking your own potential.
Holding to the long term goal and not getting bogged down by the little things; like an ankle injury or something like that...
Here is an inspiring video from the movie pursuit of happiness...
Exercise: bike 30 minutes, turbulance training, ankle stretches (it never ends)
Menu: Protein and veggies
Until next time…
Think, Believe, Act, Adjust, Never Give up
Dakota
Today’s Mantra: Use limitations as a stepping stone for growing and expanding.
Yesterday I talked a little bit about martial arts as a spiritual practice. I mentioned that I did Tai Chi for 7 years. When I first started doing Tai Chi it was really challenging for me to try to move so slowly. I had a background in sports and was used to a much faster pace. I also felt awkward and unbalanced.
It was funny to me that even though I grew up an athlete it was hard for me to do Tai Chi. Eventually I was able to get my body to do the sequence very accurately, and what I discovered was unreal.
At the school where I learned Tai Chi the master who founded it was very big on not talking about the spiritual benefits. He preferred to focus on the health benefits. He also never talked about breathing or trying to breathe a certain way, he suggested to let it come naturally.
What I discovered was that Tai Chi was like a form of meditation. I found myself becoming very peaceful and relaxed while doing it. I also noticed a significant change in my leg strength and flexibility. And, ultimately, I discovered it’s spiritual benefits. I found myself breathing with the moves almost as though my body and my breathe were one thing. I felt it harmonizing me with the energy of the universe. As crazy as that sounds....I suggest trying it for yourself before totally disregarding the spiritual benefits...but if you are in it for the fitness then you will benefit either way.
If you look at someone doing Tai Chi it is easy, I think, to see it's spiritual quality...
Exercise: Free
Menu: Fast
Until next time…
Think, Believe, Act, Adjust, Never Give up
Dakota
Today’s Mantra: Give what you think you most lack.
I don’t think any of you know that I studied Shotokan Karate and eventually received my black belt. Before I studied karate I studied Taoist Tai Chi. Because I studied Tai Chi for 7 years, learning Karate came very naturally to me.
What I liked most about the martial arts is that it felt like a combination of exercise and confidence building and spiritual practice. Whether I did Tai Chi or Karate I benefited the same.
I definitely noticed an improvement in my confidence after doing karate for a while. On another note, my physical strength, flexibility and timing improved ten-fold from practicing karate.
Much like some of my bodyweight training I am doing, karate exercises the whole body, but also the mind and spirit.
Bruce Lee is a perfect example of how someone took martial arts and fitness and spiritual beliefs and put them all together. He really experimented and examined how the human body responds to all forms of exercise. Eventually a book was published about Bruce Lee’s workouts, compiled by John Little called The Art Of Expressing The Human Body.
Bruce achieved strength and speed through daily training and experimenting with exercise and diet...here is a short clip on his physical capabilities...
And here is some insight into Bruce Lee’s talent and thinking...
Exercise: bike 30 minutes, turbulance training, ankle stretches (it never ends)
Menu: Protein and veggies
Here is an old pic of me in my karate stance....
Until next time…
Think, Believe, Act, Adjust, Never Give up
Dakota
Today’s Mantra: To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities. ~Bruce Lee
There are so many funny opposites that exist. Somehow we give value to the things that bring us pleasure. But what is pleasure? For some people pleasure could be watching the Superbowl and for others that is not the case at all.
We individually define what makes us happy as much as society as a whole defines what happiness is. There are formulas out there telling us what to do to achieve happiness; a seemingly unachievable thing. Why is it unachievable? Maybe because many of us don’t know what it is, at least not consistently. We have moments of happiness...kind of like a taste of the good life...right? But then we also have moments of unhappiness.
Some people might say happiness is being rich, but that isn’t always true. There are lots of unhappy rich people. I think it has more to do with what many spiritual leaders are talking about; happiness is a decision. It is not determined by any outer circumstance. It is a feeling of equanimity in the face of any situation...whether good or bad.
Is it possible that good and bad don’t really exist either; without PERCIEVING good and bad, do either of those values have meaning?
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise? Can any one thing have value without one other thing giving it value?
The Tarot cards of ancient say it is impossible to exist with out two things. If you study science deeply I suspect this will be the case. We need OTHER to give anything value or meaning. What if everything was green...do you think that any other color would mean anything to anyone? Probably not.
I have decided that losing weight and exercising and eating healthy will make me happy; or why else would I work so hard at it? But I am finding that my happiness with my weight and exercise has more to do with my attitude about my self in response to my weight, eating habits, health...etc. The process is healing for me, but not necessarily happiness. Once one goal is fulfilled, the old feeling of what should I do next to feel better comes up.
This type of thing is a normal human condition. I guess my hope is that if I THINK hard enough about this...and CONTEMPLATE the true goal I am setting for myself I will unveil some hidden personal truths. I think it mostly comes down to what makes me happy.
What I am finding is that what makes me happy isn’t necessarily any one thing...like being thin or getting a good grade in school; it has more to do with getting some kind of reward for my effort. The more reward I get the better I feel about myself and the harder I am willing to continue to work at it.
Weight loss is a fun way to see results from effort and it also tells you when you need to adapt. All of this effort that goes a long with failure and success can either prove that effort pays or that effort does not pay. If it proves that effort does not pay it is easy to give up. So, again, success comes back to PERCEPTION. If I perceive 1 pound lost as success then I continue my effort, but if I see it as failure then I might give up and FEEL like a failure (which makes me unhappy).
On that note...I found an interesting book called Think And Grow Rich by Napolean Hill on how to achieve what we want for our lives. I wonder if it is achieving the goal that makes us happy or is it being able to achieve the goal or is it the process of achieving the goal....or does it really boil down to what we BELIEVE will make us happy?
I think it has some useful tools in it that could be applied to weight loss as well. Basically, the writer in many words describes the secret to success. Why many succeed while others failed. He studied many successful people and drew his own conclusions.
The things that pop out for me make perfect sense....and have we not heard this before...but repetition is the key to success...so here is a little list gleaned from this book.
Persist
Take Chances
Capitalize On Great Ideas
Learn From Mistakes And Improve
Define Goals
Have Purpose
And the list goes on....
You get the point....
If you want a free download of Napolean Hills book Think And Grow Rich CLICK HERE.
Here is an inspiring video on this topic...
Exercise: bike 30 minutes, turbulance training, ankle stretches (it never ends)
Menu: Protein and veggies
Until next time…
Think, Believe, Act, Adjust, Never Give up
Dakota
Today’s Mantra: Edison failed 10, 000 times before he made the electric light. Do not be discouraged if you fail a few times. Napolean Hill
I didn’t get much sleep last night...a little bit too much thinking! Instead I ended watching Pema Chodron talks on the human condition and Buddhist beliefs. I was introduced to Pema Chodron years ago by a Buddhist friend of mine who loved reading her books.
One book that really stands out is called When Things Fall Apart. She explains how to handle difficult times in your life and use it is a way to turn around and really get to know your self. One thing that struck me about her book and her talks is she is very down to earth and grounded. She also knows how to explain Buddhist teachings and practices in a way that Americans can understand.
She lives at a monastery in Novia Scotia and is basically the leader. In her book When Things Fall Apart she talks about how she became a Buddhist nun. She was taken completely by surprise when her husband said he was going to leave her for another woman. She felt like her whole life was pulled out from under her. She had no illusions left about the formula for happiness, because it had failed her (this is my interpretation, in part)...so she turned to spirituality and within a couple of years was ordained a nun.
She never thought that she would go that direction, but she found some thing that really made sense to her and went for it.
I think this is what we are all here to figure out...what is our talent, our passion and pursue it. It is so easy to get sidetracked by life’s obstacles and put aside what truly inspires us. She claims her passion is what she is now doing and that she had to have something major happen in her life to get there. Here is a video of her talk...
Is it possible that all of this economic trouble in the world has a grander purpose? Perhaps it is meant to force us to really pursue our dreams, because if not, we will be pushed out of where we are stuck. What I mean is maybe all of the jobs ending are an opportunity to open us up to new possibilities.
I guess I am saying this because I have the possibility of losing my job and it has really forced me to look at what I love to do and how I can create that in my life. Some of what I do is my passion, but there are some parts of my experiences and talents that aren’t being used and some of those parts really make me shine. In my current job the shining isn’t there for me, so on some level I haven’t quite found the type of life work that fits the full specrum of my talents.
This is part of why I started this site....to use this as a platform to find my talents... you see... part of what holds me back from believing in my self is how I feel about myself. I feel better when I am healthy and strong. I feel more motivated and capable when my body is in shape. My secret hope is that through this process I will also gain the confidence to REALLY forge out on my own with all of my talents and make a life purpose that fulfills me and my talents.
Anybody have any thoughts and experiences about this topic?
Exercise: bike 30 minutes, turbulance training, ankle stretches (it never ends)
Menu: Protein and veggies
Until next time…
Think, Believe, Act, Adjust, Never Give up
Dakota
Today’s Mantra: To forgive is an act of love...why is it so hard?
