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Why Exercise Is Bad

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Why “Exercise” is Bad For You

Yo! Transformation Nation!  What’s UP?
Today’s Mind Mastery Moment is AWL about YOUR awesome BODY!

When many people hear the word “exercise” it often conjures up unpleasantness:

Sweat. Discipline. Sore muscles. Aches. Pain. Inconvenience. Stinky socks.

Even embarrassment to be seen in a gym in less than perfect conditioning. 

If you’re in fabulous shape and just want to go for a run listening to today’s Wide Awake Hypnosis Session hear it is:

But haven’t we forgotten something? We want our bodies to be healthy and fit because being healthy and fit allows us to have a hell of a lot of FUN in these “bodies” of ours. I prefer to call them “Space ships”.

Think about it! Your body is actually the VEHICLE in which you move around this “earth plane”.

If you didn’t have a body to live in where would you be?

EVERYTHING we perceive about this world comes to us through the receptors of our bodies.

  • Light bounces off the receptors in our eyes and we assemble pictures on our mental movies screens.
  • Sound energy bounces off the receptors called our ears and we make sense of the sounds in our minds…
  • We send nerve energy down our arms to reach out and “touch” something with our finger and interpret the information there as an external feeling.
  • We think certain thoughts and create emotions that we fell internally,
  • and then there is taste
  • and smell…

Ultimately we are consciousness inhabiting this “animal” called our body.
But most people have no clue how to actually communicate effectively with their bodies to get the results they want.

In fact most people treat their pets way better than they treat themselves.

For example, I’m watching my friend Mike’s beautiful Labrador Retriever for a little while. And being with her every day has reminded me about the response-ability we have as “owners” of our bodies, to take exquisite care of them.

And taking exquisite care of our bodies includes, eating the highest quality food, getting plenty of rest AND… MOVING, STRETCHING, BREATHING, STRENGTHENING and yes CHALLENGING our bodies to stay strong and healthy.

That, unfortunately doesn’t happen by sitting around all day at work and then sitting on the couch watching TV in all your “spare” time.

Our bodies are designed to MOVE

Today’s Mind Mastery Moment is all about YOUR BODY.
The reason “exercise” is often a bad word is because it has been associated with negative feelings, thoughts, old traumatic associations from childhood (I don’t know about YOU but I was ALWAYS the last one picked for any sports team in gym), all the times you tried and failed to discipline yourself to work out…

and ultimately these are all ideas in your mind.

So let’s shift that today shall we?

What if instead of exercise we called it PLEASURE MOVES?

Kids don’t “exercise.” They just go outside and play (that is, if they are not so totally addicted to video games that they stay inside like zombies on even the nicest day).

What do they do to “play”? They run around! and it’s all for fun.
Pleasure Moves.

leila 2-29-16 field ballDogs don’t “exercise” they chase a tennis ball or a squirrel… for fun.
Pleasure Moves

Horses will often run flat out for the sheer pleasure  of it.
Pleasure Moves

Birds are often observed flying for the sheer love of it.

Pleasure Moves

Dolphins and whales explode the surface and splash back into the sea for FUN.

Pleasure Moves

What do YOU do? What movement feels good for YOU?

So your assignment today (should you choose to accept it) is to MOVE YOUR BODY…

PLEASURABLY. 

Move it In a way that is enjoyable and pleasurable. Stretch it. Wiggle it. Bend it. Work it. Go for a walk. Climb a flight of stairs instead of taking the elevator. Park in the farthest spot and walk a little more to get into your workplace or wherever you are.

And take a few moments throughout the day to get up from your desk, stretch as tall as you can and BREATHE!  And while you’re at it… what would it be like if you did a  r… e… a… l… l… y…     s…l…o…w   squat?

The slower the better.

See if you can squat down in 10 slow “mississippi’s”…. then    s… l… o… w… l… y  come back up…

Ahhhhh! Notice how good that feels! PLEASURE MOVEMENT!

And for your listening pleasure (and wide awake hypnosis session), USE today’s Transformation Song as your sound track. It’s all about moving for the sheer LOVE of being able to.

If you want to go deeper with me around the entire health and fitness challenges in your life, check out my proven program:
“It’s Not Just About The Food!”
(It’s pretty much exactly what I follow every single day and the reason why I have just recently dropped ANOTHER pants size – 35″ vs. 40″ a year or so ago). It has powerful NLP tools and techniques, kick ass self-Hypnosis sessions and leading edge “slow burn” ways to actually get the benefit of hours and hours and hours of “exercise” in just a few minutes each day (without danger of injury or boredom).

So what did we learn today?

  1. Associating negative stuff to the word “exercise” sometimes keeps us from moving our bodies.
  2. Moving our bodies can be something we LOVE doing. Something that is deeply PLEASURABLE (and therefore NOT requiring WILLPOWER or DISCIPLINE).
  3. Our old associations with Exercise can be changed if we change how we think about it as well as the words we use to describe it to ourselves. “Why do I LOVE to MOVE my BODY in PLEASURABLE ways?”
  4. There are actually leading edge ways to get the benefit of intense “exercise” in a fraction of the time that the average gym rat thinks is necessary to show results.
  5. And sometimes the right MUSIC can make MOVEMENT MAGICAL.

HEY! I’ll race you to the top! Ready? Set? Go!

BTW, I love you. Peace and grooviness. COWABUNGAH!

– Mark

p.s. Some amazing stuff is happening these days in the recording studio. I can’t wait to play some of the new arrangements Joe Mennonna is creating…. soon. I promise. Thanks for your patience and support!!!
p.p.s. and after my recording session yesterday I went for an incredible walk with Leila the Lab… for the sheer FUN OF IT!

Moment of Truth

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45706221_mThe Moment of Truth.

We’ve all experienced it at some time or another…

When it’s make it or break it.

Now or never.

Do or “die”.

Play ball or go home.

Shit or get off the pot.

Put the pedal to the metal.

Burn  your boats.

Burn your Bridges.

“Shatter the patterns and leave the past behind”

It’s time  my friend…

To get SERIOUS.

About what?

Oh YOU know what… Don’t you?

That thing that you think you would like to change…

You know what you want to change. Many people want to change. But most people can never seem to make changes “stick”.

There may be many reasons why people don’t change. But there is definitely one thing that stops a lot of transformation from happening…

It’s all about the “Moment of Truth”.

You see, until you convince your unconscious mind that there is no more wiggle room, no more weaseling out of the change you want to make, you will be like MOST of the people who want to lose weight, stop smoking, get fit, get relief from anxiety and stress, make more money, succeed at dating and relationships, and generally “nail it” on the big stages or playing fields of their lives…

A wanna be.

(Been there. Done that. None of us are immune from it at any level.)

And I know you don’t want to be a wanna be.

You want to be somebody who can take charge of every area of your life and master it.

Am I right?

The moment of truth…

…When for a clear, decisive instant we stop bullshitting ourselves and admit that we alone are responsible for the challenge in front of us.

No one is going to make you make the change.

No one is going to say anything or even notice if you just kind of… stay the way you are… there is no one to be accountable to except yourself.

And it’s time. It’s time to dig deep into your own power and determination and be so bold as to fvcking go for it, isn’t it?

When people find out I’m a master practitioner and trainer of hypnosis, they almost universally ask, “Can you MAKE me stop smoking or “Can you MAKE me stop eating junk so I can lose weight?”

Nope.

I cant make you change and I can’t make the changes for you, but I sure as hell can help you to get your mind in the right place to make that powerful decision. To get to your moment of truth.

And then I can give you a massive array of tools you can use immediately to run your own mind. Faster. Easier. Better.

But there are no guarantees except YOURS. The one you set up for yourself.

And BTW “Faster” doesn’t guarantee that it’s going to be fast.

“Easier” doesn’t guarantee that it will be easy.

But it will be faster, easier, and better with the tools you’ll learn here than if you keep doing what you’ve been doing in the past.

So when you’re ready to go deeper, you’ll find some powerful tools here to help you help yourself Master Your Mind For A change…

Of course, you have to be ready. You may not be ready even if you think you are.

I set out to find my abs at least 5 years ago. To this point they have remained safely hidden behind a bit o belly fat.

I did have a moment of truth Fall of 2014 that It was a MUST to lose 20 pounds.  And I did.  And I feel great. And I’m building muscle, moving my body, healthy, happy to be wearing a size smaller pants… in other words I went as far as my “moment of truth” from last year could carry me.  And so while I’m a lot  more fit and trim than last year, I want more.

I want to see my damn abs! I DEMAND to see them.

 And now it’s MY moment of truth.

To put up or shut up. To walk my talk. To publicly declare 2016 as my “year of the abs”… To do so publicly is to “force accountability”.  But it also gives me an opportunity to invite others like you to join me for whatever your personal goal or goals are for 2016. We can do whatever we truly want to do.

This COULD be your moment of truth. Are you in? Let me know ok?

What is it you want? What is it you’ve been saying you want but haven’t actually actualized in your life or personality or behavior?

It definitely helps to know what that is… LOL

But let’s say you DO know what you want, but you’re not really sure you’re ready to actually have it.  How do you get your self to stop resisting and spewing out excuses and self pity and COMMIT to get there sooner instead of wasting all that time getting ready to get ready to change?…

It comes down to a big enough “why” that you can sustainably hold in your mind that communicates, no, relentlessly BROADCASTS to your Unconscious Mind that there is no way out except through. There is no way home except forwards. It’s creating enough leverage in your own mind so that going back is not an option. The only way out is moving forwards through all of the objections, and old standby excuses. And then there are some additional steps and mindsets that help you to KEEP the momentum going once you decide to “go all in” for your goal. And once you’ve committed to your action and started taking action, how to make it fun. How to make sure you actually notice progress that will keep you moving forwards, even one single step at a time.

Why do you want to change the thing you want to change?

And is that enough to motivate you?

or is there something else that when added to the mix will cause you to crank it up and COMMIT?

Talk to me. I’m listening. And I’ve made MY decision. Let me know if you want to join the fun.

– Mark

p.s. It’s Not Just About The Food
photo credit – Copyright: yuriz / 123RF Stock Photo

The Best Exercise of All Time

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hh-10-30-slowsquat-ss1A Happy Friday SHOUT OUT to The Transformation Nation!

Cowabungah!

I want to start by welcoming all the action taking “1 percenters” who took the plunge and stepped boldly into my new course, CRUSH anxiety NOW! yesterday to get the sweet “beta test price” and get started on their 31 day journey towards calm, confidence and personal mind mastery.

I sincerely bow to the divine within you. Way… TO …. GO!! :o)

Please remember I am here and ready to answer your questions.

Now.

Today I want to shift my focus a bit and get back to one of my other favorite topics.

Taking exquisite care of your body.

And BTW, this is also a helpful anti-anxiety tool to add to the tool kit. When you are moving your body it helps to dissipate and relieve stress, tension and those “nasty” fight or flight hormones… So let’s begin shall we?

Today we explore… The absolute best exercise of all time…

and it just so happens that

The Best Exercise Of All Time

…is the one you will ACTUALLY do… :o)

Today I have one simple exercise that will get you results, faster, “easier”, better… without risk of injury or pain.

It feels so good to do it that you will want to do it more often. And it only takes a minute.

For many of us who are busy living lives in the modern age of “crazy busy” the idea of having to put everything and everyone on hold so you can go to the gym 2 or 3 times a week, is the greatest obstacle to sustainable, life long fitness…

Personally I hate interrupting my “flow” to get in my car in order to go to a gym. I’ve done it from time to time in the past, but definitely not a fan.

I’m running three businesses and I have a very active social life… Spending hours at the gym is NOT gonna happen.

PLUS. I hate the fact that every damn gym I’ve ever been to has constant Television blaring bad news and commercials for drugs and other crap…

Not to mention the THUMP, THUMP of the shitty music bombarding you as you work out…

[oooo I feel a “rant” coming on]

Not to mention the cost… and most of the trainers are poorly trained with often old knowledge that is already outdated by the latest scientific research. I have also personally known several people who got really hurt working with some hot shot personal trainer…

To hell with all that!

And yet at age 54 (turning 55 in November) I’m more fit, more healthy, more energetic and stronger than ever before…

I practice and advocate a fitness program that is perfect for people who are making the transition from “coach potato” to warrior… or for people over 40 who have a lot of demands on their time, or even older folks who want to maintain muscle mass and the ability to move through their days pain free and able to go to the bathroom unassisted until their last day on this lovely planet… Hey. I’m the honest hypnotist remember? Going to the bathroom unassisted is one of life’s great dignities!

It’s principles are simple.

  1. Very slow movements. For very short, intense time periods. By taking away all momentum we increase the work it takes to do any exercise. In effect we make it harder. And by making it harder, we increase it’s effectiveness throughout the movement range. Because we are going slow for short periods of time, we can make any movement into a workout that can be done, any time, anywhere. Right at your desk. For a minute.
  2. Compound movements. By doing movements that work multiple muscle groups we avoid imbalances and we strengthen muscles that we actually might use during a day of living. We strengthen real muscles that combine to work your core as well as your extremities. By doing movements that call upon a full range of muscles throughout a  particular exercise, we get a more balanced, practical distribution of strength. We essentially work more muscles and that adds to the fat burning abilities of this system.
  3. Short. Intense. Slow. Graceful. Pleasurable, Meditational Movements. We increase the pleasure and the meditational, mind set that causes your unconscious mind to “want more”… we want to trigger the “ooooh that feels so good!” response deep in your unconscious mind so that you get healthfully “addicted” to moving your body intelligently. A labrador retriever NEVER needs coaxing to play “fetch”. We want to trigger that play factor in your “animal” mind/body so that it’s FUN. If it’s fun and feels good, you will want to do it more. Right? (BTW I’m not a big fan of sitting to meditate. The last thing we need to do is sit more. I prefer MOVING meditation.

Here’s a simple example of just one such movement:

A couple of other thoughts, the experts in this method who I’ve researched and modeled, say essentially that if you trained this way for a full half hour doing several different compound exercises that worked your entire body thoroughly, you wouldn’t need to do it again for a full week. This is such an intense workout that you need to allow your body to rest…

As you may know Rest and Recovery time is crucial for building muscle.

The problem with that is that once a week is not enough repetition to make it a Habit.

So I’ve modified the process of “slow burn” so that I do a little bit almost every day, throughout my day. Whenever my computer is processing something. or Whenever I’m waiting for something to be ready in the kitchen. Or even if I’m on the phone.

BOOM! I’m doing a slow squat or one of the many other movements that my body LOVES to do… slowly, consciously.

I’ve also gotten rid of my desk chair and I work standing up. I even bought a treadmill to walk on while I work. Not because treadmills are great or anything but because I want to literally increase my movement. Movement is what our bodies are designed to do. Our paleo ancestors moved pretty much all day, everyday. And we need to find a way to get back to that without sacrificing our current ways of making a living.

Sitting has been pretty definitively proven to be one of the absolute WORST things that you can do to your health.

People who sit all the time, even if they go to the gym regularly are at far greater risk of dropping dead…

Suddenly… or slowly…

Either way not optimal. :o)

So I’m not suggesting that you suddenly devote your life to peak performance physical fitness. However I am suggesting that perhaps you might consider that you can get started in some small way today…

Why would today be the perfect day to start exploring this?

Don’t take my word for it. Only you can try it yourself. Right now. Do this one single exercise today. Do it slowly. Do it consciously. Breathe. Love your body. Be present.

Now get back to your life.

Over.

peace and grooviness,

– Mark

p.s. If you’d like to go deeper with me in this area of fitness, health, weight loss, etc, check out my course called,

“It’s Not Just About The Food.”

p.p.s. Questions? Comments? Contact me!

Weight Loss Warrior

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woman-kicking-junk-foodWonder why I’ve been banging the drum all week
about the “peaceful, spiritual, warrior” archetype?

Not only is it a cool, helpful, romantic, nostalgic, archetype.

It freaking WORKS!

For EVERYTHING.

In today’s Mind Mastery Daily, I tie it all in to a MASSIVE project I’ve been working on for exactly a year this weekend:

It’s Not Just About The Food Online Weight Loss Revolution!

This fresh video I just made for you is full of actual, helpful, honest, CONTENT. It’s a little bit more of an investment than some of my videos. But if you open your mind to the “conversational hypnosis” that is going on throughout it, you might surprise yourself by what happens next in the adventure arena of your life…

Watch it!

Your assignment?

Check out my “It’s Not Just About The Food” course and see if it might provide you with the inspiration, motivation and SUPPORT that might empower you to finally take charge of your change in the food, exercise and mind mastery departments…

It’s not for everybody. But TODAY is literally the 1 year anniversary of my own personal commitment to get fit and healthy SUSTAINABLY. No matter what. No excuses. Just consistent action towards the body you want to live in for the rest of your life… and in honor of that, we totally slashed the price!

However,

1. the price will go up

2. You are totally worth it and it comes with a totally solid money back guarantee so it’s totally safe to simply take a look.

“It’s Not Just About The Food” Online Weight Loss/Fitness Revolution Now!

Super Slow Work Out

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27356790_sIn my extensive research to find the most “bang for your exercise buck”.  I’ve discovered two significantly superior ways to exercise that take a LOT less time and faster, better, more long lasting results.

By “results” I mean triggering…

  1. Muscle building
  2. Fat burning that continues AFTER you are done exercising.
  3. Both methods carry much LESS risk of injury.
  4. Both methods take a LOT less TIME out of your busy schedule.

The first one is High Intensity Interval Training or H.I.I.T.

This is typically using a recumbant bicycler or elliptical machine where you do a short warm up, then alternate 90 seconds of easy movements with 30 seconds of full out intensity. Eventually you can work up to 8 intervals. This is a 20 minute workout that should only be done 2-3 times per week because you need recovery time. How cool is that?

No need to FORCE yourself to schlepp off to the gym every single day.

The second way to a much more effective workout is the “Super Slow” or the “Slow Burn” workout where you take away all the momentum usually associated with lifting weights. You use smaller, lighter weights and slow all your movements down so that your muscles have to work much harder. This is my favorite because it is almost impossible to hurt yourself moving so slowly AND you can feel it start to work IMMEDIATELY.

Just do a couple of super slow squats right now… notice how you can immediately feel the “burn”.

If you do a full 30 minute full body super slow work out that’s going to be enough for the week.

Seriously.

You will absolutely need the rest of the week to recover. You can still walk, ride your bike, play tennis or golf, work in the garden, or do whatever physical movement you want during the rest of the week but in this case more super slow is NOT better. 30 minutes once a week. How does that sound?

Personally I’ve modified the super slow method so that every other day I do something like 5-10 minutes of compound movements EXCRUCIATINGLY SLOWLY… doing it every other day gives my body time to recover but it becomes more of a regular part of my day. I also use every opportunity to walk or bike to do my errands. I’ve also gotten rid of my desk chair and use a standing desk… So moving every day is part of the overall plan.

For my slow burn workout, I’ll do a super slow squat with two 10 pound dumbbells in my hands.  As I get to the standing up part of the squat I do hammer bicep curls the then press the dumbbells up directly over my head… I can usually do only 4-8 of these. It is a full body movement that is safe (I have some shoulder issues) and effective as well as time efficient. The time I am moving the weights over my head, my legs are resting. and while I am in the squat part of the movement, my arms are getting a little break. So it actually is a combination of both of these methods.

Learn More!

In my new online Weight Loss Course, I’ve taken Dr. Mercola’s recommendations and made them even more friendly for you and your hectic lifestyle.

My approach is to make moving so satisfying and restorative that it requires absolutely no discipline or “will power” to get yourself to do it. Adding the component of effective hypnosis can trigger your unconscious Mind to begin CRAVING movement… and more good things for your body…

Check it out!

It’s Not Just About The Food Online Weight Loss Revolution

Got questions? I have answers and I want you to have them, so…

Let’s talk

Lean, Fit and Healthy In Your 80’s ?

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I had a chance to sit down and interview my 87 year old dad, Lew Shepard, the other day. He started exploring healthy eating habits when he was in his 40’s. In addition to steadily improving his nutrition and his understanding of what the human body actually needs to eat in order to thrive healthfully, he has also worked on his mind-set.

He’s the guy that introduced me to the revolutionary ideas of:

  • Slow burn fitness.
  • Emotional Freedom Technique
  • NLP by way of Anthony Robbins books “Unlimited Power” and “Awaken the Giant Within”
  • The Paleo diet
  • High Intensity Interval Training
  • Lacto fermented vegetables
  • and so much more!

Watch the interview and get inspired!

Want to get on the health and fitness train easier, faster, better?

Check it out! It’s Not Just About The Food Online Weight Loss Revolution

Got questions? I have answers and I want you to have them, so…

Let’s talk