Mental Flexibility

This is a guest post by Certified Fitness Professional Chelsea Kmiec.

As a fitness professional I am not one for excessive stretching of the body, as I believe that our bodies know best. However I am a proponent of stretching of the mind.

In Fitness, mental flexibility allows you to stretch beyond the set of negative beliefs that you have set for yourself. Nobody else (hopefully) has ever directly told you that anytime you start an exercise program you will fail. Typically this is a set of beliefs that we have unknowingly established for ourselves.

When it comes to relationships with other people, we sometimes forget that one of the most important relationships is the one we have with ourselves. Think about this, would you ever tell your significant other that they are fat and ugly? Why then is that ok for us to tell ourselves that.

Sometimes one of the biggest hurdles we have to jump is that of loving ourselves, this love and affirmation that you have the power to bring to yourself is (in my belief system) the only way you can truly love and affirm others. Further, if you don't love and appreciate yourself, how can you treat yourself and your body well? If you don't love yourself, why would you exercise or why stay in good health?

Let's take a look at some of the negative beliefs that you have for yourself, many of them I bet you don't even know you had. Try for this week to catch yourself when you re-affirm any of those negative beliefs. Make a list of any that come up, then on a new sheet of paper, write the new and opposite positive belief.

Go out and care for yourself, stay physically and mentally healthy.

In Fitness & In Health,

Chelsea

About Chelsea: Chelsea is an 11 year fitness industry veteran. During this time she has served as a leader, educator, and manager at various health clubs in Chicago and Florida. Her experience in health club management transcends all departments including fitness, sales, and operations. Chelsea is also an independent consultant for Rodan and Fields. For personal training and other inquiries visit Chelsea at ChelseaFitPro.com or her WordPress blog here. You can also connect with Chelsea on Twitter.

Meditate on This: Common Courtesy

"If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins to them." - Francis Bacon, Sr.

Question: How many times in a day are you courteous to others? Do you give up your seat for an elderly person on the bus or just sit there and pretend you don't see them looking for a seat? Do you respond to a homeless person that speaks to you or just treat them as though they were less than human?

Not long ago, it seems that being courteous was a common occurrence in daily life. Today, that's not so much the way things are. Whatever happened to help your fellow man? Perhaps it's due the media an exceedingly good job at striking fear into our hearts. So much so that we've become apprehensive about helping anyone lest we become a victim in spite of our own innate generosity and kindness.

Even in our own homes it seems that common courtesy has been replaced by animosity, cynicism and rudeness. When did it become second nature to belittle one another? When did we decide as a society that it was better to ridicule our family members to make ourselves look good?

We have to rethink this people! We need to get back to basics and strip ourselves of this burning need to be unkind and distrustful. We need to open our hearts and minds to the possibility that ALL people possess the innate quality of goodness. If you can't be courteous for someone else's sake then by all means, be selfish! Do it because it'll make YOU feel better while leaving the other person feeling appreciated and motivated to do the same for others. Meditate on This: I choose to be courteous to all beings, great and small, in honor of my Divine nature.

Have a PERFECT day!

Michael

My II Sense

Introducing the My II Sense Bloggers

As I mentioned in a previous post – or two – there are some changes taking place within the MIIS world. The most important of which is the addition of two new blog contributors:

Yanni Brown: If you asked Yanni, "What's love got to do with it?", without hesitation she'd answer, "Everything!" As CEO and Founder of Kiss & Make Up w/ Intimate Evenings, this 41-year-old relationship coach and romance aficionado has made the celebration of love her business. For over a decade the Chi-city born and raised Piscean (this explains her penchant for all things love related) has specialized in helping couples fall in love over and over again. Now she'll be gracing the MIIS readers with her vast relationship and romance knowledge to those interested in personal growth and obtaining a better understanding of healthier relationships.

Chelsea Kmiec: Chelsea is an 11 year fitness industry veteran. During this time she has served as a leader, educator, and manager at various health clubs in Chicago and Florida. Her company, ChelseaFitPro.com, has helped clients reach their fitness goals by making her sessions results driven, safe and of course fun! Whether you are a seasoned athlete or first time exerciser Chelsea will keep you focused and motivated to succeed. She'll be giving you the best in fitness and nutrition information to keep you and your loved ones fine tuned on Wellness Wednesdays!

Beginning August 3^rd Chelsea, Yanni and I will begin providing new content weekly. Here's some of what you can expect:

• Ask My II Sense – Q & A Post. Readers write in with specific questions (Identity will remain anonymous unless otherwise requested) to be reviewed and addressed by our blog staff. Readers are also encouraged to chime in if they feel they can offer a solution. Send your questions to Ask@MyIISense.com with the topic of your question in the Subject line.
  
• Meditate on This Mondays – Insightful commentary on a specific quote designed to stimulate your inner knowing and get your mind in the right place to take on the work week ahead!
  
• Wellness Wednesdays – Tips on ways to keep ourselves and our relationships healthy on all levels.
  
• Friday Features – Featuring individuals/businesses making a difference in their communities.
  
• Suggestions from YOU, our readers!
  

We want to hear from you! Let us know your interests and we'll be sure to blog about them. Thanks for the continued support!

Have a PERFECT day!

Michael

My II Sense

Blogathon – An Interesting Experience

Greetings Readers!

Well, it's just a little over 12 hours after the 24 hour Blogathon and I must admit I had a blast! There was a bit of confusion as to what and where our blog team was supposed to be posting initially but Sandria, Mu Shemsu-t and I, being the bright bloggers we are, figured it out in no time :).

Basically we responded to posts made at Open Books.org's Read All About It site. Several moderators were available throughout the day posting Mad Libs as we, the bloggers and blog readers, supplied the required adjectives, nouns and verbs.

All I can say is there was no shortage of good content provided by the coffee and Red Bull infused minds of the participants. Here are a few examples:

Hamlet, Mad Lib Style

A Most Unique Version of Huck Finn

Although Open Books was unable to reach its goal of $2500 during the Blogathon it's NEVER too late to visit their site and DONATE!

Thank you to everyone that supported us and followed along on Facebook and Twitter. MIIS looks forward to participating again next year!

Have a PERFECT day!

Michael

My II Sense

Blogathon is in Full Effect!

Greetings Readers!

We're a little over 4 hours deep into the 24 hour Blogathon – Woo Hoo! Despite the fact that I'm chugging along on only 2 hours sleep my blog buddy Sandria and I are here at Bronzeville Coffee & Tea enjoying our lattes and blogging the day away for literacy.

Why are we depriving ourselves of much need sleep to blog? We are supporting Open Book.org's efforts to raise $2,500 for its Open Books Buddies program. That's enough money to fund one underserved school with the Open Books Buddies program for an entire YEAR!

So what are you waiting for?! Head over to the Open Books.org and DONATE! Now…where's my coffee? =)

Have a PERFECT day!

Michael Stagg

My II Sense

Bring on the Blogathon!

Hey Readers!

It's 1:29am CST and I'm still up preparing for my first Blogathon! I'll be at Bronzeville Coffee and Tea BRIGHT & EARLY at 8am with my blog pals Sandria and Mu Shemsu-t. We'll be blogging for the Open Books.org
Open Books Buddies program and raising $2,500. Again, this will allow one disadvantage school to participate in the program for one year – Cool, right?!

Well, I'm off to bed. I hope to see some of you later at Bronzeville Coffee and Tea.

Have a PERFECT day!

Michael

My II Sense

Bloggin’ Outta Control for Literacy!

Greetings Readers!

We are still preparing the upgrades to the blog as well as gathering some really great professionals to provide stellar blog content for you!

Today's post, however, is about something more important: giving the gift of literacy! On Saturday July 25^th, 2009 My II Sense in conjunction with Writeous Media and other bloggers around the world will be participating in Blogathon 2009
in support of OpenBook.org's Open Books Buddies program! We will be stationed at Bronzeville Coffee & Tea, 528 E. 43^rd St., Chicago, IL 60653 during the shops hours of 8am – 4pm so come join us!

Open Books Buddies is a weekly one-hour program that allows students to work one-on-one with a trained, supportive mentor to help boost reading skills such as fluency and comprehension. Mentors also promote school attendance, academic performance, positive behaviors, and more.

Each week, a Big Buddy and a Little Buddy pair will read together in 30-minute segments. This allows each volunteer mentor to work with two students over the course of the academic year.

During Blogathon 2009 Open Books.org hopes to raise at least $2,500 for the program which will provide
an Open Books Buddies scholarship for an entire class of students in an underserved community, and gives each of those kids a chance to connect with an adult mentor to share the love of reading and the joy of friendship.

My II Sense encourages anyone with a blog to join us for Blogathon 2009 and sponsor the Open Books Buddies Program by donating (or pledging if you join the Blogathon) at least $10.

For more information on Blogathon 2009 or Open Books.org please click on the links above and let them know My II Sense sent you!

Have a PERFECT day!

Michael

My II Sense

Blogathon Logo: Blogathon.org