#4-Stretch

Happy Friday! Here is the 4 installment in my 5 part series.

Stretching at any point in the day is a great way to get the blood flowing. In the morning following a hot shower spend 3-5 minutes stretching muscles and opening joints. Most of us spend hours upon hours either sitting or standing which has the tendency to create compensatory muscle imbalances and asymmetries. A good stretching routine will help increase your energy. Remember, flexibility refers to muscles and mobility refers to joints make sure your initiating the stretch/movement from the correct joint/muscle.

Have a great weekend!

The Doctor is Within

Pico Iyer’s recent Times article, “The Doctor is Within” reminds me of an idea brought up at a recent iB meeting. Building off the traditional idea of exploring outer space, we bounced around the idea of exploring inner space. After reading the article, I began to question, “What do I fill my mind with and what would Iyer or the Dalai Lama recommend to a believers like me who fills their minds with both empowering and debilitating thoughts?”

They might encourage us to do the following: Explore and clean your inner space, not by "...trying to acquire things, so much as letting go of things (our illusions and attachments)." Attend to the cause of your suffering. Although you may want to, do not spend time pointing fingers attempting to figure out who or what is causing you pain and unhappiness. The cause more often than not is YOU and your self-inflicting thoughts. And as for unhappiness, it is a just position one takes, an attitude of mind. And so, explore inner space, remove harmful thoughts from your mind, and choose your attitude. Do this as often and completely as you can.

Before you go on living your day, fill your mind with the famous words of William James, “The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." And let the words of Viktor Frankl echo in your open mind, “…the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”

#3-Go Outside

Here is the third installment of my AM values series.

There is something about going outside early in the morning that just feels good…This excludes the 15 second walk to the car juggling bag, coffee, and keys trying to not be late to work. I am talking about being outside for a few minutes to soke up the day… Rain or shine, cold or hot expose yourself to the elements.

#2-Meditate, Pray, Reflect, Thank, or Ask-

Connect to the Source! Regardless of your spiritual/religious background I believe taking a few minutes to purposefully pause (i.e.- iB-WAY)… and connect with your body, mind, and soul. The suggested method would be 5 minutes of diaphragmatic breathing. Breathing is the most primitive most basic of any activity. Everything starts with the breath so why not start your day with it in the form of one of the aforementioned 5 source connectors (meditate, pray, reflect, thank, or ask).

AM Values

Start the day off Right!!!!
This blog series is inspired by the craziness of my life; and if you are a dreamer/believer I suppose your day is just as crazy as mine. Juggling priorities, distinguishing between what you truly want to do and what you “should do” can be a constant struggle. Hopefully these “morning must’s” will help you attack the day and accomplish all that you can in the time that we are given….So here is part one of the part five series, but let me preface by saying the day is a GIFT!!! Treat it as such. Make the decisions to honor yourself and whatever/whoever you represent…. DO WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN; BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU DO all day everyday!!!!
Here goes:

Part 1
-Get up-
This might sound stupidly simple but we all know it can be difficult (i.e.- snooze button)…Research has shown that the 10-15 minutes you use to “snooze” and “wake up” can actually be detrimental to your energy level. So when the alarm goes of. Get outta bed and make the decision to actively pursue your day. As opposed to waiting for something/one to find you; GO FIND INSPIRATION!!!

Stay tuned for Part 2...

Do you Believe in Fairytales or do you Believe in Science?

We find ourselves in the midst of eclipse hysteria, surprise surprise. If any educated man or woman on this planet decides to postpone work, avoid eating out, or purposely delay the birth of your newborn baby, then think twice. As always, we as a people like to avoid the idea that science is science for a reason. This is not to say that the magnetic pull of both the sun and the moon could cause some abnormal reactions amongst mother earth, but at the end of the day its a natural celestial event and the world will not end because of it. These "joshis" stem from the old age system of belief and so one cannot blame them for thinking this way, but ask yourself this- why didn't Nostradamus note signifcance towards July 22, 2009? Okay, I'm just kidding, but you get my point. Do you believe in fairytales or do you believe in science? That is the question.

IB to NYC!!

The IB team is traveling to NYC this weekend for some exciting meetings. On tap we will be meeting with three phenomenal young inspiring entrepreneurs. First up tomorrow morning is Mike Germano, the president of Carrot Creative. Up next is the fabulous Marissa Shrum, cofounder of IFWERANIT.com Finally, we will be connecting with Mike Radpavar. He is the cofounder of Holstee. We are looking forward to an adventurous weekend! We may even do some celebrating of our soon to be 2nd Birthday (July 26).

Do Our Surroundings Mirror Our Beliefs?

A recently published study by the University of Illinois suggests that when we search for information about our beliefs, we usually look toward places and people that are likely to believe as we do. When we think we are searching for the truth, are we really just searching for confirmation of what we already believe?