June 4, 2010  

Monthly Fitness Journal

This Monthly Fitness Journal serves several purposes (which also tie in to the overall purpose of the Integral-in-action Article Series):

• To share what I’ve learned during the month; changes in my practice and mindset, ups and downs experienced along the way, and skills I have adopted to help support sustainable change.  You might want to apply some of these to your own practice.
  
• As a way to honor my responsibility to improve myself in service to others (and so that I do not get so easily winded walking up the stairs).  Also as a form of self-motivation, since publicly committing to a fitness practice is one way to help keep us on track!
  
• To demonstrate an integrally-informed approach to fitness.  Integral-in-action!

Month 5: On Iris Blossoms and Human Development

 Before discussing my 5th month at the Fitness Center, I want to share a little story about this Bearded Iris to the right.  You see, last autumn we moved this plant from our back woods where it got little light to a new perennial garden we created in the front of our property, an area which gets lots of light.  For the past 5 years, this little plant was living in a shady area, its potential growth stunted.  And all those years it never flowered.  As you may know, a plant needs adequate light, water and nutrition in order to grow, and it needs the right amount of each in order to reach its full potential.  Simply by moving this plant to a different location, we allowed it to become the fullest expression of itself.  And how beautiful it has become!  Its leaves are about twice the size they were previous years and its flower shoots are over three feet long.  It is as if we purchased a different plant!

I tell you this story because one of my goals is to gain 20 pounds of lean muscle mass over the next 5 months.  So I hired a trainer to "crunch the numbers" with me.  In addition to keeping a regular workout routine, I wanted to know how many calories per day I would need to eat in order to realize my goal. 

Come to find out, I will have to almost DOUBLE my total calories each day.  When I was given this information, I felt a bit like the Iris, but a version of one still in the back yard!  Although I am gaining strength, I believe it has been as difficult for me to gain weight as it is for others to lose it, and for a variety of reasons.  In gaining awareness through coaching of what was holding me back in realizing my goals, and addressing those that I could change, I have effectively illuminated my environment and way of being in the world such that it is now more supportive to my continued personal growth.

What changes can you make in your life to encourage your own blossoming?

Next month we will discuss personal limits and limiting beliefs.

Until next month, stay fit, friend!