"Choose to RESPOND and not...REACT."

Choose Your Response

"Sounds wise...huh? I know it is easier said than done!" It is one of those tools in life that are just part of life's journey to practice. So, it has been quite some time since my last post...and there has been some pretty big changes in my life. The most drastic change has been the decision to put my health first, in the midst of a career of passion. Along our journey in life, it can be so easy to habitually react to the tides of change and not arrive in a healthy spot. Now, I am committed to represent what I teach. There may still be some bumps in the road, and I know either way I will realign. 

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response." (Victor Frankl)

Within our environment we receive many, and/or are impacted by many stimulus every day. It can be a chosen stimulus; in passing, pressured, or influenced. A few examples pertaining to my chosen path of healthy living and balance are: Faith, family (husband & children), friends, fitness, food, and work. As a visual learner...I share some of my own visual reminders...

Parenting within itself  is a journey that requires patience, trail & error, and resilience. And, being a teacher is a constant reminder of the value to respond and not react!

Through the many trials in my life with health obstacles, I have learned that my body requires movement and exercise for my vitality. Our mind can so easily convince us otherwise! So, take that time in your space to stop your mind and body from reacting  to fatigue or pain and get moving!

Food...well that is just another process within itself! We require food to live, and not live to eat. Food can be so pleasurable at times, and as we all know...many Americans are emotional eaters. So, let everyday be a new day and practice mindful eating. Our bodies are all different in how they respond to specific food sensitivities and we require patience, trial & error, and cleansing to learn what is best for us individually!

Where do you find yourself requiring empowerment in that space between stimulus and response? So, come with me along my journey and process to take a moment  in mindfulness before reacting...and creating a response into our healthy lifestyle! 

Sowing Perseverance and Results!

Have you ever questioned yourself, " what do I communicate through my lifestyle???" I encourage you to contemplate, what values do you wish to pass along?

In one of my recent contemplations and reoccurring messages that I have received, stemmed from the following parable:

" A farmer went out to sow his seed. He scattered the seed, and some fell along the path, and the birds came along and ate them up. Some fell on dry rocky places, where there was not much soil. Life sprang up quickly, because soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered without root. Other seeds fell among thorns, which grew up and chocked the plants. Still others fell on good soil, where it produced a crop." (Matt 13:3-9)

What values do you display through mealtime, conversation, work, and/or your leisure time? What results do you produce not only through your values, but your words, actions, and desires?

I encourage you to dig deep, reflect, be open, and don't hold back from your reality! "What you feel inside often shapes the words that come out of your mouth. The reverse is true too. What you say shapes how you feel." (Lauren Winner)  With all this being said, what seeds do you desire to sow for yourself, spouse, children, friends, family, and all those you cross paths with??? We learn what we live!

Perseverance according to Merriam-Webster, is a continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failures, or opposition. In the parable of the Sower, the farmer spread his seeds in hope of fruit to be produced. Depending upon the path his seeds landing, resulted in no fruit, or an abundance.

There are many options in our lives for what path to follow or create. Which path you choose to sow will determine your RESULT! Life is a journey, not a destination...so, Persevere! Sometimes we follow or create the wrong path before arriving where we truly desired. That is ok. Every path has its purpose!

Choose to create your healthy lifestyle by making healthy choices
: Spirit, Mind, and Body.

Below are two exercise examples you can practice daily and anywhere . First, Tree Pose. Create your balance, alignment, and mindfulness. Second, Cherry Pickers. Great cardio you can create anywhere. You create your intensity on how fast you go, how high you raise your knees, and how high you reach with your arms. You can create a short burst of cardio just by doing Cherry Pickers in a Tabata format: 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest, for 8 rounds.

Be Safe and have Fun!

Creating Your Strength and Balance

Stop for a moment and ask yourself, " Is my life in balance?" How do you define your life balance??? According to Wikipedia, which most easily access, Work–life balance is a concept including proper prioritizing between "work" (career and ambition) and "lifestyle" (health, pleasure, leisure,family and spiritual).

Well, prioritizing can be a bit daunting at times...all though I know it is KEY!!! Just as all LIFE change and growth is a process...so too, creating your Balance is a PROCESS! Part of each process, one requires practice, which creates Habit! " Whether we experience a positive  force in our lives or obstacles to our desired goals, habits become ingrained through repeated actions."

And so I choose, to continue moving through all my obstacles and triumphs, trials and errors, learning from my experiences and actions. I have moved beyond my life symptoms with Chronic Disease, and I know I constantly require self-adjustments. Through my learned necessity to be flexible yet diligent, I know that without self-reflection CHANGE and GROWTH will not occur. Without clarity and proper prioritization, my health once ruled me and had me bed-ridden. "I will NOT ring the bell!!!"

If and when I may experience a flare-up, an obstacle with my prioritizing, or waver in creating my BALANCE..."I will NOT ring the bell!" I will not quit. "What does not quitting look like to you? What does NOT ringing the bell require from you?"  For me, as displayed in my pictures above, I require Faith, Physical Strengthening (staying active), Yoga, Healthy Food Choices, and my Passion.

I am currently creating more changes in my life, and I have wavered in my Balance. After self-reflection, I have my clarity to take action in participating in yoga again, and consistently. So, with that being said...it has been a while since I have shared with you all. Please forgive me. As I continue moving forward, adjustments will be made, and one thing is for sure...feed your PASSION! It is my passion to continue to impact as many lives possible and facilitating others in creating their optimal health. 

No matter what life my bring, I will NOT ring the bell, and I will continue to share!!! 

For more inspiration please check out my following resources:

Facebook- Celina Nicole Acosta, Pinterest- Celina Acosta, Twitter-@fitnessnspirit, & Instagram-cgcelina

                                           

" I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!" (Phil 4:13)

" Faith is the mental activity that draws God into our mind and imagination until a passion begins to inflame our wills, motivating us to action!" (Robert H. Schuller)

Building Up The Pieces

Puzzle Pieces

How many times have you attempted to connect a puzzle piece that you had perceived would match? My mom once taught me to build your puzzle border first, and the rest would come with ease. Life in general and our physical bodies can be very much the same assumption...and NOT. 

Let me first apologize for the amount of time that has passed before my next post. You see the puzzle pieces in my life have been tossed in the air, and I am prayerful as they return...In more ways than one, the new puzzle I have been working hard building, is now changing. We can reflect the border of a puzzle to be our foundation, and agree that without a foundation, life will crack.

"I stand on Christ the rock, and all else is sinking sand.." (The Solid Rock)

That can very much be applied to our whole self: mentally, spiritually, and physically! This is not the first time my life has experienced a shaky foundation and a big change. I can testify though, without my FAITH I am not sure if I would be present, or be where I am today! So, what about you???

Just because I am a fitness trainer and may appear whole and healthy, that does not mean that I do not face obstacles! I am just like you in many ways. I CAN relate.

I remain open to receive and I am always eager for positive change! The ketch is, what we perceive as positive, may not always be in God's eyes or in His timing! So, let us begin with the flip side of things, our physical body...going back to the puzzle scenario. Building a strong or skinny physical body may NOT always equal a whole and healthy interior. Interior...mentally, spiritually, and/or internal-medically speaking.

I am not sure about you all, but I will be honest, I have experienced it all. As a teenager I struggled with body image which led to an eating disorder for about four years. I have always been an athlete and for the most part, appeared strong and healthy. I am now 16 years abstinent from my eating disorder. I have, and sometimes still do, workout just to cancel out my bad choice of food intake. Mentally and spiritually, we all have our ride on a roller coaster! Many misperceive  having a relationship with God, will make life easier...and health, I am a walking billboard for misconception! I have Fibromyalgia and many other disease diagnosis/symptoms in my past. Yes, two plus years later I have worked hard to create a healing for myself, and yes flair ups can still return. So, I choose to share all this with you all to let you know that you are NOT alone, and I AM human. 

So, now as my life appears to be strong or falling to pieces...I rely on my FAITH and my will-power to rebuild my puzzle, according to His will. We must work from the inside out! Focus on your Whole Health: Spiritually, Mentally, and Physically. Try some meditation/prayer/yoga and try some Camp Gladiator! Try a little bit of this and try a little bit of that. Life is full of trial and error. We learn from our mistakes. We can move forward, create positive change, and grow!

Do You Keep Moving???

JUST MOVE

Above is a great video from one of my favorite groups, Mercy Me. It is titled, MOVE. When was the last time you moved your body, mind, and/or Spirit? Change occurs daily, and we have a choice to MOVE forward or backwards. 

Moving our Body is not always easy...I know. Our weather in Houston has not exactly been so predictable, but hey when is our life really predictable. It is what we choose to do in life's circumstances...MOVE. I have a past with Fibromyalgia that almost defeated me. I hit a rock bottom with my past disease, where it had even became difficult to move. Now, after a few years of consistently moving to create my balance (peace, strength, movement) I can say I have been pain free...for the most part. YEAH! Well these past few weeks with cold temperatures and a lot of wind, I have experienced some flareups. So, my body is acing all over and I also have local pain. My mind chatter is telling my body, "ouch" but Spiritually, I know I must keep MOVING! Even if it is for a short period of 10 minutes.

We all have our moments or rough patches in life...will you choose to MOVE? There are a ton of excuses that my mind has come up with, and a lot I have heard within a lifestyle of fitness! So, I encourage all of you to just keep moving. And like I said, even if it is just 10 minutes a day..."You Are Creating Change!"

Moving our Mind is not always an obstacle...quite frankly it can be the opposite for me! Sometimes I just require slowing it down. However, the movement my Mind does require is: out with the old and in with the new! We all come across limits and boundaries in our life, that are actually created by our minds. So, know that your only life limits are the ones you create! "Move beyond and create something New!"

How many have you ever felt Spiritually Moved by an experience, a person, and/or something you saw??? I have many times, and actually can say it happens daily to me. "I am Blessed!" And, we all are Blessed. Will you be open to receive your blessings? God is mysterious. God is everywhere. God is Love! We must BELIEVE in the unseen, and have FAITH! We must Believe in ourselves. For I know, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!" (Phil 4:13) Yes! Whether you believe having a tattoo is a Christian thing to do or not, I am ok with the fact that I made a conscience choice to tattoo that exact verse on my body. You see, throughout my many life obstacles with my health and my environment...God inspired me to just MOVE! He gave me the gift of my two functional legs and feet, and an opportunity to enjoy running. So, what has kept me going, and continues to keep me going is that verse along with an image of a runners foot with a wing. God call us all to MOVE. To move in closer relationship with Him, and to move throughout our universe with His LOVE to share with others!!! BELIEVE.

So, please BELIEVE and MOVE: Spiritually, Physically, and Mentally! Grow. Below are some examples of some functional aerobic activities you can do anywhere, anytime, within 10 minutes....at work, at home, on travel, at a park, with a friend, and/or by yourself. So, let's get MOVING!!!

25 Jumping Jacks, 25 High Knees, 25 Bottom Kicks, 5 Burpees, 25 Mountain Climbers, 30 seconds- Jog in place...now hit that on repeat for: 3 Total Times =315 Repetitions, & 90 seconds jogging

Be Present and Prioritze!

                          

BEING PRESENT

Hi there and Happy New Year! With a New Year always comes self-reflection, goal setting, desire to change, and planning. "To change your life, you need to change your priorities." (lifequotesru.net) And, all great ideas and priorities are nothing without action! During my time away from my blog writing, I have taken much action, created much change,  and have been doing a lot of planning. Most of this derives from my recent upgrade within my career as a Primary Trainer with Camp Gladiator. So, as I choose to continue to make upgrades in my life, so too will I live in my present and know that achieving my priorities is my life PROCESS!!!

You can allow obstacles to destroy you, define you, or strengthen you. Gathering my strength and choosing to become healthy is the best choice that I ever made! For those of you who do not know...I have moved beyond allowing my past to define me. In my past I was very symptomatic with Fibromyalgia, Chronic Pain, and much more disease. And, after years of seeking and  many trials, there was much to discover! "There is no shortcut to greatness, only toll roads." (Jeff Davidson) The beauty in all pain is, the more it hurts, the greater the opportunity for progression. God's amazing design in the human body alarms us when it is injured or damaged. Certain factors such as, stress, unhealthy food choices, poor sleep, and lack of physical activity can make pain worse by opening the pain pathways. And, the flip side of  our body responses to stress is that some pain can be good. For example, after a really great workout, I always tell my clients that pain after recovery is their gauge of effort. If you experience a little bit of soreness after your workout, that is good. If you are in so much pain that you cannot perform your daily functions, than you did too much and require  pull back. If you do not experience any kind of soreness, then you did not push hard enough and you can do more! The only limits we have, are truly in our minds. We are all stronger than we think!

So, I encourage you all to be mindful in all that you do and do not do. Create your conscience living and healthy lifestyle through ACTION! Do not ring the bell. Inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle can effect your body, mind, and Spirit in more ways than one! Be grateful for your every-day capacity of functional movement, and get moving!

Below are a few examples of basic functional exercises you can do with your body weight, anywhere, and at anytime. Be mindful and careful always! ~Peace be with your Spirit