It’s a standard of living that you determine you want for yourself. It includes the energy you want to have, how you feel, look and communicate with the world around you. Though everyone’s standard will be different, there exists some non-fad commonalities that help you maintain yourself year round. Be mindful of what standard you are truly committed to and remember whatever you tolerate, is your standard. With this in mind included are some valuable tips that if you don’t make a habit will over time radically shape your Personal Best health and wellness.
Where are you now?
Understanding where you are now is important in measuring forward progress. Some common measurements are waist size, weight, body composition cardio or strength maximums. Pick a couple of the measurements that make the most sense to you and check in with yourself every week. By simply keeping your eye on those numbers that matter to you, you are more likely to make positive progress. What are your two numbers going to be? You want to know your start point and where you are headed.
Attract Positivity Into your Life
Posted: January 10, 2024
Here are 9 daily routines to magnetically attract Positivity Into your Life.
Practice being more respectful, you become more respected.
Practice looking for the good in others, you begin to attract more of what you look for.
Noise vs. Silence… What’s The Difference for Your Brain?
Posted: January 04, 2024
I believe life is to be lived fully at the highest level possible! I live a very active lifestyle; I am around lots of people every day and Karate Ki’s (yelling) is a part of my daily experience at least 6 days per week. I love what I do and feel blessed to impact the PBK families the way I can, but, like everything we all need to understand the balance in our life. What do I mean specific to noise vs. being silent? Did you know that chronic noise can contribute to high blood pressure, increased rates of sleep loss, heart disease and tinnitus (ringing in your ears)? Did you know the activation of noise also triggers the release of the stress hormone cortisol?
Contrast this with what research studies on this topic of embracing daily silence have uncovered. Researchers have found not only a lessening of stress, but that silence provides the brain the opportunity to regenerate itself. In one research study, two hours of silence per day prompted cell development in the hippocampus the brain region related to the formation of memory. As one Duke University researcher noted, “silence calms the body, turns up the volume of our thoughts and attunes our connection to the world.”
If all of this is compelling enough to help you see the value in this practice, here’s 3 tips to set you up for success so you can put Embracing Silence into daily practice.
Think Your Day Before You Do Your Day
Posted: January 04, 2024
Have you ever seen the comedy movie starring Bill Murray called Groundhog Day. In the movie Bill Murray’s was forced to continue to relive a single day until he got it right. How many times did it take him to get it right? In his case, it took him 12,395 times before he learned the life lesson which were critical to his character having a successful outcome on that one fateful February 2nd. Again and again and again he kept getting it wrong by going through the day without the forethought about what was important to him, what was the outcome he was after and how he treat the people he came across.
My background in martial arts is based in a sport which requires you with great precision to go as fast as you can for a 2 minute. There is nothing slow about point fighting, it is one of the fastest forms of combat in the world. And while speed and quickness are essential what is more important is having a calm mind that can see things happening as if the punches and kicks are being performed in slow motion.
Part of what enables the best athletes in the world to access this “flow” state comes from their practice of visualizing the performance in their mind over and overusing different scenarios until they feel confident they can perform it in reality as well as they can see it in their mind. Finally, when it is time to actually perform, the traditional feeling of nerves fall away and a familiar calm falls over them as they enter their ideal flow performance state.
Q&A with Master Rappold
Posted: December 20, 2023
How can I get my martial arts skills to be more automatic?
Believe it or not, one of the best ways to help your martial arts skills become more automatic is to slow down the execution in your personal practice and be attentive to the details of each movement. Contrary to what most people think, which is to speed up, try slowing down and feeling the balance, power and movement from start to finish. Allow your body to feel every movement from its start to its completion. Gradually build up speed as your body feels ready.