2020 hit people at their core issues: health, adaptability, resilience. When I look back on my 2020 I notice themes that guided me towards success:

• The eyes wide open to reality
• The Investigate what is working and what isn’t working
• The pivot to what needs to happen next

I worked my tail off. I released Master of You. I wrote 2 ebooks   – The Intermittent Fasting Guide and Wellness Pro Success. We released two podcasts per week – one for Yogahealer.com and one on Yoga Health Coaching. I built the Master of You Course into a two year program. We hired 3 incredible team members. I created a few short courses – Lead the Journey,Change Your Life, and the Intermittent Fasting Course. At the end of the year I decided to lead a new course – The Yogahealer Challenge.

I also did the deepest Ayurvedic cleanse (PanchaKarma)… that I’ve ever experienced with my colleague,  Greg Soucy. I had knee surgery. I had a ton of healing therapies and appointments. I intermittently fasted most of the year. I did the habits of Body Thrive daily about 90% of the time. And I barely started my next book. We raised a puppy – Lucky Dog. Indy got A’s in online school at home with me… and is almost to level 6 in gymnastics. Go back walkovers on the balance beam.

In 2020, Yogahealer grew by 50% (gross).

I’m more proud of my member’s successes.

My members healed themselves, set big goals and reached them, stopped perpetuating outdated patterns, and began aces at strategic planning. My members started cold plunging, fast-mimicking, and doing daily breathing practices, while making deeply nourishing food. My members grew into dynamic groups, accountability partnerships and new ways of leading.

This is quite a brag session, but my point is that life is what we make it.. And that really is the point.

I know many people are sick and suffering. We all probably have a few people in our close or extended communities that have passed away recently in the past week or month. My sense is we are also in a global and local mourning without organized funerals. It’s weird and challenging.

Yet, my point is that life is what we make it.

I’ve been on a self-directed growth and depth path my entire adult life, more or less ceaselessly. The payoff is significant. I’m able to thrive more each year, personally, and guide more people to better results faster professionally. I’m writing this to inspire you to make what you want with your life in 2021. No one else can.

Help yourself design the life you want in 2021. No one else can. We are all an inside job. And the more you hang out with people who reach their goals, who grow, and who heal… the better off your next year will be.

Ayurveda & the Impact of Wilder Habits

Did you join the Yogahealer Challenge?

I did it because I needed a challenge. I needed specific habits, wilder habits, to land me in 2021 on track to vision on purpose.

You know the challenge is working when…

it’s not any big deal to roll around naked in the snow. That’s how you know your habits are becoming wilder.

One of the big lessons I’ve got so far is that repetition matters more than effort. I tend to focus too much on effort and burn out –  like a typical fiery (Pitta) body-mind type… What I’m getting is that it’s the daily wilder habits – which only take 15- 30 minutes per day…

…that practice is guaranteeing my success.

The Challenge is making my body smarter. I had a strong breathing practice (pranayama) twenty years ago, when I was in teacher training at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco. My breath practice faltered where my yoga practice and business grew. Now I’m back. And what is happening, largely from the breathing habit we’re using in the Challenge, is a phenomenal experience. (In The Challenge, we’re using Wim Hof’s breathing technique. Perhaps you’ve heard of him – the IceMan. Wim is single-handedly changing the way people age for the much better.

(What is The Yogahealer Challenge?)

In the past 10 days I’ve been in the Yogahealer Challenge. I’ve been sucked into a longer breathing practice. Sucked by what? To describe it – the universal energy vortex.

The effect?

My visceral tissue (organs and connective tissue) and bones are receiving more scintillating energy (prana). It’s wild. I don’t recall feeling this before. What does that feel like?

Bliss.

Intrinsic bliss. (Anandamaya Kosha)

I’m curious… if I’m at a level of maturity and chronological age that the wilder habit of breathing practice (pranayama) is more delicious… or if having a dynamic group of strong-minded forward thinking humans is adding energy to the experience… or if the Wim Hof app is the differentiator…

As I’m getting sucked into these habits… I’m noticing big shifts.

Access to bliss.

I can meditate deeply. Meditation spontaneously and predictably arises as a state of being after enough rounds of Wim Hof Breathing. I have no resistance – to sitting in silence. Actually, it’s the opposite of resistance to sitting still… It’s like getting sucked into a vortex.

My organs are absorbing oxygen better.

My visceral cells that were shut off, turned on, which goes a long way in preventing cancer. This is hard to explain unless you’ve experienced it, which is enticing.

It’s no big deal to roll around naked in the snow when I get out of the hot tub.

Clearly my nerves are building resilience and adaptability. Which goes a long way for immune intelligence. (And if 2020 taught us anything… hopefully it was to take charge of our immune intelligence!)

The wilder habits are becoming normal for me.

Totally normal. Habit automation is where you don’t decide if you’re going to do that habit today – you just do it. Like brushing your teeth. A good life strategy is to automate the habits that de-age your body and mind.

I want this for you.

Make sure you take care to design your experience in 2021. Get in your driver’s seat. I have no respect for the victim mindset. Take action. It’s your life.

What is a Fast Mimicking Diet?

Humans have known for eons that the hunger satiation cycle is key to health.

Much of ancient medicine focuses on periodic fasting. Religious holy days from cultures all over the planet from long ago rooted their traditions in fasting and feasting. Modern laboratory scientists who study mice know that calorie restriction extends their lifespan and prevents most diseases. Calorie restriction mimics the body’s physiological response to traditional fasting methods, such as cell regeneration, decreased inflammation, and fat loss.

So what is Fast Mimicking? And is it new?

The Fast Mimicking Diet is the newest term for a time tested custom of reducing calories significantly for periods of time. Dr. Valter Longo, an Italian biologist and researcher, created an easier way to get the benefits of fasting through calorie restriction with a 500-750 calorie per day diet for 5 days. He then popularized the concept with a packaged product  – called Prolon- that lays out the mini meals for five days based on his nutritional research. The end result is a ketogenic distribution of macro-nutrients 85% fat, 10% protein, and 5% carbs. The prolon box costs $250. I tried it. I liked it.

But how ridiculous it was to spend $50 a day on 500 calories of non-living packaged food was not lost on me.

I get that data-driven scientific laboratory-based studies on food are well worthwhile. However, I also know that yogis have been using calorie restriction for literally thousands of years based on personal experience and desired end results.

Which is why the Challenge within the Challenge that is well underway includes a 5 day Fast Mimicking Diet – where you prepare your own food.

With fasting, the body goes into a deeper fat metabolism and autophagy. Autophagy means cellular “self-eating”.  It’s a recycling and cleanup process that rids your body of damaged cells. The well-fed cell isn’t worried about being efficient and recycling its components – it’s too busy growing and dividing. Autophagy kicks in after not eating for around 16 hours, and accelerates, and after 3 days of fasting or severe calorie restriction (thus the 500-750 calorie days), the body produces growth hormone and stem cells. Your body is meant to regenerate itself – but it can’t if you are always eating your normal amount of food everyday.

8 Reasons to do 5 Days of Fast Mimicking Diet according to the fast mimicking diet pros are:

1. Autophagy and apoptotic cellular clearing/repair
2. Decrease oxidative stress and inflammation
3. Increase mental performance and BDNF (brain stem cells that create new neurons)
4. Removal of cancerous or precancerous cells – Increase immune system functioning
5. Increase lean tissue mass
6. Decrease in fat tissue
7. Rapid shifting into nutritional ketosis
8. Increase gene expression for long periods of time

In plain English… the reasons that I’ve found useful to do a 5 day FMD reset are:

• To access my body’s ability to fast and clean house
• To reset my palette to healthier cravings
• To build my stamina and resilience
• To shed the few extra pounds that can hang on
• To focus my mind
• To remember how great I can feel
• Age smarter and prevent cancer

So, if you haven’t yet got a ticket to my challenge, which includes the 5 day Fast Mimicking Diet… now is the time.

I’ll guide you through your five day reset. You’ll also get access to the entire 21 day Challenge. You might wonder… What are the Challengers experiencing who started 10 days ago?

Ayurveda & Healing Yourself

I started working with Ayurvedic and Yoga clients twenty years ago.

I’m curious what you want:

• Appetite control
• Slimmer waistline
• More lean muscle

We’re doing the Fast Mimicking Diet as a community. I promise, it’s so much easier that way. If you are curious about how we could help you, book a Free Body Goals Conversation!