Take Action Performance

Little “work post” but with the holidays here and stress up….everyone could benefit: Playing around and moving my body: my body craves movement and connection to itself. Movement is a beautiful conversation with our bodies. I needed that conversation with myself tonight. 💫✨

Our nervous system, comprising the sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest), plays a pivotal role in regulating our body's responses to stress. Somatic movements, characterized by mindful and intentional engagement of muscles, have been found to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation and reducing the effects of chronic stress.
**One key mechanism behind this lies in the release of neurotransmitters. Engaging in purposeful movements triggers the release of endorphins, often referred to as "feel-good" hormones. These neurotransmitters not only act as natural painkillers but also contribute to an improved mood and reduced stress levels.

Studies have demonstrated a strong connection between somatic movement and the regulation of cortisol, the stress hormone. Cortisol isn’t a “bad” thing but levels that remain high or too low can be detrimental to our health. Regular, intentional movement has been shown to decrease cortisol levels, mitigating the detrimental effects of chronic stress on both physical and mental health.

Yoga, tai chi, and mindful walking are examples of somatic practices that incorporate intentional movement and have been extensively studied for their positive effects on the nervous system. These practices involve a combination of breath awareness, coordinated movements, and mindfulness, creating a holistic approach to calming the nervous system.

Additionally, the brain-body connection plays a crucial role in somatic work. The brain constantly receives feedback from the body during movement, creating a loop that influences emotional states. By engaging in intentional, mindful movement, individuals can cultivate greater awareness of their bodily sensations and promote a sense of grounding, which is fundamental to reducing anxiety and stress.

What movements help you? Do you find it easy or hard to stay in the moment with your movement/body/mind?
I’d love to do a movement/NSDR session with you…. I do them virtually and in person. If you have questions please ask. This is what I do with my professional athletes and it works wonders for focus and being successful and feeling on point in sport and life.

Positive impact on a life…..THAT’s the mission.

If this challenges you. Let’s get better together. No one is perfect. No one has the answers to everything. We get better as a coach by creating our intention towards helping others reach THEIR potential. We don’t become respected or change lives by just winning, we gain trust by helping our athletes with their goals in life. We become impactful when we listen, truly see the person and give them the keys to their success.

It’s okay if this hasn’t been what you are doing, it’s the open mind to change and the willingness to put forth the energy and align with your athletes. Let’s go coach!

Such amazing things Mei Mei's Cookies & Creamery does!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

Inflammation and pain.
Inflammation in an acute manner is actually beneficial to recovery and repair. Pain in an acute situation can also be protective and give guidance to the body on what is “good” for it or damaging.
CHRONIC inflammatory response and chronic pain are not things that help or guide the body in repair or recovery. Learning how to reduce chronic inflammation and how to prevent it is the key.
The main takeaways are:
-Stress relief
-get in nature
- learn relaxation techniques
-Sleep
- quality and duration
- getting on a circadian rhythm
-Movement
- movement that challenges, creates strength, balance and stability but doesn’t aggravate or create pain.
- running, weightlifting etc are great but when you are trying to reduce chronic inflammation, creating acute inflammatory response could delay healing. These types of challenges can be added once the chronic inflammatory response is not happening.

-hot/cold therapy
-sauna and cold immersion both cause some stress to challenge the body and repair. Heat and cold can help with the pain response so lessening that stressor can help reduce chronic inflammatory response.

Chronic inflammation and pain can have many sources or reasons and can happen at any age or strength level. Working with a professional to understand why the body is responding this way and the signs and symptoms of it is the key to getting back on track.

Inflammation and “anti-inflammation” products/companies are trying to get you to think you need their products all the time. Like stated before: Inflammatory response and pain can help our body know what’s in need of repair and send the right amount of recovery fluids(white blood cells etc) but when the inflammatory and/or pain response is just on all the time it can hurt the body and brain.

Let’s work together to understand our bodies in a more in-depth way so we can let our bodies work naturally and do what it innately knows what to do. The human body is incredible!!

Yoga Nidra is a practice I’ve used with my athletes and clients for about 2 years consistently now through some great practitioners recordings. I was able to complete a great course and became a certified Yoga Nidra practitioner. Over the next few weeks I’ll have some recordings and classes(virtual and In-person) available.

Yoga Nidra is defined as “yogic sleep” or “deep sleep” : it is a relaxation technique initially, but it is designed to guide you much deeper into the realms of your subconscious for you to get in touch with your innermost desires, fears, and attachment. It can help you improve your physical and mental health, it is highly effective against stress and related conditions such as hypertension.

I add yoga nidra into my manual work as well as combining it with breathwork and visualization. It’s an amazing tool for athlete mindset and stress reaction reduction.

Commitment and consistency = change.

Saturday mornings are always AWESOME!! Thanks for bringing the fire!!

Change to the workout schedule for November!
My Saturday classes will go down to 1 class:
7:30am -9am (the workout will go from 7:30am-8:30am and then we will focus on breath and movement from 8:30-9 so for those of you doing things on Saturdays it is more manageable)
My 10am athlete group workout is going to be by appointment only and not a drop in like I originally had stated.

So join me tomorrow at Victory Training Center River Falls at 7:30am for training!

My Open Saturday trainin classes at Victory Training Center River Falls are:

7:30am- Strength and movement (any level)

8:30am- Movement and breathwork (any level is extremely beneficial)

10am - Athlete development and strength(weekend warriors, youth athletes, and others that are seeking more performance based class.)

Sports can bring out our very best. Developing athletes should have an emphasis on developing the person to have confidence in themselves.
The environment in which we are developing athletes should create support and education to allow the challenges the athletes face to grow them instead of destroying them.

Examples of coaching up an athlete properly to becoming great would be:

- Not allowing yelling or negative instruction from the cheering section of the team. An athlete loses confidence when people they know are negatively criticizing their play. All corrections should come from the coaching staff and in a way to challenge the athlete to work on the skills they will need to be successful. This helps gain confidence in situations where they feel pressured.

-Educating athletes on finances and how to manage their home life. An athlete who is confident and not stressed about their money and off the field life will be more focused, confident and successful in their career. This should also be emulated by the staff. Being truthful, honest, trustworthy and knowledge in your personal life will always equate to less stress and more confidence in your professional world.

-Emphasis on going towards challenges, change and stress that creates a better performance. Allowing the athletes to live in a bubble of praise and comfort is actually hurting their confidence and performance. Athletes need challenges to grow, but they also need to have the tools and support to have at their side through the challenge. The greats all have moments where they could have stayed where they were at and had mediocre success but they chose the challenge and typically went through adversity and possibly some performance decline while they learned but they made it through because of the tools and support they had and became legendary.

Athletics provide the space for people to become their greatest selves on and off the field. We can make sports a place where people learn how to be confident, strong and successful. It takes good coaching, honest, positive organizations and supportive staff to create confidence and long term success.

Saturday
Join me this Saturday (Oct 22)at Victory Training Center River Falls at 7:30am for a full body workout (all levels welcome) then at 8:30am a movement flow with breathwork and visualization.

These classes work together to fully challenge and restore the body.

$10 per person per class ($15 total if you do both)

Saturday trainings are starting up again!!
Join me this Saturday at Victory Training Center River Falls at 7:30am for a full body workout (all levels welcome) then at 8:30am a movement flow with breathwork and visualization.

These classes work together to fully challenge and restore the body.

$10 per person per class ($15 total if you do both)

Youth sports is a HUGE money making industry….please advocate for your child BEFORE signing them up for training and sports programs. There are so many amazing programs out there but sadly those programs tend to work on focusing on the athletes, education and proper programs instead of marketing tactics and throwing money into sales. Be vigilant in choosing who your youth athletes are around and ask questions instead of just go to places that ”look” like they are good.
-Training should be science/evidence based and open to explanation and questions.
-Training should ONLY be done by a qualified professional. Ex athletes (unless they have gone through credentialed education) are NOT qualified to train your child in strength and conditioning. An unaccredited online course or “internship” does not qualify an individual to be a professional. To carry professional liability insurance you MUST be credentialed and carry a cpr education(check these qualifications EVERY TIME) your child could get severely hurt in the situations where unqualified interns/trainers are left alone to train. Even if the programs head has credentials, be aware of who is around your athlete and who is overseeing the actual training.
-Criminal background checks should be mandatory and KNOW who your child is around. Youth sports is an extremely predatory environment. Individual training should never be one on one with a minor. Mentorship and being there for youth is an awesome part of coaching but if something feels off or your child says something LISTEN. Question EVERYTHING!
- The program should encourage proper guardian involvement and education on youth performance outside of “upselling” more programming.
- coaches who yell, discourage participation in other sports, create an “elitist” mentality within their team, play favorites to who goes to ”their” camps/programs etc should be Checked by the organizations and parents. They should want to understand how to better coach, encourage and support the athletes development.
-training programs and middle/high school gyms should be available for EVERYONE to learn not just student athletes. This is a very important time in youth development and training the body properly and efficiently so movement can feel good and create a strong body should not just be for athletes in a public school setting. The program should be available for all students to improve their health and human performance. An educated and qualified professional would be able to oversee and create science based protocols for the students.

Ember and I got to work with my amazing friend Devin today to help show him what sound, light and manual work can do to help him feel his best.

Devin is autistic and I’ve known him since he was around 2. His mom and I have been friends for a while and it’s been such a privilege to be in their lives. I’ve watched Devin become an adult and do so many amazing things in life. His mom has fought hard for him to have the same privileges as other kids and get the support he needed to learn and grow. He is so talented and his presence is a gift to the world.

I’m posting some of our session here for a few reasons. As trainers and professionals we need to do a better job of understanding people and how to care for everyone. Inclusion should be something that is normal and integrated into our training facilities, gyms and teams. Devin is a talented athlete and has competed in regular mainstream sports as well as special Olympics and teams. There is need for trainers and coaches that understand the uniqueness of his abilities and the challenges he has. I hope to challenge more coaches to step up and learn different coaching styles and how to be more inclusive in sport. Everyone deserves to learn how to be active and given the chance to be their best.

The second part is how grateful I am to Devin and his mom for helping lay the groundwork for Ember’s service/therapy dog training. This pup is something special and she is doing a fantastic job learning how to provide support to my clients as we train. Animals provide great comfort and security to people during stressful times. The plan is to have her help me coach people that need extra support. I was looking for the perfect trained service dog for quite some time and miss Ember appeared quite literally on the side of the road. I’m so grateful for her and so excited to watch her help so many people feel comfortable to learn how to move there bodies and be their best.

Never underestimate what a person can do. Limits are only for people who are too afraid of the amazing things that can happen when others reach their full potential. Let’s go.

It’s awesome!!!

Developing youth is(or should be) the mission of Youth Sports. Creating a space for youth (athletic ability or not) to grow as individuals and as part of a team. It’s about learning commitment, communication, leadership(and being lead), building community and perseverance. I believe youth sports help kids understand that movement is healthy and fun. Those are things they take into their entire lives, majority of youth who are involved in sports before high school won’t end up playing past middle school or high school, however being involved, coached well and part of teams will give these kids knowledge of their bodies and what they are capable of throughout their whole lives.

Youth sports has gotten a bit out of hand over the last 10 years or so. We need to stand up for the kids and continue to create healthy space for them to learn and grown. It’s not about adults or money or politics….it’s about the kids. I am grateful for the programs I was a part of and am now a part of with my boys. What an amazing opportunity to show kids how awesome sports can be. Let’s give them the power to be their best. You never know what the right , supportive, constructive leadership can do to a child who really wants to learn about how to be better at the sport/s they are in! Look at all the pro athletes that had to battle to get to where they are. They weren’t always good, many had parents and coaches that helped support them in their growth so they ended up being the best. Be the hero in a youth athletes life instead of the ones who held them back.

Where is your favorite place to do your gratitude practice/meditation/prayer/visualization???
Making time to practice quieting the mind is a key part in being able to find happiness within yourself. Science is proving that practices like meditation, prayer, visualization and affirmations can actually train your brain to think more positively and that can help you live a more fulfilling life.
I struggle with meditation and avoided it for a long time because I wasn’t “good” at quieting my constantly going mind. Then I realized it was like working out….it’s a practice we must do consistently and try to challenge ourselves at it.

Mastery is in staying consistent, not being perfect!

Try 10 days of consistent practice and see how much your mind changes!

**it’s good quiet bonding time with the dog too! 🐾

Going for a walk in nature has so many benefits, some of them being the release of feel good chemicals in our brains that can help us feel overall happier, open and more positive. Strengthens our bodies and promotes blood flow.
Walking is also it turns out pretty great for our eyes. The blood flow , circulation of oxygen and nutrients to our eyes, optic nerve and retina can help reduce pressure around the eye and decrease the risk of developing glaucoma.
Looking up at the horizon while walking helps our eyes focus on things farther away from us and can increase the strength of our sight, including our peripheral vision.
When we engage in panoramic vision our bodies and mind relaxes because we have a sense of ease and we aren’t in a state of fight or flight. When we stare at things close to us or have tall building looming over us we feel threatened and increases our stress. Taking a walk, especially when there are birds chirping or nature sounds around gives our brains the signal that things are good and we can relax.
Even just a 12 minute walk can produce these effects. Schedule in regular nature walks so you are helping not only your body but your mind.