STOP Exercising! Do This Instead

Stop exercising and start Developing skills

Stop exercising and start Exploring yourself and the environment

Stop exercising and start Playing around so you enjoy life

Stop exercising and start Being Mindful of what you are feeling, seeing, hearing and doing

Stop exercising and start Listening to the life surrounding you

Stop exercising and start Discovering what your are actually capable of

Stop exercising and start Moving in ways you’ve never done before

Stop exercising and start Acknowledging the world around you

Stop exercising and start Paying Attention to how you move, live and breathe

Stop exercising and start Experimenting with new ideas and concepts

Stop exercising and start Being Creative with your body and mind

Stop exercising and start Learning & Growing

Stop exercising and start Feeling Alive for a change

Stop Being A Zombie.

For many exercising can become boring or feel like a chore. That’s because there is no passion in it. So many of us exercise just because it’s healthy and we have to because we were told we should.

Thus we end up doing it for the sake of it. There is no pleasure in what we do. And that for me is a waste of time and a waste of life.

[tweetthis]Learn, develop and be mindful and you will never ever have to workout a day in your life.[/tweetthis]

The Merisoiu Technique was created by bringing all the above elements together and more. The 15 elements above at the philosophy of the technique.

The Merisoiu Technique is not another fitness routine or bootcamp, it is based on technique, smart coaching, focus and creativity which enables women to push boundaries for physical, mental and spiritual growth and development.

So stop exercising and embrace The Merisoiu Technique philosophy right here at Urban Women Fitness. To find out how you can work with Founder and Coach Alexandra Merisoiu click here.

January 31, 2015January 31, 2015

3 Mindfulness Lessons From Practicing Target Shooting

Lately I’ve been thinking and talking about the time when I practiced target shooting. I practiced for more than 1 year, I even entered some competitions. Sorry, unfortunately I have no pictures from that time.

I also practiced archery but not as much.

I practiced target shooting on rifle but the pistol was my favourite and I was also better at it so that’s what I trained for mostly.

I was always amazed at how good I’d do in training and how everything changed when competing.

Target shooting is indeed a sport of the mind. It also teaches you about relaxation, mindfulness and focus. It’s a challenging sport.

Nowadays I still practice some of the mindfulness and focus exercises I learnt from my coach. And I wanted to share 3 of them with you. Here they are:

1. The finger on the trigger

Pulling the trigger does not just happen. If you pull the trigger just like that you will certainly be off target. The trick is to breathe in half way and hold your breath for 10 seconds then slowly push on the trigger, millimetre by millimetre.

Do you have any idea how difficult that actually is? :)) And how annoying it is when you pull it a little too fast and you are waaaay off target.

Awareness of how you use your arm, hand and fingers is essential in target shooting. And the millimetre by millimetre requires relaxation, focus and so much control.

2. Mindful of the breath

I remember this as if it was yesterday: “feel your breath on your upper lip”- my coach said one day. And you know what…this made a huge difference, it made my mind focus on the present moment.

I still do this from time to time. The feeling is unique. Try it…

3. Posture

Again with the posture. No matter what I talk about I still end up here.

That’s because no matter what you do, posture is the first thing you need to be aware of. Whether it’s showering, making toast or practice target shooting, good (and relaxed) posture should come automatic.

In target shooting, every millimetre of your body, of how you position and use your body can make the difference between shooting in the centre of your target or off it. One millimetre makes a huge difference.

This is what I wanted to share with you. Learn from everything in life, good or bad. Gather wisdom and later on, when you’re ready, pass it on.

Want to learn or practice some of my unique exercises or learn a good and relaxed posture? You can always book a free call with me. I’d be happy to share my teachings with you.

And, of course, to learn more about my philosophy download my free ebook The Merisoiu Technique

January 25, 2015May 17, 2015

5 lessons I learnt from balancing exercises

For an athlete who has practiced many sports in the past 20 years, particularly martial arts, balancing is probably one of the most important lessons when it comes to fine tuning movement.

However balancing is not only for athletes and not only for the body. You see, if your mind is busy ere are good chances you will lose that balance.

But when your mind is calm, clear and focused balancing becomes easy. It’s really that simple….or is it?

So these are 5 lessons I learnt from balancing exercises:

1. Clearing the mind. As I said before, a busy mind leads to an imbalanced body. And the opposite is also true, a balanced body leads to a balanced, calmer mind.

2. Self-confidence. Nowadays this is particularly true when I balance at heights that are less comfortable for me. We all have our comfort zones even when we balance.

3. Relaxation. Relaxing the body is so important when balancing and results in a relaxed mind as well.

4. Fluidity. When I walk up and down branches, relaxed and focused, is a bliss, I am in another world.

5. Patience. When I began balancing as a part of my coached routine I used to get so frustrated because I could not make it to the end of that wobbly branch. But as times passed I became more and more relaxed, more aware, more under control and patient.

It really is a wonderful feeling when you reach a point where you know that in the past a certain event would have made you angry and lose patience and now you are calm and relaxed, no sign of negativity in sight. But alone this would have been a difficult task, I wouldn’t have had the patience to keep going with it.

Nowadays I take others through difficult and challenging moment either physical or psychological. I believe that once we learn or master something and we are good at it we should pass it to others, otherwise what’s the purpose if we keep everything for ourselves. That my opinion anyway.

Incorporate balancing in your life. But before you start balancing make sure you are safe, there is nothing for you to fall on and hurt yourself. It is important to be responsible and mindful of your actions and the consequences.

These are things I might do throughout the day:

1. Walking on tree roots I find in parks.

2. Standing on one leg when I wait for the bus or tube. Just stay at a good distance from the street or railway.

3. Standing on one leg while I brush your teeth. Again make sure there is nothing around you can fall on and injure yourself.

4. Stand on one leg when I read, watch a movie or tv. Yep…I do that quite often.

Don’t forget to alternate legs. Everything in balance.

Be creative and incorporate balancing in your daily routine, don’t save everything for the gym.

So if you’d like to know more about my philosophies and approaches please download my free ebook The Merisoiu Technique or book a free call with me and let’s chat.

December 23, 2014May 17, 2015

The role of mindfulness in my childhood

Author’s note

Hi. I think this is one of the most difficult blogs I’ve written lately. That is because I am sharing with you another part of my life, the one which involved meditation. It is very difficult for me to put this into words. So if there is anything that doesn’t make sense and creates even more confusion please let me know so I can try to explain in a different way to make it more clear.

Today I was in the forest trying to fluidly move on a narrow path through branches and leaves. I was paying attention on how my body was moving, the items (branches, leaves, mud) around me and I was just experiencing the moment.

At one point I began thinking about Urban Women Fitness, and without even realizing I went straight through the foliage in front of me. When I was asked why I answered I just lost focus. It’s that simple.

And doesn’t this happen to all of us? We seldom let go of the daily thoughts we carry around with us day and night. Doesn’t it feel like pulling a boulder up a hill?

When you come in the present moment you cut the rope and the boulder just falls. Instant relief. There was no use getting it up that hill anyway.

The leaf the at the top of the tree

Mindfulness is a type or style of meditation otherwise called ‘Vipassana’. But didn’t I say in another blog that meditation is not an actual technique? Yes, I did, right here.

Meditation, in any form, is about letting go. Whether you let go by relaxing you body, or your breath or about letting go of thoughts, anger or frustrating, it’s about allowing for a little space in your life, your mind and your heart.

Mindfulness has been something I’ve been doing since I was a little girl without realising. It just made me feel so good. It felt like I was coming out of the grown up world and retreating into my own world.

I remember I used to go my local park and to search for the highest tree I could find. Then I would lie down on a bench, look for the leaf at the very top of the tree and watch how it moved in the wind. The patterns it created, its speed, its colour, its shape. And I would spend a long time watching that. At the end I was ready to go back, with a smile on my face, a happy child.

It was like running away for home

Mindfulness is one of the things I carried with me through my tough moments in life as a depressed child, teenager and young adult.

I used to be a very panicked child. I would feel uncomfortable in crowds and around my friends, so I didn’t have many. I liked to be alone, to retreat in my own universe (a 2x3m room in our apartment).

Listen, or rather read. The #1 reason mindfulness was an escape route for me is thanks to my parents. I am serious, I am grateful for this. They used to fight every single day (I actually logged their fights). So I wanted to run away from home, to escape.

Mindfulness, because now I have a name for it, helped that child calm down and slowly make sense of what was going on. It was like running away for home for a while, escaping the fights my parents had.

But I am grateful for what they gave me. As I am writing this I realize that what I am doing today is thanks to them and the negative charged environment I grew up in. They brought light into my life.

So what is mindfulness all about?

Mindfulness is about being present, about slowing down, observe and not judge. It’s non-intrusive, you don’t interfere.

You allow your thoughts to come up and go past you, without interfering in any way – judging or forcing them out of your mind. Just let them float like bubbles on the surface of an otherwise still lake. When they reach the surface they pop and disappear.

Observe your breathing

It is usually done by focusing on your breath. When focusing on breathing your mind cannot focus on something else unless you split the focus and come out of meditation.

There is no attempt to change the breathing. Just observe it and observe the different feelings throughout your body.

What else can you be mindful about besides breathing:

objects around your room; say out loud “there is the printer, there is the door, there is the window” etc. See how that affects you.
people passing by; glimpse for a fraction of a second at a the pattern on a tie, at a woman’s freckles on her checks, without judging, just observe (just don’t stare, that’s awkward)
mindful walking; how you touch the ground, how fluid you move around, what you feel under your feet or through your shoes
mindful eating; see, smell, feel the experience. I wrote a full blog on this topic.
mindful sitting
mindful standing

You got the point. Mindfulness is paying attention rather than anything else. Mindfulness is everywhere and in everything we do. Or it should be.

For example if you live in a noisy city, you don’t have to block out the outside sirens and screaming children, you let your mind be aware of the sounds. You observe.

You literally just let your mind be fluid and flow from one thought to the next, not really focusing on one particular thing, just let them unfold.

If you’d like to learn more please download my free eBook “15 Healthy Habits For The Body”

December 18, 2014December 18, 2014

3 steps to Mindful Eating and its benefits

Mindful eating is not about how many calories you get it but more about what you’re eating and why you’re eating it, what’s the benefit you get out of it.

Many times we do things for the sake of it. When it comes to eating, sometimes we eat just because we have food in front of us. Think about weddings, they bring you so much food you end up eating it just because it’s there.

About Mindfulness

NHS actually encourages mindfulness for mental wellbeing. Mindfulness is about being aware of what’s going on inside of us as well as what’s going on outside of us.

Whether we talk about mindful eating, walking or running, they all contribute to our mental and physical wellbeing.

There are many ways to be mindful. You can and should be mindful every moment of the day. But when “life gets in the way” we lose sight of what’s happening around and within us. It so easy to do that.

However we forget that mindfulness is an actual solution to our problems. When we are stressed about work, the only way to get out of a tough situation is to find the best solution. You find the best solution when you are relaxed, in the flow, mindful then you can get creative.

But we end up saying “I have no time to be mindful”. On the other hand we do have time to stress out without finding a solution to our problems. Isn’t that a waste of time?

Mindful eating

You eat every day. How many times do you actually see your food, smell it, taste it? I mean really feel its essence. Not a superficial experience.

I will be honest with you, I’ve struggled with this. Since I was a child my mother kept telling me off for eating too fast and no chewing my food properly. I’ve been working on it myself I know it’s difficult.

Instead of giving you many things to think about when you eat I would like you to focus on 3 things only.

3 Steps to mindful eating and its benefits

1. Have a sit

I used to eat standing and walking. I used to do this many many times, and I’m still doing it sometimes. This is mostly due to lack of time and the fact that if I am not home I don’t like eating out so I eat walking to my next destination. But these are some the excuses we all use, especially lack of time. Not a very good excuse.

Sitting encourages you to eat slower and pay more attention to what you are eating. It’s a break in the routine which slows you down and brings you in the present moment where you can truly experience the moment you are in. Your mind is nowhere in the past or in the future..

2. Chew your food

When you are mindful about chewing your food, you feel its texture, its temperature, its taste. You are in the moment where you can feel, listen, taste, touch and see.

From a nutrition point of view chewing your food has many benefit, among them:

– your body has access to more quality nutrients from the food.

– your digestive system doesn’t have to overwork, as the food reaches it already well chewed, so less chances indigestion.

– it slows you down and you are more aware of what you eat and how you eat.

– more aware of how much you eat

– it takes about 20 min for the feeling of fullness to reach your brain. So by chewing properly, you will slow down so it takes 20 min to eat your food (or less of it) of 10 min, you feel fuller faster with less food.

3. Disconnect

When there are several things happening around you there is little chance you are actually paying attention to what you are doing, let alone what you are eating, why and how much. So you end up overeating.

When watching a movie or the news the flood of information affects us at a mind level but also physically. Depending on what you’re watching you automatically frown, tense your lips, your jaw, you start tensing your whole body. Experiencing the moment is out of the question at this point.

Physically you are no functioning properly, you are not relaxed and you experience nothing. You end up eating for the sake of it, no matter what, why or how much.

If you want to experience the benefits of mindful eating, you have to cut out all distractions as much as possible.

To fully experience the moment you need to actually be in the moment.

If you would like to learn more please download my free ebook “15 Healthy Habits for the Body”