How The Practice Of The Merisoiu Technique Changes Your Life

When you begin something and you stop after a few months, a year or even 2 you will never master it. And when you don’t master something you don’t receive the essence of it and you don’t grow.

You never receive the true value of what you do. And your progress never gets over a certain point before you choose start all over again with a new practice because you were bored of the old one or for other reasons.

Mastering one thing will automatically make you very good at many other things. If you are unable to master one thing then do you think that by jumping from one activity to another will help you master anything and be really good at anything?

If you cannot be dedicate to one path, how can you be dedicated to any path at all, in any area of your life. You cannot.

You must begin by mastering one thing before you move on to the next.

Don’t just play with your life, your habits, your passions. Dedicate yourself to something and practice it, day and night. Then and only then you will see the true value of the lessons you are taught.

It’s not about how you slim you are, how fast and strong, it’s about dedication, loyalty and perfecting the art you are involved in.

It’s about daring to be the best you can be every day and every moment of the day.

The Merisoiu Technique was built with this in mind. It is not a fitness regime and just because it is outdoors that does not make it a bootcamp.

You will not do your usual reps and sets, press-ups and burpees and if you do they will be with a twist. We are here to challenge your mind not only your body.

No, The Merisoiu Technique is a process, a practice, a “way” for you to follow, dedicate time, be disciplined and learn to be consistent. It’s mastery.

It is an art by itself, built upon thousands of years of Martial Arts wisdom and techniques and modern coaching methods.

In return for your dedication and commitment, The Technique will open new doors for you, because it is a Personal Development tool. It strengthens your strengths and turns your weak points into strengths.

My clients who have been with me for over 6 months, some of them have been working with me for 2+ years, take the learnings into their daily life and it transforms everything they do, for the better.

The Technique is not meant to be practiced only in your session. It’s a practice that changes the way your live your life, for the better. It’s a transformation process rather than a change.

How you use your body and mind in your practice of The Merisoiu Technique will become the way you use your body and mind in all other areas of your life.

Finally, The Merisoiu Technique is an education system for your body and your mind. Master the elements of The Technique and you will find yourself in control over your emotions, thoughts, your body and over your life.

The breakthrough

It is no a coincidence that The Merisoiu Technique is an outdoors system of Personal Development which takes place all year round, be it hot, cold, freezing or rain.

I believe nature is the most powerful force. And when you train with natures elements you become as powerful as the elements. Well…almost as powerful. It’s perfection to strive for. However they do make your stronger than you have ever thought you could be.

One of the elements of The Technique that many are afraid of is rain and winter training. What many don’t realize is that this is your challenge, this is what shows how dedicated you are to the way, the path you chose.

And this is when you strengthen your body and mind, more than in any other season. Winter is the season of breakthroughs for all my clients. You make it through winter training with me, you make it through almost anything else.

Transferable skills

The Merisoiu Technique is the way to train your mind and body, build strong, lasing foundations and then transfer them into your life.

When you learn discipline, dedication and consistency in one area of your life, the practice of The Merisoiu Technique in this case, then you will automatically implement them into other areas of your life like work or family. And so life is just a little bit easier.

The Merisoiu Technique tests your limits, so when you choose a path in your business or profession you will take that determination, dedication, consistency, that power and strength of mind and body developed through the practice and use them on that new path.

Once you follow a difficult path, that pushes you out of the comfort zone every single time, then all the other paths you choose become a lot easier to dedicate to, be consistent and make the greatest progress.

So if you are ready to know how The Merisoiu Technique can transform the way you move, breathe and live, jump on a free call with me.

March 8, 2015March 8, 2015

Finding Balance In Life

I am the Coach who helps women find the right balance in their lives. The physical-mental-spiritual balance and the family-professional-personal life balance.

So many of my clients come to me seeking this. And I give them the tools, knowledge and support they need to grow, develop and nurture the seeds of wellbeing.

Everyone is seeking balance. Whatever that may mean to each of you. But what is this balance I am talking about?

Teach your body and brain what balance is

This is how I see things, and as I said in other blogs don’t believe me, think for yourself and decide.

We run from one corner to another, always in a rush, always looking at the time and always under some type of pressure. We seldom, if ever, stop to breath and look around.

Some of us seldom pay attention to the world around us and the one within us for longer than a few minutes, if that.

Under these circumstances is it really possible to be or find “balance”?

And are your body and brain able to recognize balance at all?

Teach your body and mind what balance is and how it feels first. How? By doing, throughout your day, small things you qualify in your mind as being balanced: balancing your backpack on both shoulders, balancing your body weight evenly on both your feet when standing, uncross your legs when sitting and place them flat on the ground.

The more you think about balance throughout the day the more balance you will attract in other areas of your life.

It’s the small things that make the difference. It’s the details that we, as society, are failing to observe. And it’s the details that make the whole….always.

Think balance and you will receive balance.

But the reality is…

Philosophy is so easy. Everyone gives wise advice, including myself, and they are all true….in theory. When you actually get to applying them that’s the challenge.

The truth is you will always lose balance. It’s not something new. It’s not a shock to you. When you have an awesome day something happens and throws you off balance.

Some are thrown off balance by something like a sudden rain when they are at the beach. Look at your life. How many times are you thrown off balance?

And how many of these events are actually real enough to be taken seriously?

The reality is that unless you learn to see the other side of the coin you will always feel miserable because there will always be events to throw you of balance.

The other side of the coin I’m talking about is the one that helps you develop further and grow, and grow and grow some more from these unbalances.

Actually balance comes from unbalance. How are you suppose to know what balance it if you never experienced unbalance? It’s like night and day, you see what I mean?

Be grateful for those moment when you feel you lost balance because they guide you to the path of balance. If you learn to see the other side of the coin that is.

Unusual experiences

As a professional woman do you like to walk through muddy puddles, walk in pouring rain and stay for hours outdoors in the cold winter doing balance exercises? In most cases the answer is no.

All my clients experience mud, rain, cold winds and winters at some point in their training programs with me. Normally they would all pull back and give up their training day because of these obstacles.

Yet, when they train with me they know that everything (particularly breaking the rule of being clean, ha ha) makes them push boundaries for physical and mental growth and development.

It’s unusual, different it’s exciting and exhilarating. It’s liberating.

Being out of their comfort zones makes them grow. You see, after they train with me they feel liberated. This is how some of them describe the experience they have. They see the other side of the coin, the other side of cold, wet, muddy days. The side that makes them grow.

Injuries

The most recent experience I had myself was yesterday, Saturday the 7th of March.

I competed in Bracknell Legends Shotokan Karate competition. I went there convinced I’d leave with 2 first places.

Instead, I left with 2 third places, a sore eye and a severely sprained middle left finger. It’s all purple and swollen as I type and it makes writing this blog bloody difficult. It’s not fractured though.

Today I went to my regular karate class. And I immediately saw the benefit of the injury and of not using my left hand.

I usually fight with my left leg and hand forward. That’s my strongest, fastest stance. Now I am being forced to change that and use my weakest side of the body. Now I block and attack ONLY with the right hand and arm and legs.

By damaging my left hand I am actually strengthening the weaker side of my body. And that will only make me stronger. Being ambidextrous has many benefits but that’s a topic of another blog.

Conclusion

No matter which example you take, in each of them you see BALANCE. In the first one is balancing the adult and the child.

In the second example you see balance between the left and right side of the body, left and right brain hemisphere, Ying and Yang.

Advice

I cannot give you advice through a blog. These things are so individual. I’d need to know more about you and your life and then point the path for you to take.

There is always something that needs balancing or re-balancing in everyone’s life. Because no matter what we do we will always be thrown off balance sooner or later.

What will make you grow is how you interpret these unbalances. How you will grow from them. There is always a way to grow from an unbalance in life.

So are you seeking balance in your life? If you feel what I wrote here is something that resonates with your please email me and let’s talk about it more at alexandra@urbanwomenfitness.com

February 19, 2015March 8, 2015

How Does The Merisoiu Technique Really Work

The Merisoiu Technique or TMT is based on Six Guiding Principles of a Healthier Lifestyle:

1. Earthing or Reconnecting With The Earth
2. Natural Movement or Reclaiming Your Nature
3. Zanshin or Awareness and Mindfulness
4. Nutrition
5. Personal Development
6. Habits Transformation

TMT is not a step by step plan, you cannot do one principle and then go to the next.

All principles blend into each other creating a bigger picture which gives you a better understanding of how health really works and stop seeing health as a goal in your life.

Health is something we should not have to think about, and I should not write about…. but I do for some reason. We should not make a life purpose out of it, a milestone or a goal.

How I came about it

The simple answer is 20 years of sweat, blood and tears. Ha ha, seriously it’s everything I’ve learnt and applied from my coaches and mentors from the age of 8 to this day. And I am still learning of course.

TMT has strong roots in Japanese Martial Arts, particularly Karate Shotokan, but Daito Ryu and Ninjutsu as well. I also apply some of the internal Chinese Martial Arts philosophies of Tai Chi and Chi Gong.

Everyone sees Martial Arts as fighting methods. I agree and disagree with this.

Martial Arts, when the students is wise enough to take the essence of the art, can be a powerful Personal Development journey.

This is a different story of how Martial Arts planted the seeds of discipline, determination and motivation in me from a very early age. A story I will talk about in another blog.

For now it is enough to say that The Merisoiu Technique brings together everything I learnt and applied in six pillar which are the Six Guiding Principles.

Here’s how TMT principles intertwine:

Natural movement if the physical part of the program which takes place outdoors.

But it’s not just Natural Movement you are practicing because another principle is involved as well, Earthing.

You may do natural movement training indoors but then you are missing a very important element of your health: reconnecting with nature, with the organic matter of which you and me are formed. Break that connection and you suffer the consequences.

Natural movement in the outdoors challenges your body in so many different ways, from flexibility to strength, power and physical fluidity and balance to mental focus and emotional stability.

Zanshin is an essential part of natural movement.

When they hear about outdoors training most people think about bootcamps. Natural movement is NOT bootcamp, it’s technique. Technique requires awareness and mindfulness, energy and focus.

This does not mean that your training will not be challenging. They will be more challenging than you imagine. And no, you do not need machines to get results. Training outdoors is more challenging that indoors.

Nutrition is what gives you the energy, focus and strength for your training.

You cannot train the body on the outside and forget about the inside or the other way around. They come together to form the whole. Only then you can say your body is healthy.

Personal development is continuous learning and growing.

It’s about rewiring your brain, doing things you haven’t done before and explore your true potential. Through natural movement and Zanshin you develop, learn and grow.

Habits transformation is the principle that brings everything together.

No matter how much you study, apply and you are coached on if you do not address your habits you will not be consistent and you will not get the results you seek.

However, it is not easy to wake up and go training at 6 am. It’s not easy to put your training kit on in less than 1 min and run out the door to meet your coach (that’s discipline). It is not easy to say no to ice-cream when we love it so much. It is not easy to do anything.

That’s why the habits transformation principles in The Merisoiu Technique takes you through a series of steps which you can apply to any habit to create and make it stick long term without so much struggle.

So here’s another benefit of The Merisoiu Technique: IT SAVES YOU TIME…. and money.

So instead of going to the gym, then doing earthing separate because science has proven to be beneficial, then of course you need Yoga and some fluidity so you go to Tai Chi lessons. But then you want to practice mindfulness and awareness so you go to yet another class where you spend more time searching for it and travelling to it and of course more money.

So stop spending time and money and embrace The Merisoiu Technique.

This is a brief intro to The Merisoiu Technique so if you really want to know how it works and how it works for you in particular, book a FREE call with me and let’s chat.

And read more about the technique by downloading the free ebook

February 2, 2015March 13, 2015

Weight loss is simple…

Ha, I knew this will draw your attention. But I am serious, it is simple. If you struggle with weight you might say this is nonsense. But hear me out, read the whole thing including my story at the end. Read with an open mind.

Weight loss is simple, keeping it off is bloody difficult. You can lose weight fast in so many ways including going day and night to the gym for an X number of months, stop eating carbs and fats, being “beasted” into running and weight lifting, pills and shakes and all other stuff.

But what happens when all this stops?

Because you can’t do this forever. You know why? Well….you will be miserable because you want to live your life, you only have one after all, and it’s short. So you want to enjoy it not feel you are trapped in your own body.

You want to eat a biscuit from time to time, you want chips now and then , you want to have an ice cream once in a blue moon, because they are tasty, your brain is thankful, you are enjoying life.

So after you lose the weight and start living your life with pleasure again, even if that means you will have an ice cream once a year, what will happen?

I’ll tell you what will happen. After you put your body and brain under so much pressure to avoid fats and carbs and everything else, when they finally get some they will hold on to it thinking they will probably not get any more because that’s what you taught them.

And every time you eat something you “shouldn’t” your body will keep it all.

So what is The Secret to losing weight and keeping it off

Oh the secret….there’s no secret. Sorry to disappoint you. Harv Ecker said in a video that doing SIMPLE THINGS on an ongoing basis will change who you are.

Yep, I’m sorry again, but to get the weight off and keep it off you need to look for simple things and do them on an ongoing basis. Don’t worry, they will become automatic and you will not struggle with them after a while. But you should look for simple things anyway, so you don’t struggle.

Weight loss is a result of a healthy lifestyle and a healthy lifestyle has several components: Body, Mind, Emotions, Soul and Social.

If and when you understand this, really understand it, that’s when you will get your weight loss with a lot less resistance.

But focusing on weight loss alone will get you nowhere, and you will end up slim, sad and miserable.

Here’s what I mean by simple things which you do on an ongoing basis that will change who you are:

Simple Thing #1. Eat healthy

You heard me saying it before and I say it again.

Understand that weight loss and weight maintenance is the result of a healthy life. And that means eating food how mother nature gives them to you (95% of the time at least, exceptions are allowed). That’s fats, carbs, protein, vitamins and minerals. Everything that’s in the books.

Simple Thing #2. Exercise a little

Walk, run, practice a sport, 15 – 30 min a day 4-5 days a week. If now you walk everyday and you don’t lose weight that means your body is ready to take exercising at the next level, maybe a run or maybe longer or/and faster walking.

Or maybe searching and finding a sport you like instead of going to the gym if you don’t enjoy it that much. Or how about spending more time outdoors?

Simple Thing #3. Be happy, be grateful

This is emotional and spiritual health.

See the small beautiful things in life, because they are everywhere. I used to be happy collecting dried leaves in autumn and I love feeling the texture of a tree bark. Yep….now you know. I am a tree hugger…..as if you didn’t already know… The fact is that it does not take a lot to make me happy.

These are simple things you can do on an ongoing basis. Easier said than done….I know very well what you mean.

The fact is that to do this you need to create space in your mind and in your life so you can see clear and make wise decisions.

And that’s when I come into the picture. I create a healthy, fit and organic lifestyle for my students which they learn to keep by themselves, which stick long term. That’s empowerment, so they achieve and keep and improve their achievements. And I invite you to book a free call with me to go over some of your struggles and find solutions (yes, FREE COACHING on this call!!)

Be consistent, keep going…and going

Something done over 3 days will be a waste of your time. Done over 3 months will do nothing. Done over 1 year will get you nowhever. A simple habit done over 3-4 years will literally change who you are.

This is continuous development. Consistency is key when we want to continuously grow and improve, whether we talk about weight loss and maintenance or being a top athlete. Consistency, even if it’s slow and steady, they trick is to keep at it.

And that’s what my business mentor Amanda Watts keeps repeating and repeating hoping we will all get the picture at some point.

My personal experience with weight loss

And I tell you this from personal experience. Yep…..even since I took a break from Karate I always had problems keeping a balanced weight.

When I was around 18 I was 10kg heavier than today, maybe even more. And that’s because I stopped karate (after 10 years of being in the National Squad) and for 2 years I didn’t do too much sport or physical activity. And I had a friend who was not interested in these things.

And we used to eat junk food and all sorts of crap (pardon my language), day and night. Since that unbalance I experienced weight gain and weight loss throughout the years.

When I started running, in 2 years I became so addicted to it that I went down to 49kg and people thought I was malnourished. Then I slowed down on running and weight went up to my balance point which s 51-53kg. But then it went again to 59kg and down again and so on so forth.

So the way I have maintained my weight balanced throughout the past few years is by following some simple actions and doing them on an ongoing basis. And 3 of them are in this article. It’s as simple as that.

And I enjoy life and food, I have ice cream every other month, and sometimes I have milk chocolate as well and bread, and pizza once or twice a year, same with home made chips.

And I am happy and healthy, and I am not miserable that I can’t eat this and that. And instead of saying I’m not allowed to eat this and that, my mindset was always that I choose not to eat them, and I choose when to have them.

Weight loss is a result of health and not the other way around

…and a healthy life consists of healthy habits. But to transform your current habits you need to go through a step by step process that’s as little painful as possible. But I am here for you, book a free call with me and I will work with you on a couple of habits to get you on the right path.

January 29, 2015January 29, 2015

Why your workouts are boring and 4 ways to make them exciting

I used to be a Personal Trainer in a gym. I loved it and I learnt a lot. However I could not help but noticing how many people would come to the gym and seem bored by what they were doing.

I used to talk to many of them, and although they had a good training program in place, one that got them results, and change it every 6-8 weeks to keep getting results, they were bored….bored of everything.

To be honest until I went to USA for my studies I never stepped into a gym. Really, why would I? I was practicing sports, Karate and others, 6 days a week, sometimes twice a day. And I had a purpose, I had variety, I had excitement. I never thought about health or weight loss, those came with the purpose and excitement.

I went to the gym in the USA and after a few years here in UK. Everything the beginning was exciting, new stuff, new things. But after a while no matter how I changed my routine it was still boring.

And I dare to believe that there are many of you who feel the same. So I wanted to give you the salt and pepper of efficient, always interesting and never boring training routine.

1. Purpose

I will begin by saying that health and weight loss are not part of your purpose. Sorry girls, but it’s not.

Health should be there all the time, we should not make of it a goal. Health is the foundation of success in business, life, career and whatever you want to excel at. Health is not a milestone.

Weight loss is something many of us want but we never consider that this is not one of those things you will have forever, it’s not there to stay for the rest of your life. You lose weight then at some point in your life you gain, then lose again, then gain.

I tell you this because I had many ups and down with my weight. But because I always had a purpose behind my training I never stressed to much about it.

Weight loss comes as a result of health. And health should always be there, you should not even have to think about it, it should be automatically part of your life. If should be your life for that matter.

So what’s the REAL purpose?

When I coach my students I give them a purpose. It can be a challenge to learn and master a technique, or a run, or any other event, or something they’ve always dreamt about doing or achieving but never could.

Training outdoors is a challenge for most so that itself can be a purpose for a while.

Personally, the purpose behind my training is to get really, really good at what I do. And the milestones are races and competitions.

For a while my purpose was to condition myself enough to train outdoors in the winter in shorts. Achieved this winter!!

But do you know why those are purposes and weight loss is not? One of the reasons is that when you master a technique, you cross a finish line or you get that medal no one ever can take that back from you.

That’s an achievement for life, while a slim body (which you will get anyway because you train with purpose) with come and go throughout your life.

So train hard but train with purpose.

Photo Credit: Michael Cohen / Wild Forest Gym

2. Variety and creativity

This is one of the reason the outdoors are such a big part of my life. When you train outdoors you will never, ever experience 2 identical sessions.

Even if you try and replicate it going in the same places and doing the exact same exercises, it will always be different. And these are some of the reasons:

– weather will be different from day to day, even from hour to hour

– the earth will be different, muddy, frozen, dry or wet.

– the ground is never flat, you will go up and down, left and right and you will need to adapt

– if you get bored of one place you run 2k and you find something totally different. The difference can be from field to thick forest. This is what one of my students said to me once. And he was right.

In a gym environment the trick is to be very creative. When I was coaching in a gym it was difficult not to fall into monotony like others.

I was always coming up with new stuff and so my clients stayed with me for months and some of them are still with me now after 2 years.

One of the reasons they liked training with me was because I bring variety and creativity wherever I train. Outdoors is my most creative environment though.

So, no matter where you train, be creative and search for variety. Don’t fall into routine and monotony, it’s not exciting.

3. Experience every moment

No matter how much purpose and variety you have if you don’t experience the moment you will not love what you do.

This means to breath, feel, see, touch, smell. And so many times we don’t do it. But when we are outdoors the different aspects of nature automatically make us open up our sense.

Because everything is different all the time we suddenly need to become aware of what’s around us. There is no monotony.

No matter what you do don’t do it for the sake of it.

Have a purpose and experience the journey. Then the results, whatever they may be will soon follow.

Photo Credit: Michael Cohen / Wild Forest Gym

4. Learning

And finally whatever you do never stop learning, developing, evolving. We are humans and learning is part of our evolution. We are hardwired to continuously learn and develop.

Take you training routine as a personal development journey, because that’s what it actually is.

Stop being a little robot and use your cognitive skills to be creative, develop and learn something every time you do your training session.

Combining 20 years of sports, particularly Martial Arts, and bringing natural movement training and running as well yoga, in my coaching gives me the possibility to show my students so much about movement and make them enjoy every moment they spend with me and then working out alone.

This way they:

– always have variety

– always experience the moment

– always look forward to our sessions and…

– always have a purpose behind their training – learning more and more and getting better and better if we don’t have an event planned for them ;).

Hope this inspires you to take your training sessions to the next level and actually enjoy them if you aren’t already.

As always if you want to chat with me feel free to book a call with me or if you want to learn more about my philosophies read my free ebook The Merisoiu Technique