Fitness is a journey, not a destination - Men's Natural Yoga & Fitness

Why is it a Journey?

The other day someone asked me my thoughts on health as a journey and not a destination.

Before we can dive in and unpack this idea, let’s agree on the definitions of the words. Some people think this is a silly step. I think “silly” is sometimes necessary because accurate language is the key to successful communication. It makes sense once you see it in action.

When I say ‘I saw the cutest dog the other day!’ We’ll know that both of us are thinking of the same 6-month-old playful dalmatian puppy with a red sparkly collar. Knowing that we are both experiencing the same understanding is key.

A deeper understanding of language

So let’s take a look at the words “Wellness/fitness/health”.

Traditionally, you note your weight, size, shape, and blood work or hormones. Medicines, surgeries, and some generic advice tweak them in an attempt to get everything within some agreed upon ‘norms.’
Or it can mean a regimented starvation plan with or without expensive exercise professionals/programs.

While I understand where they are coming from, neither definition rang true for me. I tried medicine and surgery. I tried starvation. I tried many programs and professionals… and I never experienced health. After decades of attempting the cultural “Destination: Health” struggle via western medicine, I finally realized why those definitions don’t work for me or really anyone. They ignore our God given tools of Soul and Spirit that we require in order to thrive as Beings.

What is a journey?

So now that we understand the first part, let’s continue, to “Journey.” The simplest definition that I can totally stand behind is “to travel somewhere.”

And that brings us to the Destination. When we say Destination, it is more often than not an imaginary picture of what your culture, your family/friends, social media, and T.V. say you should look or feel like. It is a purely superficial body labeling system and a constant pressure to behave, think, feel, and DO like every other unhappy, unhealthy, mask-wearing Zombie out there.

Arriving at your perfect shape, size, weight, or appearance is impossible. It is impossible because that image is always changing and most of the time it’s not even about who you are or what YOU want. So you are fighting and struggling to become something undefined and unnatural for you. But even if you could arrive, let’s say you do achieve your perfect goal, then what? You have mere moments to enjoy it before the destination moves once again. We aren’t stationary billboards that can be built once and only mildly maintained for years and years.

Living a life of health

The approach of ‘be healthy or don’t but either way here is a pill and a starvation plan‘ doesn’t work. I decided to write, live, become, speak, be, do, and create my own health. I did this with full knowledge that this is an adventurous journey.

Well-ness- A consistent state of awareness, presence, peace, contentment in your body, mind, soul, and spirit. All the while experiencing life’s constant invitation to be over-stimulated and distracted.

Fit-ness- A consistent state of living and being in which the body, mind, soul, and spirit are self-supported, self-loved, and self-nurtured to live in their optimal state.

Identifying a goal that is right for you

The body is physically able to respond to anything you’d like or need to do with minimal wear and tear. The mind is able to focus IN the flow and experience daily stimuli and maintain harmony. Your soul is playful, creative, and expressing itself freely with peace and self-love. Your spirit is connected to God, Oneness, Is-ness, I Am. As a result, you feel connected to Creation and can’t help but share love and goodness with those around you.

When we understand and support ourselves as a Whole Being and properly maintain each facet, we are truly Well and Fit, and therefore… creating an Aware Healthy Being or what I like to call A Warrior of Light! Someone who can defend, protect, and proudly represent what they value with a heart intent on being and doing Love for God, themselves, and others.

Embrace the ‘High 5’

And so with My definitions of health, I take ownership of my journey. I take ownership of my travelings, my life, my experience here on this planet in this body. This includes ownership of my Well-ness and Fit-ness in order to create and KEEP Health FOR a long, full Journey. I did this by using and now teaching a combination of (1) Fuel, (2) Movement, (3) Connection, (4) Rest, and (5) Motivation. These are what I call The High 5 through daily practices/routines.

It is power and freedom to realize that at any given moment your current “location” or level of Well-ness and Fit-ness is a direct reflection of the last year, five years, 15 years, 30 years of (or lack of) the High 5 in your life. And by definition a journey is “to travel somewhere” so we can wander wherever we’d like for as long as we’d like! AND we can leave whenever we’d like! It’s about curiously walking in a direction seeking to find fun, friendship, adventure, rest, and fulfillment and realizing you can turn around and walk a different direction if that way turns out to be a bummer.

With a journey as opposed to a destination, you can take a single step towards a place you’d rather be. If you don’t like the current location, you don’t have to look up directions. You don’t have to dig out your phone and ask Siri. You simply stop. Turn even a tiny bit in any direction. Start walking as quickly or as slowly as you’d like to go!

Enjoy the experience

The Key to making life worthwhile and as enjoyable as possible is treating your health like a curiously optimistic wandering adventure that started before you were even conceived and will continue until you’re dust. Recognize that your Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit knows:

What they need to be at optimal health
What combinations of the High 5 YOU need for health

Your job is to respect it enough to listen and honor what YOU tells you. Respect what God’s Spirit as You is telling You about healing yourself.

Listening to your body and mind requires you to accept that they are just as interested and desperate to feel joy, love, health, and peace as you are. NO PART of you is out to get you, against you, or rooting for your downfall…it dies when you die, so it wants to survive, to live, to thrive…just like you!

We’ve simply forgotten that we are animals. We are predictable, perfected programmable machines that run on energy and whatever energy that we give out is the same energy that we receive in kind. We are made in God’s Image. We are Creators. We create with our words our beliefs, our actions, our thoughts, and our feelings. We create our level of Well-ness, Fit-ness and Health by how much we listen and obey God in us and the Spirit of God in others who journey beside us as teachers and guides.

Learn more

I enjoy discussing the High 5, a daily practice where you can design and create the full-BEing health you desire as well as get your Big 10 (Life) moving! If my thoughts ring true for you or you’d like more info leave a comment or reach out we’d love to chat.