You guessed it: it’s that time of year again (for those of us here in the US). December, when things start getting a little colder outside and we find ourselves spending more and more of our time inside. There’s no problem with this in and of itself, but it does mean that we need to find more ways to start getting active, keeping up both our personal energy levels and our immune systems. The best way? Get moving! Here are 3 quick reasons to start getting in motion with a new personal fitness ritual or routine:

3) Longevity & Vitality

Multiple long-term studies have shown that those who exercise and enjoy an active lifestyle can expect to live a few more healthier years than their less-active peers (one study averages at about 3.5 extra years). How much would you treasure those few extra years of life? The ability to enjoy quality time with your grandchildren and pursue your passions? It’s absolutely worth it, but that may only motivate the long-term thinkers out there. Here are the other 2 reasons, with much more tangible effects:

2) Never Getting Sick

What I mean here is that exercise is the “pump” for our lymph system. Vigorous exercise and deep breathing stimulates lymph flow, which moves out all the toxins, viruses, etc; challenging workouts literally pump out the garbage from our bodies! Note that it comes out in many different ways, including your sweat – which is the #1 reason on the list of why to shower after a workout ;) Regular exercise dramatically enhances your immune system and gets your lymph system up and running, so you’ll definitely want to stay active this winter!

1) Mental Clarity & Energy

My personal #1 reason to exercise is the extraordinary mental clarity that comes immediately with any vigorous, stimulating workout. A 30-45 minute workout at the gym will do it for sure, but you can get the “mental clarity” effect dramatically in 2 minutes or less. Here’s how: jumping rope and jumping jacks. The movement of these 2 exercises gets you active, increases your heart rate, stimulates lymph flow and clears your “mental fog” right out of your head in no time. If you’re ever in one of those situations where you wake up in a fog and need some clarity quick, just try these two together (maybe 1 minute of one and 1 minute of the other). You’ll be blown away by the simplicity, but mostly by the effects.

I’ll personally do just these two exercises before sitting down to work at the computer in the morning, and then have an all-out, scheduled workout later in the afternoon. I find that the combination gives me extreme mental clarity and boundless energy all day to get done what I’m really after. For these reasons, mental clarity & energy constitute my #1 reason to exercise today, and sum up the true value of personal fitness.

I hope this will get the gears turning for you and that you’ll consider committing to a regular workout schedule for the wintertime here in the US. It’s a great time of year, and staying healthy, clear and full of energy will only help you to enjoy it more!

Unleash Your Vitality,

John Brackett

When was the last time you really explored the concept of your own DNA? If it’s not in the last few years, then you may have missed out on some startling discoveries. What we now know is that the expression of our very own DNA – our genetics – is largely determined by how we feel on a vibratory level. When we feel upbeat and full of energy, we’re literally enhancing the expression of our DNA! This is a profound concept that goes far beyond literary musings. Specifically, it ties right into our health and well-being.

Strong, positive feeling states like love, joy, compassion and gratitude actually “relax” our physical DNA. When our DNA is in this more relaxed state, its expression is significantly enhanced and leads to higher immune functioning and a more intelligent body. And the opposite? Powerful negative states like frustration, anger, hate and rage? We’ve now seen undeniably through scientific research that these negative feeling states tighten or wind up the DNA coils…effectively squelching our immune system and our general level of health.

I personally found this information to rank high among the most eye-opening research I’ve ever come across. How many times have you heard, “Oh, it’s my genetics”; “That’s just the way it is”; “I was born this way”; “I’ll never change”; “My parents had it…” Familiar? Our genetic blueprint is certainly responsible for how we’ve turned out in general. But to say that you don’t have power over your genetics is an outright lie. Cellular biologist Bruce Lipton cites that while we can’t change our genes, we determine the expression of those genes. The options? There are over 30,000 different variations or expressions possible from each gene! So I would like to make a bolder statement today: stop playing the role of a victim. Kill off the victim mentality. If you’ve found yourself turning to a new pill for each ailment that comes your way, then you’re most likely playing the victim game. I wholeheartedly believe in the innate healing ability of the human body; when we overload ourselves with toxins that can’t be utilized by the body, we need to flush them out. So many “symptoms” being overriden are really our intelligent bodies at work self-healing and self-regulating our internal environment!

Whether it’s your first time hearing this, or it’s just a simple reminder, remember this: you do have control over your own health. The field of epigenetic control studies this at the finest level (epi= above, genetic= genes). It’s “control above the genes”, and the research is becoming more remarkable the further down we go. Commonly held assumptions about our role in health care are starting to shift, and undeniably for the better. I’m so grateful to be a part of this movement that really showcases personal responsibility for health, fitness and other lifestyle choices. We all have the same palette for ourselves to work with: our DNA. My question is: what’s your expression?

Unleash Your Vitality,

John Brackett