by Alison Leigh Siegel, MFT, Somatic Psychotherapist, movement teacher, bodyworker, healing artist

The Mindful Gym™ is truly a revolution in health care. Combining the wisdom of both Western and Eastern Healing arts and science, along with movement, breath and mindful living activities, the Mindful Gym is designed and has been researched to address almost every condition of the human body. Dis-eases like chronic pain, emotional, physical, sexual trauma, acute injury, insomnia, addictions, etc, are all being relieved if not completely cured by using these exercises in mindfulness.
TESTOMONIALS
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THE NEED:
The challenge: In today's society we are increasingly plagued with dis-ease and mental/physical stress that we are not able to access because 1) we are not aware of them and 2) when we are aware we don't have the right tools to use and 3) we self soothe in destructive ways because we don't know other ways to heal ourselves.

DENIAL: when we can't deal, we just ignore a problem, put it "to the side, down, away". All of these directions of placements then become energy patterns that really just lye in the physical-emotional body stored as old trauma. Pain and suffering come from not being in touch with your body on an emotional level so we need to first "touch-in" and find places that have been stuck so then we can move through with conscious awareness and unhook these places for our own healing.

HOW is the mindful gym useful?: We are disconnected at a core level and physically , mentally and spiritually we need to be in touch with our whole selves to achieve complete mind/body wellness.

Solution: complete integration of mindful fitness that address every dimension including conscious bodywork, psycho-spiritual exercises, movement and psychotherapy.

Note from Alison Leigh, MFT: founder of The Mindful Gym™
After almost 20 years in development and practice I bring to you the Mindful Gym. The MG is a total mind/body/spiritual
workout that is founded on more than 30 different practices. I have taken the best and most relevant exercises,
movements, and body practices out of this foundation to develop and create what i believe will be the beginning of a revolutionary mind/body practice that will be spread locally and globally.

There are so many reasons for the development, implementation and application of the MG that it has been challenging on so many fronts’ mainly because the system is so intricate and complex yet at the same time, easy to do and understandable for anyone trying it for the first time.

Benefits of The Mindful Gym include:
*increased vitality, circulation, physical/spiritual awareness
* reduced stress and ability to manage it easily
* sound sleep
* reduced cortisol levels
* relief from arthritis, addictions, and many other medical conditions
* allergy and asthma symptom relief
* lower blood pressure
*increased mobility, flexibility, freedom of movement
*better understanding of the complexities of our psyche
*toned body, toned muscular system
*reduction in physiological symptoms of trauma
*overall better attitude toward life

More on Muladhara Chakrah, EARTH ENERGY

http://hinduism.iskcon.com/tradition/1203.htm

Healing Affirmations/Meditations for Releasing "Stuck" emotions

There are many steps to healing ourselves and our bodies. Many people ask me, "what can i do when i'm not in session?". I love that question because it #1) shows me you are taking responsibility for your own healing which is really hard to do! So, first, congratulations! To begin with : i will explain some small steps you can do at home or own your own time when you feel "stuck" and really just need to feel yourself, calm down, or get in touch with your emotions.

#1) HONOR yourself and your process FIRST . That comes before taking care of anyone else...remember, you are first! This may look or sound just like just words because so many of us hear people telling us that; however what it means for you is this: Accept where you are now, today, because it took you many years of struggling to get here. You made it here! think about that! What that means in terms of accepting this mindful and conscious state is to go ahead (i’m giving you permission) to embody that on a level that has not reached you in a while. We will do this together through our work. You will be performing the touch piece though, since i’m not there. Even if i was, you can do this on your own. You have the power to change yourself, don’t forget that.

2) Acceptance.To be more detailed, you might say, “I accept my body the way it is now. You might repeat this while lying on the couch or somewhere comfortable and putting your hand on your stomach. Breathe in with your “buddah belly” (the area just beneath your belly button allowing your belly to rise with great breath and fall with each exhalation. It might look like something like this (insert picture, video, etc).

3) Add words. While you are breathing in big deep breaths (and make sure they are big and deep), you will say to yourself quietly or out loud, “I accept myself now”. Then after really getting this, do it more, with more words. “I accept myself now and my body as it is right now”. Then, “I accept myself now, my body now and I accept my body as a whole”. Keep doing variations of this meditation, each time adding more words, but not too many words that it clutters the mind. The point is to keep vibrating at a level of comfort for you. If you feel something in the middle of any of these affirmations, stop and rest. Your body is telling you something. Listen.

4) Feel it. Next step is while you are breathing, to actually feel your breath (which is a different motion), and accept this gift you are giving to yourself on all levels of sensations. Give yourself permission to allow any emotion, sensation or feeling to arise without any judgement (from our inner critic). That means if something comes into your mind, like, “i don’t believe myself, this is not true for me, etc” is then to continue hearing that voice and then commenting inside to yourself, “Oh, that is interesting”. Allowing yourself to just notice and not judge will help that thought gets its “fill” and since you don’t give it any power, it won’t last. It will just release from you. Then, continue back to your original state of breathing in acceptance of your “whole body” and then releasing with ease (inhalation through nose, exhalation through mouth)

5) Pace yourself, go at your own pace.I want you to try this for a bit because we want you to take this process slowly. Due to the injury of the body/mind connection from the trauma, we want to control our own pace. That means that we do things with incredible detail to pace. We don’t go fast, or too slow. We only go how we want to go. We are back in control of our bodies now in this time and we need to allow for that pace.

6) Repeat. All of these points are really important, so try and do them over and over again. To repeat, find somewhere comfortable to sit/lye, and then place your hand to the part of your body (stomach now) and begin taking deep breaths. Then, feel the inhalation/exhalation and then begin your affirmation (s).

The last piece is the most crucial, which is to “see what comes up” from this. The point then, is to make allowance for the feelings that were lost/stuck in our past and now give it a new freedom point for which to take off and for which to land.


Let me know how it goes.
Much love and respect to you and your sacred body temple.

Alison Leigh Siegel, MFT
2121 26th Street #202
San Francisco, Ca 94107
http://www.justbegoodtoyourself.blogspot.com/
askalisonleigh@gmail.com
415-377-9851
http://www.alisonleigh.net/