One Flu Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Being sick sucks and that's a damn fact man. Over this past week, me and the wife ended up a little under the weather and tried to take it easy as much as possible. I did end up getting my wife's cold which could've been worse but I'm recovering pretty quickly since it's been less than a few days. She's healing up to the best of her abilities and she seems to be practically over it since she was being cute and a little mischievous yesterday.  Think this is the first time I've been sick for a little over a year or more but who's counting?

When it comes to illness or getting over something, I try to make it as natural as possible to heal up: Intermittent Fasting, Hydrate, Take Some Vitamins, Training And Rest. Training might sound a little odd and maybe even cuckoo you might say but it does have some benefit to be a little active to get some of the crap out of your system. I don't mean to go running sprints or going to the gym and moving some plates around but something light and about maybe no more than 40% of what you normally do but that also depends on the condition you're in, everybody is different. I like to work on some joint loosening, deep breathing as much as possible and do Isometrics with less intensity. 

Being sick is never fun and some get sick easier than others which is why we need to strengthen our immune system more often than just our muscles and the connective tissues. We can't completely prevent ourselves from getting sick but we sure as hell can find ways to heal/recover at a quicker rate with the right tools and info that gives as many individuals an advantage as much a possible. It's a known fact with me that I don't trust the medical industry all that much and go to a route that has alternatives than to just take a pill or pop something in order to feel better temporarily. That doesn't mean the medical industry is all terrible, yes it has flaws but it also has many success rates for many things. To me, it's important to stay healthy as much as I can, unless I'm in severe dire straits or need to see a specialist (which is already rare).

Take care of yourself the best way you can and let your body heal when it needs to. Even superheroes get sick sometimes so do what works best for you. I can give you ideas on certain supplements you can take but overall; rest up, hydrate when needed and give your body time to recover (it may not be that easy for many but do your best).

Elderberry

Immunity Page At Lost Empire

Mushroom Alchemy Tincture

Meditation Jedi Style

"The force is what gives the jedi his powers, it's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds, penetrates us and binds the galaxy together."- Obiwan Kenobi.

Ever since I was little, Star Wars has been one of my all time favorites but when I got older and getting into the ideas behind the "force" and all that, I started to understand the true purpose of it and what it means to have that spiritual feeling. Now I'm not into religion or anything like that for reasons I really don't think people care enough to hear or read but I do like the idea of certain meditation practices, breathing techniques, visualization and thinking differently. Meditation has many meanings but the true and sole purpose of it is to have the ability to be empty in the mind and form a connection between yourself and the universe in the present moment.

Some people think in order to meditate, you have to sit or stand in a specific position, make your hands a circle and just empty everything in your brain; that's not as easy to do nor is it the only way. Some form of meditation is by moving or doing things that just have your mind go completely blank and all you're doing is just being. Lifting weights can be meditative, moving like a wild animal can be meditative (just look at guys like Rickson Gracie) or whatever. It's the ability to be in such control of your body and mind that it becomes one with everything around you. I'm not very good at sitting when I meditate, I mainly lay down in a comfortable position and just focus on my breath. Lately, I've been listening to Ambient Sounds and videos with amazing visuals of nature and even Jedi videos.

I would sometimes listen to this meditation I found on youtube that sounds like a Star Wars soundtrack with music and sounds of nature mixed together that is just awesome to listen to and just breathe into. It's about an hour long, other videos have 10-30 minute skits of the same or similar music. I downloaded it into an MP3 on my phone and now I just listen to the sounds. I've also downloaded into an MP3 a Jedi Meditation Guide where a guy talks you through the process and uses quotes and references from Star Wars, it's about 10 minutes long and although he sounds like a robot at times or his broken english is painfully obvious, I just listen to what he says, breathe and just let everything sink in. Done it a couple times now and each time, I feel great, relaxed and more present.

There are books out there that uses various practices like Daoism, Buddhism and others in the words of Star Wars that is actually really cool. Some are catchy and/or tacky a bit but they also share great messages. Some of the references you might need to have some knowledge of the franchise in order to understand but the messages are pretty direct and make good points on meditation, how to be a good person, what to look for when it comes to "energy vampires" or applying certain Jedi Practices in the real world. No, you don't learn to make objects float in the air or use the jedi mind trick to manipulate someone or even shoot lightning out of your fingers like Count Dooku or Emperor Palpatine; but you do learn how to be mindful, practice doing good deeds whenever possible, relax the mind the body often and making good choices. 

Meditate like a Jedi or in some cases like the Gray Jedi (A jedi who finds balance in both the light and dark side but doesn't succumb to the evils the dark side creates). 

The Jedi Mind

The Dharma Of Star Wars

The Jedi Path

Be More Yoda

The Way And The Power Of The Force

Active While Rehabbing Little Injuries

 It can be easy to want to take a day off of training; especially if you're really sore or have minor injuries. It can also be easy to just drop things and just "take it easy" for a day or two. I look at it as, if I took it easy or even too easy, something won't feel right. I've had my fair share of minor things and broke through skin or worked a little too hard but I have always believed that being active helps with recovery.

A couple days ago, I pushed a little too hard doing a deck of cards workout and ended up pulling muscles around the right side of my lower back and hip areas. Luckily it wasn't severe enough to not even get off the floor or just being in pure agony on a scale of 11 out of 10 but I did feel it and knew something wasn't right. I just went with my instincts and rehabbing those areas for now doing little things. It's not the same as taking it easy and doing nothing, I'm not programmed that way. So far, just doing things like 1 minute bear crawls, isometrics and joint loosening have been a huge help. 

Sometime before that, I did a live video on Tik Tok doing a workout that I made up and only did it the one time. The whole workout took about 30 minutes including rest periods. Here's what I did......

-10 Round Superset Of 

10 Strikes Of The 25 lb Sledgehammer

1 Thor Catches Loki W/ 73 lb Hammer (Walking the hands up and down with a heavy sledgehammer)

-5 sets of 10 each arm of High Pulls W/ 70 lb Kettlebell

-Finisher was swinging the 15 lb Indian Clubs as many times as possible

It was a pretty hard workout and really got my cardio up along with strength training, plus I was doing it in less than freezing weather. I got some bad discomfort in my low back the next day and had to rehab for a few days which consisted of mainly joint loosening, some bridging and animal moves at a slower pace. Things happen and you have to expect the unexpected at times. Some people just shrug it off and think nothing of it but others might have some discomfort or a little minor injury that will heal quick and treat it as so dramatically epic you'd think they should win an Oscar for how they performed the feeling.

We never know what will creep up on us and we sometimes get so enthralled on how to treat an injury that we don't know if it'll lead to something very severe later or it'll just be gone in a flash. The important thing is to avoid injuries as much as possible but not be so damn cautious that it causes fear. Now if you have severe injuries and there's no way around them, that's a whole other story. Train with the intention that you are conditioning the body to be resilient but also be mindful of taking care of yourself if something were to happen.

As we get older, being resilient is far more important than looking like a million bucks. With the right tools and nutrition, you can look like a fitness model at 40 or 50 but if you get hurt too frequently and your body tends to get injured quicker, looking good is not going to save your ass. Train to be resilient and strengthen the body to the degree where breaking down is less likely to happen. Train with intent but be safe in the process as well.

The Indestructible Body By Logan Christopher 

Overcoming Isometrics By Matt Schifferle

The Wildest Workout In The Wilderness

 It's awesome to want to challenge yourself outside of what you normally can do. It's an opportunity to learn what you're capable of and making the most of what is possible yet also rewarding. Every now and then (sometimes more often) when I really have some energy to use up in my workouts, I take my animal dice game workout and double the amount of reps/steps per animal. This really hits your conditioning hard and it doesn't take long before you feel like you want to die. 

Although I like using reps/steps, you can make it however you want; yards, meters, feet or even inches for that matter. Use your imagination and see what makes this workout so fun to do. I always feel great after a workout like this. The longest I have gone with this was about 45 minutes with little to no breaks but there are workouts that make 10 minutes feel like an eternity. Imagine doing up to 40 reps on some moves and up to 80 on others, that's nuts man. Here's how it goes: You roll once for an animal and than another for the amount of steps or distance you have to do. Say you land on Bear Crawls and you roll a 17 (The dice goes up to 20), that means you have to take 34 steps of the Bear Crawl. 

I've had these animals memorized on that dice for many years now but I never do the same workout twice which is the beauty of this, you never know what will come up and that helps you to expect the unexpected and be prepared for anything. Nature can be pretty to look at and be in awe of, but it's also unpredictable and can creep on you at any moment; that's where workouts like this can really tackle your senses, your awareness, your strengths, your weaknesses and the ability to be on alert at all times because in the jungle, you have to know how to survive.

It's a hell of a ride and puts your conditioning to the test. Just a few minutes of this will take out anyone and you'll be huffing and puffing within less than 5 rounds. When you start to breathe really heavily, take a walk around to catch your breath. Some rounds get me winded fast and I need to take at least a couple minutes to catch my breath, other times it takes more than a few to get me winded and I'll just keep going. When I need a breather, I walk and practice my deep breathing until everything subsides and go again. For the longest time, once I felt done, I left it but now when I've had enough, I want to finish it off with Bear Crawls to really feel done. Since I've done that, I've had greater satisfaction that I kicked my ass in this workout. 

There is no limit to how many rounds you do so do what is possible that day. Some workouts, 10 rounds is all you can do, others you might go up to 20 or 30 so never look at it as "oh I need to do this many rounds to get in shape" or "That felt too short, did I do enough", this workout is so random at times that you never even know if you're doing more upper body or lower body. Let it happen and see what you can do and play around with because that's the point of this crazy workout is to have fun. 

For books/kindle on animal exercises check these out.....

Animal Workouts

Animal Moves: How To Move Like An Animal To Get You Leaner, Fitter, Stronger And Healthier For Life

Hyperactivity And Animal Movements

Many kids can be very hyperactive and some have ADHD  and need some sort of stimulant or activity to get that excess energy out. I've seen many little ones over the years just run around with so much fire and imagination it's almost unbelievable how some adults can keep up. Now when I say stimulant, I'm not saying put them on Ritalin or some kind of drug to keep them focused, I don't believe in drugs and I was on Ritalin during the first decade of my life.

Hyperactivity is due to the abnormal or extreme case of moving that can be restless and overstimulation of the brain that causes the nerves to keep moving the body. We were meant to move and when you have a case of a child or even in an adult where focus can be difficult for certain tasks either during school or at a job, movement is better than a drug but also we have been told in school, sitting still is a requirement and we have to pay attention to the task at hand at all times. Sitting still isn't just difficult for some, it can be downright murderous to the mind and when you're hyperactive, trying to suppress the nerves is just nuts. 

I loved playing outside when I was a kid, playing ball, tag, building stuff and even rough housing a little but that gave me the stimulation my body needed cause when you're full of energy and don't know how to bring it down and have those endorphins kick in, it can cause someone to have insomnia or restless leg syndrome. When it comes to putting kids on drugs like Adderall or Ritalin or things of that nature, yes it can help someone stay focused and form an ability to control the nerves in your body but it also can have an effect on the nervous system to shut down and possibly cause depression and not have the ability to use the energy needed that brings in those "happy" hormones and you're left with this near "zombie" like state where you're too focused and undermining the energy a kid needs or even an adult for that matter.

If you ever get a chance, watch the films Bigger, Faster, Stronger & Prescription Thugs to understand the drugs that people use to get ahead in their endeavors that include Adderall that kids in high school trade off on. I've believed for nearly 17 years that movement and exercise is one of the best medicines if not right at the top of the list for best medicines to help with depression, insomnia, hyperactivity, motor skills and strengthening the nervous system. It's a natural form of therapy. I know some people have stronger and much different circumstances than others and it's not always in Black & White but to me, going straight to drugs especially in little kids is just a giveaway of saying "you're destined to be addicted." 

I have played around with mimicking animals when I was little but when I got older and discovered systems based on moving like a wild animal, it became clear at least in my experience that this type of training helps a lot more than what the drug pushers give credit for. In my experience, it's an amazing relaxer and gives off endorphins naturally. It teaches you how to handle the body in awkward positions, it stimulates the brain to help control the nerves and muscles needed to move without falling on your face and pulverizes that excess energy to help you focus better and feel good as you continue on your day. It's my go to therapy to help me sleep since I've been known to be a night owl. A few rounds of my animal dice game, some deep breathing and within minutes I'm practically out like a light. 

I'm one of those people who hates drugs or even over the counter stuff (unless it's a supplement I'm interested in) so much that I won't even take cough drops or pain pills. I hated it when I was forced to take things when I was little and when I was in the hospital for my injuries, I felt guilty taking the stuff in the IV. When I had those muscle issues after the car accident last year, the only thing I took for them was Tylenol and after a few days, I tossed them because I felt like I was relying on them too much. I worked on joint loosening & flexibility training and that did more for me than the Tylenol ever did and I felt good about myself. 

Animal Movement or even regular exercise can be a great form of therapy for hyperactivity and it provides stimulation needed to help focus on the things you can do. If I was able to train this way when I was a kid, who knows where my focus could've gone. It doesn't take very long and has benefits that both kids and adults can appreciate. Get stronger both mentally and physically as naturally as possible. Be safe and be aware.