Daniel Plan 101…or 2014

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Lisa Jamison
Daniel Plan, healthy living

Good Medicine

My church decided to begin 2014 by offering The Daniel Plan, a 6-week/40-day exercise in living a healthier life.  I was glad to be asked to help facilitate, and even more thankful for the reminder of a fresh start at the beginning of the new year.  As a Christian we know that all things are possible through Christ who gives (us) strength (Phil 4:13).  Rick Warren’s program keeps God at the center of the health plan…faith in God, faith in a better food plan for our temples, faith that we can be active, faith that we’ll keep our eye on the prize, and faith that our support system will be there for us and we for them.

You are controlled by your new nature if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (Romans 8:9)

For the first week I “bargained with God”, what I feel like when I’m laying it on the line telling The Divine of my plan.  The topics of health, fitness, wellness, being the best I can be, keeping on the path, etc. are ones that I can be passionate about.  What sets my soul on fire?  Finding that fuel in my belly, my heart, my soul and carrying out a plan.

The Daniel Plan.

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Keep your eye on the prize.

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Lisa Jamison
IMG_2302

Site set.

Yesterday was The Tampa Bay Frogman Swim.  I was once again happy and honored to accompany my friend Dobe on his 5k journey across Old Tampa Bay.  It was cold; the water was cold enough for the Athletic Trainer in me to order an ice bath.  Dobe has some issues generating enough heat to keep his entire body warm so he was insulated with extra layers of neoprene…two booties, a leg sleeve, a wetsuit, a hoody, a cap.  His promise for the day: to start.  We would abandon the effort if the cold got the better of him.  After all, he had nothing to prove.  He had a successful swim in 2013 and funds in the bank for the Navy SEAL Foundation.

Keep your eye on the prize.  Get to the yellow buoy that signals the turn to cross the bay.  The crowd from wave six spread out; we were relatively alone with the lapping of waves.

Keep your eye on the prize.  Dobe caught two swimmers, passed them.  I don’t even know if he saw any of this.  I had to keep my nose, my bow, and my intentions in the right direction as this would be all he was siting.

Keep your eye on the prize.  Dobe asked me watch his stroke, making adjustments if he got sloppy or lazy or inefficient.  The race director compelled us to watch for signs of hypothermia.  Dobe’s stroke remained constant, strong, rhythmic, long, steady.

Keep your eye on the prize.  The yellow buoy signaled the sharp right we were to take to head up the shoreline to the finish.  The final orange float, a sharp left…the prize was only a few strokes away.  Dobe’s buddies would come assist him to the beach, through the finish line, accept the medal.

Since 1962 the Navy SEALs have served our country with the “unflinching comittment to accomplish (their) mission”.  The Frogman Swim is a sold-out event in it’s 5th year.  Perhaps if the money was going to a powder-puff football team, the length of the swim would have been shorter.  If the funds were being distributed to the local band, it would have been canceled due to cold.  Perhaps if we lived somewhere other than Tampa Bay and MacDill AFB nobody would be around to even dream up such a stunt.  And perhaps if Dobe had never been faced with adversity he would never understand why you accomplish a mission.

I am proud and honored to call Dobe my friend.  I am stronger today because of his willingness to keep his eye on the prize.

Jason, Dobe, Bill

Victory! A mighty accomplishment! (Kyle McIntyre photo)

Mark Dobe Doberesch, Lisa Jamison

Starting line. Dobe in layers of neoprene, me in can’t-miss-seeing-me pink!

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Just Keep Climbing

Posted on January 11, 2014 by Lisa Jamison

Anyone who knows me knows I like a good stair-climbing workout.  Well, maybe not “likes” all the time.  Some days I just appreciate it.  Some days I tolerate it.

Today I just “did” it…nothing more, nothing less.  I haven’t been working out much during the last three months.  Stairs ain’t necessarily the way to  begin, but I’ve got an event coming up, so climb I did.

My thighs burned.  My arms were dead.  My lungs were on fire.  My heart pounded out of my chest.  As I turned to start my descent, I bobbled.  And I wobbled some more…how would I do manage another 890 steps?

Yet I did it.  And I’ll be back for more torture.  And fun.  And pain.  And joy.

Climb Hard…Breathe Easy.

Just Keep Climbing

Just Keep Climbing

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Souls on Fire

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Lisa Jamison

The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.

At the start of each new year I like to pick a verse, a word, a poem, on which to dwell.  I’ve been know to spend three years meditating on the same Bible verse; much can be learned and experienced.  This is it for 2014.  Stay tuned for my insights on the words of Ferdinand Foch.

I am a soul on fire.

Posted in Souls on Fire | 2 Comments

Delta Dawn

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Lisa Jamison

Change = Discipline + Action + Time

A couple of months ago a young veteran dropped by my office at the yoga studio.  “I’m going to do yoga every day for thirty days!”, he exclaimed.

“Excellent!!”, I said.

He squinted his eyes, shook his head and shrugged a little and countered, “Why?”.

“Because any discipline is better than no discipline”, I offered.

We stared at each other for a couple of seconds, each saying nothing.  He left, and I stood there kind of staring at myself.  Hmm…perhaps the encounter was just as much for me as it was for him.  Call it reminder, clarity, epiphany…kick in the arse.

I’m reminded of this on the dawn of a new day, a new week, a new year.  What is one of your goals?  You may desire to train for a new sport, meditate regularly, get better quality sleep, spend more time with family,  lose weight, etc.  To get there, it may help to chose a discipline that has seemingly little to do with the outcome…look in the mirror every day and exclaim aloud that you are an athlete.  Meditate prior to bedtime with the mantra of “peace”.  Wear a bracelet in the color of the new dress you’ll purchase when you reach your weight loss goal.  Use visualization techniques to envision just who and where you’ll be with your training.  Or just sit quietly each day for ten whole minutes, enjoying the journey.

We don’t have change without discipline, action, and time.  It’s the dawn of a new you!Image

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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Making Resolutions

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Lisa Jamison

Resolutions 2014My head had been a miss-mash of ideas for New Year’s Resolutions.  I have to admit, I checked out what all the Big Guns had in store for the masses…Deepak Chopra, FitBit, name brand yogis…and I was pretty sucked in.  Yup, today I was to have hours of personal time to journal and focus and pray and breathe and meditate and practice asana and plot and workout and scheme and clean cabinets and sweep and get organized and visit a sick friend.

My sick friend was only awake long enough for a quick exchange of happy words about family and holidays and love.  As I put lotion on her feet and hands she fell back asleep.

Yoga International’s  is hosting a  Seven Day Self-Discovery Challenge.  Today’s klesha, or disturbing emotion, is abhinivesha.  Although the study choses “the subtler yet prominent expression of fear experienced as anxiety”, the purer definition is “fear of death”.   By noon I had given great thought to all sides of abhinivesha.

I spent the rest of the afternoon napping on the couch, looking at the rain, and roasting a chicken.  And I’m not worried one bit about not getting those resolutions in a journal.  This year I just may try finding peace and balance in being present.

And doing more cartwheels.  I should definitely do more cartwheels.  

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Overextended

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Lisa Jamison

I'm supposed to be in two places right now

While teaching Yin Yoga for Athletes at Yogani last evening, a woman said “I’m supposed to be in three places right now!”

I replied, “You’re only supposed to be in one place.”

“No,” she countered, “I’m supposed to be here, at another stretching workshop, and at running club.”

We work, we train, we sleep.  We repeat.  We rest.  Well, maybe when we’re sidelined by injury.  Or someone takes us on a cruise.  We recover.  Which sometimes involves holding a martini.  With bleu cheese olives.

Sometimes we try to find balance by adding more “balancing stuff” to our lives…a lecture on quality sleep on a Sunday afternoon, a podcast on effective business strategies while we run…

…or blogging about balance on a rainy morning instead curling up with a novel.

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ImageI’m back.  I’m balanced.  Because I’m moving.

I’ve been working on my resolutions for a week or so. I have the typical “movement” related intentions; train for a sport or event, try new activities, have a more regular yoga practice.  Spend another decade at the same weight; less sweets, more vegetables.  I’ve got all the typical stuff going.

But the reality of it all is that there are more important things than the races I’m entering, the number on the scale, and my toughness factor.  This year I’m focusing more on relationships.  Who will I meet while training?  Who will I bring into the fold, and whose company will I enjoy at the event?  I’m hoping to contact some old friends (“We must not let another year go by without getting together…”).  I resolve to spend more time with those girlfriends who always have a shoulder, a hand, a glass of wine, and the proverbial casserole.  I’m moving in the direction of…well, maybe even backwards…to pick up with some folks I got separated from in a fork in the road.

And just for kicks, I might just do that on a unicycle instead.  They say it’s not so tough as long as you keep moving.

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Lisa Jamison | 1 Comment

Don’t let sleeping dogs lay. Lie.

Posted on June 17, 2012 by Lisa Jamison

I always thought it would be nicer this way. Hmm.

I attended a funeral yesterday.  As far as funerals go, it was quite nice.  The church was well filled.  There were people of all ages.  The pews displayed an array of colors, postures, ages, and backgrounds.  People spoke, people laughed.  We sang some obligatory hymns and belted out The Battle Hymn of The Republic upon the man’s departure from the building.  And the last 24-hours has found me with chance encounters with other attendees all echoing  the same sentiment; wasn’t it a lovely send off!

Each speaker told a story of how their grammar had been corrected by The Judge, their employer, their colleague, their Dad.  Why, even during his last heart attack he corrected the nurse’s usage of lay and lie.  

Every time I see my Dad I get my grammar corrected.  Teenage me still rolls her eyes and says “Daaaaaad, just let me tell my story!”   Tell it right.  “Just listen for a change!”  I can’t, it’s hurting my ears.  (I frequently relive the time my friends and I were going to the beach and Dad said “No teenage daughter of mine is going to lay on the beach…there will be no laying on the beach!”.  I don’t know if I was more horrified by the correction or the fact that nobody understood what the heck he was talking about.)

I’m making a pledge this Father’s Day.  The next time Dad corrects my grammar I will simply say “Thank you”.  Not “Dude, seriously, I’m 50.  You can stop.”  Just “thank you”.  Maybe silently would be better, but I’m not so sure anymore.  Of course, it’s not completely lost on me that perhaps a better gift would be to clean up my act (grammatically speaking).

Nah.  Out loud is so much better than silence.

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Being Well

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Lisa Jamison

Walk where the road takes you…or not.

I’m back again after a long detour.  I give you Exhibit A as explanation.

I left my temporary place, but I didn’t do so without looking back.  I know that the tightrope-walker in me should never do that.  I fell a couple of times, got back on the wire.  I continued to look back; what the heck’s the matter with me?  I turned around…and now I’m walking backwards but in the right direction.  I can be rather tricky when I need to be.  Who am I kidding…things aren’t exactly going “right” right now.

Part of me belongs in this world where I practice, talk about, experience, teach, wonder about, and question balance.  Another part belongs where I question little, knowing the answer is to lead with the heart.  Both are great worlds.  So I’ll set off to balance the two.  Which are really one.  Because my heart belongs with me wherever I go.  And when I seek balance, it pays to lead with the chest lifted and the gaze straight ahead.

Shift happens.  Stay with me as I go back to maintaining balance in this ever changing world!

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