Live Your Best Life Every Day!

I just got back from filming two new Gaiam workout DVDs (”Kickbox: Core Cross Train” and “Dance: Core Cross Train” in the beautiful mountains of Utah.

If you have never seen the red rocks, I suggest you put it on your to-do list. To see this kind of natural beauty gave me a powerful jolt of energy. I felt awake and alive! Whenever I found myself slipping back to my New York City self, looking down at my Blackberry instead of instead of taking in the symphony of stars above my head, I would remind myself to stop and look and be moved by the beauty that surrounded me.

These shoots are always emotionally and physically challenging but deeply empowering. There are so many fears being faced in these moments. Fear that our best won’t be good enough, fear that we will look bad or mess up. Yet it is an exciting experience because as every one of us deals with our own fears, we’re doing our best to uplift each other. That bond of intimacy builds an incredible power among the cast. At the end of each shoot each one of us is changed and has had the opportunity to support others in doing the same.

I am sharing this story because it gave me a great opportunity to ask myself a few questions. Am I seeing the beauty that surrounds me every day? Am I doing whatever it takes to create an excellent product, my life? Am I willing to do my best day after day and face my fear of failure? Am I willing to uplift others and support them in doing the same?

How about you? These are great questions to ask ourselves.

Here’s an exercise to try every week to test your strength:

Either on your hands and knees or starting on your toes, get in a push-up position and see how many push-ups you can do to failure. That means not just stopping when you are tired but fighting for one more repetition. This exercise is a very revealing exercise. You will get to know yourself a little better. If you do this exercise once a week you will see improvement every time you do it.

Love,

Patricia

P.S. Looking for a week of personal empowerment? Check out our January Costa Rica retreat on my website intenSati.com. And look for my Gaiam DVDs in spring ’08 … “Kickbox: Core Cross Train” mixes kickbox combinations with intense core moves, and “Dance: Core Cross Train” keeps it interesting with jazz, Latin and hip-hop routines.