Relax your jaw,
Soften your eyes,
Melt your throat.
Clients sometimes ask why we place so much attention on relaxation.
First, there is no point in strengthening parts of ourselves and creating more tension and hardness in our tissues as we do so. The ideal is having muscles that are strong, supple, and have a quality of firmness, aliveness, yet softness.
I know this one personally as after years of athletic over training my tissues were dense and hard. Any form of body work, hurt like crazy and I had very little actual strength. Nutrients cannot get into cells that have these qualities and there is a holding on to toxins, old traumas/injuries and cellular memories when our muscles are not soft and supple. The tight, hard body is much more susceptible to injury.
Second, you are learning to isolate and contract only the muscles working. This helps you keep a focus on the part of you that is working as well as have the awareness of when and where you tense in other areas. This is a great life skill to take into the rest of your day. (Just noted how I was flexing my ankles tightly as I was writing this) Check in with yourself throughout the day to notice if you are out of alignment, holding tension; the same things we remind you of in the workout are likely chronic tension places for you. See what happens when you soften, relax and melt in these tightly held areas throughout your day.
Third, use every available opportunity to reduce stress in your life and body. So keeping relaxed during the most intense exercise you and most anyone on the planet has ever done, will prevent the stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisone) from elevating sooner and higher than necessary. This exercise protocol will take you through a short sympathetic nervous system response called fight or flight. You do secrete adrenaline during the last few repetitions of each set. (This is good as it stimulates fat burning) However, we want to keep this part of the exercise at its minimum so we are only “stressing” ourselves enough to cause the adaptation we are seeking (more lean tissue and strength). Many traditional exercise protocols produce prolonged stress that is damaging to the body.
Evolved Health incorporates your “medical dose” of exercise. We use every possible input to build muscle and shift your body composition to leaner, stronger bones and less body fat. We remove distractions and the risks for injury that can occur in high intensity exercise programs and detract from the goals of exercise. Exercise is meant to enhance health and make you fitter.
Thus, you experience a safe, effective and efficient way to build a powerfully healthy physique, highly functional body and a mind that is calm and strong. And you look confident, healthy and relaxed too!