Creativity

 As a trainer, I am always looking for new ways to conduct lessons. The variety of workouts keep my wonderful clients engaged and prevents boredom. Not only do I get inspired by ways of modifying exercises to fit individual needs due to ability or injury, I look for ways to connect mind to body. Many athletes treat their mind and bodies as separate entities, but they are a unit. Many people see the mind as the control center, but the mind reacts to the body just as much as the body reacts to the mind. 

One of my favorite drills is shadow boxing with the eyes closed. When we have our eyes open, we are either looking at ourselves in a mirror or at our surroundings. Our attention is not necessarily on how movement feels but on how it looks. By taking away our visual senses, we can easier connect to how movements feel, teaching and coaching ourselves on correct movement. I constantly tell my boxers that they need to feel what they are doing right and wrong. Despite me yelling instructions, the moment an action needs to change needs to happen instantly, which is thwarted due to sound traveling. Awareness of how your body is moving and responding, to where the hands are, how the feet are moving, if the head is moving to the side allows for quicker reaction and correction then responding to verbal instruction. That awareness also creates opportunities to change and correct habits. The individual is the best coach, as you have the greatest awareness of your body and capabilities. But one cannot become their own coach if disconnected from your body. 

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