My whole life I always wanted freedom. Like true freedom, the kind where you wake up and anything is possible. I always had problems trying to be athletic, I had asthma and big clunky legs that seemed to have a mind of their own😂 This lead me to constantly research health and wellness, different types of exercises and stretches. I had a rocky foundation pertaining to family so I always suffered from emotional control issues. I’ve been depressed for months, broke my hand from anger outbursts… So I searched and worked on ways to master my mind.

“Super-Human”

I never went the medication route because I always felt like it was cheating. I wanted to master my mind on my own terms. One of the first things I picked up was meditation, which allowed me to harness my focus and in turn have a better handle on my mentality. I’ve learned these tricks to help me when meditating. <ul><li>Focus on the air entering, and exiting the nostrils… Cold in, Warm out</li><li>If a thought pops into your mind acknowledge it, but let it leave the mind with your next breath out. Bring your focus back to the nostrils. </li><li>Practice everyday even if only for a few minutes. It will get easier</li></ul>

Un-limiting Your Mind

There are a ton of ways to exercise your mind and it’s important to keep up with it. If you don’t use it you lose it!! Our brains are so cool, they can become experts at whatever we tell them to do! Keeping your brain on it’s toes is key.<ul><li>READ! Reading and writing are excellent ways to keep your mind running smooth</li><li>Be creative! If you have a thought or idea follow it to the end! Don’t give up! </li><li>Test your memory! Even if it’s just with names when you meet new people, a sharp memory leads to a sharp mind!</li><li>Learn something! It could be anything and it’s better if your interested in the topic</li></ul>

Mental Exercise 

I’ve done weight lifting, yoga, running, stretching, hiking, cold training, and even some calisthenics. Getting my body into shape has been a struggle, but anything is possible if you are dedicated! From my experience cold training is one of the best things you can do for your body. It’s uncomfortable and intense but if you focus on your breathing and be persistent crazy things start happening. You begin to enjoy it, your energy levels increase, and it also has amazing effects on the mind as well! <ul><li>Breath: Through the nose, into the stomach. Tighten the muscles around your lungs as you breath</li></ul>

Body Positive

I’m doing another slide on the cold cause it’s THAT GOOD! When you breath in feel and tighten the muscles in your back and shoulders and rib cage and hold as you breath out. You will begin to feel warmth and blood rush through the body. <ul><li>Wim Hof: If you don’t know of him look him up! The original Ice Man! He’s the man that connected science to the cold and how capable our bodies are of enduring it. Because of him the positive effects of the cold have been PROVEN! </li></ul>

Into The Cold

Exercise is super important for tons of reasons. Staying active and expelling energy, balancing hormones leading to more positive mentality, and even extending your capabilities. The thing is we don’t always have to do the same exercises, be open and try new things! But most importantly make sure you enjoy the exercises so that you have a good connotation on physical activity. So make sure you have fun and break a sweat!

Exercise 

One of the most overlooked things in the fitness industry is fasting. I’m not sure about how it works on the female body but for men it works wonders! Especially if you are overweight, fasting is the easiest way to get into shape. I’m not up to date on all the science behind it but I know what it’s done for me. I did a few 40+ hour fasts and what I noticed was the longer I fasted the better the results. My brain actually got faster, my testosterone increased (I was weight training at the end of my fasts), and my mood was also boosted. I’ll go into more detail in the next slide.

Fasting

Fasting is a form of meditation. To abstain from food. When you are fasted the body uses fat as fuel. With the food and constant consumption today it’s a good thing to fast and let your body purge for some time. After you’ve done a long fast you feel the body processes speed up and become more efficient. If you are thinking this is an unsustainable way to lose weight you are dead wrong. The positive effects on the body and mind that fasting has makes it almost impossible to regain weight, ESPECIALLY if you follow through and obtain your goal.

Fasting 2

Over my journey these are some of the things that I’ve used to enhance my abilities and become a stronger man. I’ve pushed to become a better person my whole life in order to achieve my goals and what I’ve realized is that it’s all connected. The way you treat yourself, the things you put ur energy into, all have an effect on who you become. For me I want to reach my potential, so I put my energy into my own training. I would rather have nothing but be mentally and physically capable then to be rich and useless. You never know what tomorrow brings so invest in yourself!!

Conclusion 

I’ve spent my whole life improving myself in any way I can, and these are some of the things I’ve learned! 

Making myself a top tier human

Placido Amendolia