I have just returned from a mind-blowing weekend in London of Shiva Rae and Paul Mort. Quite contrasting people from opposite sides of the world, both working in different ways with different tools to enrich and empower the people in front of them so they can enrich others.

If you don’t know these people here is a quick bio :

Shiva Rea is a leading teacher of transformational Prana Flow Yoga and Yoga Trance Dance™. Her studies  in the Krishnamacharya lineage, Tantra, Ayurveda, Bhakti, Kalaripayattu,  world dance, yogic art and somatic movement infuse her approach to living yoga and embodying the flow. She is known for bringing the roots of yoga alive for modern practitioners in creative, dynamic and  life-transforming ways and for offering the synthesis form of vinyasa flow out in the world.

As a global adventurer, she has led over 70 retreats and pilgrimages nationally and internationally as well as served as a creative catalyst for conferences, festivals and actions for the environment, yoga and the arts including the third annual Yogini Conference of Kripalu and Omega. Shiva writes for Yoga Journal and is the author of award-winning CD’s and DVD’s to empower and transform yoga home practice. She lives with her family near their favourite surf break at Sunset Beach in Pacific Palisades, California.

Paul Mort is a husband, a high performing businessman and leader of other business people, lover of boxing, British Ju Jitsu, author, world class international speaker, UK Master Coach of the year for 2019 and 2020. He also runs a podcast, Paul Mort Talks Sh*t, whose guests have included boxer Tyson Fury, Who Dares Wins’ Ollie Ollerton and comedian Chris Ramsey, who is also from South Shields and who praised Paul for his “great work”. Paul runs trainings online and face to face for both men and women who want to upgrade their life skills, and mindset. I find his work particularly helpful with my Pilates studio and personal understanding and perspective of what the universe throws in front of me. Paul’s particular passion started from his own bipolar and depression mental health issues and he chose to take disregard his diagnosis and turn his perception and reaction around by helping other men with mental health, business and personal issues. From there his business grew and grew.

 

  1. Your perspective – When a photographer does not like their lens view, they change their perspective. This may be by moving themselves, moving what is front of them or changing the lens. In life we expect everyone to think the same, act the same and behave the same. This is especially true of family members and relatives. Because we are connected, emotions run higher. If we are to truly understand each other, we need to be better listeners and look at our own actions. Every day we live by habits perceived from our choices. If our behaviour, actions and habits do not serve us , it is our responsibility to take an adult perspective and change them.
  2. Our belief system – As I learnt through Paul Chek’s totem pole, our belief system dictates everything in life. This should be the first thing that we question every day. Any “ism” worth living is worth questioning. Every day I always question is my life, my habits and actions serving me. Remember 95% of our behaviour is unconscious, hence it is so hard for people who have lost weight to keep it off, as they go back to their old patterns. 5% of behaviour is conscious. This is why it’s so important to understand where our belief system has come from – schooling, religion, governments, media, parenting and so on.
  3. Is it working? If what you are doing is working, whether it’s business, losing weight, relationships, reducing inflammation, improving health, decreasing injury and pain, solving money problems and communication in relationship problems, then you should be a product of how to live instead of not how to live. I always question health measures that people tell me. Firstly, is there money involved? Who sponsored the medical paper? Finally, are they an living example that their product works and gives results?
  4. Judgement – Every time we judge we just create separation and segregation. Remember people’s behaviour is a result of where they are mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually, not where you think they should be. Our minds are constantly trying to make sense of our world, forming judgements and opinions about every situation, event and interaction. Those judgements and opinions will be affected by our central or core belief system. It is as though we are looking at the world through distorted or coloured lenses – and everyone has their own personal prescription or colour for their glasses.

    Core belief system comprises:

  • How I think about myself
  • How I think about others
  • How I think about the world

Our core belief system is formed and influenced by:

  • Past experiences
  • Childhood upbringing
  • Culture
  • Faith
  • Values
  • Current circumstances
  • Character traits, including genetic influences
  1. Negative Vs Positive – There is no negative without positive. It is the yin/yang effect. For every positive review you see at my studios or on my social media, there will always be someone disappointed because of what I have taught, done, said or written does not match what they think I should be doing or how the studio is operating. Remember this is nothing personal and is a reflection of that person and where they currently are on the planet. The challenge becomes getting the yin and yang in balance. We are forever wanting more rest, more sleep, more energy and to reduce inflammation but our actions and what we see, listen and taste are predominately CATABOLIC (break down). We can attain balance by working on our yin qualities, two examples being sleep and breathwork. Sleep is free and is an incredible repairer and balancer of the body’s systems and hormones. Breathwork is powerful and depicts the state of the body and ability to repair from illness and injury.

Conclusion

Sometimes it’s useful to use a metaphor to help us consider the bigger picture. When something is distressing us, we’re so close to it, emotionally involved with it, part of it – that makes it really hard to stand back from what’s happening. It’s like the well-known saying “We can’t see the wood for the trees”, or like ‘Google Earth’ – we see the close-up view, but we can’t see anything else. Drama, crisis, gossip and emotions are what all soap operas and reality TV are made of. We cannot see that bigger picture when we get too involved.

We can zoom out our view and see the bigger picture. We could call this the Helicopter View. As the helicopter takes off, getting higher and higher, it sees a bigger and bigger picture, and is less involved with the detail at ground level.

Bibliography

Paul Mort

Paul Chek

Shiva Are

So if you are to transcend resistance by stepping outside your comfort zone to unlock your infinite potential and get the body you deserve, DM me your email and cell phone.

#NishaPerspective

In the meantime. Here are three ways I can help you:

1.Join me for my 6-week discovery face to face private and semi-private course. Taking you through the fundamentals of movement on all the apparatus. You will build mobility and flexibility using the tower, Core strength using the reformer and traction of the major joints using the Garuda sling. DM your email and #6weekdiscovery

  1. Access over 250 sequences using Pilates, yoga, functional movement with our Online TV Channel: ‘The Art of Pilates’. Sign up here: https://www.pilatesmanchester.com/pilates-tv-channel/
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