Age and Experience
By Gael Chiarella Alba

Published Diva Toolbox  (April 1, 2009)

I was recently asked what I might advise women to expect given economic crisis and my - ahem - previous experience with "hard times."

I appreciate the question, certainly, and can easily understand the implication that I've had my own share of them! At the age of 57 this is my second "recession"... I feel quite expert in some weird way.  In the early 90's I was a divorcing suburban Mom with two kids and a house soon to be in foreclosure.  Today I'm a successful woman business owner who still finds benefit in doing the very same things I did way back then, and I wouldn't give it up for the world.

Before I get to that though - a word on where I am now.  I said I'm 57, an admission that sometimes has both men and women cringing as if I just hung out the dirty sox!
I do believe that those of us who are strong enough to do so must stand in our strength, and in our beauty, and stop that nonsense that younger is better!  Younger isn't better - it's just younger.  The stage is set for Wisdom to arrive through the days of our youth, and as we become the wise women we truly are, we must stand for that and not something shy and reticent.

In addition to protecting your right to be the age you are then, and the wisdom that you surely carry because of it, remember who you are and give of yourself to the women following in your footsteps.  Have faith, and shine that light to those who look to you for some measure of security, for this most of all is the gift you can give.

In addition, my tried and true remedy for any age and stage of a woman's life include:

1 - Protect your credit.  Protect your name
2 - Take care of your health and fitness.  These are priority goals necessary to combat stress.
3 - Appreciate what you have - every day in every way.  Relish relationships and sunsets and raindrops and fresh air.  Use the good dishes.
4 - Allow that even when you can't see the forest for the trees...the forest is still there.  The fabric of your life is winding it's way toward your own fulfillment.  Create community and share.
5 - Honor the simplicity of everyday possibilities.  I have had more great times at my own dinner table with friends and pot luck than all my wonderful restaurant memories put together (and I've been fortunate to have had plenty of those too!)
6 - Last - and not least - have faith.  Practice for yourself whatever that means - but DO practice.  Find time every day to meditate, pray, journal, breathe, commune and/or whatever keeps you in touch with the part of you that is infinitely safe no matter what.

For more thoughts on the subject check out http//gaelsyokibics.blogspot.com/ where I welcome your comments.

Blessings to all as you smile your most beautiful smile!
Gael  

From divatoolbox   @Yokibics http://tinyurl.com/cbznts

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PhillyFit Magazine
The Mindbody Fitness Column “ Ask Gael…”

Installment 1
Gael Chiarella

Are you confused about what kind of Mindbody Fitness class is right for you?  Do you want to learn more about meditation? Are you wondering if any of this stuff can really help you in a practical sense (I personally like the ever popular “can you really loose weight doing any of this stuff?!”) The questions keep rollin’ in, so I’m taking it on to answer your questions large and small, and help you figure it all out.

With the kind of experience under my belt to affectionately be called a pioneer in the field of Mindbody Fitness, I can see the problem.  Now I’m not Methuselah mind you, so if I see the rise in the temperature of our fitness consciousness to be dramatic, then it has also been quick. Within the framework of just 40 short years, the fitness industry in America has gone from virtually non-existent to having enough permutations to support classes on every corner and certifications galore.

For those of you who remember Jack LaLanne on black and white TV being the exercise venue of choice, you know what I mean! This stuff is new to our culture and really just beginning to find its way. Add in the components of mindbody programming and things get confusing fast.  Take yoga for example.  The most frequently asked question I answered when I began my career was “what’s yoga?”…seriously!)  Now you have to go out of your way to avoid it – and just to confuse you, no two forms are alike… 

While we’re all thankfully getting in touch with our need for balance, with choice comes the need to define.  So that ‘what’s yoga’ question is still a good one, for this particular form of mindbody fitness like many others is now recognized, but infrequently understood for its depth and its scope.  Because we are so intent on our definition of “fitness” involving physical exercise, we’ve sort of lost the roots from which it has all come.  ‘All roads lead to Rome’ said the Romans – and mindbody fitness is sort of like that.  All yoga leads to yoking – or that’s the idea anyway.

There are eight limbs in the system, with only one of those limbs (asana) involving movement. Yet within that one limb there are many schools. The other seven limbs make up the body of the tree, or the whole of the practice.  They involve breathing practices, mind clearing techniques, concentration exercises, consciousness raising, lifestyle choices, ritual practices, meditation techniques and the suspension of everyday consciousness into a blending with the divine source of joy. That’s a far cry from a conversation limited to six-pack abs or thin thighs. I hear people comment “oh I can’t do yoga, I’m too stiff!” You’re not supposed to “do” yoga in the first place!  You’re there to BE yoga! Experience, surrender, give in and find yourself, and in the process of finding yourself, you’ll demonstrate ever increasing levels of health, flexibility, radiance and peace.

With all the forms and choices and schools out there now, what are some of the guidelines that you can use to find the class that’s right for you?  I’ve been fortunate (and dedicated) enough to have studied with many of our living yoga masters in their journey West, and I guarantee you they all say something similar – but in very different ways.

So here’s the deal…if you want to engage in the true spirit of the work, beware when you hear someone say “MY way is the right way.” No one way has a lock on all the goods.  If you hit on a teacher who sounds holier than thou, run for the hills.  Seriously. That hierarchy type of engagement is, in the end, quite the opposite of the mindbody fitness intended purpose. 

The road you must take then, is the one that is the best fit for you
Whether you are drawn to tai chi, palates, yoga, flow class, mat class, meditation, sacred dance or that new ‘whatever’, here is the best advice I can give you when sniffing out your own needs.

1. Experiment! You are a participant in your own outcome.  Get involved and enjoy what you’re doing.
2. The very purpose of mindbody fitness is to help you get in touch with your mind, body and spirit as one.  Physical prowess is the result of the practice but not the primary goal. Peace and balance are the goals. 
3. Observe the results, but release your attachment to the specifics.  You may never have thin thighs in this lifetime.  That’s alright.
4. If it feels bad, pushy or competitive, then you’re in the wrong place.
5. Keep experimenting till you find the place that feels right to you AND the right teacher.  Some people actually respond better to a more aerobic form of movement, others need more meditation or perhaps chanting.  If you’re used to kick-butt asana practice, please know it’s not ‘wrong’ to chant …just a different form of moving your bodymind using the vibration of sound. It’s all matter of balance after all.
6. Oh yes – the question about loosing weight doing this stuff (I didn’t forget…) Balance is the result of practicing any worthwhile mindbody fitness program.  Balance affects the human system in all ways.  Moods, sleep cycles, muscle tonus, and yes, weight.  This is not about calorie counting as we have been taught to believe, but rather achieving homeostasis (the natural state of balance that your body is endlessly seeking) and once achieved your natural perfect weight is a given.

Next column I’ll discuss the advantages of adding meditation to your routine, and answer a couple of your questions.  Write to AskGael@phillyfit.com

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PhillyFit Magazine
Mindbody Fitness Column: “Ask Gael”

Installment 2

I mentioned in my last installment addressing the advantage of adding meditation to your fitness routine.  I am finding that there is a precursor to that without which the entire subject falls short.

The topic is CONTENTMENT, and boy is that a good one when it comes to performance, body image, or age. 

What a wonderful topic!  I think I'm an expert...and I can say this for sure:  contentment does NOT depend on circumstance, nor is it somehow meant for the lucky few who seem to "have it all."

Far from it in my book. 

Contentment relates to one single quality - an attitude that CAN be cultivated...one that relates to choice, and conscious agreement, and the observation of what IS. 

Contentment is found in the joy inherent in simply being alive.  Period. 

You say you want something more complicated?  That your particular circumstances have created a special dispensation from contented living? Ahhhh…that’s too bad. Thst’s a device of the mind that says your view of things (being a certain way) is the right view of things - you know, the way things 'SHOULD' be! More comfortable somehow, or luckier.  "If only..." blah blah.  Here’s a good question! What in heavens' name gave you the idea of that??  Suddenly death is not a part of life?  Since when did the inhale stop depending on the exhale?

And who was it that said "simple" means "easy"?  Not me, that's for sure!

In 1994, while living in NY I lost my 23 year marriage - one that had taken most of my quite tenacious emotional resource just to maintain.  Upon that loss, my older son went off to school in Colorado and my younger son soon followed, shattering my lifelong dream of a close knit family.  I soon lost much of my business, and then my house.  Foreclosure can bite hard, but it was just another lesson in letting go. 

Friends and family rallied and I never felt alone, but when my oldest suffered a severe injury and I had to go to Colorado, no one could REALLY help me at all. All that was left was what was with me all the while - life itself. MY life. You can call it spirit, consciousness, divinity, self-awareness, choice, the knowing of 'something more' or an understanding of the greater good.  Whatever term you use, the feeling is the same. You have an over-riding and abiding APPRECIATION of being given another day to participate, WHATEVER the content!  How dare we humans complain?  How absolutely ungrateful we are to suck up the preciousness of life experience and then judge it to be somehow inferior!  "Boy THAT was lousy" we say over and over.  Well SO BE IT and so it becomes!

You want contentment?  Then choose to live, and choose it with the fullness of every thought, emotion and desire.  Take it all in, and in all of its glory. Take the "good" with the "bad" and stop complaining for heavens sake.  OK, now breathe.  Breathe again.  Slow down. Look around.  Smell,.. taste,.. touch,.. love.    Rework your mind to SEE what you DO have rather than what you are missing.  It is choice after all that will bring you the goods.

What then is the benefit of such Pollyanna thinking?  You become attractive and enriched instead of victimized by circumstance, that's what.  Opportunities occur.  People arrive.  Support unfolds.  Miracles happen! Oh not like some mysterious weirdness, but miracles by design!  Life really IS good - if you accept it on its own terms, not the crazy illusions of your imagination!

Today my son is fine and prospering at his career.  My youngest has developed perseverance and a great aptitude for innovation.  I have moved out of NY, bought a beautiful townhouse (on my own steam) and met the man of my dreams right here in my new Pennsylvania hometown.  Our wedding will be the celebration of all that has come before and all that is yet to be.  The times aren't "better" these days, just different.  The contentment that life IS remains.

If I had to sum up a recipe for contentment using the old tried and true KISS method, it would be the following:

1. Change what you can
2. Release the need to change what you can't
3. Work on yourself in any and every way to develop the wisdom to know the difference.

Sound familiar? I'm not the first to say this, nor will I be the last.  I'm just somebody who ‘gets it’, and with joyful abandon, I say "yes"!  Come onboard now...life is waiting...contentment is here, and the act of meditation is only a breath away.

Next installment we’ll address specific skills that can increase the meditative quality of any program.

Smile-on!  

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One Woman’s Journey toward Yoga

By Gael Chiarella RYT
Founder of Yokibics

Published in The Hofstra University Faculty News

In the mid 70’s I was right out of college and my life as an “adult” was about to begin. I had a job, a wonderful boyfriend, a dream and a desire.  I was going to continue my education, get my doctorate in psychology, and then get married, raise my kids, and be happy. 

Psych studies intrigued me!  The minds’ capacity to help – or to hinder – left me endlessly wanting more skills, more know-how, and greater expertise.  I wanted to help my fellow man and really make a difference. Well, seek and thou shall find.  In my case, I got an apprenticeship at Creedmore State Psychiatric Center.  What a journey!  Even the sounds in that place spelled agony.  The thing was, there was no skill, tool, or technique I’d been taught that seemed to make things much better there.  And I wasn’t being taught what I needed to know while continuing my education in school either.  Frustrated and disillusioned, I knew there had to be more.

For balance, I’d head out to a dance class, or study with my martial arts teacher and I really loved to ski…hard.

It took just a couple of years ‘till I felt the first twinges of pain.  My back was often tender.  My knees “went out.”  I looked busy and successful, with a house and two kids besides all the rest…if only this nagging in my body would just go away…

Pain dragged me to my initial visit with the doctor, who offered the dreaded diagnosis of “overuse injuries.”  How could this be?  I had been encouraged - applauded - for my skill in classical ballet from the age of 5!  Next there was gymnastics, sports, aerobic dance.  I worked hard.  I was good.  And I was still so young!  Then lurking behind my pain was the singular fear - “how was I going to find my way if I couldn’t even move?” 

A friend recommended yoga.  Now, you have to realize that yoga in the 70’s and  80’s was weird territory.  I had taken some classes at my local Y a few years before, and thought the teacher there was out of her mind.  She talked endlessly about herbal tea and nirvana, and the movements were so awfully SLOW!  Nonetheless, with the specter of knee surgery, and the recommended back brace looming, I decided to take the plunge again. 

I had heard that yoga could open a person to some life altering experiences.  I also knew that there was a mental component to the practice, I just didn’t think I’d get there drinking tea.

Skeptically, I set out to find freedom from my pain. The first of my new teachers was masterful. As he invited the class to breathe, he said to me - off handedly, mind you - that the breath I was taking was only survival breathing.  Yup, just enough to keep me from dropping dead!

Now, there’s an interesting thought... and it felt reassuring on some level to have the awareness that I had a choice in the matter.  It dawned on me that the practice of conscious breathing, ”pranayama”, was actually the relationship we have with energy, and that I had the possibility, indeed the invitation, to become a far more conscious, awake and aware partner with LIFE!  My previous self was looking at others, helping others, whatever-ing others.  This new self was looking inward, and it was a completely unique experience. 

Over time, as I began to breathe with my pain, the most amazing thing happened.  It began to shift, to pulse, to dim, and then fade.

I was hooked!  What better, more fulfilling, practical study could I engage in?  This was the study of the infinite possibilities inside of…ME! 

That moment of realization changed my life direction.  I switched my area of schooling from mind, to bodymind. The postural practices of asana, or “hatha yoga”, and the breath practices of pranayama slowly brought me into relationship with the six additional branches of yoga that comprise a life study. 

Called “The Eight Limbs”, they are:

• Asana, the practice of physical postures leading to health, flexibility, balance and strength in each of the bodies’ systems.
• Pranayama, specialized breath techniques that increase the capacity of the body to experience radiant health and super-conscious states of awareness
• Yama, the practice of clarity and truthfulness and cleaning up negative thinking.
• Niyama, cleaning up your outer environment, creating sacred space and honoring the rituals that connect you with Nature and the Divine.
• Prathyahara, releasing the need for constant stimulation, entertainment and sense satisfaction.
• Dharana, the practice of concentration, mental strength and focus.
• Dhyana, mindful meditation becoming the observant witness who truly lives the present moment.
• Samadhi, the eternal oneness you feel with any and all aspects of life when pure love is experienced.

 

It was in the presence of all eight limbs that I found the answer to my quest. 
It was a quiet transition, a light, gentle breeze, but I recognized it when it happened.  I found how to live.  

My life work has changed dramatically since that first introduction.  I took bold steps into the unknown and created the career of my dreams.  I had to let go of people and beliefs that stood in the way.  I had to look crazy to some, unrealistic to others.  I certainly had to withstand the tests that were planted firmly on the path, but my pain is gone, my children are safe, and in my 30 years of practice, I’ve come up with some interesting insights from a life that continues to be well lived.

• Wherever you go, there you are (you’ve heard this before) and there is nothing more important in life than getting to know yourself.
• Breath IS life!  Take in as much as you can, and let go with ease.
• Your thoughts are a choice.  So is what you do with them.
• Make time for miracles.  It’s always easier to just open the door than to have it beaten down.
• Listen to your body.  Feelings of peace and well-being will show up as health.  Negative or conflicted feelings will manifest in “symptoms.”
• You each have your own unique genius.  You can best access its’ wisdom in the quiet moments, so learn to meditate, and listen up!
• There is no better than Here - just different.
• Being is different than Having.  You can BE whatever you desire when you simply choose to be. 
• Release your need to understand. You can use technology before you understand how the circuits are wired. It’s the same with yoga.  Just do it.
•  Yoga is a practice.  Practice makes perfect.  Without practice, it’s just a thought, so get in gear and begin your practice now. 

May the road rise to meet you, and the wind be always at your back.

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Mind Yourself at the Table

Published Demo Dirt
Written by Galia Myron Wednesday, 19 August 2009 14:11 

Yoga and mindful eating may prevent weight gain and shed pounds.  
As experts seek out new ways to fight the obesity epidemic, looking to an ancient practice for answers may be the key to battle excess weight, experts say. Mindful eating, associated with regular yoga practice, has proven to help prevent middle-age weight gain in normal weight people and overweight individuals shed extra pounds, research says.

A recent study confirms what previous research presented—that increased body awareness, particularly an improved sensitivity to hunger and satiety, may better explain yoga’s positive effects on weight management than the calorie-burning from the of the activity itself.
  
"In our earlier study, we found that middle-age people who practice yoga gained less weight over a 10-year period than those who did not. This was independent of physical activity and dietary patterns. We hypothesized that mindfulness—a skill learned either directly or indirectly through yoga—could affect eating behavior," researcher Alan Kristal, Dr.P.H, said in a public statement.
  
Kristal is the associate head of the Cancer Prevention Program in the Public Health Sciences Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, located in Seattle, WA.
  
“These findings fit with our hypothesis that yoga increases mindfulness in eating and leads to less weight gain over time, independent of the physical activity aspect of yoga practice," explained Kristal, who is also a professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health.
  
"Mindful eating is a skill that augments the usual approaches to weight loss, such as dieting, counting calories and limiting portion sizes. Adding yoga practice to a standard weight-loss program may make it more effective," he added.
  
These findings come at a time when the obesity epidemic, despite public concern, is continuing to grow, especially among children. The practice of yoga has increased in popularity over the last two decades, says Gael Chiarella Alba, founder of The Yokibics Institute for Personal Development.
  
“In the late 80s and early 90s, there were no yoga schools,” Alba says. “Fitness at the time was more about big muscles, looking good, anorexia, and judgmental and unhealthy habits.”
  
Things have changed, she tells demo dirt. “Today every fitness club that I have been to, has many yoga classes, and now there are yoga centers all over,” she notes.
  
Popular culture uses the image of the yoga practitioner as a symbol of good health and clean living, Alba adds. “On Madison Avenue, it is now popular to use a yoga person to sell products,” she maintains. ”The picture of a yoga person is becoming fashionable to signify someone who is healthy and calm and on the right track.”
  
Though there are eight limbs of yoga, not all of them speak to the physical body, Alba says. “It is like making a big pizza pie, when you choose to take a slice, you are entering into the whole pie, you eat one slice, but you can meander around the periphery of the pie,” she explains.
  
America, Alba says, has truly embraced the physical aspect of yoga. “Right down the yoga-inspired lines of clothing,” she remarks.
  
The tendency to eat mindfully is a natural outcome of practicing yoga, Alba explains, citing three tenets of yoga that are particularly useful in this area: pratyahara, santosa, and dharana.

Pratyahara refers to the control of the senses, withdrawing oneself form that which nourishes the senses. “When you engage in pratyahara you also enable yourself to appreciate the senses and do it mindfully,” Alba explains. “If you study yoga, you are being asked to have a different relationship with your sense of taste and sense of nourishment, and you are engaged in nourishment in the same way you are engaged on your mat. It is a beautiful quality of appreciation, gratitude and joy.”

“Santosa is the practice of contentment. In conscious eating, being in a good relationship with food begins with being content with the quality of the deliciousness of food on your plate, and being content with a normal or healthy amount of food on you plate,” Alba continues.  
“Dharana means concentration and cultivating inner awareness with your own perceptions,” she concludes. “If you study yoga, how can you not want to practice concentration while you are eating? If I am concentrating while eating, there is more time taken, less shoving, more chewing, and better digestion.”
As worries about the economy continue plague Americans and gym and other recreational memberships wane, can yoga still be counted on as tool to fight the spread of obesity?
  
“The people I know who practice yoga actually save money because they don’t need medical prescriptions,” Alba explains. “As yoga becomes more popular, it also becomes easier to afford for the customer. If you want to start, just buy a mat, a DVD and go for it!”

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Fit for the Job

Will the athletic First Couple get Americans moving?

www.demodirt.com 
January 26, 2009

Friends say she works out like a "gladiator," and political insiders say his pre-debate workouts were nearly as vital to his success as knowing his stuff. Michelle and Barack Obama, whose exercise habits have been widely noted, may well be one of the most athletic First Couples to ever set their sneakers into the White House.

With the U.S. facing record-high obesity statistics and skyrocketing health costs, the Obamas certainly set a good example to American citizens, many of whom claim they don't have the time, energy, or resources for fitness. Will people follow their lead? Many fitness experts hope so, and that the country will finally get moving in the right direction, in more ways than one.

Men's Fitness magazine Editor-in-Chief Roy S. Johnson says that yes, President Obama will make a strong role model for Americans and he is setting a powerful example as one of the fittest-if not the fittest-Presidents in our lifetime. The magazine has recognized Obama twice for his devotion to good health, naming him one of the "25 Fittest Men in America" in 2005 and 2008.

Obama and his wife Michelle, Johnson says, are superb role models whether they are in or out of the gym. "They have already demonstrated their ability to do what great leaders do and that's set great examples," he explains. "How they handle themselves, how they handle their children, how they are with each other-they will influence the American public by setting the bar high, and being fit is certainly part of that."

The new President's admirably cool, calm demeanor, Johnson says, may be at least partially due to his unwavering dedication to exercise. "He takes care of his body and makes being fit a priority," he says. "The benefits of that are clear. He possesses clarity and a sense of calm that is one of the benefits of regular exercise. He is able to handle stress and part of his ability to stay calm in the midst of everything is because he spends time in the gym to work off that stress."

Obama's commitment to fitness, his energy and his drive, Johnson contends, mean more to Americans than his just having a healthy body. "The country has clearly demonstrated its desire for a fresh change, which starts with policy and tone but also, we want to say 'Hey, let's relax and have a president who looks cool and deals with it,'" he explains. "The country seems to be ready for a fresh take on leadership and he certainly is giving us that."

Keeping fit, he adds, is key to being a winner, no matter what one's line of work. "It is something we preach every day and month on our website [www.mensfitness.com]. We are ecstatic that we have a President that makes fitness a regular part of his life," Johnson tells demo dirt. "When you look good, you feel good, and that puts you in a better position to win. You become more fit mentally as well as physically, and you give yourself the opportunity to achieve."

And if the President can give himself that opportunity, maybe more people will follow his lead. "Yes, indeed, the workout habits of Americans will be affected by our new President and First Lady," agrees Kathi Casey, ERYT, CPI, also known as the Healthy Boomer Body Expert (www.kathicaseypilates.com).

Casey says that Americans have fallen in love with First Couples before, and frequently emulate their style and fashion sense. It is natural for them to also be interested in, and follow, their fitness habits.

"As we all know, history repeats itself and many comparisons have been made regarding the Obamas and the Kennedys," Casey continues. "When the Kennedys were in the White House, women's fashions completely changed. Suddenly every woman was wearing pillbox hats, long, white gloves and dying her hair dark."

Yoga trendsetter Gael Chiarella Alba, president of Yokibics (www.yokibics.com), a NY-based yoga practice, agrees. "As a nation we are already deeply engaged in observing their speaking habits, their clothing choices, their hairstyles and their family values," she says.

"I think that it is not only possible, it is likely that if the first lady and President of the United States show America that they can keep a fitness routine, it will send the message that if they can, you can!" says L.A.-based personal trainer J.J. Flizanes, CPT,  and director of wellness company Invisible Fitness (www.invisiblefitness.com).

Flizanes also adds that as the couple influences fashion trends, fitness trends may soon follow. "From what I understand about our new President, I would only hope he would want to continue to be a role model in every way to the millions of people looking at him for inspiration," she says.

Casey compares the Obama celebrity influence to that of another well-loved, powerful African American who has focused on wellness. "When Oprah Winfrey recommends a book or a diet plan large percentages of households in America suddenly own that book or start that diet plan," she notes. "Currently we have both the First Family and Oprah Winfrey speaking up about the importance of exercise, proper diet and how these affect one's health, wealth and life."

Fitness professionals are excited that the First Couple is so health-oriented. "I can only be grateful-and amazed-at finally seeing the positioning of fitness at the top of our Nation's priorities via the personages of Barack and Michelle Obama," Alba says.  
Like Johnson, she feels that their example reaches beyond fitness. "The Obamas are in the spotlight for being and doing all that is necessary to bring the nation back into balance so that we can have the result," she says.

Who will be most influenced by the Obama fitness regimen? The young people, who look up to them as role models, or their peers, who may readily identify with them? Perhaps even older adults?
Johnson maintains that the Obama image will definitely encourage men to take better care of themselves. "I certainly think men will be affected," he says. "The guy looks good, he looks good in a suit, he is cool, and he's got game on the basketball court."

Obama's contemporaries may be the most influenced, he says. "Forty-year-olds across America will see that as the new bar, the standard that is set. They will say to themselves, 'The Internet is buzzing because of his physique, then why can't I get a physique like that?'"

Casey says that she feels all age groups will be affected, but in different ways. "I believe that the over-50 population-of which I am a member-is a population that is interested in spending our 'retirement' in second careers that we love, and in remaining healthy and fit until we leave the planet," she explains, adding that this group also wants to avoid the health problems that its parents suffered, such as hip and knee replacements, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer's disease.

Of course, she adds, looking good doesn't hurt either. "I mean, really, Michelle Obama looks fabulous!" she says.

"Americans in their thirties and forties will attempt to add something from the Obamas' fitness plan into their own personal fitness plan," Casey contends.

Johnson agrees, saying that many may look at the Obama routine to integrate some of those habits into their own lives, and that even if they don't expect to emulate every move, the couple gives Americans "something to aspire to."

"Younger generations," Casey says, "will look to the Obamas for changes in many categories like health care, benefits such as reductions in premiums for disease prevention, and maintaining good health habits or credits for gym memberships."

As for the oft-cited reason for slacking off on one's workout routine-not enough time-will the pubic rethink that objection knowing that two of the busiest people in the world fit it into their schedules?

Perhaps, but don't count on it, says one fitness professional.
"The most common excuse made by people is that of insufficient time. It definitely will make some people realize that making time for fitness is possible for anyone, but it won't necessarily change anyone's habits," warns Stefan Pinto, a Miami-based fitness motivator, writer, model and television actor (www.pintofactory.com).

People who are motivated make the time, he argues. "Nothing will ever get accomplished, [such as] quitting smoking, losing weight, or writing a book, unless you are ready and willing-it doesn't matter how much time you have," Pinto maintains. "The intention and the desire must be there. Then the time will come naturally."

Yoga expert Alba agrees the Obamas exemplify that making that time starts from within. "Since 'be-do-have' is a time-tested formula for success in any endeavor, both have repeatedly reiterated that it begins with the individual," she says. "As President Obama calls on us for action as a nation-and as we respond with a resounding 'Yes we can!'-so too will all the actions required for balance as individuals fall into place, whether we realize it consciously or not. This includes becoming more fit."

Dr. Warren Willey, author of What Does Your Doctor Look Like Naked?: Your Guide to Optimal Health, does not want Americans to focus so much on exercise that they dismiss the importance of a proper diet. He names several factors, including having strong role models, as important keys to leading a healthy lifestyle.

"The health practices of our new leaders are a great encouragement to our country. Long-term compliance to exercise protocols has demonstrated that role models, along with a low probability of injury (low impact, low-to-moderate intensity, and shorter duration), group participation, emphasis on variety and fun (games used as a proxy for exercise), use of personal goals and contracts, support network (friends, family, and spouse), and monitoring of progress are essential for success," he wrote demo dirt in an email interview. 

"It is essential however, that our President and his family's eating habits are also recognized as a very important key to their overall health," Willey notes. "Dietary and nutritional practices are the key to any successful weight loss and health attainment attempt, more so than exercise habits."

Of course, Johnson notes, with Obama's struggle to quit smoking and his French fry habit, even our fit new President can stand to make a few improvements.

"No one is perfect," he says.

However, Johnson adds, it is important that as Americans work to achieve their fitness goals, that they keep in mind that experts, including those at Men's Fitness, want people to enjoy a healthy balance. "We preach everything in moderation," he says. "Live your life."