Baldwin - The living clearly method: 5 principles for a fit body, healthy mind & joyful life

The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper exercise training. All forms of exercise pose some inherent risks. The editors and publisher advise readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limits. Before practicing the exercises in this book, be sure that your equipment is well-maintained, and do not take risks beyond your level of experience, aptitude, training, and fitness. The exercise and dietary programs in this book are not intended as a substitute for any exercise routine or dietary regimen that may have been prescribed by your doctor. As with all exercise and dietary programs, you should get your doctors approval before beginning.

Mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities in this book does not imply endorsement by the author or publisher, nor does mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities imply that they endorse this book, its author, or the publisher.

Internet addresses and telephone numbers given in this book were accurate at the time it went to press. 2016 by Hilaria Baldwin

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Page numbers listed below refer to the print edition.

Photographs Justin Steele: iiiii, vvi, xii, 9 (bottom), 15, 18, 22, 27, 30, 37, 41, 44, 50, 52, 55-56, 59, 65, 86, 89, 94, 96, 99, 102, 108, 112, 121, 130, 135-136, 144, 148, 153, 156, 185, 197, 201, 229-230, 232, 235, 239-240, 242, 245-248

Photographs Rodale Inc. by Mitch Mandel/Rodale Images: viii, 10, 34, 4649, 62, 66, 6874, 7879, 81, 90-93, 101, 105107, 116, 124127, 143, 147, 160, 163-164, 167-168, 177, 181, 186, 191, 194, 198, 204, 206, 213, 218, 221, 243, 250

Photographs Courtesy of Hilaria Baldwin: 5, 9 (top), 116, 140

Book design: Rae Ann Spitzenberger

Food stylist: Lisa Homa

Prop stylist: Stephanie Hanes

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-62336-698-8 paperback
ISBN 978-1-62336-699-5 e-book

We inspire health, healing, happiness, and love in the world. Starting with you.

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This book is dedicated to youwho, like me, always dreamed of a better life, desires the perspective to know you deserve happiness, craves the discipline to master breathing deeply, seeks to ground your life into a fulfilling reality, has the playfulness to find balance in a tumultuous world, and has the courage to let go of negativity, even if it feels unfamiliar. Take my hand, lets do this together.

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

As a young girl, years before i found yoga, my gymnastics coach told me the secret to overcoming my frustration and confusion at mastering complicated moves: Theres a recipe for all of them.

He meant that the tricky tumbling move or intricate vault exercise was actually a series of small steps. Run at the board; spring off the board; hands on vault; tuck chin; lift pelvis. Put the steps in the right sequence and the movement will unfold the way you need it to, with a clean and solid landing as the result.

It clicked. Instead of throwing myself wildly into a tricky exercise and getting banged up and angry as I failed, I followed the recipe, focusing on the first step, then the second step, then the third. This had the strangest effect: Time seemed to stretch open, I was fully inside the moment, and I felt a calm sense of control. It was like moving in slow motion and turning a blurry and confusing rush into a clear sequence of frames. To the outside world, the exercise might have looked impossibly fast and complex, but inside I was methodically and calmly executing each part of the movement and enjoying it, too.

I have thought of this lesson many times in the years since, both in my personal journey of overcoming struggles that left me feeling lost and in guiding other people on their journeys as a yoga teacher. It was an early lesson in living with awarenessbeing present to life as you are living it. I needed to stop going at life and rather be in life, feeling the full experience of what I was doing in each moment, instead of rushing desperately toward a goal. The gymnastics recipes helped me perceive the path in front of me so I could make one choice after another to get where I wanted to go. Gymnastics wasnt easy, and it was inherently effortfulbut it was less complicated than I was making it.

As Ive gotten older, and as my reality has become more layered and complex, I have found this to be a metaphor for making my way through life with less struggle and more meaning and joy. There are ways to slow down the rush of modern life and not feel whisked along at its mercy. There are simple recipes for perceiving the path we want to be on and making the choices to achieve our goals and dreamsbe it wanting a healthier body, better relationships, more fulfilling work, or something else entirely. And there are techniques to snap out of the fog of confusion and into clarity, the place where we are present in each moment, not missing a beat, and enjoying more of it.

When I developed the Living Clearly Method as an evolution of my yoga teaching about 10 years ago, my goal was to have a system for making change that anybody could useyoga practitioner or not. It consisted of five simple principles taught through body awarenessperspective, breathing, grounding, balance, and letting gothat could be used in any situation to combat negative patterns of behavior, clear out ways that arent working, and make way for something new. It was, I quickly realized, a recipe for living better, my own recipe, inspired by a combination of the yoga practice I had come to love so deeply and the students who came to class.

I began testing this recipe in real life, taking it off the yoga mat and using it to come back to myself any time I was dragged off courseand soon, I began sharing these strategies with my students. Together, we discovered a formula we could use to click back into clarity when we were lostwhether in mundane complaints or serious periods of suffering. The Five Principles were a recipe for slowing down the rush and opening up the moment into a series of manageable stepsnot to execute an aerial on the balance beam, but to navigate the ups and downs of everyday life.