Blog

This video blog is number four in a six part series showcasing the Dojiva Online Studio. 

When you have 1/2 an hour spare, hit play on the above video.

Dojiva is a membership site with a great variety of 'lifestyle' strategies that help you restore, maintain and even develop your strength and vitality. As of June 2021, the archive has over 225 videos and audios with topics such as:

• Strength training - One hour classes with functional exercises that enhance the strength of your muscles, bones and connective tissues... plus balance development.
• Mobility routines - 35 minute gentle movement classes designed to enhance your posture, flexibility and flow.
• Ergonomics - a sub category of videos aimed to help body comfort and efficiency in daily life.
• Meditation - Soothing practices that raise awareness, deepen connection to nature and calm your mind.
• Interval training - Meet your body where it is as...

The meditative state is not that elusive, it's actually quite natural and simply involves being aware of what is happening. 

This is number three in a six part series of blogs show-casing the Dojiva Online Studio. It's a guided practice into the meditative state.

There are many terms for this:

• Presence
• Being
• Flow
• Mindfullness
• In 'the zone'
• Pure awareness
• Consciousness
• Oneness
• Heart centred-ness
• Liberation 

You can recognise when you’re more present as you will experience a sense of peacefulness, expansiveness and body comfort. When you are distracted and lost in thought, your experience is more of tension, contraction and body tightness.

At first, for many meditation is not easy. But with practice you will soon notice that your thoughts are less bothersome and you’ll find yourself enjoying more clarity and flow in life.

Simply find a quiet space, pop on some headphones and hit play with the above...

Have you noticed that after years of stretching you’re not that much more bendy
Please read on for a new approach.

This is number two in a six part series of blogs show-casing the Dojiva Online Studio. 

Please join in with the above video that until now has been exclusive to the Dojiva Online membership site. It falls under the TAB of 'Mobility' and is a gentle movement class designed to improve your posture and suppleness and reduce overall tension.

The result... a more comfortable and functional body - all in just 32 minutes!

It's a free sample from the Dojiva archive
that has of over 100 classes available right now

The Dojiva difference

My philosophy on flexibility does not fit the normal modal. Too often, I see coaches and people pushing a stretch with the belief that the harder they push the more flexible the muscle will become. However, forcing a muscle while at it's full length is not natural and the body's...

This is number one in a six part series of blogs showcasing the Dojiva Online Studio. 

1 Strength - slow exercises for muscle, bone and connective tissue health
2 Mobility - a gentle movement class to enhance posture and flexibility 
3 Meditation - a soothing practice to raise awareness and calm the mind
4 Interval training - Meet your body where it is as you choose the intensity... low, medium or high.
5 Mindfulness practice - how to bring your goals into your reality (guided audio).
6 Health - interview with functional medicine doctor Robert Ruess MD

Please join in with the above video that until now has been exclusive to the Dojiva membership site. It's an hour of mindful movement designed for anybody who is focused on improving their functional strength.

It's a free sample from the Dojiva strength archive, one of 30 videos.

My philosophy on dynamic exercise is different than most. It is not about grunt or punishing yourself or pushing the body...

I see it a lot, too often for my liking... where people come and go with their exercise/health kick commitment. The yoyo effect is not good!

And if there is one key secret to success, it would be consistency.

So what stops people from adhering to a regular routine of exercise? I think it boils down to one or more of these four key factors. 

1. Results don't come quick enough

It's unusual to meet somebody who says "I appreciate that this is going to take some time and therefore I'm committed to the long run." Usually, people want results yesterday.

However, when it comes to making changes, your body, mind and all the wonderful physiology inside have a timeline.

Whatever health aspect you want to change be it weight loss, strength gains, breaking an unhealthy habit, a dietary shift, managing stress, reducing pain, improving posture or simply feeling more day to day energy, I believe it's best done slowly.

This way, your body and mind can adapt to the...

What a strange title coming for a health coach. And why would anybody want to gain fat weight? Hold on please. I am taking a reverse approach to get a message across. Please read on and I'll explain all.

[5 minute read]. Humans have been evolving for a long long time. And, we have always been lean... even up to the 1970's it was unusual to see many people over-weight.

Then came some poor, agenda driven dietary science about how fats are bad for our health and that we should replace them with carbs. And the fats we do eat should come in the form of highly processed and inflammatory poly unsaturated fats (industrial seed oils) and we should avoid natural saturated fats. Also, food scientists engineered a magic combination of sugar, salt and fat that could make food highly addictive (enter processed foods). 

It seems we may have taken advice from food companies that do not have our health in mind. Rather they want you to buy their...

Welcome to this blog. I have taken these writings directly from the Dojiva Online Studio. I feel it's important reading for all those that are new to me or have purchased my courses but have not yet signed up for the monthly membership.

Please read on for my four concepts of movement:

1. Honour Your Body

Before and during each of our workouts you will notice periods of guided stillness. This is your continuous opportunity to listen to the physical facts of the moment. 

Listening to your body in the moment of any exercise will not only improve your safety and efficiency but also guide you to the right intensity. Sensing is your ultimate guide.

So, how often and intense you exercise is governed by the reaction of your body. Just keep listening. This extends beyond formal workouts and is true for healthy eating patterns and even chores around the house/garden.

And this is not a linear phenomenon and dependent on sleep, stress, food, metabolism,...