About 2 months ago we began posting blogs and videos related to the theme of our website and online course – remembering to “be.”

All our posts are there to encourage you to pause, to set aside our habitual rushed human doing-ness, and to allow yourself the luxuriousness of simply being.

We’ve all tasted this natural state of being, if only in fleeting moments – that sense of tension, worry and concern just falling away, revealing a simple, light, spacious knowing that all is well, that things are essentially just fine just the way they are. These moments may come completely unexpectedly and vanish as quickly and mysteriously as they seem to appear. Afterwards, there may be the tendency to doubt their validity or to dismiss them as aberrations that are beyond what we can control.

But they leave their stamp on our awareness – the memory of a potential for joy and ease that we long for and, somewhere inside, believe is possible for us to experience. That belief is well-founded. It has been confirmed by the direct experience of many who have tread the paths of any the world’s contemplative traditions.

And now neuroscience is also telling us that there is a natural state of our brain which spontaneously gives rise to an experience of open, spacious calm and contentment – a state we refer to as “open, heartful awareness.” The reason we don’t experience this “sky” of spacious awareness all the time is that it’s covered over by the “clouds” of our out-of-date, reactive brain programming.

There are many ways of weakening that old programming and replacing it with fresh, clear, up-to-date brain functioning that allows us to see clearly, respond calmly and effectively to whatever life presents us with, and to savor the delight that is inherent in being alive. We created a whole course devoted to helping you understand that process and learn the simple practices that are supportive for bringing it about.

So what does all that have to do with us doing aerobics?

Well, people tend to think that in order to "get back" to that state, they need to be in the right place, with the right person, engaged in the right activity. But it doesn’t depend on any of that. Open, heartful awareness is always potentially available wherever we are, whomever we’re with, and whatever we’re doing. Having said that, certain things can be supportive of a shift out of the cramped sense of a “little me” into that larger, more spacious state of being. Exercise is one of those things that is really good for your brain and can help to dissolve those clouds of reactive programming.

Now, knowing that this will be good for your brain, your mood, and your body, we invite you to let the motivation of something to be gained recede into the background as you immerse yourself in the richness of your immediate experience – the blend of sensations, thoughts, and feelings that come and go as you move along with the video.

People who don’t exercise regularly often think they don’t have time in their busy stressful days even for a 10-minute exercise break. So we’ve made this 2-1/2 minute video because everyone can spare 2-1/2 minutes. And you’ll be surprised what a difference those 2-1/2 minutes can make.

We’d like to acknowledge our many sources of inspiration for this video. First and foremost is Marta Alcala-Williams whose 6:15 a.m. ever creative, ever new, always fun, warm and family-like aerobics classes at the YWCA deepened our love and commitment to exercising. The exercises themselves are drawn from her classes, from the Harvard Health Letter, from warm-up exercises developed by poet Carl Sandburg (available on videos made by Rip Esselstyn, developer of the Engine 2 diet), The Himalayan Institute, Paul Bragg, Qigong warmups, the Stretching Bible, and Dan Millman’s “Peaceful Warrior” workout. Our gratitude to all of them.

Get Up And Move!