Bill Farr, Author at Cali Diet

About Bill Farr

Bill Farr is an author, speaker, and wellness coach. He is an instructor in various forms of martial arts and meditation and a former kickboxing champion, and professional Argentine Tango dancer.

Bill’s teaching includes that of mind, body, and spirit. He works with well-known herbalist, nutritionists, doctors, as well as psychology professionals, Buddhist monks, Shaman, and Grand Masters of martial arts to bring the latest in health and nutrition to his teachings and his website. (www.TheArtofUnity.com) He now travels worldwide teaching the principles in his book, “The Power of Personality Types in Love and Relationships,” as well as meditation and heath

Some people, no matter how hard they try to meditate, can’t escape the thoughts in their head. Sound familiar? This constant babble or noise can be extremely inconvenient when you are trying to find your Zen. Having meditated for over 25 years I can tell you, you are not alone. This is the number one reason people tell me they don’t meditate yet these are the people who need it the most. So how do you overcome this?

Overcoming the Mental Chatter:

The babble in your head can be overcome in the same way you have overcome every temporary obstacle you have in your life. That is practice, determination, and discipline. You were probably terrible the first time you played soccer, worked out, or the piano, so why do you think you would be great at quieting your mind the first time you have ever tried to? The answer is because most people think you are doing “nothing.” And doing nothing should be easy, until they try it and find out it is nearly impossible. The important thing to know is that it is like a muscle. Your minds ability to become quiet gets easier the more you do it, and there is no person who can’t achieve calm in meditation with practice.

Here Are a Few Tips to Make it Easier

Have a pen and paper (write down anything too pressing to let go).
Use a guided meditation to kick off, then sit quietly afterwards. (You can find guided meditations at www.TheArtofUnity.com/meditations)
Before you start, raise your vibration by thinking of one to five things you have gratitude for.
Schedule the time to do it. Twenty minutes before sleep or when you wake up is best.
Go easy on yourself, just as you did the first time you started any new hobby.
Listen to the noise.

This last one is important “listen to the noise.” When you are not on a fulfilling path for your soul, your soul will give you constant reminders of this by letting you know that that aspect of yourself is unsatisfied. Taking drugs, drinking, prescription medication, eating too much ice cream, watching too much TV, and other distractions is just a form of escaping from that voice. When you finally sit down to mediate, this voice that you have been avoiding is the first one that shows up, along with your fear/ego telling you not to listen to it. This is the constant battle going on that will continuously build until you do something about it. Hence the cause of so much anxiety, depression, and sadness in our “superpower” culture.

How to Meditate

The easiest and often most powerful meditations are just sitting quietly having an awareness of your body, and breath. Problem is, this is difficult for people and becomes un-motivating to continue if you can’t quiet the thoughts. That being said I have developed a practice of incorporating your inner energy to get what you want out of your meditations. You can see how to do it in this video:

Once you are able to feel your “Chi” in the energy ball, you can add things to your energetic system that you want and remove those you don’t want. This is a way to bring your vibration high enough to attract better things in your life as well as all of the other benefits of meditation that you have heard about, such as: stronger left and right brain connection, lowered stress, more compassion, better memory, better sleep, increased IQ, lowered fight or flight, and sooooo many more.

There are many people that no matter what they do, they just can’t lose the weight they want, leading them to the mistaken impression that it is a due to their genetics. When people can’t lose weight despite following the typical healthy criteria, I find their issue is related to stress and poor gut flora. These are important factors in a person’s fat accumulation that most people are unaware of. I combat these using techniques in meditation and Chi Gong to improve your inner energy and the balance of hormones.

Under stress your body releases the hormone cortisol, which in studies has been shown to store fat and burn muscle. The reason it does this is because our body interprets stress as a possible famine and begins to prepare for it by creating visceral fat. This is fat around the organs, occurring in the mid-section. Cortisol is a true yin/yang or opposite to testosterone because testosterone burns fat and builds muscle. So in order to lose weight we want more testosterone and less cortisol.

Environmental Stress Can Effect Your Weight

There are many environmental factors today that cause stress such as smog, chemicals in food, radiation from computers and cell phones, as well as our jobs, relationships, etc. The solution to this is finding relaxation with specific techniques to fight stress. Many people who start meditation or chi-gong often unexpectedly lose weight without understanding why, and the reason is that it lowers cortisol and raises testosterone, as well as raises your inner energy levels, immunity, and what the Chinese call your “Chi”. Simple techniques for this can be found at www.TheArtofUnity.com/ChiGong

Here you will find short Chi Gong videos for Weight Loss and Digestion designed to bring your body (and mind) to their healthiest and most energetic states. This is perfect for new practitioners to help combat environmental stress, and transform internal stress into a source of energy and relaxation. On a more complex level it clears toxins, improves circulation to the organs and intestines, boosts metabolism, releases emotional attachments, and energizes your chakras.

Gut Flora

I also advise my clients to be aware of the health of their gut bacteria, since it is an important factor in eliminating excess weight. This determines many factors in the health of your digestion. If you have poor gut bacteria (as most people do) this can lead to “leaky gut syndrome.” Studies have found that leaky gut syndrome, often caused from a lack of good bacteria in your gut (aka gut flora) also causes visceral fat. Along with a healthy diet, taking probiotics, or better yet, eating fermented foods can help seal and protect your gut from leaky gut.

Fermented foods include Fermented Vegetables, Kefir, Natto, or Kombucha. I would always avoid commercial brands and make these yourself. Simple ways to make Kefir and Fermented Vegetables are available on my blog at (www.TheArtofUnity.com) If you are going to take a probiotic I would recommend one with at least 20 billion CFU taken with an organic Psyllium Husk Fiber.

Studies have also found that your gut bacteria most probably influences food cravings and thereby play a part in determining dietary choices. Meaning if you have mostly bad bacteria you will crave sugar and other unhealthy foods. Further, multiple studies have shown that obese people have different gut bacteria than slim people.

The good news is this can be controlled with awareness, as explained in my blogs on the importance of gut bacteria. In one recent study, obese people were able to reduce their abdominal fat by nearly 5 percent, just be drinking kefir for 12 weeks.

The living bacteria in your digestive tract form an important “inner ecosystem” that influences countless aspects of physical and mental health, including your weight and ease with which you are able to lose weight.

These two important aspects of losing weight work hand and hand with typical health practices that most people are aware of, such as:

Eat only organic fruits and vegetables, if you eat meat choose organic free-range chicken and grass-fed beef.
Eat healthy fats, such as those from olive oil, avocados, raw butter, and free-range organic animals if you choose to eat meat.
Avoid sugar, empty carbs, processed foods, sodas, and fruit juice.
Drink a lot of purified water.
Exercise (preferably high intensity) at least 4 days a week.
Get 8 hours of sleep per night.

Sources:

articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/07/06/probiotics-bacteria-gut-digestive-health-immune-system.aspx
articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/10/12/is-a-leaky-gut-causing-you-to-pack-on-the-pounds.aspx
www.naturalnews.com/036331_gut_flora_weight_loss_body_fat.html
www.lauralondonfitness.com/blog/healthy-living-articles-by-laura/meet-cortisol-the-fat-storage-hormone
www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=53304