Erin Lanahan Method

Hey guys! Letting go is something we all hear about, talk about, and even probably try to apply in our lives when we are in pain, fear, or discomfort of some kind.

However…

Do you really ever let it go?

How in the heck do we let go anyway?

We must TRUST. But before we can trust…we must practice trusting.

As we let go a little bit each time, and see that we are ok…we learn not to fear the unknown or the uncertainty or the discomfort. We learn that just because we don’t “know,” doesn’t mean we are going to die. It doesn’t mean we aren’t getting what we want.

Whether it’s a job interview, a relationship, a piece of clothing, or an idea you have…when the current gets strong…surrender to it and trust where it is taking you.

In Australia, there are lots of pretty serious rip currents. They say, if you happen to get caught in one, you must let the ocean take you out to sea, because eventually, it will bring you back to shore.

Most people die before they get to shore however, due to panick. We get so afraid to let go, to trust that we will actually make it to where we want to go, that we end up clinging too tightly to outcomes and drown ourselves in the very process that is bringing us home.

Sounds crazy doesn’t it?

But we do it.

So, whatever it is you are holding onto today, I want you to practice trusting. Let it go just a little bit, and wait for the Universe to provide you with proof that you are going to be ok.

If you never give yourself the opportunity to trust someone or something, by letting go of them or it, how will you ever get to see that when you do, you always survive? When you survive…you gain more trust, and as a result you feel more empowered around letting go even more. Then you get to experience true freedom and transformation.

What are you holding onto today? What are you so afraid of loosing? Tell me what you are going through. I am sending you all so much love!!

Hugs,

Erin

If you are serious about transforming your life, email me at transform@erinlanahanmethod.com to inquire about my special coaching programs. Looking forward to working with you!

Filed Under: Awakening, Healing, Spirituality, Thoughts of the day · Tagged: celebrity trainer, Erin Lanahan Method, freedom, Health Coach, if it's meant to be it will come back, let go, let go of the outcome, letting go, life coach, practice trausting, Surrender, transform your life, trust

Jan 25, 2012

3 Ways To Get What You Want

Let me begin by saying this…

Getting what you want can be an extremely easy and fun thing to do. In fact, when you use the three ways I am going to share with you in this article, not only do you get what you want, but so does everyone else!!

How is this possible you say??

In general, most people have been taught that in order to get what they want, they must use the “me against the world” mentality. They actually believe they must fight, kill, take, steal, lie, and cheat to get what they want.

Ummmm…

That is SOOOOO yesterday!

We know far too much by now to actually keep buying into this B.S. What we did in the past, is not working. It is hurting us all.

Getting what we want is what is supposed to happen naturally, keeping in mind that what you want may show up looking differently than what you expected. Beware, as it is easy to assume that you are not getting what you want when you actually are.

Nature sets things up for us to get what we want, by giving us all exactly what we need to bring to the table in partnerships. However, until we understand that we can only have what we want if everyone else has what they want too, we will continue acting like miserable animals, hurting one another, and never feeling happy or satisfied with life. If we live this way…there will never feel like there is enough…of ANYTHING.

Do you want to get what you want?

BE CREATIVE.

Getting what you want takes creativity, and we are all extremely creative whether you know it or not. You ARE a powerful creator, and you CAN be the best version of yourself, get everything you want AND live in a world where other people are having that exact same beautiful experience as you are.

We need each other to do this.

We must look for the resources that are already available to us. We must acknowledge the gifts that are already PRESENT in our lives. It requires a new outlook on our relationships, one that appreciates and understands the level of possibility each person in our lives bring to us. And it goes both ways. You bring just as much value to others as they bring to you.

It’s time to share our wealth!

Here are 3 ways to get what you want:

1) Reciprocity

If we both need help, then I am certain there is a way I can help you, and in exchange there is a way you can help me.

For example, on this Australian journey of mine, I have had moments of needing help. I’ve needed places to stay until I learned how to get around new cities, using public transport. Certain family and friends came forth and offered me the help I needed to get established here in Australia. In return, they got to see the way I approach life, the way I relate to exercise and food, and they got first row tickets to what it’s like to live a FIT life. From me, they learned about healing, food, healthy habits, they felt and found inspiration, and then began to transform their lives. From them, I received support, appreciation, patience, and as a result I began to transform in ways beyond my imagination.

Actually, I’ll take that back. I began to transform in the exact ways I’d always imagined and dreamed of. This of course is an ongoing process for them and for me. Together, our lives are better off, as a result of sharing our wealth and reciprocating what each side is abundant in.

They could have allowed themselves to feel put out by me, or burdened, or fearful that me being in their homes may leave less of everything for them. I could have allowed myself to get annoyed or resentful that they wanted to ask me questions and constantly learn what I know. We could have completely cut ourselves off from the possibilities present for us.

But we didn’t. We accessed them instead.

When we create partnerships like this…everybody wins.

2) Collaboration-

Collaboration creates prosperity.

There are no haves or have-nots. We are all haves and our assets are diverse. In the alchemy of collaboration, we become equal partners; we create wholeness and sufficiency for everyone. -Excerpt from “The Soul of Money”

Getting what we want takes courage and faith in your own ability to deliver value. Do you believe you have the power to deliver value to the lives of others?

Well…you do.

When I got here to Australia, I was totally committed to growing my company, Erin Lanahan Method. I was clear that my focus was to build the coaching piece of my business. I wanted to coach more individuals, corporate executives, the employees of corporations, small and large groups, and therefore I chose to look for any opportunities that may be available for me to do that. This takes belief in one’s self.

We must believe in ourselves, trust our intuition, and follow the guidance we receive from within. When you feel a nudge to call someone and discuss an idea, pitch a new concept to a company you feel in alignment with, or maybe to have an uncomfortable conversation with someone you love…follow the nudge. Listen. Do it.

I have been doing that since I got here, and there are multiple companies helping me grow my brand, share my concepts and strategies to help inspire many people, and who have given me the platform I need to become known as the kind of coach, writer, and wellness expert that I am. I offer their clients a new outlook on life, food, fitness, and I bring a shift in perception and inspiration, love, and acceptance to the lives of those clients.

In return, I help those companies grow their client base, keep their clients happy, and I help them offer a level of transformation they always wanted to offer, but just didn’t have the time or tools to do so.

They pay me, and I make them money. I grow and expand my business and reputation, and they grow and expand theirs too.

Win…Win I tell ya.

3) Cooperation

How can you expect to get what you want when you aren’t willing to give others what they need?

Come on people…let’s cooperate.

Here’s some text from a book I highly recommend, “The Soul of Money.”

Nineteenth century scientific and economic theorists painted a harsh reality of how the natural world actually works. They basically described competition for food and resources as being the inevitable and defining force by which Mother nature balanced the population and resources, and selected in favor some species over others.

Charles Darwin went on to describe “survival of the fittest” in large part as the competition for scarce resources, as the basis for the evolution of species.

Contrary to those models of Nature as innately, intensely, and almost exclusively competitive, more recent scientific study has illuminated the powerful role of mutuality, synergy, coexistence, and cooperation in the natural world and the more accurate picture of life that presents.

Even a cursory look at the world food supply and world population tells us that there is enough food to feed everyone, but that other factors keep some populations oversupplied and even overfed while others are malnourished and dying from hunger. Chronic hunger isn’t “Nature’s way” of limiting population or improving the species. In fact, it is less about Nature and more about flawed government, politics, and economic systems of our own construction.

The idea that scarcity is “just the way it is” is no longer even viable science.

Scarcity is a lie. “Not enough” is crap. It is not the truth. What you need and what you want is ALWAYS available. It is a result of our own inability to operate from reciprocity, collaboration, and cooperation that we experience lack instead of the unlimited resources available to and for us.

So…

What do you want? What is holding you back from believing it is available to you right now? Do you feel threatened when you see other people get what they want because you think that means you can’t have what you want??

Tell me what you’re going through.

Email me at transform@erinlanahanmethod.com

If you really WANT to change your life, transform your body and mind, and want to take the necessary steps , please ask me about my coaching programs. Serious inquiries only please.

Sending you all so much love and hugs,

Erin

Filed Under: Awakening, Favorite Quotes, Fitness Tips, Healing · Tagged: abundance, business coaching, celebrity trainer, change your thoughts, collaboration, cooperation, corporate wellness, Erin Lanahan Method, find your unlimited resources, freedom, heal the darkenss, life coach, reciprocity, seek out partnerships, soul of money, support from others, transform your body, transform your life

Jan 24, 2012

THIS Is What I Know: 5 Tips To Live A Better Life

What We Focus On Expands: Are Your Thoughts Making You Fat?

I may not know much, but how to live a better life… I KNOW. I have struggled with so many things, such as alcohol, drugs, food addiction, body image disorders, poor choices, bad relationships, insecurities, low self-worth, lack and limited thinking, fear, anxiety attacks, depression, you name it. And guess what…I SURVIVED.

I not only survived, I have embarked on an amazing journey internally AND externally. I have healed so much, and now …I THRIVE.

I began working in the fitness industry over 12 years ago, and my job in most people’s minds was to help them get “FIT.” However, let’s face it, what people REALLY want is to get HAPPY.

Changing your body by exercising and eating healthier foods is one way to support getting happy, but here’s the brutal truth…it’s gonna take more than just that.

I have worked with hundreds of clients via personal training, life coaching, nutrition coaching, and have interacted with thousands through my articles, blog, website, workshops, public speaking, and social media. As a result, I have a really good feel and understanding of people. I have worked with celebrities, high-profile executives, royalty, house moms, middle class citizens, struggling actors, writers, the Hollywood Entertainmnet business, and the list goes on. These all may seem like very different kinds of people, and in some ways you are right about that. But at the end of the day they all want the SAME thing.

Everyone wants to feel good in their own bodies.

Everyone wants to walk into a room and know they are showing up as the best possible version of themselves in that moment. Everyone wants to feel acceptance, love, forgiveness, and freedom. Everyone wants to create work/life balance, have better energy, more clarity, and a lifestyle that supports their optimal well-being that they can also maintain. Am I right??

Well…how do you do this??

First of all, there is no ONE SIZE FITS ALL. Sorry to burst your bubble, but if you thought I was going to offer you the next fix or fad diet you are on the wrong blog. I am here to help you live a better life. I want to teach you how to live a FIT life. Are you in??

Here are 5 tips that will help you live a better life:

1) Stop comparing yourself to other people and just focus on your own vision and life’s purpose. Why are you here? What does the fire inside of you burn for? If you could do or be anything and NOTHING was going to stop you or get in your way, what would that be? It doesn’t matter how silly or impossible it sounds to you. What is it? YOU are the creator of your life. Nothing about anyone else’s journey or path, has anything to do with whether or not you can succeed. Get clear about your vision and purpose for your life. Trust that you are the ONLY person on the planet that can do what you do, the way you do it.

2) Cleanse and clear your body, your environment, and your life of toxic energy. This means toxic chemicals, toxic choices, toxic foods and drinks, toxic people, and toxic thinking. Do you find yourself consuming conversations, interactions, food and drink, and media that do not serve your highest good or your ultimate plan? Check in with yourself and begin to bring your attention into your body daily. How does that person make you feel? How does the language you are using or inviting into your life affect the level respect you have for yourself, and thus the level of respect you get from others? Do you feel that the foods and drinks you choose support you? Are you dying, surviving, or thriving? Which do you want for yourself?

3) Become more deeply educated about what it truly means to be fit, to experience happiness, and to have everything you’ve ever wanted. I hear people all the time who tell me, “I know how to be healthy, but I just don’t do it.” REALLY?? I find that hard to believe, because when we REALLY understand (and I mean get it at the deepest core of who we are) what we are doing, and the impact it has on our overall well-being and ability to fully enjoy life, I personally believe we would all make different choices. At least I know that level of new awareness changed my life HUGE ways! For example, if you know it in your innermost self, that something has the power to change you in a negative way, thus creating more of all that which depresses you and makes you feel stuck in your life, is it something you will continue to choose?? Why would you? People do it every day. Are you going to be one of them?

4) If you want a better life, you must have better thoughts. This is not new information, but it’s information worth repeating over and over again, until we ALL get it. Your thoughts become things. What you focus on expands. Here’s a video I put together on this topic for you. Make sure you come back to read the rest of this post, and get your tip #5!

5) You must have the willingness to transform before you can expect to get the kind of results you are really after. News Flash…Health, HOTNESS, and transformation is an INSIDE job people, and that’s right, it requires WILLINGNESS. I cannot tell you how exhausting it is as a coach and trainer, to get approached all the time by people who say they want change, but who are not willing to do their part. Come On…Seriously?? These days, I turn everyone away who does not come to me with a sincere readiness to take on the necessary steps to transform their lives. Is that you? What are you willing to do to have everything you’ve ever wanted? Maybe you aren’t sick enough of where you are, or maybe you are already perfectly happy with where you are. I applaud you wherever you are and send you love and support. If you need help, and we ALL need help, seek it out! Be willing to ask for it. The resources you need are always at your finger tips, but first, you must really want something before you get creative enough to access the resources that are available to you. Are you ready to get creative?

What’s going on for you? I want to know. Here’s to a beautiful moment, day, year, and life.

Love and Hugs,

Erin

P.S. If you are ready to transform your life, your body, and manifest your dreams, write to me at transform@erinlanahanmethod.com. Serious inquiries only. Sending you so much love.

Filed Under: Awakening, Fitness, Healing, Spirituality · Tagged: align with your highest self, celebrity trainer, connection, Erin Lanahan Method, find true happiness, find your passion, fitness tips, heal a broken heart, heal your addictions, healing, life coaching, live a better life, looking for someone to talk to, love your life, love yourself, need help?, self-awareness, traqnsform with erin lanahan method, yoga teacher

Jan 7, 2012

Happy New Year and New “Moments” Resolutions

Yes, I know…I’m a little behind on my Happy New Year post, but I have been traveling and just kicking back and taking it all in these past few weeks. I spent the month of December visiting my family in Moruya, Australia, and then headed off to Sydney to spend New Year’s Eve with friends and family, as well as my first week of 2012 on Bondi Beach!

So far, 2012 has rocked my world in every way! How have you kicked things off?

With all the New Year’s Resolutions hype it’s easy to get caught up in the cycle of thinking in extremes. For example, we put so much pressure on ourselves to hit the ground running hard and fast, and then most people are burned out and over it by February or March.

Listen, living a life you love is a daily practice and it is created choice by choice, action by action, thought by thought, day by day.

Remember this: Setting larger, long-term goals is great, however, also keep in mind that long-term is a result of how each short-term moment adds up over time. Therefore, commit to how you want this moment to be, this conversation to be, this kiss to be, this event to be, this day to be, etc. Are you picking up what I’m putt’n down?? I trust you are

For me, I had a pretty incredible experience in Sydney for the first week of this year. It seemed as though the stars were aligning just especially for me, answering all my prayers and showing me that life really is becoming my dream, and my dreams really ARE my reality. However, that said, I am reminding myself as I remind you, of the importance of letting it go.

We can set our intentions, say our prayers, do our best, but then we must detach from the outcomes, for we are only in control of what we put out there and how we respond to what turns up. What actually happens has only the power we give it. Thus, if we cling to how we want things to be or how we think they “should” look like now, we can begin to spin out and spiral down FAST.

What’s required of us in order to maintain a state of joy and gratitude, is the ability to TRUST what is currently showing up, believing that the best case scenario IS unfolding REGARDLESS of what we tend to assume things mean for us long-term in the moment.

So I’ll say it again…

Set your intentions, say your prayers, make your vision boards, become super clear about what you want life to look and more importantly FEEL like…and then LET IT GO.

That’s right…as hard as it may feel, you have to let it go, trust, be patient, and live each moment as presently as possible, believing that the best case scenario IS unfolding for you right now!

I left Sydney yesterday and arrived in Brisbane, Australia, where I am writing to you from now. I’ll be spending a bit of time here and traveling around the area meeting and visiting with more family. Then, in a couple of weeks I’ll settle myself in on the Gold Coast, to prepare for yoga training that starts Feb 4th. Lots of exciting stuff in the works for this year, but today is today, so I’m just going to be here now and make the most of each moment. I am going to trust you are doing the same

I hope you are all being loving and gentle with yourselves, having respect and gratitude for your process, and surrounding yourselves with only the most supportive people and environments. May 2012, be a year filled with awakening, healing, unconditional love, and the beginning of a new-found sense of joy and a beautiful new life. Here’s to your highest self!!

Love, Light, and Hugs!

Namaste,

Erin

Filed Under: Awakening, Fitness, Healing, Travel, Uncategorized, Yoga · Tagged: 2012, be patient with your process, celebrity trainer, erin lanahan, fallinjg in love, great moments, Health Coach, letting go, life coach, live each moment, love yourself, new years resolutions, respect, transform your life with Erin Lanahan

Dec 11, 2011

Patience Please – Everything Is A Little Upside-down

Hey guys! As you can see…things are a bit upside-down right now I would love and appreciate your patience as I get this new site up and running. I am still in the middle of transferring everything over from my old site to this new one. I am also facing one glitch after the next, but all in all it’s a pretty amazing ride and I’m laughing at myself the whole way!

It is such an exciting time for Erin Lanahan Method, and I am working around the clock behind the scenes to bring you the best quality possible. It is my intention to create a space here for all of us to feel like we can stretch, expand, and go deeper, bolder, and shine brighter than ever before.

E.L.M. is here to inspire you, educate you, motivate you, and give you a place to turn to when you need guidance towards healing and finding reassurance and support along your path.

Are you ready to change your life?

Some of what I’ll be offering is a shop, videos, e-books, fitness tips, articles, and opportunities to coach with me one-on-one at special rates! Stay tuned for E.L.M.’s detailed page explaining exactly WHAT coaching is, and what benefits it offers to the lives of so many. If you want to get started now, shoot me an email at transform@erinlanahanmethod.com and we can set up a complimentary call to help you gain clarity and insight into how I may best serve you. Otherwise stop by again soon!

Please bear with me. Expansion is a process, and every day I am making progress here at E.L.M. Please don’t hesitate to read what’s here so far, browse, comment, share articles with friends, and by all means shoot me an email at transform@erinlanahanmethod.com with any suggestions or requests you may have! Your input is deeply appreciated!

Thank you!

Love and Hugs,

Erin

Filed Under: Awakening, Fitness, Healing · Tagged: celebrity Health Coach, celebrity personal trainer, holistic fitness, inspiration, life coach, Love, transform with erin lanahan method

Dec 6, 2011

Life Is Like A Bowl Of Trail Mix…

…you never know what you’re going to get in each handful!

I know, I know…you think I made a mistake right? It’s suppose to be a box of chocolates, not a bowl of trail mix! What ever am I thinking??

Well let me tell you. First of all, I removed the box because I really prefer not to purchase any of my food in boxes. Typically boxed or packaged food means low quality and highly processed. These days, I get a kick out of making my own trail mix by wisely choosing the yummy ingredients one by one and placing each one into their separate little recycled baggies until I can get them home to mix them.

You see, the thing about trail mix is, I can take the bits and pieces of wisdom I have collected over the years, from schools I’ve graduated from, certifications I have completed, experiences I have had, teachers I have met, and personal trial and error, to successfully combine a mix that is yummy in every bite, balances out my blood sugar, and keeps me excited about the next handful. Now THAT is talent

In life, it is important to remember that we don’t have to take things as they come. We can choose not to take the pre-packaged experiences, and instead, create our own! We can take pieces of this philosophy, that belief system, and few dashes of our own intuition, and create something balanced, colorful, full of all the nutrients we need, and most importantly, something that is FUN and feeds us in every way!

I love creating my own recipes because it reminds me that life is my greatest recipe, and it teaches me that I can mix whatever ingredients I feel would make a yummy experience. I can make the same trail mix every time OR I can try different ingredients just because I CAN!

So, are you buying pre-packaged experiences or are you creating your own?

Don’t worry, there are no wrong choices. Some will appear to taste better short-term and create discomfort long-term. Others will taste healthy now, and perhaps feel a bit uncomfortable in the short-term, yet they will create energy, vitality, and soul-full expansion in the long-term. Some will just taste like ecstasy now and bring nothing but joy to your day, every day, while others just won’t do anything for you, never have, and never will. It’s all a matter of preference and YOU are the Head Chef.

You get to choose the ingredients of your life. You get to have fun doing it and enjoy every bite of it. Therefore make the most of your power to create your wildest recipes!

Happy Eating!!

Love,

Erin

P.S. Here’s one of my most favorable trail mix recipes…although I invite you to create your own

-*goji berries

-*almonds

-*walnuts

-*sultanas

-*dried cranberries

-*incan berries

-*dried blueberries

-*pumpkin seeds

-*sunflower seeds

*organic, raw, sulphur free, gluten-free, vegan

I prefer to mix it up so the fruit laces every bite, but is a lesser proportion than the nuts and seeds, to create a higher protein, lower sugar combination. Again, I am always trying something new depending on the day!

Filed Under: Art, Entertainment, Fitness, Food, Uncategorized · Tagged: cheap gifts, create your yummy life, happy trail mix, Health Coach, healthy snacks, healthy snacks for kids, integrative nutrition, life coach, life is like a box of chocolates, life is your greatest recipe, loose weight and eat great, transform your body and life with erin lanahan method, yummy christmas gifts

Dec 5, 2011

Wishing To Explore New Opportunities?

Are you wishing to explore new opportunities?

If so, good! That is quite natural for the Spirit to crave. We are ever evolving beings and expansion is our most natural way of expression.

I find myself re-inventing, tweaking, and changing my path all the time. It’s fun, but it can also feel scary. Do you ever sit around, thinking about everything you want your life to become and wonder how you will ever get there? Then, 6 months later, do you find yourself having even more clarity about what it is you want your life to feel like, and therefore see how and why what you wanted 6 months ago didn’t unfold the way you thought it should at the time?

Be gentle and patient with yourself.

You are exactly where you need to be, and if you can trust that, it will create an opening for you to fully embrace and enjoy the process you are in right now. Whatever it is you are currently experiencing IS, whether you see it or not, playing a huge part in the intentions you have set for your life experiences.

When you notice yourself getting caught up in self-doubt or lack of faith, remember these three things:

1) Anytime you need assistance you can ask for it. Call upon a God of your understanding, the trees, the Universe, mermaids, the Archangels, Buddha, Jesus, ferries, whatever works for you! What you seek does not matter, as long as your request is pure and asking for guidance. Then, open yourself up to any signs, visions, or messages that may come to you through conversations, thoughts, dreams, books, articles, someone’s t-shirt, a TV show, etc. Signs and Divine guidance can come in mysterious way

2) Your intuition is never wrong. It’s only our fear of being wrong or of failing that stops us from going the distance. If you feel strongly about something, it IS a sign that you are being summoned to follow it. What you find may be completely different from what you set out to find or create, but if you stay open, you will always be pleasantly surprised. It will most likely require some patience, willingness, and committment on your part, but it’s worth the effort!

3) When you are in a situation that really challenges your ability to stay connected to your dreams and passions, find one thing that really matters to you and do it every day, or as many times a week as possible. This will act as an anchor for you and keep you in the higher creative energies that bring new ideas to life.

Ok, I hope you all are enjoying the Holiday Season so far. It’s a bit strange for me being on the opposite side of the world this Holiday Season, but I am making the most of my new experiences no matter what!

Sending you all lots of LOVE and Holiday Hugs!!

xo Erin

Filed Under: Art, Entertainment, Travel · Tagged: celebrity Health Coach, do what your heart pulls you to do, Erin Lanahan Method Fitness, find your purpose, Follow your passions, have more fun, live with more passion, love bigger, see the world, self help, spiritual fitness, Tranform your life with Erin Lanahan Life Coach, travel more

Dec 2, 2011

NOW Is The New When

The main event has never been the manifestation; the main event has always been the way you feel moment by moment, because that’s what life is.
— Abraham

I love this quote from Abraham, and it just so happen to hit my inbox on a day when I was really basking in this knowing.

Do you ever just laugh at yourself, when you realize that all you really have to do to enjoy life is to enjoy the moment you are actually in right now? It is so simple, yet so many of us LOVE to complicate things.

Each day I put this knowing into practice and I invite you to do the same.

Life isn’t about tomorrow or the excitement, joy, or potential pain you will feel from some event that hasn’t happened yet.

No. Life is about how you are able to interpret, accept, and appreciate the NOW.

As we let go of “getting there”, fixing things, and changing things, and instead remind ourselves that we are already here, right now, then life becomes about how much joy we can uncover and discover in every moment.

Do you trust?

Do you trust that even when one moment may feel awkward or uncomfortable, that you are in fact exactly where you are supposed to be?

I find that the discomfort comes from a lack of trust about this.

At the end of the day, all we really have is the way we perceive the moments we live, from one moment to the next. What we experience is really up to us. Even if you have something extremely challenging and scary you are facing, what else is the solution?

You have two choices…to be miserable and paralyzed with fear and resentment OR to find the doorway within the obstacles that gives you access to opportunities and a greater love for yourself and for life.

As I put this knowing into practice I find a greater sense of ease and direction in my life. I still have days where I resist this, but thankfully, they are less and less.

Can you apply this knowing in your life? Do you trust yourself enough to let go and surrender to the NOW? I want to know. Please leave me some love here

The Divine Light within me, acknowledges and appreciates the Divine Light within you.

Love Always,

Erin

Filed Under: Entertainment, Favorite Quotes, Mind Body Spirit Thursday, Thoughts of the day · Tagged: Accepting what is, find more joy, living in the now, love yourself more, transform your life with Erin Lanahan

Dec 1, 2011

Girls (and guys) Just Wanna Have Fun!

Aint that the truth!!! We all just wanna have fun! Am I right?

What if having fun WAS the goal for every day?

What if I told you that nothing else matters but how much fun you are actually having playing this game we call LIFE? I mean they even made a game about it just as a subliminal reminder not to take ourselves or this experience too seriously!

But seriously, I am not saying to be “irresponsible,” however I AM saying to treat all of it like a game. In the Board Game Of Life, you pick an SUV, hop in, and enjoy the ride. You can choose marriage, babies, college, a great career, a big house full of kids, a gigantic salary, and you can potentially get rich or end up bankrupt. You can choose revenge, chance, you can retire in style, and make millions if you want to. There are NO LIMITATIONS. So why wouldn’t you live life to the fullest right? Regardless of the outcomes along the way, do you find yourself actually believing at any point that the game is real?? I think not.

If you could go to work each day, engage with your friends and family, and make choices in each moment, based on the fact that you are just playing a game and it is meant to bring you great fun and joy…how might that affect the way you see and do things?

Having fun yet??

Perhaps you think I’m crazy? If so, that’s ok because I sure am having fun with this

Really though, what if you could make each move in life, with the same ease and non-attachment that you use while playing the board game? It’s fun to strategize right? It’ exciting to take risks. It’s an adrenaline rush to win a lot of money, loose it, and then win it again. Why?? Because you KNOW that none of it can hurt you. You KNOW that the pink, green, blue, and yellow money is fake, and not really your SOURCE of abundance right? It’s just there to PLAY with. Nothing that happens can actually have a real negative effect on who and what you truly are.

This is the SAME in real life.

We have all just forgotten that we are playing a game.

Not just any game though…an AMAZING game filled with so many options and opportunities to experience ups and downs, and to hop on extreme rides every single day! Have fun with it!

When you aren’t having fun, you are probably feeling discomfort of some sort, just like we do in a game when we are being a poor sport.

You know those people who take game playing, winning, and loosing so seriously they miss the entire point of the game (which is to have fun by the way)? Don’t be like them!

Just like you would laugh at them and tell them to “chill out, it’s just a game,” do that to yourself every time you catch yourself feeling less than your infinite, unlimited, and abundant self!! Remember, if you are feeling discomfort, it’s only because you are forgetting that you are playing a game that is meant to be FUN. Snap out of it! Wake up!

If you’d like to know more about how to have more fun playing the game of Life, then I trust you and I can have some real fun together. I am offering a special coaching program for the first 5 people who contact me about this. 6 weeks of one-on-one phone coaching, 3 videos offering different FUN workouts, and 30 of my top tips for living a life filled with MORE FUN! All for $500.00!

If you feel pulled to connect more deeply with me about coaching together, please send me an email at erinlanahanmethod@gmail.com introducing yourself. Tell me one thing you would do if you could do anything you wanted, and I will email you the details about how to proceed.

Are you ready to play the game??

Let’s Go!

Enjoying Life,

Erin

Filed Under: Art, Entertainment, Fitness, Thoughts of the day, Travel, Uncategorized, What I'm up to · Tagged: Awakening, busting loose coach, don't take life too seriously, Girls just wanna have fun, gmae of life, Have more fun in life, inspirational coaching, life coach, love life more, transform your life with Erin Lanahan

Mar 12, 2010

Staying Healthy in the Face of Adversity

Wow, it has been a long week for me so far. I got some bad news about my mother’s health on Monday and took a last-minute flight out of LAX at 715am Tuesday morning. It’s never easy when we are taken out of our routine and thrown into the face of adversity. How do we stay healthy? It is so important that we do because there is already enough to cope with when we are facing hard times. Why should we make it even harder by putting our bodies under unnecessary stress that comes as a result of eating foods that do not serve us. We tend to let our health and well-being fall by the wayside because “it isn’t convenient” to go out of our way to eat healthily and exercise when other things are the “priority.” However, doing this is exactly why my mom is in the hospital right now. Bottom line is, if you don’t have a well-functioning body and mind, what are you capable of?? The answer is…not much!!!

How many of you let adversity and obstacles get in the way of making healthy choices for yourselves? I know it’s not necessarily easy to stay nourished, and to commit to this way of life, but I promise you, there is a way! I’ve been in a small town on the outskirts of Denver. There are fast food restaurants on every corner, it’s almost impossible to find a normal restaurant, and even when we do, there is nothing all that healthy on the menu. I feel so lucky to have located a Whole Foods. I have to drive out of my way a bit to get there, but I eat all my meals there because I know it’s important to maintain and sustain my wellness and healthy state of mind. Eating fast food and junk food for “convenience purposes” would have me much more of a mess than I already am and my mind would not be functioning optimally. I don’t think I could handle feeling any worse right now, so eating lots of fruits and veggies, and food that nourishes me and keeps me feeling alive and connected and energized, are what I need to get me through all of this.

I was going to run this morning, but last night realized I forgot to pack my running shoes. I NEVER forget my running shoes! Right there tells me that I’m highly stressed and not thinking straight as it is, however there was nothing I could do about getting running shoes at 10 pm last night, in order to hit the treadmill this morning. I had to just accept it. Exercise would be a great form of relief for me right now, but since I cannot get to a gym, and don’t have running shoes, I must eat even cleaner to make up for the fact that I am not detoxifying through exercise or producing any extra endorphins. Also, I know it’s extra important that I take at least 10 minutes a day, to myself, to meditate and breathe. Otherwise I will go CRAZY!!! When in the face of adversity, we MUST take care of ourselves. It’s the only way to get some relief!

Do these things sound impossible for you? Have you ever been in my situation, facing hard times that made life much more difficult and took you out of your normal routines that keep you sane? What did you do? How do you cope in these situations? How do you stay healthy in the face of adversity? Do you make your health a priority or do you pretend it’s not important while you tend to “bigger issues.” I am curious to know what you do and why. Please leave all your questions and comments here for me on the blog. Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food · Tagged: facing adversity, health in the face of adversity, healthy body and mind, healthy habits when traveling, holistic fitness, holistic healing, how to stay healthy in tough times, lifestyle change, maintaining good health, staying healthy when life gets hard, weight loss

Mar 17, 2010

Be an Explorer of Your Own Life!

What’s In Your Bigger Picture!

Well it’s another week and I’m still in Colorado dealing on my mom’s health issues. We’ve been staying in Beaver Creek since Saturday, but today we are back in Denver seeing the surgeons here. I thought we might get to head back to L.A. today, but it’s looking like mom needs surgery. At this time, we are still awaiting answers as to how the next few days will unfold. However, I must say, this trip has been a real journey for me. It has been anything BUT easy, and things change every day, yet I’ve remained in a good place overall. I really believe I have kept my good health and sanity through all of the adversity because I CHOOSE to be an explorer of my own life.

Often times, we are called on a journey, it is not always the journey we expected to be embarking upon at the time. However, what I have learned more than anything over this last week and a half, is that when I am an explorer in my own life, I GET to discover the beauty with and within me at all times.

For example, yesterday I woke up completely exhausted and totally resistant to facing ANOTHER day of phone calls, research, and all the things I knew that HAD to be done before the day’s end. I felt claustrophobic, angry, frustrated, and just plain emotional. I really didn’t feel like running or doing anything for that matter, however, something in me knew that a good run would be the only thing that would truly make me feel better. I tend to forget that exercise serves a lot more than just my physical health and body. IT keeps me mentally, emotionally, and spiritually fit as well. I got myself some running shoes on Saturday and had already found a good route on a run I went on Sunday, so I really had no excuses not to go yesterday (Tuesday). Knowing this, I suited up and hit the trails!

As I started out on the running path, I widened my gaze and took in my surroundings. It was SO BEAUTIFUL! The Rocky Mountains and snow and the rushing water in the river beside me, really helped me begin to put my life and this journey into perspective again. I decided I would be an explorer in that moment and for the rest of my run and the day. I ran and ran until I found a little side path that dead-ended at a rocky cliff that overlooked the rushing white water river. I decided to place my hands down on a couple big rocks and I just started doing push-ups and planks and core exercises. Then I stood up and did jump squats, split squats, and hamstring stretches. I even threw in a little bit of yoga and meditation. During my workout it hit me…I have everything I need to be well, and to be happy, NO MATTER WHERE I AM OR WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE, as long as I am WILLING to be an explorer of my own life.

Yesterday, I had many obstacles to overcome, but even so, I had a great experience and it was an amazing day. Yes, I had to pack up my moms entire apartment alone, and then clean it entirely with my brothers help. Yes, I had to call doctors and health insurance agencies. Yes, I had to talk to friends and family and tell the same details to them over and over again. However, by starting my day out with such a great run and outside exercise routine, I was able to connect with something bigger than myself and everything began to make sense and fall into place again. Being an explorer of my own life, allowed me to stay open to all that I was experiencing in each moment, and I was open enough to know that I had a choice to feel good or bad, to grow or get stuck. Exploring myself and the world around me as I ran down the running path, allowed new ideas to enter my mind. The courage shift and to try new things began to flow from my innermost self that loves and appreciates movement and connection with nature. I was determined to feel good and to be well no matter what, and when we CHOOSE to be an explorer of our own lives, we GET to have a new experience of our circumstances and the way in which we experience the world and ourselves in it.

Have you ever been called on a journey you didn’t expect? What happens to your habits and routines when you are faced with a list of tasks you must complete whether you like it or not or want to or not? Are you an explorer of your own life? Do you take what’s in front of you and make a conscious choice to have the best experience possible with what you have been given? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Please leave them for me here on the blog. Afterall, we are all on this life journey together and can always learn from one another:) Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!!!

Are You Moving Against The Flow Or With It???

Filed Under: Fitness, Mind Body Spirit Thursday, Thoughts of the day · Tagged: be an explorer, conscious choices, E.L.M., erin lanahan, explore life, fitness anywhere, holistic fitness, lifestyle change, rocky mountain workout, vacation workout, weight loss, work out program, workout from anywhere

Apr 2, 2010

What Should I Eat???

???????

Did you know there are over 125 dietary theories? I am learning about all of these theories at IIN, and I have to say, they all make sense!!! Here’s the thing, all the diets out there do work, but the problem is, they only work temporarily, and most people are unaware of whether or not the diet they are on is even good for their health. That’s right, too many people are forgetting that the goal is to be healthy, not skinny. Get healthy, and the rest will follow. You see, one man’s food is another man’s poison. What that means is, we are not all meant to eat the same things. Therefore, diets don’t work! They may produce short-term results, but do they last? Have you ever known anyone who’s gone on a “diet” and kept the results they got for more than 3 or 4 months?

Did you know that food literally becomes us? It becomes our thoughts, our feelings, and ultimately, our actions. It’s a scary thing to me, that so many people are unaware of the importance of the food they put into their mouths. It’s beyond calories, what’s fattening, too many carbs, etc. What I am talking about is quality of life! That’s right…Quality of Food plays a HUGE role in determining the quality of our lives.

As a lot of you may know, I’ve been eating a raw, primarily vegetarian diet since the end of December. I NEVER thought I’d say that, LOL, but it is true. It has been a very cool experiment thus far, and I have gotten some really cool results, however, I remain open to new information as I learn it. My only goal is to eat the foods that create the healthiest me and provides my body with the right amount of nutrients for living an optimal life. What we eat should be based on our unique bio-individuality, because we all require different combinations of nutrients. What I am finding however, is that there are some things that seem to be a common thread in ALL the dietary theories that have been proven to produce the best health.

1) Eat more Whole Foods!

2) Buy organic! (this is sooooooo important)

3) Buy local and seasonal foods as much as possible!

4) Eliminate refined and denatured foods!

5) Avoid hydrogenated oils!

6) Eat more greens. Green, greens, greens!!!

7) Eat good fats! (omega 3′s and 6′s)

These are some basic guidelines that I follow, no matter what! If you are really concerned about living your best life, I suggest you follow them too. Don’t get so caught up in which diet is the newest thing, or what has worked for others. Stick to the basics, per the above, and you will find as you get healthier, the fat will melt away. Fat is full of toxins, so as the body detoxes, it sheds the fat. If you are wanting to gain muscle, really focus more on the way you are training in the gym. You can up your protein, but be careful not to sacrifice your health in the process. Remember, we all have our own unique shapes and sizes. Embrace your body, and as I always say, make the most of what you’ve been given. That said, try new things. Experiment, but find what makes your body feel the best. Work with your doctor if you must to figure out which foods your body likes and does not like. Use your intuition…You know what is good for you and what is not!

Do you ever feel confused by all the diets and theories you hear about, that tell you what to eat and what not to eat? Do you ever feel like you are fighting a never-ending battle? Tell me about some of the challenges you have had in the past or maybe current ones you are facing now about how to choose the right foods for your body and good health. Do you eat for vanity or for optimal health? I’d love to hear from you! Please leave all questions and comments here for me on my blog.

If you’d like to find out more about your unique bio-individuality, and what foods and life choices are in alignment with that, please contact me via ErinLanahanMethod@gmail.com for a free Health Coaching Consultation!

Thank you! Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Uncategorized · Tagged: Be healthy and get skinny, bio-individuality, dietary theories, E.L.M., eat right for your body type, erin lanahan, feel good, get in shape, Health first, healthy food, holistic health, holistic nutrition, integrative nutrition, lifestyle change, loose body fat, weight loss

Apr 9, 2010

When The Going Gets Tough…Just Keep Going.”

Hey there my beautiful friend. How are you feeling today? I really would like to know what’s going on with you? What’s New? What’s Good? I ask you what is new and good because it can be so easy to get too focused on what’s old and bad. We all too often get wrapped up in what isn’t going well or what doesn’t feel good, without even knowing it, so I always ask my clients what is new and good:) I know it helps me when I’m in need of a mental and emotional shift! We all have those times in our lives, when things just don’t look the way we want. Do you know what I mean? Whether it’s our job, our body, our relationships, our spiritual practice, our exercise routine, our social life, or all of the above! I find that it is so important to get use to and accept the ebb and flow that is natural and totally relevant on this journey we call life. Unfortunately, it is very tempting to entertain the idea of “giving up” when the going gets really tough on us. How many of you are going through something like this now? I just happen to be coming out of a period like this myself. A girlfriend and I were talking about it the other day and she describes these ebbs as “growing pains.” I like that because that is exactly what they are.

When life throws things in your face, that are overwhelmingly painful, or almost impossible to cope with, JUST KEEP GOING. You will move through all of it eventually. Feel the fear, the pain, the sadness, the lack of energy, and show up to your life anyway! We can’t always look and feel perfectly together, pretty, and at ease. For example, when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, it goes into its cocoon while it transforms. If you were to peek at this creature mid way through it going from caterpillar to butterfly, I’m sure it would look pretty messy and ugly. However, as you know, the ending result is a beautiful creature with colorful wings that can fly! When the going gets tough, the caterpillar doesnt’ say “this is too hard, I’m just gonna stop my transformation and go back to being a caterpillar.” In fact…it couldn’t go back even if it wanted too. That is the same with you and I. Once we have begun to transform, the process is in forward motion and will happen whether we like it or not. Embrace your process, and when things feel ugly and messy, just remember the butterfly. You too will become something even more beautiful than you were before. When the going gets tough, just keep going. You will be flying high before you know it!

Have you ever gone through something that just felt yucky? Do you have trouble staying in faith and trusting your growth and healing? What do you do when you are faced with challenges that make you want to run the other way or hide from the world? I’d love to hear from you. Please leave all questions and comments here for me on the blog!

Filed Under: Fitness, Mind Body Spirit Thursday, Thoughts of the day, Uncategorized · Tagged: butterfly process, E.L.M., erin lanahan, feel good, feel the fear and do it anyway, get fit, holistic fitness, holistic healing, lifestyle change, moving through the pain, primary food, weight loss, when life throws you lemons, when the going gets tough

Apr 16, 2010

WHAT DO YOU WANT?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPyvJoWySNg&feature=related

Today was an interesting day. I was reminded that so often, positive and healthy transformation, is a result of doing things we DON”T WANT TO DO…at least initially. Does this resonate with you? If you haven’t noticed, almost everything “good for us” typically appears to be boring, bland, painfully awkward, and always involves stepping out of our comfort zone. However, judging things based on what we think we know, tends to get us in trouble every time. Do you agree? For example, eating more organic greens and actually learning a thing or two about how to cook grains like quinoa or buckwheat, may seem tedious and not quite worth the work. However, if we just do it, BEFORE we “decide” it doesn’t work, and watch our bodies get stronger, healthier, and leaner, then what we once thought was true, will no longer be so. Same thing with dating. You may decide you cannot fall in love or you may meet someone you immediately judge for not being what you want, but the truth of the matter is…how do you know until you’ve tried it first!!! Most of us feel like we should get results without doing anything to earn them. Heaven forbid we actually have to DO SOMETHING or feel uncomfortable or vulnerable for a while in order to achieve the prizes life is offering us LOL. I am sorry to break it to you people, but getting healthier physically, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally, will take some sort of work or practice, putting yourself out there and getting vulnerable, and letting go of everything you “think” you know. What I am saying is, to get what you WANT, you must be willing do the things you DON’T WANT TO DO to get it:) At least at first. Once you get the results you are seeking, your perception will begin to change about what you think you don’t want to do, because you will see that what you once had resistance toward, becomes the very thing that brings you pleasure and so much joy. We all have our trust issues, and that’s ok. However, if you want to transform your body, your heart, and your life, it’s time to put those trust and commitment issues aside and dive into doing the things you don’t initially want to do or feel like doing.

Before you give up on exercise, try it first. Give it at least 6 months of being CONSISTENT and trust that it will improve your life. Before you decide eating more greens, whole foods, and organic products is too boring, bland, or difficult, try it! Give it 6 months of commitment and trust that you will feel better and better every day. Before you decide you don’t want a relationship or to be in the one you are in, date for 6 months or commit to improving your current relationship for 6 months. Be consistent, open, willing to be vulnerable and to try new things, and to listen. You might be surprised what you find.

A couple of examples in my own life, are the way I eat now compared to the way I ate a year ago. I would have laughed if you told me I’d be a raw vegetarian, if you told me this a year ago. However, by learning more and more about what I want, I began making choices in alignment with that, and as a result began feeling better and better until I was eventually eating completely raw and vegetarian. I eat this way because it brings me long-term pleasure, which is becoming short-term pleasure as well. Another example is dating. I was resistant to it for a long time and said I wanted to find a great guy, yet really wasn’t open to doing any of the things to find him. Now, let’s just say I’m making an effort to date, and I’m finding out how much fun it is again and how many great guys are out there. My point is, because I knew what I wanted and wanted it badly enough…I was willing to do the things I didn’t want to do initially, which I now find pleasure in doing!

So, What Do You Want? More importantly, What Don’t You Want To Do? Do whatever that is! More often than not, it is what we do not want to do, that is exactly the thing that will reward us with everything we’ve always wanted!!!

I would love to hear about the things you are resisting, and the goals you are seeking to achieve. Please leave your questions and comments here for me on the blog! Here’s To your Health, Wellness, and Vitaltiy!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food · Tagged: celebrity trainer, do what you don't want to do, E.L.M., ELM, erin lanahan, Erin Lanahan Method, feel good, get fit, holistic fitness, holistic healing, holistic health, holistic nutrition, know what you want, lifestyle change, nutrition, primary food, take contrary action, what do you want, willingness

Apr 29, 2010

Who’s Hungry???

Hi there! Man, I have missed you guys. I took a week off last week, from blogging and writing my newsletter, because I have had so much on my plate lately! However, as a result of my mini break, I have a whole new appreciation for this delightful mug of peppermint tea I am sipping on…ahhhh

Do you ever notice how difficult it can feel sometimes, to keep a healthy balance between work and play, or being productive and being productively lazy??? I must admit I am guilty of forgetting this on a daily basis. When we are so hungry to achieve certain goals, we can end up starving ourselves of other nutrients we really need and require in order to function optimally. I talk about life in nutrition terms because everything we need is a form of food for us. Are you familiar with the terms Primary Food and Secondary Food? I teach these terms to my clients because it’s important for them to understand that there is more than just one form of food and many ways in which we get hungry and need to be fed. Do you feel hungry??? What are you feeling hungry for?

You see, Primary Food consists of things like career, spirituality, relationships, exercise, intimacy, rest and relaxation, fun, etc. We must be fed in all these areas in order to be properly nourished. Secondary Food, is actual food that we eat, and it also must consist of all the nutrients we need for our bodies to maintain a functional existence. The last few months I have made the mistake of putting some areas of my primary food, such as rest, relaxation, and fun, on the back burner so to speak. As a result, I have grown extremely stressed out, overwhelmed, and full of tension. THIS IS NOT THE GOAL!!! I eat very healthily , fulfilling my secondary food requirements, I exercise regularly, I am growing and loving my business, have great relationships, and I am consistent with my spiritual practice. However, WHAT’S THE POINT of achieving all these things, if I am walking around on the verge of a breakdown all the time??? Seriously, at one point last week, my business coach looked at me and literally stopped our session dead in the middle because my face looked so distraught! Yes, we had a time out She, among several others, told me that I needed to let go a bit and chill out. It was a bit shocking to me that it was that obvious, by taking one look at me, that I needed a break! LOL! So I decided to do what had been suggested to me by some very credible sources in my life. I am feeling so much better now as a result. I am so grateful that I have been reminded of the value that rest, relaxation, and fun can bring to my life.

My point is…we tend to forget that such a big part of being healthy is the way in which we ALLOW ourselves to ENJOY the fruits of our labor. It is so important that we seek out balance between healthy productivity and healthy laziness. They are both required if we expect to maintain a healthy state of mind and a healthy body. Sometimes, we can make ourselves sick by trying to be so healthy and perfect all the time.

What areas of your life do you feel you may be neglecting? How might you feed yourself in some ways other than with food? Many people misunderstand their primary food hunger for secondary food hunger, and try to eat until they are full. The result…they consume more calories and NEVER FEEL FULL. Same thing goes for someone who is trying to fill their primary needs for fun by working too much…it aint gonna happen!!! Even when you LOVE your job, work and fun are two different nutrients, and we need them BOTH! Take a look at all the categories you consider to make up a ”FULL” life for you. Then write down the areas that may be lacking in your life. What are some things you can do to fill yourself back up again in those areas? If you ever find yourself eating yourself into oblivion on the couch…you may be trying to fill a hole that cannot be filled with food. If you are always go, go, go, trying to get to the place of being “happy,” why don’t you try taking a day or two off instead, and actually give yourself the time to BE happy. On that note, I’ll share the quote on my Yogi Peppermint Tea with you, lol. “Real happiness lies in that which never comes nor goes, but simply is.”

I encourage you to shop in the grocery store of life, and pick out the things that will feed your primary needs first. Please share your questions and comments here with me. I look forward to hearing from you. Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!!!

Please take a minute to review the Integrative Nutriton Food Guide Pyramid and Live a balanced life

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: Balanced eating, Balanced Life, celebrity trainer, E.L.M., erin lanahan, Feed your hunger, feel good, get fit, healthy eating, holistic fitness, holistic health, holistic nutrition, Hunger pains, integrative nutrition, primary food, secondary food, Who's Hungry

May 6, 2010

How Bad Are Your Bad Habits?

Which Way Are You Going???

Hello there! How are you feeling today? Do you realize that our bodies are such amazing, brilliant , intelligent, and wise organisms that really tell us everything we need to know? Therefore, if you are not already, I urge you to begin to tune in and turn within, to check-in with what your body is telling you at all times. Your body will send you very clear messages when it is not feeling well, when it’s fatigued and needs rest, or when you are putting things in it that are harming you.

We all know there are certain behaviors that will reduce our life span. Our bad habits such as smoking, excessive drinking, eating unhealthy processed foods, and living sedentary lifestyles can and WILL take their toll. New research states that when all four of these bad habits come together they can prematurely age someone by 12 years! That is mind-blowing right! 12 years is a lot of years older, and I cannot imagine any one of us wanting to speed the natural aging process up.

Integrative Nutrition guest speaker Dr. Walter Willett, the chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, was quoted by Time magazine saying, “conclusions are profoundly important and worth replicating: healthy lifestyle practices that are modest and simple—specifically, not smoking, getting regular physical activity, eating a good diet and avoiding excessive alcohol consumption—can profoundly affect our chances of living to an old age.” It is really simple people…reduce the chemicals you put into your bodies and enjoy the benefits of a more youthful, longer life.

You would think this should be enough to know for people to really get the motivation to take action and responsibility for their health. Afterall, it seems so easy right? However, as a Health Coach, I see it all the time, that this is not the case. I am very passionate about my job and what I do because I get to help people overcome these challenges on a daily basis. I help my clients get to the root of their issues, so we can heal them on every level. We uncover the reasons for why they are not making healthy choices, that align with what they really want. As a result, they are able to resolve these core issues and I get to see people lose weight, gain energy, eliminate sickness and fatigue from their lives completely, and gain radiant, glowing health from the inside out!

Are you someone who struggles with eliminating processed foods from your diet? Do you find it difficult to enjoy your life without excessive amounts of alcohol and smoking? Are you just plain stuck, sedentary, and unable to make any real positive changes toward getting healthier and more fit? Please share your questions and comments here for me on the blog, or better yet, email me at ErinLanahanMethod@gmail.com for a FREE consultation!

I truly hope you take your health and wellness seriously and do for yourself, all the things you need to live a FIT life. You deserve to feel great every day! Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!!!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food · Tagged: bad habits, celebrity trainer, changing bad habits, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method Fitness, getting healthy, overcoming challenges, weight loss

May 6, 2010

Numbers CAN Lie

I think its important to make sure people understand that being “thin” does not always mean being healthy. Our society is so HYPER-focused on skinny, and we tend to get brainwashed as a result. Eating a diet that consist of whole grains, lean proteins, fruits, veggies, and water is way more important than what a person weighs, in determining their level of health. Let’s face it…we all have different body types and genetic predispositions. We must embrace our natural shape and size and instead of focusing on the size we wear or the numbers on the scale, we must shift our focus to the nutrients we feed ourselves on a daily basis. You don’t have to let the media brain wash you into a mis-perception of what beauty is. Beauty is way more than how much a person weighs, so please keep that in mind. We look beautiful when we feel beautiful, so just focus on feeling great. Do you listen to your body? It is talking to you all the time, telling you what it needs. As long as you pay attention and treat your body with respect, you will live a healthy existence. I am here cheering you on! Here’s To your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Mind Body Spirit Thursday · Tagged: celebrity trainer, E.L.M., embrace your weight, Erin Lanahan Method, live your best, nurture your body, rock what you've got

May 13, 2010

12 Steps to a Healthier YOU!

What’s In YOUR Heart?

Hey everyone. How has your week been? As we all know, the summer is practically here already. People are planning vacations, weddings, reunions, anniversaries, and all kinds of fun events to feel great and look fabulous for. Then there are others who are just trying to get by, looking for work, or wanting to create a career that feels good to them. Whatever we are going through, the way we feel, function, and think will effect all of our efforts. Food becomes our thoughts, our blood, our skin, the way we relate to people, and the way we experience ourselves in the world. The quality of what we eat and how we spend our time will ALWAYS have a huge effect on the quality of the experiences and opportunities we get to have. How are you feeling about yourself now? Are you ready for life? Do you feel confident, and in a place of power? I hope so. Optimal health and wellness will always allow us to reach our goals in life much quicker, and with more ease, joy, and grace as we are in the process.

Tuesday I spoke for a group called the Tuesday Transitioners. I was asked to speak about how to stay fit and healthy in the face of the adversity. They are all in a career transition of some form. I delivered to them the 12 Steps I use in my own life, as well as teach my clients. These are the 12 Steps to a healthier you, no matter who you are! They will keep you healthy, looking good, feeling good, and performing at your best. Check them out! Also, please see a new video I filmed recently that will highlight the type of workouts I do myself and with my clients. Here’s To your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

12 Steps to a Healthier YOU

1) Drink more water- you want to be sure you are drinking at lease 1/2 your body’s weight in ounces. Our body is made up of 75% water so it only makes sense that this essential fluid must be continually replenished. We can go a month without food, but we can only live 2-3 days without water. Water is crucial to our survival…we can literally prevent disease. A large population of Americans are dehydrated, which contributes significantly to a poor state of health. Regularly flushing out the kidneys and bladder with water ensures that dead cells and other waste products can be expelled before they reach toxic levels. Maintaining hydration can prevent premature aging, eliminate pain and headaches, lessen hypertension, and promote weight loss. Add a slice of lemon, a slash of fruit juice, or a slice of cucumber for taste if you don’t like the taste of plain water.

2) Practice Cooking- Learning the art of simple meal planning will help you get all the nutrients you need as well as release you from dependency on restaurant food, fast food, and other processed foods. You won’t be a good cook at first, so be willing to be bad, in order to learn. It’s worth it…we eat much differently when we are feeding ourselves vs the alternatives.

3) Increase Whole Grains- Many fashionable diets say to avoid carbs…I’ve done this…it doesn’t work! Whole grains have been a central element of the human diet since the dawn of civilization. Until very recently, people living in these communities had lean, strong bodies. People are gaining weight today bc they are consuming too much chemicalized junk food, and consume too much caffeine, sugar, nicotine and alcohol. It’s NOT the carbs! Oddly enough, many will avoid eating whole grains, yet they will eat junk food carbs, when one is beneficial to their health and the other is not. Some examples: quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, brown rice, millet

4) Increase Sweet Vegetables- Almost everyone craves sweets. Instead of depending on processed sugar, you can add more naturally sweet flavor to your daily diet. EX) When I was training for fitness competitions, I wouldn’t eat carrots but then would binge on cakes, cookies, etc Some sweet vegetable examples: corn, carrots, onions, beets, winter, butternut, buttercup, and delicata squash, sweet potatoes and yams. 5) Increase Leafy Green Vegetables- Learning to cook and eat greens, especially the leafy kind, is essential for creating lasting health. These are the scarcest food in the American diet. Greens help build our internal rainforest and strengthens our circulatory and respiratory systems. Some benefits gained are:

- blood purification

- cancer prevention

- improved circulation

- immune strengthening

- subtle, light, and flexible energy

- lifted spirit, elimination of depression

- promotion of healthy intestinal flora

- improved liver, gallbladder, and kidney function

- clearing of congestion, especially in lungs, and reduction of mucus

6) Experiment with Protein- Protein is the basic building block for the human structure, helping bodies form muscles, skin, and hair. Because of our BIO-INDIVIDUALITY, protein requirements vary dramatically from person to person.

- I recommend experimenting with reducing or increasing your protein intake and trying different sources, animal and vegetable, and noticing the impacts on your body.

7) Eat Less meat, dairy, sugar, and chemicalized junk foods; consume less coffee, alcohol, and tobacco-

- I would rather “CROWD OUT” than take away from any individuals diet, however most people who reduce or eliminate these things feel more energized immediately. If they are already sick, cutting down on these foods helps them recover their health and vitality.

-Buy ORGANIC when you can!!!

Develop Easy and Reliable Habits to Nurture Your body- A KEY component to overall health, is the relationship between you and your body. This relationship is all to often looked over by the medical community. I can attest to the fact that this is a form of primary food, and we need it. I’ve listed a few examples of these “esteemable acts” below:

-using a tongue cleaner- an inexpensive yet transformative tool. Dentists are recommending it more and more bc it helps fight cavities by removing bacteria from the mouth. It also prevents bad breath and helps with cravings by cleaning the tongue of leftover food residue that could lead to cravings for those foods eaten previously.

-hot towel scrubs- relaxation circulation, and detoxification The skin is the largest organ of elimination, and stimulating the pores will help them eliminate better

- hot water bottle- for comfort in bed, use it to balance your HARA, the lower belly (asian philosophy believes this to be the center and source of your life energy) A warm bottle on the belly brings more energy and more blood circulation to the digestive organs in this area, which are really the engine of your body. It aids in digesting food and in unblocking energy that may be stuck after a heavy meal

-Also, getting proper rest, relaxation and fun. THIS is soooo important!

9) Have healthy relationships that support you- Figuring out which kind of relationship works best for you is crucial. It’s rare that I meet someone who feels ENTIRELY supported by his or her family, friends, co-workers, boss, and significant other. Most important is that we ask for help and for what we need from those loved ones around us. Or we can make new relationships by getting into some new circles of people, that may be aligned with us in ways that will feel supportive to us.

10) Find Physical Activity You Enjoy and Do It Regularly- A lot of people go to great lengths to eat healthy, but then they don’t exercise regularly. Movement aids digestion, assimilation, circulation and respiration and is a crucial part of any healthy person’s regimen. Think about what ways in which you like to move, and make a menu of movement to keep it interesting

-yoga

-hiking

-dance

-running

- taking a walk outside, somewhere pretty with fresh air

-weights

-aerobics class

-kayaking

-rollerblading

- riding a bicycle

* I always change it up

11) Find Work you love or a way to love the work you have- some of you may not have a job right now, so tyring things like networking, mastermind groups, meet-up groups (meetup.com), book clubs, bartering, and volunteer work can help so much

-THESE THINGS KEEP THE VALVE OPEN, so you are open and available for the right thing at the right time!!!! Keep the flow going!

-You’d be surprised that by making certain changes, such as fueling your life in other ways, practicing public speaking for more confidence, actively seeking more fun, will help dissolve the issues around work you may currently be experiencing

12) Develop a spiritual practice- Spirituality is what gives deep meaning to life, creating the feeling of divine order and harmony that exists above and beyond human limitations.It can offer us a sense of purpose and belonging. For some this means embracing their religion at birth, following traditions of their ancestors and seeking depth through prayer with God. Others feel disconnected with the past and explore new avenues such as Eastern religions and meditation. OR For those who are atheist or agnostic, being spiritual may mean going for a walk in the late evening and feeling the vastness of the night sky, or walking by the ocean and enjoying the sense of infinite, endless space.It has been my experience, that when people feel connected with the big picture…they get healthier faster!

Pick one step to try each week. What’s your first step gonna be? Begin NOW.

Filed Under: Fitness, Food · Tagged: 12 steps to a fit life, 12 steps to health, Career search, creative exercise, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, fitness video, Get fit from the inside out, how to stay fit while unemployed, workout video

May 18, 2010

What’s Feeding You?

Hello friends! What is new and good with you? I’d love to hear all about it! Today I want to talk to you more in-depth about Primary Food. I have gotten a lot of feedback from previous blog posts on this topic, and what I am hearing is that the content really resonates with a lot of you. Good! That is what I was hoping! When something makes sense to us…we cannot deny it. For those of you who don’t know about Primary Food, let me quickly explain. Or, you can refer back to these articles as well: Primary Food/Secondary Food and Who’s Hungry.

There are two types of food we need to fuel us and feed us. Primary food, number one, and Secondary food, number two. Primary Food consists of things such as career, relationships, intimacy, exercise, spirituality, fun, rest, and all the things in life that feed us on a soul level.

Secondary Food, is food that we eat. We need a certain amount of nutrients on our plates in order to live an optimal life. We also need the right nutrients from our Primary food, to live an optimal life.

So many people walk around, starved of Primary Food, but thinking they are hungry for secondary food. So they eat and eat, but never feel full. This has become a large, growing problem in society today.

What I do is help people identify patterns. I look at the things that seem to show up over and over again in their lives, and then determine if it’s a primary or secondary food issue. A lot of times, they both need to be addressed, but typically, when one is fed with proper primary food, their hunger for secondary food levels out.

For example, last night I had a coaching call with a client. She has been struggling with food for a good part of her life. In her adult life however, she gets really frustrated because she does really “well” during the week, and “falls off the wagon” on the weekends. She says by Friday, she just gets to a point of not caring anymore. She experiences feelings of being stuck, and feels defeated by the belief that she will NEVER get to her goal. She has thoughts of “I don’t care” and “what’s the point anyway” running through her head. Once the weekend hits, she feels as though she “deserves to do whatever she wants.” So she rebels with food. She eats and drinks whatever she wants because “she doesn’t care, what’s the point anyway, and she deserves to do something that feels good since she’s deprived of feeling good all week.” Sound familiar to any of you? I know I use to experience something very familiar in my life.

It was obvious to both of us, that clearly she wasn’t hurting anyone but herself, so her question was…”Why do I keep doing this?” After asking her a bunch of questions, I realized that the ONLY real joy she gets in life is coming from food. That’s when it hit me that we weren’t dealing with a secondary food issue at all! It was a primary Food issue, and she was not being deprived of food she eats. She was deprived of the food that feeds her Soul! So I began to ask her questions about her job. I had her list out the pros and cons, what she liked and disliked, loved and hated, etc. I began to hear the same pattern, the same voice, the same words. She kept saying, “I just feel stuck, and I don’t care about what I’m doing, but I feel like I cannot do what I really want to do career wise, until I get married and have the security of a husband and his job.” So I began asking her about what she felt passionate about, and what she would do if anything were possible. It was amazing, how similar the voices were that came out of her when talking about food and her job. They were “I don’t care”, “I feel stuck”, and ” I’ll never get what I really want.”

What is happening for her, is that she is not doing a job that feels authentic to her. While there are things about it she really enjoys, it does not inspire her in any real way. Most days, she forces herself to do things she really “doesn’t care about,” and as a result, she ends up bringing the “not caring” into her food choices. The patterns we identified with her secondary food, helped guide me towards looking at where those patterns were being played out in her life with primary food.

Needless to say, we now have her on a path to making small shifts towards a more fulfilling career for her, one that feels good in her heart, that she truly cares about. As a result, I am sure she will begin to notice, as she gets more nurtured on the soul level, she will reach for junk food less and less.

Do you have patterns with food that replay themselves over and over? You may be suffering from a Primary Food deficiency. A lack in Primary Food can feel very defeating, when trying to use Secondary Food to replace it. It will never work. Secondary food, alcohol, caffeine, drugs, and cigarettes simply CANNOT and WILL NOT fill the role of Primary food in your life. I suggest doing what we did. Take a look at all the areas in your life, and begin to find what you like and dislike. What is full and what is lacking?Then take everything you like, and move closer to those things, by finding ways to implement more of them into your life, or exploring options that are in alignment with your “likes”. Please let me know what some of your challenges may be. I’d also love to hear what is working well for you! I am also available for Health Coaching. If you’d like a FREE Consultation, please email me at ErinLanahanMethod@gmail.com. Here’ s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Check out my favorite Food Guide Pyramid. What do you notice that makes it uniquely different from the USDA Food Guid Pyramid?

Filed Under: Fitness, Food · Tagged: celebrity trainer, change your life, E.L.M., erin lanahan, Erin Lanahan Method, Functional medicine, holistic nutrition, IIN, integrative nutrition, primary food, soul food

May 28, 2010

One Man’s Food is Another Man’s Poison.

Some people can eat animal protein, some cannot!

Yep…that’s right…one man’s food is another man’s poison. What does this mean? I am talking about BIO- INDIVIDUALITY. We are all unique and therefore each one of us require something a little different from the next person. This goes for anything really, but today I am talking about how this relates to the food we eat and the exercise we do. For example, there are over 125 different dietary theories, and guess what…they are all right in some way or another, for one person or another. However, what I have found, in my experience with my own diet, as well as the diets of my clients, is that it is very important that we eat right for our unique type or bio-individuality.

I like to learn about all the different dietary theories, and then apply the pieces of each one to my life that feel right to me. For example, one website I highly recommend is “Eat Right for Your Type.” This is Dr. Peter D’Adamo’s site that offers tons of insight as to what foods and exercise best supports your blood type. I found this fascinating. I am a Type A, and we are better off as vegetarians according to this theory. That IS true for me, but that does not mean it will be true for EVERY Type A out there. Lots of other things factor in when choosing the foods that best support your optimal health, however, this give you a good place to start. Do you know your blood type? That’s something we should all know. Then we can begin with the blood type diet and change things up based on our bio-individuality. That’s what I tend to do with all my clients. Their blood type gives me good insight as to what foods to begin them on, and then we go from there.

How do you go from there? I suggest, clicking on the link that says “About the Diets” on D’Adamo’s site. Then choose your blood type, and read up on the suggested foods that are good for you, as well as the suggested ones to avoid. Try this out for a couple of weeks. Some Type A’s find that they just have no energy whatsoever without meat in their diets, and then there are Type O’s (meat eaters), who thrive on a vegetarian diet. The goal is to find sufficient amounts of protein, coming from the sources (plant or animal) that support your body’s functionality. When you eat lots of fruit do you feel good or bad inside your body? When you eat meat, do you get energy or feel sluggish? The same goes for exercise. It is suggested that Type A’s stick to light and gentle forms of exercise, however, I know for me, I thrive on a balance of gentle exercise AND intense circuit training. Do you feel better when you do yoga, when you run, or lift weights? Maybe you need one day of each or three days of the same thing. Follow the way in which things make you feel on the inside. This will help you gain clarity on what’s best for YOU, however, I do find the blood type diet to be pretty accurate about most things, most of the time. I encourage you to find your version of it nonetheless, so you can look great, feel great, and perform at your best!

Also, just a side note*** If you are someone who must eat meat, make sure it is organic, free range, and grass-fed, all, or at least most of the time. This will ensure you are avoiding anything toxic, so you can have vibrant health:)

Please contact me with any questions or comments here on the blog. You can also email me to schedule a FREE Health Coaching Consultation at ELM.Coaching@yahoo.com. Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Uncategorized · Tagged: bio-individuality, Blood Type, celebrity trainer, Dr. D'Adamo, E.L.M., Eat right for your type, erin lanahan, Erin Lanahan Method, Exercise right for your body type, functioning optimally, holistic health, holistic nutrition and fitness, integratve medicing, making healthy choices, ntegrative nutrition, Type A

Jun 4, 2010

So Full Yet Still Starving

Oh the vicious cycle!!!

Do you or someone you know suffer from “The more you eat, the more you want to eat” Syndrome??? I know what it’s like to be so full, yet still starving. Do you know how many adults, and especially children are struggling with their weight and obesity in this country? They are addicted to sugar and processed foods, eating more and more but never feeling satisfied.

You see, we can feed ourselves, or our children all day long, but if we are all eating sugar and processed foods, our bodies will continue to feel hungry. Our bodies are not hungry for calories, they are hungry for nutrition! By eating junk food, we are filling our bodies, making our cells work, but not giving them the raw materials they need. We become so full yet starving for vitamins and minerals. Our country is suffering from malnutrition!

When making the shift to eating more nutrient-rich foods, the body will have more of what it needs and you will feel less hungry all the time. Here are a few simple steps to make towards the shift to a healthier life for you and your kids! I also recommend “Integrative Nutrition” By: Joshua Rosenthal, as a great book to read for shifting your harmful habits into healthy ones!

1) Instead of peanut butter and sugar jelly on white bread, spread some peanut butter on a celery stick. Celery is FULL of live water that hydrates your cells and it acts as a great weight loss aid.

2) You can still serve pizza, but make homemade pizza with organic vegetable toppings.

3) You can still have ice cream for dessert, but cut the ice cream serving in half and add fresh, organic fruit on top

Take it slowly, but remember…you are hungry for NUTRITION NOT CALORIES! If you are interested in learning more about how to nourish yourself and/or your family, please email me at ELM.Coaching@yahoo.com for a FREE consultation

Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Healthy Recipes · Tagged: Binge eating, celebrity trainer, E.L.M., erin lanahan, Erin Lanahan Method, healthy tips, IIN, integrative nutrition, Joshua Rosenthal, malnutrition, starving

Jun 11, 2010

Everything You Never Knew You Always Wanted

I feel like sharing with you something that comes up a lot when I am in Health Coaching sessions with clients. Through working with me, my clients have learned that there is more to being fit than just exercise and food, but that food and exercise help us do those other things in our lives that we require to truly feel happy, joyous, and free. For example, so many of us want the car, the house, the boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife, the abundance to travel freely, the six (or seven) figure income, the hot clothes, the watch, the designer shoes, etc. We want them so badly, that we may slave for hours at a job we hate, go on diets that basically starve us and hurt our bodies, we bend over backwards to people please, and when it’s all said and done, we go home empty hearted and exhausted.

What I have found in my own life experience and through working with others, is that instead of focusing on how to attain and achieve all these external things, it is much more effective to shift and narrow our focus. If we direct our attention toward our mental/emotional, spiritual, and physical well being…the rest will unfold before our very eyes. I have seen it time and time again. So, for example, when we change the things we CAN change immediately, such as what we eat and how we spend our time, and do the things that honor our minds, bodies, and spirits, we begin to stand taller, smile more, get a little more bold on the dance floor, and step outside our comfort zone. This is because we feel good as a result from getting well, and therefore, as we feel good from the inside out, we look really good to the outside looking in. That’s when we begin to attract, and pull to us, that which our hearts desire. Even better yet…that’s when we achieve everything we never knew we always wanted!!!

So if you are out there making yourself crazy, trying to create this perfect life through acquiring external things, stop. Just make it easier for yourself and bring your attention back to yourself. What honors your body? When is your spirit happy and joyous? What makes you feel free and alive? Staying fit through proper nutrition and exercise will make it easier for you to do the things that make you happy, and as a result of doing what makes you happy on the inside, you will get to have all the promises that come along with it. I would love to hear your thoughts! We can all learn from each other! Please leave your questions and comments here for me on the blog!

As a Health Coach I help my clients menu plan, find exercise they love, I coach them through the obstacles in their lives that are making them feel stuck, I help them increase their energy, confidence, and personal power, and I help them decrease lack, limitations, and stress from their daily living. If you would like to know more about my services and how they might benefit you, please contact me at ELM.Coaching@yahoo.com for a FREE Health Coaching Consultation. Here’s to your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, Uncategorized, What I'm up to · Tagged: celebrity trainer, change your life, E.L.M., erin lanahan, Erin Lanahan Method, feel good, Fitness, Health Coach, lifestyle change, primary food, secondary food, shift your focus

Jun 11, 2010

Are You Overdriving Your Headlights?

When we move too fast, it gets harder to see where we currently are!

Hey guys…I am feeling so inspired to share so much with you today, that this is my second post today LOL. I have really been reflecting a lot lately and going through some intense personal growth, which is always challenging and awesome at the same time:) Something coming up for me a lot is whether or not I can really distinguish between the voice in my head and the voice in my gut. One is really loud and annoying and the other is a deep feeling in my tummy and body. My intuition is in my gut, and most of us know with our heads that we should trust our intuition, but do we really know how to? I cannot trust my intuition unless I know what my intuition is saying. What I am realizing however, is that my intuition is a body response and any other voice is in my head. My head is always telling me what I “should” or “shouldn’t” do. My intuition gives me an inner knowing, but then my head tries to undermine it. What has been very helpful for me anyway, is slowing down…a lot! I tend to get very judgmental of myself, questioning where I am, if it’s good enough, and I’m doing enough, am I moving ahead fast enough…etc. Does this ring a bell to anyone??? Ugggh, it can be so exhausting! However, when I am moving too fast, it’s like I overdrive my intuitive headlights and then I can’t see as well and run the risk of getting into an accident. For example, if we are on the highway at night, and the speed limit is 60 mph, but we are in a rush so we speed up to 80 mph bc we are afraid of being late, this will cause us to overdrive our headlights and we will not be able to navigate the road as well. Is getting their faster really worth a possible speeding ticket, accident, and adrenal burnout from stress? I use to think so, but not any more. Therefore, my suggestion for those of you who want to live more in alignment with your inner, personal power is…slow down. Move at your natural speed. If you speed up too fast, your will overdrive your intuitive headlights, and you’ll lose the ability to see what’s in front of you. If you just go the speed limit, your headlights will keep the next guided action lit up for you to see, and you will always know what’s in front of you. Afterall…how can we possibly know where to go if we don’t know where we are???

I’d love to hear from you. Please share your stories with me! Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, Uncategorized, What I'm up to · Tagged: celebrity trainer, E.L.M., erin lanahan, Erin Lanahan Method, Fitness, following intuition, gut feeling, headlights, Health Coach, listening to your gut not your head, overdriving headlights, slow down

Jun 18, 2010

Keep It Simple

Wow…what an intense week I have had. We did a lot of healing work and turning our attention inward at my retreat this past weekend. It’s truly amazing how much information we have readily available to us if we just tune in to it. We really do have everything we need inside of us. How are you doing? I am always eager to here about your journey and how effective you feel at living a life of optimal health and well-being. We are all here together, and we each play a vital part in the growth and movement towards peace, joy, bliss, and accepting and embracing everything in between.

One thing that I have learned is that things are so much simpler than we make them. We are always looking for answers and we will look everywhere for them except right in front of us. I love the saying…”When you ask for patience…God gives you lines.” This just makes me laugh. What is it that you want for yourself and your life? What changes do you want to see? Where do you want more insight, awareness, or forgiveness? Whatever you are asking for just might appear in the form of an opportunity to “Learn” or “earn” that very thing. For example…when I ask to learn boundaries…I may get 5 phone calls from friends and family asking me to give them money for no reason or to bail them out of a drama they created, or maybe a client starts showing up late every day and expecting me to still give them an hour. When I ask to feel more trust , I typically get to face lots of things that bring out my doubt and fear, yet give me a chance to make a different choice. I can do what I always do and stay in fear…or I can dive into the unknown and possibly learn how to feel more trust. It’s that simple. I challenge you to Keep It Simple…that which you are seeking is usually already in your hands.

Ok…Let’s Get Down To Fitness. I am staying with the theme of this week…keeping it simple. Here are your three fitness tips for the week! I encourage you to look for the meaning behind the meaning. What do YOU want? Ask for it…let it go, and watch the rest unfold.

1) Eat Right

2) Sleep Well

3) Enjoy the Ride

That’s a wrap for this week. Figure out what this means for YOU…it’s easier than you think Here’s To Your Health, Well-being,Vitality and everything in between! Catch you next week!

Please contact me with your thoughts and feelings about how you may experience this in your own life at ErinLanahanMethod@gmail.com or write me here on my blog :) Also, check out my Yummy YOU Recipes page that I update weekly!

Filed Under: Favorite Quotes, Fitness, Food, Healthy Recipes, Thoughts of the day, Uncategorized, What I'm up to · Tagged: ask and it is given, celebrity trainer, EL.M., embrace the ups and downs, erin lanahan, Erin Lanahan Method, find answers, find bliss, Find peace, keep it simple, learn, seek and you shall find, what do you want

Jun 25, 2010

Getting Clear

What’s up everyone! I have been thinking today, about something that happens to us all…way too often. Have you ever noticed that you create chaos and obstacles in your own life, in order to give you the power you are lacking to make a decision once and for all about something? For example, some people may really hate their job, but they “need” it to pay the bills. They don’t want to do it anymore, but they don’t know what else to do either. They would never consider quitting per say…so getting fired would be the only way to free them of it, and in their own minds, give them a chance to shift into something else. Therefore, consciously or not, they may slack off, abuse the company credit card, talk back to the boss, etc, and eventually get fired. Another example of creating chaos to get clarity, might be abusing food or drugs and alcohol because we are unclear about what else we want to do with our time, or unclear about what we really feel passionate about. Therefore, we create a situation that ultimately causes us so much pain, that we finally HAVE to change if we don’t want to die (literally and/or metaphorically).

I write about this today because I am learning that I don’t have to suffer to get results. I use to think I did. Through lots of painful experiences, I did get more and more clear about who I am and what I want. That did make it easier to move closer to what I wanted because we must be very clear about what we want if we expect to attract it and manifest our desires. However, if we can get clear first…we can skip over the painful part. I think so many of us have success and happiness tied into the belief that we must suffer to get there…you know, really pay our dues. In my experience this is untrue. I do not think obstacles are bad by any means. I think they are blessings. When we are backed against a wall…we have to take action or be taken by our circumstance, and when we are put into that situation, most of us start making choices and getting more and more clear.

I urge you to practice getting more clear about what you want on a daily basis…before you have to get backed up against a wall. Chaos is the way in which the universe brings us opportunity to get clear. If we are already clear, we don’t need obstacles. Just a thought…I encourgae you to try it on:)

As many of you know, I am a Health Coach…helping others tap into their PERSONAL POWER so they can make the choices that are in alignment with what they want for themselves and their lives. I integrate my coaching with personal training and holistic nutrition as well. If you’d like to know more, please contact me at ELM.Coaching@gmail.com for a FREE Consultation. Here’s to Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality! Thank YOU!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Healthy Recipes, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: celebrity trainer, E.L.M., erin lanahan, Erin Lanahan Method, getting clear, Health Coaching, integrative nutrition, manifest your desires, Nutriton Coach, overcome obstacles, why struggle

Jul 3, 2010

Happy 4th!

CELEBRATE!!!

Happy Birthday America! Did you know that the legal date of separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2nd, 1776…exactly 234 years ago today? However, we celebrate it on the 4th because the Declaration of Independence was finally approved by Congress on July 4th, 1776. I tell you this because I want you to know….WE CAN LET THE FESTIVITIES BEGIN TODAY!!!

What are your plans for the weekend? Do you feel good about yourself? Are you excited to hit the pool side or the beach? Or, are you staying inside to battle the buldge??? I know how hard it can be to feel uncomfortable in your own skin. I have gone through so many of my own challenges with food addiction and obsessive compulsive behaviors that were all a symptom of me not feeling worthy, or inspired by my life, or beautiful on the inside. I have tried every diet, and gone through phases of working out for 3-4 hours a day, to phases of not working out for months because I was so de-motivated, burnt out, depressed, and dark. I am excited to share with you however, that this year…I will be celebrating Independence Day in Vegas! I feel so happy with the balance I have found in my life. I no longer have an obsession with food or exercise, and it is such a relief! I can go on vacations, and not worry about anything except what hot outfits I am going to wear and what people I am going to meet. I get to feel good about myself all the time, no matter where I go, who I am with, or what I am doing. I want this for everyone! Since I feel so passionate about helping others achieve the same level of health and well-being, I have decided to Celebrate YOU by putting a little something special together. I understand some of us just need a little boost…something different to shift us and change our perception. If this is what you need, please take advantage of what I am offering you.

For the L.A. Local:

E.L.M. Sampler Package-

includes:

*2 Personal Training Sessions- These sessions will shock your muscles and your body quick! I will design 2 unique workouts, specific to your goals and body type. In just two workouts you will feel tighter, stronger, leaner, and sexier, and your metabolism will get the boost you are looking for. You will walk away from each session feeling motivated and empowered.

*2 Health and Nutrition Phone Coaching Sessions- In these sessions we will address Nutrition. We will discuss the foods that are best for YOU based on your body and goals. I will begin to educate you on what you need to know to make the healthiest choices. Since our food choices are largely effected by things like career, relationships, exercise, and spirituality, we will look at what areas in your life may be making it difficult for you to reach your goals. I will help you identify negative patterns and habits that may be reoccurring in many areas in your life, that no longer serve you. We will begin to heal you from the self -sabotaging behaviors that are showing up in your life and making it feel impossible to achieve the results you want.

*1 Grocery Store Tour- I will take you on a tour of Whole Foods…my favorite place ever!!! I will help you understand how to fill your shopping cart with the highest quality foods, that support your health and goals, without breaking the bank. I will help you learn to read food labels and how to be a “food detective.” I want you to feel empowered with knowledge, and that is what you will get on this amazing, educational, and FUN tour!

*1 Myofascial Release, Massage, and Stretching Session- This is an incredibly healing form of body work. It breaks up fatty tissue and releases the fascia, which allows you to have better mobility. By breaking up fatty deposits, it becomes easier for the body to flush it out. Myofascial Release also helps to open up the muscle bellies so you are able to get a deeper and fuller range of motion during exercise and every day movement. It also helps prevent injury. This makes your workouts much more effective because you will be using a larger percentage of your muscle on each repetition. As a result, you will achieve a healthier, leaner, and more flexible physique, in a shorter amount of time. than if you were not using this technique in conjuction with your workout program. This technique, combined with my famous massaging and stretching, will relieve you of stress and pain, and you will walk away feeling all warm and fuzzy inside!

*Value- $900

**For anyone who signs up by July 10th- $500

OR…

10 Personal Training Sessions- Train with me for 10 sessions and watch your body change. I will take you through 10 uniquely designed workouts for your goals and body. We will shock your metabolism into high gear, strengthen your core, tighten your butt, sculpt your arms, back, and chest, to get you feeling beach body ready!

Value: $1500

For anyone who signs up by July 10th- $799

For My Out of Towners:

E.L.M. Body Makeover Coaching:

includes:

-4 Health and Nutrition Phone Coaching Sessions- These sessions will help you bust through plateaus, learn about the foods that support weight loss or muscle gain for your body, start to overcome food addictions and binging patterns, teach you ways to stay inspired in the gym, and they will support you with the motivation you need to move closer to living a life you love in a body you love.

Value: $600

For anyone who signs up by July 10th- $250

How do you feel about these options??? I really hope you find something that works for you. I thought really hard about how to put something together that would get you motivated to take your body to that next level! Please Call Me at 850-528-5187 or Email me at ErinLanahanMethod@gmail.com to schedule today. I look forward to working with you.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, Travel, What I'm up to · Tagged: 4TH OF JULY, 4TH OF JULY DIET, celebrity trainer, E.L.M., Eat well on the 4th, Erin Lanahan Method, how to stay fit through the holidays, INDEPENDENCE DAY HISTORY, LOOK SKINNY FOR POOL PARTIES

Jul 3, 2010

Fitness Tips for the 4th!

Here are three fitness tips to help you feel your best this July 4th weekend!

1) Start each day with no less than 30 mins of cardio, but preferably 60 mins. This will sweat out extra salt and water and will raise your endorphins and seretonin. You will feel lighter, tighter, and happier as you set out for some fun in the sun!

2) Make sure to eat at least 1 large salad a day starting today. By eating this live food, you will fill your tummy with nutrients and fiber and reduce the risk of indulging in too many sweets or fried foods. Eat your salad at least 1-2 hours before hitting the party so you have time to digest it properly and don’t go feeling too full and bloated.

3) Be sure to eat breakfast no more than 1 hour after waking up. Then be sure to eat small meals and snacks throughout the day, every 2-4 hours. By doing this you will kick your metabolism into high gear AND stabilize your blood sugar so you will feel high on life! Your mood will be great and you will be running on a ton of energy!

BONUS) Drink at least 8 oz of water between each alcoholic beverage to stay hydrated. This will also reduce caloric and sugar intake, and help you to avoid drinking and eating more than you actually need for a good time:)

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Uncategorized · Tagged: celebrity trainer, E.L.M., eat well, Erin Lanahan Method, how to look great on july 4th, july 4th fitness tips, Lean out fast, look great in a bathingsuit, Weight loss tips

Jul 16, 2010

Breathe into the NOW

Allow your breath to move in and out of you…just like the tides.

Inhale…exhale…inhale… exhale. That’s right…just Breath into the NOW, get present, and allow yourself to relax every muscle in your body, knowing that everything is going to be O.K. Ahhhh, doesn’t that feel good…

Now, how are you? Are you experiencing intense feelings this month? I know a lot of people are. I am one of them. I must say that work has really gotten moving at warp speed for me. So many of my dreams are becoming my reality, and every day more information is revealed to me about what my next steps and plans will be. Whether we are experiencing intense pain, fear, sadness, loneliness, excitement, overwhelm, emptiness, gratitude, fullness, happiness, or in my case, all of the above, it is so important that we continue to bring ourselves back into the NOW. For example, I recently got a new huge celebrity client who has a reality show. It looks like I’ll be training him and his wife on the show as a part of the gig. We start next Tuesday. At the same time, I have been asked to speak on a couple different topics next week, but both happen to be on the same day! I will be giving my first talk at 3PM Monday, and my second one at 7PM Monday. The one on Monday at 7PM will be one of the largest groups I have ever spoken in front of, and believe me…so many feelings come up around this. Everything on my plate right now is what I have asked for and wanted for so long, and yet I have to work really hard not to get caught up in how much focus and preparation it is taking from me in order to keep stepping into this new reality. Afterall…I have created all of this for my life. Whenever we are faced with an opportunity to expand…it can feel really scary. However, growth is also exciting, and I have gotten very clear, that if we want to continue manifesting our hearts desires…we must first have the tools we need to step into the responsibility, energy, and commitment it requires.

In the past, I would be freaking out right now. I would be complaining about how tired I am, how much I have on my plate, how there just isn’t enough time to get it all done, and I’d be psyching myself out to believe I’m just not good enough or smart enough to pull all of this off. However, I am learning that today I am a different person than I use to be. I have practiced such healthy habits for so long, that my brain is literally transforming daily. It really is true, that what we put into our bodies comes out of our bodies. Today, instead of collapsing with paralysis and overwhelm, I can choose to BREATHE. I can bring my attention back into this very moment and realize that I can do what I am doing right now. That is all I have to do. Just do what is right here, right now…one moment, one step, one task, one thought at a time. It never seems to fail either, that somehow, I complete all the tasks at hand with grace and so much more ease than I use to. I truly believe and know, that the way in which I approach my health and wellness has everything to do with why my life is expanding and growing. It has everything to do with why I am feeling more and more capable of stepping into the shoes of the woman I have always wanted to be. Taking care of yourself is an esteemable act, and gives you the clarity and confidence you need to push past your old limits and become someone bigger and more free in your own life.

What’s going on for you this month? I would love for you to join me this coming Monday, July 19th, from 7-10 PM at Bar Marmont for my talk on Living Healthy from the Inside Out. I will be sharing my story about my struggles with body image and addictions to food and exercise, and how I managed to overcome them. I will also be sharing My 4 Power Steps to Creating a Life You LOVE in a Body You LOVE. If you would like to attend please reply to this email and let me know. You can also just show up if you happen to be in the neighborhood The address is 8221 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046. There will be socializing, a DJ, and dancing afterwards. I would love to see you. We are gonna rock it all night long!

Please Leave all questions or comments here for me on the blog, or email me at ELM.Coaching@yahoo.com. Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Filed Under: Favorite Quotes, Fitness, Food, Healthy Recipes, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: Be here now, celebrity trainer, dealing with a busy schedule, E.L.M., erin lanahan, Erin Lanahan Method, getting present, how to stay healthy on the run, staying in the now

Jul 16, 2010

Fitness Tips

Here are your three fitness tips for the week:

1) Allow yourself to be where you are. Whatever you are feeling is OK! We so often want to run away from what we feel inside and therefore prolong it from passing through. As a result, we suffer in many ways. We may eat more, not work out, feel anxious and depressed because we are judging ourselves for not being capable enough or normal enough. Just FEEL IT. Embrace your reality NOW. You are allowed to be imperfect.

2) Stop comparing yourself to other people…you have no idea what their journey is about. Unless you are doing something nice for another…keep the focus on yourself. The world is a better place if we are all happy, so stop using others as a distraction from working on yourself. What can you do to be a happier person??? Do it!

3) Create an esteemable life. What is 1 thing that will make you stand taller, smile bigger, that will inspire you to step outside of your comfort zone and make bold moves? When we do esteemable acts, like eat clean and nutrient rich foods, exercise regularly, and take time for ourselves to enjoy our lives…we start to feel our self-worth go up. When you feel like a million dollars you are much more likely to manifest a million dollars!

That’s a wrap for this week. If I don’t see you Monday night at my talk…then come back and visit me here You can also meet me in your inbox every Friday in you sign up for my weekly Fitness Tips Newsletter! Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Filed Under: Fitness · Tagged: E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, esteemable acts, feel good, fitness tips, get fit, motivation, self confidence

Jul 30, 2010

Meet Your Meat!

You Are What You Eat…So Know What You Are Eating!!!

Filed Under: Entertainment, Food, Healthy Recipes, Thoughts of the day · Tagged: celebrity trainer, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, food detective, holistic nutrition, integrative nutrition, know your food, meat your meat, where does your food come from?, You are what you eat

Aug 1, 2010

4 Power Steps to Living a Life You Love in a Body You Love

Hey guys! Here are some of the highlights of my 4 Power Steps to Living a Life You Love in a Body You Love talk I gave a couple of weeks ago. I am working on putting this information as well as some other power information into an E-Book. Stay tuned for information regarding that and how you can purchase it!

4 Power Steps to Living a Life You Love in a Body You Love- if you implement these 4 things into your life…your entire life will change

1) Vital nutrients through proper nutrition

- whole and organic foods (grows out of the ground or has a mom) vs processed junk foods

- foods that fit your bio-individuality (blood type, job schedule, energy requirements, activity level)

- know your food…you are what you eat

2)Proper Exercise

- Build a solid foundation of lean muscle tissue for an efficient metabolism

- Consistency is Key… “good day show up do the work…bad day show up do the work.” Eventually, your foundation will work for you and carry you through the tough times

- Keep it interesting so you don’t get bored and so you keep shocking the body to break through plateaus

3) Get Health Coaching

- we all need help, so ask the professionals…that’s what we study all day every day! No one, not even me, can do it alone, there is always more to learn and know

- we are so pressured to look and be a certain way, especially women in LA…but as a health coach, I teach my clients to follow good health and feeling good from the inside out. The aesthetic aspect will follow if you are healthy. If we diet and exercise to please others, to be accepted, or to fit in…we will end up feeling demotivated and burnt out at some point. The number one person worth getting fit and healthy for…is YOU.

- Practice the Crowding Out Method- learn how to add healthy things in to support your goals, therefore allowing the unhealthy things to fall away more easily and naturally, rather than eliminating everything you love and reaching a place of deprivation.

4)Ask Yourself Good Questions

- it is important to ask yourself questions all the time, so that you are always checking in with what your intention is and where your motivation is coming from. In my E-Book, coming soon, I will share with you my”4 Power Questions” that will help you determine what’s getting in your way of Living the Life YOU love in a Body YOU Love.

Please email me at ErinLanahanMethod@gmail.com for a FREE Health Consultation. Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, What I'm up to · Tagged: 4 Power Steps, ceebrity trainer, E.L.M., Empower Yourself, erin lanahan, Erin Lanahan Method, Fitness, get healthy, Gettingh motivated, holistic nutrition, holistric health and fitness, Live your best life, Living a Life You Love in a Body You Love, motivation, motivational speaking, nutrition

Aug 1, 2010

Fitness Tips

Here are your three fitness tips for the week:

1) Break free from the dark and KNOW where your food comes from. We the people must vote, with our forks and our dollars, for acceptable and exceptional food quality and humane animal treatment in this country. Know what you are eating and what you are buying. Watch this video, Meet Your Meat, to gain some education about the food you put into your mouth and to learn a little bit about what is happening on Factory Farms. Expand…grow…learn…the time for change is NOW. Let’s raise the bar for ourselves and our children!

2) Think of one thing you do the same every week or day in and day out. Do you ever consider changing it up or improving? Why not? Let go of old ways of thinking and access awareness. Break FREE from your lack and limiting beliefs…they are old stories that do not serve you any longer. Try something you think you cannot do and just keep saying “Wait…What if I CAN?”

3) Get on the ORGANIC, WHOLE FOOD train. I am serious…this is your health, your life, and the future of our race and planet I am talking about. Eliminate the pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics you consume daily through your food. This is an outrage. Buy as much organic fruits and veggies as you can. If you eat meat, make sure it is organic, free roaming, grass fed, antibiotic free, hormone free, and pesticide free. You will thank me for it later.

If you have any questions or just want to learn more about the food you are consuming, please email me right away at ELM.Coaching@yahoo.com. We cannot depend on our government, or anyone else for that matter, to make these changes for us. It is up to us to speak with our actions and empower ourselves with knowledge. The more we know, the more power and opportunity for wellness we have. As I said before, the time for change is NOW.

That’s a wrap for this week. Take a deep breath and let these Tips sink in. I am here to listen, help and guide you, and to support you. Let’s get healthy and stay that way! Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!!!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day · Tagged: celebrity trainer, E.L.M., eat well, Empower Yourself, Erin Lanahan Method, fitness tips, holistic nutrition, IIN, integrative nutrition, know where your food comes from, meet your meat, You are what you eat, youtube video

Sep 14, 2010

In the Cocoon…

By Erin Lanahan · 5 Comments

…yes, I’m in the Cocoon. Whenever I am going through a major transitional period in my life, I like to think of the analogy of a butterfly. When the caterpillar makes it’s cocoon, it is only a matter of time before a beautiful butterfly emerges. However, if one were to peak inside the cocoon before this process was complete, I have no doubt that things would look incredibly messy. That is how I feel right now…incredibly messy, only I cannot hide away in a cacoon like I wish I could. Instead, I force myself out into the world, to continue moving forward with work, projects, and integration, and although the world cannot see it, I am wearing my invisible cacoon.

I recently took a journey to Peru. I left August 18th and returned home September 6th. I traveled to the Amazon Jungle, to work with shamanic healers there. It was 12 days of total introspection and inner work, and then I ended my trip in Cusco, Peru, where I visited the magical Machu Picchu. I have definitely chosen the road less traveled for myself and my life. I do feel that my life’s work is about my own healing and expansion, mostly so that I can help facilitate the healing and expansion of others. One thing I know well, is that when we go deep, and journey into the depths of our traumas, pain, fears, shame, hopelessness, and insecurities, it takes a lot of courage and energy. The ending result is always positive, however, it can take a while to actually integrate all the healing and new information one gets after such a journey inward. That’s the experience I am currently having.

Last week was my first week back in LA. I actually got totally sick and was pretty much in bed and out of work the entire week. This was NOT how I’d planned to make my big return home. I had planned to dive right back into work, making headway on all sorts of amazing opportunities that began to sprout before I left, and I was going to hit the gym hard after a month of no working out. However, being sick forced me to slow down, and as a result, I learned a thing or two. As I was faced with all my fear of everything falling apart due to my inoperable condition, an insight came to me about the possibility of letting go of everything I think I know in order to access new awareness and deeper healing. You see, I so often want to make things look and feel a certain way because I am convinced that there is only ONE WAY for me to be o.k. or only ONE THING or ONE TYPE of person that will be good enough. This truth is one of my truths that I have been a subscriber to my entire life. However, this I can no longer support, because I just know too damn much now and there’s no turning back. It feels very scary, to let go of old ways of thinking, but I know it is time, and exactly what must happen for me to take the next step closer to living in alignment with my purpose and power. It’s like I get powerful intuitions about people, opportunities, and self-healing, and I just ignore them, because I assume they should look differently. As a result, I’ve been keeping the things that are in alignment with me at a distance, instead of allowing things to unfold naturally. Ugggh, all of these insights are flooding in daily, but I know all of it is just part of my integration and transformation after Peru. I am staying with the process but it can feel so difficult when I am questioning EVERYTHING. It feels like I don’t know what I want anymore, or why I don’t seem to get certain things I’ve been asking for and wanting for so long. I am questioning what feels important, what feels good, and what is really something worth making a priority or not. I feel stuck between my inner and outer worlds, trying to find a way to live in both of them at the same time. I know I am so blessed to have such problems. Anyway, if any of you out there resonate with me, let me know. Meanwhile, I’ll be in my invisible cocoon ;/

Filed Under: Entertainment, Thoughts of the day, Travel, What I'm up to · Tagged: Awakening, Awareness, Cacoon, Catepillar to Butterfly, Erin Lanahan Method, Life Changes, life coaching, Transitional phases

Sep 22, 2010

Moving From Fear and Resistance Into Acceptance and Curiosity

Well, I am feeling so much better than I was last week. I am integrating my Peru trip at a rapid pace now, and everything is beginning to fall into place…and it’s a WILD and PROFOUND journey! A few things were made super clear to me as a result of my struggles upon returning to L.A.

1) EVERYTHING that is put in front of us has landed on our path as a tool for us to use to create a better life. Yes, even the ”bad” stuff. If we are conscious about this, we can really leverage the most uncomfortable and most painful of times, as the most profound and healing tools for us. Today, I am using everything “in my way” and “the way.” I have moved from fear and resistance, into acceptance and curiosity about each day and what gifts it will bring.

2) We MUST feel our feelings. It is when we want to numb out the most, that it is so important to bring awareness into how we are feeling in our body. I use to struggle with things such as alcohol, drugs, over-eating, etc. I have learned that these things were only my solution and actually, my thinking around my feelings was the problem. I did everything I could to run away from myself, so I didn’t have to experience the discomfort, pain, fear, insecurities, etc. But the TRUTH is …you can only numb it out for so long. Ultimately you have to face it. When I got home from Peru, I was really confronted with so much of my deep fears, doubts, lack and limitations. Some really old stuff came up for me…stuff I thought was in the past, such as my body image issues, binge eating, and some physical stuff. I felt weak, afraid, and lost. I began to experience feelings of anger, hopelessness, resentment, and sadness. However, I now have the consciousness that I did not have a few years ago. I understand that when I begin to overeat, or spin out in my head and feel depression lurking…it means there are feelings on the horizon due to POSITIVE change on the horizon. I MUST feel the feelings on the horizon in order have my breakthrough. These days, I can use my addictive behaviors as a signal, that I need to spend some extra time, turning within, tuning into my body and what I am feeling inside. Is it heavy, is it moving around, is it in my stomach, or maybe my heart? I ask myself these questions to help me tap into it and bring my awareness inward. This ”feeling through” process allows me to contact the source of my feelings, and help them energetically move up and out of me. So, begin to bring awareness into your life. If you begin to notice fluttering in your tummy, feelings of suffocating, or anxious feelings within…be aware of the ways in which you attempt to “handle” them. Instead of numbing out, and trying to run away from something that will ALWAYS find you…try to take a few minutes each day to sit in silence. Breathe, and ask your body to show you where the source of your suffering is, and to help you feel it so you can let it go and release it into the light.

3) Sometimes we just need to be internal. The last couple of weeks I had a lot of judgement come up around the fact that I was not doing all the things I thought I should be doing upon my return from a month in Peru. The ironic part was that I had no say in the matter. I would’ve hit the ground running, but I got sick. It’s as if a power greater than me stepped in and took over. I was FORCED to slow down, and to be in doors, in my house, with me, myself, and I. I caused a lot of suffering for myself at first, as I sat around moping and feeling guilty and inadequate for having to stay home. However, it hit me one day that I WASN’T READY TO GO BACK TO WORK ANYWAY! In fact, I really didn’t feel ready to do anything, see ,or talk to anyone. Therefore, it was obvious that I needed to accept and embrace this time I was being GIVEN to just be internal, to cocoon myself and allow my healing process to really unfold and integrate in my body. You see, it was my conditioning that was the problem. I was certain that if I didn’t hit the ground running and “MAKE THINGS HAPPEN,” then I would simply loose everything…or my world would surely fall apart. I was afraid of being “forgotten” and “traded in” if you will. These were feelings that were very real to me, but once I embraced my process, and felt these feelings in my body, I found that I was wrong. Nothing fell apart, and everything was right where it was when I left, when I finally got back to work. Therefore, if you are feeling really challenged by the thought of stepping outside your front door…try allowing yourself to stay inside. Instead of “doing something” just use your cocoon time to feel your feelings, rest and heal. Try moving from resistance and fear, into acceptance and curiosity about your current circumstances:-)

Filed Under: Entertainment, Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: Acceptance, celerity trainer, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, feel better, feel good, feel your feelings, live a healthy life, loose weight, moving from fear to love, optimal health and wellness, overcome adversity

Sep 28, 2010

Are Your Thoughts Obeying THE LAW?

I am noticing more and more, that as I stay committed to being in charge of my thoughts, I can change them. However, there are times when I seem to be bombarded with a daunting awareness of my own thoughts…because they are thoughts that make me feel bad, and the ones I must quickly change. Do you ever notice that some days are easy to stay in a very positive place and other days are more difficult? Some days I have no trouble seeing the beauty in everything, and complaining, criticizing, and comparing myself to others is the farthest thing from my set of choices in each moment. Then there are those days, when every time I open my mouth, something that seems a little too harsh or dramatic seems to throw itself up and out of me, and I experience many levels of fear and jealousy.

The feelings we have let us know what thoughts we are thinking. Our thoughts become things, so we must make sure we are having thoughts that make us feel good. If we feel bad, we know we are having thoughts that are creating things that will ultimately make us feel bad. Becoming more aware of this universal law, The Law of Attraction, is a very helpful awareness to have as a tool. If we want to create the life of our dreams, the life that our hearts really desire, then we must make our thoughts obey the Law.

Today, as I became aware of so many yucky feelings, and then the thoughts that were creating them, it was hard for me not to judge myself. We tend to want to get mad at ourselves or beat ourselves up for having “bad” thoughts because we assume we “should” be able to be in better control of them. However, changing our thoughts can change our life, and that takes practice. That’s right…PRACTICE. Just like anything else, we must learn new ways of doing things, by first becoming aware when we are doing what we no longer want to do. Then, every time we notice a less than ideal thought, we can PRACTICE shifting ourselves by replacing it with a better thought or visualization. At the same time, it is important to keep moving through life, doing the best we can at all times, with compassion for, and gentleness with, ourselves. Just like me today, I was in a place of feeling a bit negative, but I was aware that I WANTED to feel good. I wanted to think good thoughts and to continue creating a life that feels good to me. Regardless of what came up in my head, or out of my mouth, I committed to shifting the very minute I was aware of that which will not serve the creation of my vision in the long run. I didn’t want to work out, because I wanted to go home and wallow, however, I WANTED to feel good and to reprogram my brain MORE than anything else. Therefore I kept thinking of things that make me happy, like my dogs, my blog, my readers, the vision I have of myself writing a NEW YORK TIMES Best Selling Book, my vision of being someone who gets to motivate and inspire crowds of people, and minute by minute, hour by hour, I began to feel better. I got an effective workout accomplished, and I am ending my day doing what I love most…Writing and sharing my challenges with you, in hopes to help you walk through your own challenges with more awareness, ease, and grace.

Remember, our THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS. What do you want to create for your life? I suggest getting super clear about this and then allowing that desire to pull you through each day. What thoughts will bring you closer to your goal? The ones that make you feel good will! If you feel bad…change your mind by picturing all the things you want even MORE than you want to be miserable:-) Whenever you are struggling with feelings of anger, jealousy, sadness, loneliness, inadequacy, feeling like your life is small and insignificant…just bust out a BIG laugh. Fake it if you have to. Just change your mind. As long as you stay committed and willing to do what it takes to feel good, and create the life of your dreams, then no matter what…you WILL change your experience one step, one choice, one silly fake-it-till-you -feel-it laugh at a time.

Let me know how I can support you. Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

“Law of Attraction is Universal, and every person is affected by it. And it is always true that what I think and what I feel and what I get are always a match, and there is not a person on the planet that did not know that when they were born, and there is not a person on the planet that would not benefit by knowing it. But many, many, many are not yet asking and therefore are not yet ready for the answer. And so, we would say that — although everyone wants this information — everyone is not necessarily ready for it. We would not spend any time trying to convince anybody of anything because if they’re not asking, your answers are just irritating.”
— Abraham

Filed Under: Entertainment, Fitness, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: celebrity trainer, change your thoughts change your life, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, Health Coach, holistic fitness, integrative nutrition, Law of Attraction, life coach, Nutrition Counselor, overcoming adversity, overcoming obstacles, Thoughts become things, weight loss coach, Wellness Coach

Sep 29, 2010

The Jumping Off Point?

www.ErinLanahanMethod.com

I am feeling so much inside of me lately. Change is definitely on the horizon. One blessing I have in my life, is I get to work with clients one on one. They tell me how they are feeling and what they are going through, and I learn so much from them. I also begin to gain a greater awareness of human thought and behavior. It never ceases to fascinate me.

When change is on the horizon, it often times kicks up a lot of intense feelings within us. Those who are unaware of this, may just walk around saying they are feeling “blah” or “tired.” I hear these things from my clients a lot when they are at a crossroads…you know, the point at which we get to choose between doing things the same old way or making a different choice. I can’t help but wonder…is “blah” and “tired” just the best way we know how to describe our current inner state? When change is on the horizon, decisions must be made, and life can feel very awkward and uncertain. This can feel overwhelming, especially if we are unaware that we are experiencing the results of a metamorphosis. When we feel “blah” and “tired”…maybe what we are really feeling is the jumping off point, maybe we are just afraid to jump? If we just take that leap of faith, shift our thoughts, do something bigger…yet gentle and compassionate, something different, we no longer have to waste energy resisting it, and thus our “tired” feelings may subside as we move into acceptance? Maybe our “blah” is really the need for change and inspiration, and if we just shut our eyes and leap, we get to land somewhere completely new, and thus no longer in a “blah” state of mind?

As the days pass, I find myself more and more curious about my clients’ and my readers’ lives. I love hearing how you and they are feeling, what challenges you are each facing, and what tools you are reaching for to walk through each moment. I definitely have my days of feeling that which I COULD label as “tired” and “blah.” However, today, instead of giving my power over to that, I choose to see this as time to take a leap of faith, to change my mind and attitude, to make a move toward a new land.

Why Not?

All my love,

Erin

Filed Under: Fitness, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: change your thoughts, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, Health Coach, Integrative Nutrition Counselor, Leap of Faith, life coaching, the jumping off point, the tipping point, Wellness Coach

Oct 1, 2010

The Battle of the LBs

This morning I awoke to a frantic text from a client who has gained 15 pounds in the last few months. This client has been unable to keep a consistent schedule in, and outside of the gym with me, and her eating habits have been on a roller coaster due to some family and work challenges that have kept her traveling quite a bit. She and I worked really hard to get this weight off, and she kept herself at a weight and lifestyle she was happy with for a year and a half. “Why is this happening?” “I worked so hard for so long, and now I feel terrible again.” She is very upset and feels defeated. Does this sound familiar?

The Battle of the Lbs can be an aggressive battle if we let it…but it doesn’t have to be. What has happened is, my client got comfortable and instead of getting more clear about her intentions for her health and fitness…she got less clear. In the beginning, she was motivated by a break-up…but eventually, external motivation WILL ware off. Also, things happen…we get called to take care of others, and it is not always going to be easy to stay committed to our healthy ways. But it ultimately comes down to this…HOW DO YOU WANT TO FEEL IN YOUR SKIN, AND WHAT IS THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION TO MAKE SURE YOU ACHIEVE IT AND MAINTAIN IT TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY? (And beware of excuses my dear friend) We must get clear about what we want, and continue to deepen that vision and tweak it with regards to new goals and desires. Ultimately, what matters most, is that we do the very best we can in every moment (because that’s all we CAN do), and obviously “our best” will look differently, depending on the day, but nonethelss…DO OUR BEST. Unfortunately, most people wait until they are in unbearable pain to change their behaviors and actions. Why? Why wait until you are in so much pain you feel defeated?

What I have learned over the years is, first of all…We are NEVER defeated. Also, just as importantly, what I want more than anything…more than abs, more than my “skinny weight,” more than ANYTHING, is to be happy and to feel comfortable, beautiful, and sexy in my own body…from the inside out, independent of anything external. This does not mean I don’t also want to look good, it just means that I approach looking good from a different place. If we approach it from a healthy place, we get to keep the results. If we approach it from an unhealthy place, we will eventually fall back into our old ways. It is so important to really get clear about how you want to FEEL. How does it feel to try on clothes at a store, how do you feel when you are walking through the grocery store, how do your favorite jeans feel when you button them? Then get clear on your visualizations. What do you SEE when you look in the mirror? What do you see when you go to a party? How do you see the world from the eyes of a body you love? What do you hear yourself saying to yourself? Are you visualizing hearing loving words from yourself? All these things help us stay on track…so we can keep the battle of the LB’s at Bay. We are human beings…our weight will fluctuate throughout the year, as Mother Nature intended it to, however, there is an ideal minimum and maximum for each of us that we do not have to exceed if we have the proper tools to reach for.

This morning, I did a short coaching session with this client. I instructed her to do the following:

1) Write down exactly how she is feeling, so she can refer back to the pain she is experiencing right now, and therefore can use that instead of having to recreate it later. This is a helpful tool, because when you feel like you are getting off track, or you are forgetting the pain you can potentially cause yourself, you can read over this particular journal entry and it can bring you right back to the pain. This will help you make better choices in the future, so you never have to create this particular feeling again.

2) Write 3 pages of a free flow of thought this morning, followed by a list of her intentions for today and 5 things she is grateful for. This is an exercise I have assigned her to do every day. In the morning, as soon as you wake up, before doing anything else…take a mental dump! Write down anything and everything that comes to your mind, even if it is “I don’t know what to write” or “I’m so tired, this sucks.” It doesn’t matter…just keep writing and do not stop. This must be with a pen and paper, not typing. Write for 3 straight pages (front and back count as 2). Then, following the 3 pages, set your intentions and write them down. What do you intend to feel, see, create, do, ect, for today? How do you intend today to unfold? After all of that, write down 5 things you feel really grateful for…even if that is “I am grateful for this pen in my hand.”

3) I told her to write a journal at the end of the day, about how the day went, what feelings came up around each meal, when she gets the most hungry, and what foods make her feel the best and most satisfied. This is a great tool, because it tracks what actually happened throughout your day, and you can see if you are staying in alignment with your intentions you set for that day or not. The way we do one thing is the way we do all things, so it is important to identify patterns, and then to look at what’s going on underneath the surface.

My client and I will do a coaching session on Monday, to review her writings, and, as long as she remains willing to do what it takes to feel better, and commits to the process…she will be on her way to living in a body she loves!

Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

For Health and Wellness Life Coaching, you can contact me at ELM.Coaching@yahoo.com for a FREE consultation.

Thank you

Erin

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, What I'm up to · Tagged: celebrity trainer, Diet Roller coaster, diets don't work, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, Health Coach, keep off the weight, life coach, loose weight, Loosing and gaining weight, weight loss, Wellness Coach

Oct 14, 2010

I LOVE FITNESS!

Today I have been thinking a lot about my relationship with fitness. Essentially what this means is, I have been thinking about my relationships with food, exercise, my body, relationships with others, my career, my passions, my clients, my purpose, my message, my spirituality, and pretty much everything that makes my life a FIT life. You see, fitness to me is about so much more than just “how many calories did I eat today” or “are my abs showing.” Fitness to me, is a philosophy, a way of life, and an approach to everything I do and create.

I remember the days when I used to count calories before I fell asleep, just like one would count sheep. Literally, I would lay there adding everything up I’d eaten for the day until I came to a conclusion about whether or not I could feel good about myself. Sometimes I got lucky and fell asleep first, but that was rare. My entire life was dependent upon how much I worked out, what I ate, what size I was wearing, what I looked like, etc. This was no FIT life I assure you. I may have been a size 2 with shredded abs, but since everything else in my life took the backseat, including my health, it wasn’t long before my life became fat, bloated, and depressed.

The truth is, I love to move my body. I love all forms of exercise whether it be yoga, taking a dance class, running, kickboxing, weights and circuit training, whatever. But I DO NOT want to HAVE to exercise. That’s right! It’s not fun to do anything we HAVE to do. Therefore, it is so important to stay in a place of WANTING to exercise. If I force myself to go 6 days a week, I know what will happen. I will feel pressured, forced, and will end up feeling burnt out and resentful. That is no way to create a healthy relationship now is it? Nope. So instead, I go a minimum of 3 days a week, and anything on top of that is a gift to me and for me:-)

I love fitness. It has been one of my greatest teachers thus far in my life. It has taught me so much about who I am, what is important and what’s not, what I really want, and what I really am capable of creating for myself and others. What I now KNOW is, Living a FIT life is maintaining the health of everything in my life. In order to truly be HEALTHY from the inside out, I must always be willing to follow certain guidelines:

1) Stay true to who I am and NEVER dim my light in order for someone else to feel more comfortable.

2) Speak my truth, and trust that who I am and what I have to share, IS good enough.

3) Take inventory of the people in my life and make sure that I am only surrounding myself with loving, supportive friends and family.

4) Do what I love, and do it every day no matter where I am or who I am with, NO MATTER WHAT. Doing what I love IS who I am.

5) Stay really clear about what I WANT. This vision must stay clear, because this is what gets me to the gym, what chooses a salad over pizza, and what gets me working on a project I love whether I want to or not.

If you want to live a FIT life, try living by these guidelines. Apply them in your own life, in your own unique way. You are beautiful and talented and creative, and you don’t do anyone a favor, especially yourself, when you hide who you are. Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!!!

If you seek Health and Wellness Life Coaching, please email me at ELM.Coaching@yahoo.com for a free consultation. XOXO

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: adversity, celebrity trainer, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, getting fit, Health Coaching, life coaching, loose weight the healthy way, love for fitness, need inspiration, Nutrition Counseling, over exercising

Oct 19, 2010

YES to Today!

“I am safe in the Universe and all of life loves and supports me.”

– Louise Hay

Today I must say, has been a good day. Yes, I am thankful, grateful, and appreciative for this day. I ate a nutritious shake for breakfast, I got to train a couple amazing clients, then I had a very fun, feel-good workout. After the gym, I showed up for a friend, for his birthday lunch, and got to see lots of people who love and care about me, and whom I love and care about as well. I had a healthy and nutritious lunch, then I got to go home, to a home I love and feel comfortable in. Once I got home and relaxed for a bit, I ate a huge salad with some fruit for dinner and then got a nice, warm, cleansing shower. Following my shower I had the blessing to coach 2 very special clients. I had one client from 6pm-7pm, then I chose to give myself the gift of meditation until 745pm, and then I prepared myself for my 2nd client at 8pm. Now I sit here, to top off an amazing day, doing what I love even MORE than all those other things I love that I GOT to do today. Yes, this is my dream. I am writing on my blog, to you, and sharing my life and love for fitness with you. I have overcome so much to get to this place where I can sit down at the end of the day and, even though I have not achieved all my goals thus far, I can feel so happy about who I am and what my life stands for. This is my wish for everyone, that we all feel inspired by our own lives, to live our best life, as the best version of ourselves:) I am not saying that every day is easy, or that I do not still struggle or feel challenged in many ways at times, but I am saying that I now have the tools I need to move through it all, the inspiration to share it all, and the willingness to be transformed by it all.

You see today is the kind of day that I have been dreaming of my entire life. I can really and honestly say I do what I love and love what I do EVERY SINGLE DAY, whether I get paid or not, no matter where I am, and no matter who I am with…no matter what. The best part about that is, I get to help others do the same. I have been in a lifelong love affair with fitness my entire life, and I finally understand that being FIT is living a life full of love, inspiration, healthy relationships, support, and having a positive attitude about EVERYTHING that gets put on my path, whether I like it or not. We literally GET to choose who we are and who we want to be one choice at a time, one day at a time. Even the so-called “bad choices” are not bad when we maintain our consciousness about them. When we can take these “bad choices” and let them teach us, and help us to evolve and grow and step even more into our power, THEN we ARE living a FIT life, a life of a warrior and a hero of the heart.

I dream that one day, everyone will be healed of their eating disorders and dysfunctional relationships with food and exercise. I dream that I will be able to use my personal experiences with eating and exercise disorders and addictions to help others heal from theirs. I dream that everyone will be able to look in the mirror at themselves and LOVE what they see, independent of what the mirror tries to tell them. I dream that we all get to a place of KNOWING we are lovable, KNOWING we are worthy of greatness, and KNOWING that we are absolutely enough, regardless of the circumstances or of our shape and size at any given moment. These are my dreams for you. These are my dreams for me. I am happy to report, that I live in this knowing more and more deeply every single day, and it feels DAMN GOOD! It IS possible…it is.

Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

If you seek Coaching, please contact me at ELM.Coaching@yahoo.com.

Thank you,

xo Erin

Filed Under: Favorite Quotes, Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: be happy, celebrity trainer, change your thoughts change your life, create your life, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, Health Coach, life coach, Live your dream, Louise Hay, love your life, love yourself, Nutrition Counselor, personal trainer, what do you want

Oct 22, 2010

Why Do You Want It?

By Erin Lanahan · 5 Comments

Today I had a pretty in-depth session with a client. She is struggling with a few things. Pretty much her entire life she has battled with feelings of unworthiness unless she can make a “BIG SPLASH” in her life. I think so many of us feel the same way. We are basically taught if we do not reach a certain level of society’s standards of “success” that we do not deserve to feel good about our lives or who we are. The biggest problem with this is, it keeps us from focusing on what’s really important and instead, we become totally obsessed with the things that ultimately don’t really matter.

For example, I asked this client “Do you think once you get the “perfect” job you will feel like all your problems are solved? Or is it possible that when you solve your inner conflict you’ll attract the “perfect job” for YOU? Why do you really want this particular job?” As she and I began to dig deep, she began to tell my her WHY behind this goal. She told me that what she really wants is happiness, freedom, safety, security, and good health. She just thinks she can’t have these things unless she has a certain job, makes enough money, has the right man in her life. For this client, she has measured her worth by the size of the “splash” she is making in the world. She is an AMAZING person, so this just made me very sad. She is suffering from the “When I have that…I’ll be happy” Syndrome.

This is the problem for most people, we all believe that once we have this or that, or him or her, we will finally be happy. But the truth is, just like the many people we know that have all those things and still remain empty to some degree, we are most likely NOT going to achieve the level of freedom, love, happiness, health, safety, and security, from these external sources. We may experience some temporary relief, and possibly things will get a little better, but eventually we will have to deal with our inner conflict. However, if we gain these things from a place of already feeling happy, joyous, and free, then it’s just the icing on the cake…but we need our cake in order to ice it! I believe, that if we switched our perception, changed the way we think, we would be much better off. Instead of waiting for the thing or the person or the job to be happy, why don’t we shoot for happiness and let the rest follow??? I can’t help but wonder…if we were already happy, would we feel as strongly about the need to make a “BIG SPLASH???” I’m just say’n. Your thoughts???

WHY do you want what you want? Figure out your WHY, and you’ll rediscover your WANT.

If you seek Coaching, please contact me at ELM.Coaching@yahoo.com. Here’s To You Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Lots of Love, Light, and Gratitude,

Erin

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Mind Body Spirit Thursday, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: being happy, celebrity trainer, change your brain, change your thoughts change your life, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, facing adverstiy, Health Coach, Holistice Fitness, life coach, Nutrition Counselor

Oct 25, 2010

I KNOW, I TRUST, I GIVE THANKS

Ahhhh tonight I am just sipping tea, breathing and relaxing to the sounds of the joy calmly moving through my veins, my lungs, and my heart. Every cell in my body is full, and emanating with love, light, and pure gratitude for my life. I am realizing that no matter what challenges I face or what sadness I may tap in to from time to time, I always move through these feelings and get to the other side. Lately I have been missing someone special to me. I find myself thinking about him more than I was just a few short weeks ago. At first, I was alarmed by this, as I have been really staying focused on my own life and on healing my own wounds around this relationship. However, ultimately it doesn’t matter why I am feeling so much for him right now. It doesn’t matter why I miss him so much either, or that I wonder if he thinks about or misses me. No, it doesn’t matter that I cannot seem to let go quite yet. All that matters is that I observe that this IS the way I feel NOW. So I am allowing myself to just be with these feelings. Meanwhile, I continue to create the visions of my heart. I keep on keep’n on, and I do this for me, no one else. I do what I love and love every minute of what I do, and that saves me. I KNOW that I am blessed. I KNOW that more and more is being revealed to me every single day, and I KNOW that even though it may look like things are not going my way with this person, that there is a power greater than me with much bigger and better plans than I could ever plan for myself. So I TRUST and I TRUST and I TRUST, and I keep following the visions of my heart. As a result, I move through the temporary pain, and find more of the truth, the light, and the love that always resides deep within me. I am at peace, even when things do not look the way I think they should or want them to at times. I KNOW that I am enough, I am being taken care of, and that I am exactly where I am supposed to be and the rest is on its way. My dreams are finding me. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for this knowing.

Sweet Dreams,

Erin

Filed Under: Art, Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: adversity, be the change, broken heart, celebrity trainer, change your life, change your thoughts, create the life of your dreams, E.L.M., faith, feeling through the feelings, getting over love, giving thanks, gratitude, Health Coach, holistic fitness, Holistic Nutrition Counselor, inspired life, life coach, manifest your destiny, new perspective, primary food, trusting, visualize

Oct 26, 2010

So…What’s the Follow Through Feel Like?

I was speaking with a client earlier this evening and we discussed the challenges for her around making healthy choices when she is out to dinner. It was only moments before this, that she shared with me, in detail, what she wants for her body and her life and how she wants to feel on a daily basis. Does this resonate with you? Are you out there, shooting for a healthier, fitter body, but then having trouble making choices that are alignment with what you say you want? Why do you think you do this?

I have found, that more often than not, someone who is not making the choices in alignment with what they say they want, is either unclear about what they really want or they just don’t have enough of a relationship with the outcome of their healthy and unhealthy choices. What do I mean? Well, for me, I KNOW how I will feel after a large burger and fries and a slice of chocolate cake. I KNOW how I will feel after 4 slices of pizza, a side of spaghetti with garlic bread for dinner and cheesecake and a latte for dessert. I also KNOW how I will feel if I order steamed fish, a big green salad with lots of veggies and avocado, and a side of whole wheat pasta or brown rice and fresh fruit and a small piece of organic dark chocolate for dessert. I KNOW the difference between eating the foods that match my goals and desires, and the foods that do not match my goals and desires. So what I am saying is, sometimes you just may not be conscious yet about how food makes you feel and about how it affects your mood, your day, your week, and your life.

Food literally BECOMES US. It becomes our cells, our hair, our blood, our energy, our skin, and our thoughts. This determines our relationships, our energy levels each day, our creativity or lack thereof, the way in which we experience ourselves in the world, and the way others perceive us and feel about us too. That’s right…the BEST way you can begin to change on a cellular level, in order to make positive shifts and revamp your ENTIRE life, is to change what is going into your mouth! First, you need to have the proper awareness and consciousness around food, so begin by noticing how food makes you feel and how it can positively or negatively affect your week, your interaction with others, and your life!

Here are three tips you can use daily to begin to connect to what you REALLY want and to make the choices that support that:

1) Write out what you want for your life, your body, your career, your health, your family. Get very detailed and clear until you can feel this in your body and feel deeply moved and inspired when you read it back to yourself. Bring this feeling with you to every meal. Ultimately IT will make choices for you.

2) Follow the food through. Once you have gotten more clear about HOW food makes you feel, you can then follow your cravings to the end BEFORE you give in, and see if you still feel the same way. Ex. You’ve been noticing that when you eat dairy it makes your skin break out and you get cranky by 4pm. Therefore you stopped eating all dairy a couple of days ago, and you feel AMAZING and your skin is already beginning to clear up. Then you get taken out to lunch by co-workers and you go to a Mexican restaurant. You see the caso dip and the quesadillas on the menu and think “OMG I REALLY WANT THIS, IT SOUNDS SOOOOOO YUMMY AND I’M STARVING!” But, then you remember that you want to feel full of energy when you get back to work, and that you are really loving your skin right now. You follow the caso and quesadilla option all the way through. You imagine that you’ve eaten the caso and quesadillas, and you can feel how bloated you are after lunch, and you’ve still got 4 hours back at the office and you’re suppose to workout after. However, now you are feeling fat and lazy, and really just want to go home and sleep, so you cancel with your trainer on the way back to the office and he charges you for the late cancel. You can feel the grease on your face already. You get back to the office and grab a chocolate bar out of the vending machine because you need a “pick me up.” Then you get home and yell at your boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife and have no tolerance for your kids. You say things you don’t mean. You’d like to be affectionate and maybe even intimate, but you just feel too gross and tired and angry. You go to bed, feeling fat, lonely, angry, and anxious. It is hard to wake up the next morning because you slept crappy, and therefore you run late to work. On the drive to work you notice a BIG pimple coming up right between your eyes.

Cut back to you at the table. You do not get the caso and quesadillas because you followed them through and now you KNOW that is NOT what you want. What you WANT is to feel energized, sexy, patient, creative, on top of things, on time, and you want to get a kick-ass workout in later! So you go for the black beans and small side of Spanish rice, no cheese, steamed broccolli or a big green salad, and maybe some steamed fish or grilled chicken. AHHHH, you feel great after lunch. You just know you will have an awesome workout, get home with lots of energy for whomever is waiting for you, or if you will be alone, you’ll be able to rest feeling nutured and loved because you did wonderful things for yourself earlier.

3) Always do the VERY best you can. It’s about progress, not perfection. There is no need to feel guilty over eating something “bad.” Just realize it makes you feel yucky, let it go, and do something differently next time!

Ok, I wish you well! Please leave all questions and comments here for me on my blog, or contact me at ELM.Coaching@yahoo.com if you would like a FREE Health Coaching Consultation.

Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

xxoo Erin

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: celebrity trainer, change your thoughts change your life, E.L.M., eat healthy out to dinner, Eat this not that, Erin Lanahan Method, Health Coach, holistic nutrition coach, Integrative Nutrtion, life coach, loose weight, making healthy choices, weight loss

Nov 7, 2010

What’s Your Bigger Picture Goal?

Happy Saturday! Today I’ve been a little sleepy, because I was out late last night having FUN! It was well worth feeling a bit low energy today. It has also got me thinking…when we are really connected to what we want to create for our lives, we get pulled into action even on the low energy days. As I sit here in Starbucks at 430pm on a Saturday afternoon…I am realizing, that this would NOT be happening if I was not so tuned in, tapped in, and turned on to my life’s purpose and mission. When we are motivated by passion, we GET to feel inspired no matter what we may feel like each day. I think that’s really cool. I use this tool for everything. Some days, when I may not feel like working out, I tell myself, just do a gentle workout and do it ONE EXERCISE AT A TIME. I make an effort to really tune in to the vibration of what it is I want in the long run, and then I have the luxury of making a choice that is most in alignment with that. I have to admit, working out vs rest on a tired day is not always what I pick. My main concern is choosing what is the best and most supportive of my “bigger picture.” Some days my bigger picture goal is going to require I have more endorphins that day or that I get in a good sweat, and other days it will require less movement, and more internal exploration such as meditation and rest.

Today, my bigger picture requires me to reach out, share where I am at, and to connect with as many people as I can. It requires that I be in humble gratitude for all that I have created thus far, and for all that I will be able to give and receive in my life. So you see, regardless of if we are tired or not, if we are really connected to our bigger picture goals, then we can set our smaller picture goals up in such of a way that they really support the vision we have for our lives.

What is your bigger picture goal today?

Lots of Love,

Erin

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: celebrity trainer, contemplation, E.L.M., ErinLanahanMethod, goal setting, gratitude, Health Coach, holistic nutrition coach, integrative nutrition, life coach, starbucks

Nov 10, 2010

Clearing the Path for Wellness!

Pictures of People Running

Hello there! What is new and good? I must say, in my line of work, there are many areas of my client’s lives that must be addressed in order to achieve a certain level of health and wellness. It is true for all of us. Being healthy and living a FIT life takes much more than just clean food and exercise. We must be willing to take a look at anything toxic in our lives that creates “dis-ease” for us. This could mean our careers, our relationships with friends, family, partners and lovers, our spiritual practice or lack thereof, or even just our perception and/or thoughts around these things. Whatever it is in our lives that is out of alignment with who we really are and what we really want, WILL bring us pain and suffering if we continue to do what we always do (or don’t do) about them. These obstacles are always a blessing however, because once we resolve them, we get all the beautiful gifts that await us on the other side.

For example, I have been in and out of a relationship with someone who ultimately never left me feeling very good or healthy about myself. This relationship created a lot of toxicity in my life and in my mind, body, and spirit. As I have stayed committed to living a FIT life, and to moving through each day with optimal wellness, I have been able to reach a level of consciousness that provides me an awareness when things do not align with my bigger picture. I finally did what I had to do to get resolution around this relationship and I feel fantastic! I haven’t felt this FREE and energized in two years! I am here to report, that you will not die if you speak your truth and say what you need to say in your life to take care of YOU.

You see, if we want to live a life of Optimal Health…than we must be willing to clear the path for wellness. The longer we continue to engage in negative relationships, thoughts, patterns, habits, behaviors, and activities, the longer we will keep ourselves from living in the energy and love that we so deserve and so desire. I have learned that it is by TAKING RIGHT ACTION, that declares to the universe that we ARE worthy of better and that we do love ourselves enough to do whatever it takes to create a healthy life for ourselves, and it is when we do this that we get to receive all the gifts that are waiting for us on the other side of such warrior courage and committment. I finally decided to feel through my feelings of rejection and abandonment and shame, so that I could clear the path for Divine Wellness in my life. I knew it was time to do something different unless I wanted to keep getting the same results, and that was NOT an option for me this time.

Ultimately you have to decide what it is you want for yourself and for your life. You ARE worthy of everything your heart desires. You ARE enough, and you CAN create anything you want. I know this to be the law, and the truth. What are you willing to do to clear the path for Wellness in your life? Is there a relationship that needs closure? Do you need to speak to your boss about a way to make things more comfortable for you at work? Are you struggling with an addiction and need to seek help? Do you maybe need to shift your thoughts or your perception about something so you can feel grateful instead of resentful? What is it? You deserve to feel fantastic…so what is worth putting that off any longer?

For me…I am going to greet mother nature for a run in the morning because I feel so energized and free. I am here for any questions, comments, or support you may need Please reach out to me here on the blog.

Also, if you seek Coaching, please email me at ELM.Coaching@yahoo.com for a FREE consultation.

xoxoxoxo and good night,

Erin

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: creating healthy relationships, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, healing your life, Health Coach, integrative nutrition coaching, life coach, living a FIT life, overcoming adversity, toxic relationships, wellness

Nov 18, 2010

Asking, Allowing, Seeking, Accepting…Surrendered

By Erin Lanahan · 5 Comments

Hi friends. I hope this blog entry finds you well. When I say “well” I do not necessarily mean “happy,” or smiling, or free of all things that feel difficult. I just mean I hope this finds you in a place where, regardless of what you are currently experiencing, you are actually in a place of asking, allowing, seeking, accepting…surrendered. This is my current state. I have deep knowing that “wellness” is a direct result of BEING IN YOUR EXPERIENCE. Just let yourself HAVE your experience…whatever it is. As soon as we ask for what we want, allow what is happening to just happen, seek out that which is in alignment with us, accept the reality, and surrender to the moment…we get to move past any and all limitations we once had. You see, for me anyway, when I resist my experience, it never has a chance to be heard and therefore just worsens my current condition. You know that saying “whatever you resist persists?” That’s exactly what happens. Your experience wants a voice, just like you do…it’s kind of like a child who really wants to tell you something. The more you ignore them, the louder they will scream. If you ignore them long enough, they just might kick a temper tantrum, demanding that they have a chance to be fully expressed. This is what happens in our lives if we do not SURRENDER.

Recently I have been going through many different emotions and transitions, both internal and external. At times, it can feel overwhelming, as if I couldn’t possibly survive. This is when I just know that there is NOTHING else I can do but to Ask for what I want, Allow myself to be where I am and have my experience, Seek out that which I need in the moment, Accept the reality of what is, and to Surrender to a power greater than myself, knowing all is being taken care of. Over the last week or so, I honestly didn’t have it in me to do anything more than lay on my couch, listening to music, while I let my deepest fears, wounds, and sorrow, bleed out of my body through the tear ducts in my eyes. It felt really good…to just let it happen. The good news is…once we HAVE our experience, we can get on with things…and we get to move on with a lighter step, and with greater awareness and internal integrity. I have found that external integrity is also very healing. We all to often walk around pretending things are better than they are, in fear of being “Debbie Downer.” I am not saying we should walk around complaining or playing the victim…I’m just saying, that by having both internal and external integrity, we get to heal. Internal integrity is being honest with ourselves about what is happening inside of us and allowing it, and External integrity is being honest with others about what is happening inside of us. The more I do these things, the better I get, and the more my life becomes a manifestation of my highest truth and best self. For me, this is the only way to live…with authenticity, integrity, and love.

So I have been Asking, Allowing, Seeking, Accepting…Surrendered. How about you? I would love to hear from you about how your journey is unfolding. Please share with me here:)

So much light and love to you all…thank you for being you!

Erin

Here’s a great song that helped me get through a really hard week

P.S. A great website a dear client of mine introduced me to recently is www.tinybuddha.com. This has great inspiration and wisdom available for you. Thanks Marcy for this gift

Filed Under: Favorite Quotes, Fitness, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: accepting, Allowig, Asking, celebrity trainer, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, feeling your feelings, getting over your ex, Healing from a heartbreak, Health Coach, life coach, Nutrition Counseling, overcoming adversity, overcoming hard times, Seeking, Surrender

Nov 24, 2010

Embracing Our Awakening

Hello! How are you doing this week? I know there is a lot coming up for pretty much all of us right now, especially around the Holidays. I just got back from seeing Marianne Williamson speak, which was awesome. She speaks every Tuesday night in Hollywood. We are so lucky here in Southern California! However, I am well aware that all of us, everywhere, are lucky. Recently I have really been noticing how many tools we have available to us and for us, that are there to assist us in these times. Yes, we all know that we are living in different times now than ever before. We all need extra help, support, and resources, so it is no coincidence that we are witness to so many opportunities that offer us growth, expansion, development, healing, and AWAKENING.

Yes, I said AWAKENING. Everything happening “to us” and “around us” is actually happening FOR US. EVERYTHING is a tool for us, urging us to take a look inside and take an inventory of what we are carrying around with us. We all have many emotions and thought patterns that we know do not serve us, or anyone else for that matter, and therefore it’s just time to let them go. The Universe, Spirit, God, our higher selves, WANT us to be transformed…to experience all the love, beauty, peace, joy, and abundance that is our birth right. The energies in the Universe are getting more and more intense, and we all are feeling it! We are being directed right into all of our B.S., that we need to release for the greater good’s sake. What we think, how we show up in the world, and whether we stay bitter or get better, effects more than just ourselves. It is not about ourselves anymore…its is about the way in which we as individuals contribute to and effect the whole, the oneness, the collective. This is a time to stop blaming each other for this or that, and to take full responsibility for everything that we are experiencing. Then, it is our responsibility to allow ourselves to really feel what we are experiencing so we don’t have a need to attach to it any longer, and can let it go. When we hold on to things, we grow resentments and our minds create stories around them, making us miserable. So instead of doing that which you KNOW does not work…embrace this awakening process. Embrace everything you truly are, and find your voice, your own unique self expression. There are so many books, retreats, audio books, websites, blogs, classes, meditations, prayers, meet up groups, music, and organizations we can invite into our lives, that will fully support us in our growth. We have the choice to seek out loving environments, food that loves us, people who love us, and the experiences that help us heal rather than abuse us. You have the choice. What is it going to be? Are you going to eat foods that hurt you, or foods that love you back? Are you going to blame someone else for your “unhappiness” or are you going to look inside and ask yourself “How might this person be mirroring me? What are they showing me about myself that needs healing? How might I grow, evolve and awaken as a result of this experience?” This is a time to embrace our awakening, a time for healing, within us and without.

“All things are lessons God would have you learn.” – A Course in Miracles

I am happy to provide you with resources, information, and support. I believe we are all meant to be healthy and amazing, happy, joyous, and free, but no one can do this alone. Please leave all your questions and comments here for me on the blog I am walking this path with you all, and I am humbly grateful for that.

If you seek coaching, please email me at ELM.Coaching@yahoo.com.

Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality. Here’s To Your AWAKENING!

Good night my beloved family,
Erin

Here is a little clip of Marianne…she is a great resource for the support you may be seeking to truly embrace all that you truly are!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: a course in miracles, awaken, celebrity Health Coach, E.L.M., embrace your truth, Erin Lanahan Method, facing adversity, integrative nutrition, marianne williamson

Nov 25, 2010

Doing the Gratitude Dance! :-)

I know it’s the thing to do this time of year…to be grateful and express gratitude. However, I celebrate gratitude every day. Did you know that the emotion of gratitude is one of the highest vibration emotions we can have? It’s right up there with love! Feeling thankful and appreciative and grateful for things throughout each day can actually heal us and prevent “dis-ease.” It is REALLY that powerful. Also, when we feel this gratitude filling every cell in our bodies, we become the vibration of gratitude and therefore we attract that which is a vibrational match to it…such as many beautiful gifts from the universe.

I want to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU. I am thankful, grateful, and appreciative for this blog, for my fingers to type these words, for the loving communities I am a part of, for my amazing clients that inspire me daily, for my optimal health and wellness, for all of you who take the time to drop in on me here and share this journey with me, for God, for Source energy, for all the lessons and tools that are available to me and FOR me, for my life, for this moment, for my loving friends and family, for everything I have already experienced, for everything I have yet to experience, for love and oneness, for my heart that beats, for my lungs that breathe me, for food that loves me back, for all the beautiful places I have had the honor of visiting thus far, and for all the beautiful places I will travel to in my lifetime. I could go on and on, and I do and will…in my heart. Right now my heart beats and radiates with Divine Love, Gratitude, Compassion, Oneness, and Joy. Thank you for this gift. <Take a BIG inhale hear………….now Exhale.> What does your heart radiate with? Happy Thanksgiving to you all BIG HUG!!!

I Love you,

Erin

Check out this inspiring video…Matt travels the world doing the Gratitude Dance!!! So Awesome!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: celebrity trainer, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, expressing gratitude, Gratitude Dance, gratitude for healing, holistic fitness, life coach, Nutrition Coach, thank you, Thanksgiving, Wellness Coach, Where the hell is Matt

Nov 25, 2010

Thank Goodness for Humility!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you are enjoying this day, wherever you may be, whether you are surrounded with loved ones or by yourself. This morning I spent a good few hours with a couple different families, neither one of which are my birth family. In the time I spent with them, I was reminded of the POWER of community. We shared with each other everything we are grateful for, and although I AM SOOOO grateful for so much…what I am most thankful for today is humility. I was reminded of this as I took part in a group consciousness that is aware of what it really means to live with humility.

You see, for me, if I do not live each day humble, in humility, then I am not teachable or in receiving mode. I can really want something, but until we have the WILLINGNESS to do whatever it takes, we will not achieve the things we desire. I talk to my clients a lot about willingness, but today it hit me. We cannot even get to a point of being willing, until we have humility. Humility is the key that unlocks willingness, and willingness is all the Divine needs to enter our lives and to begin transforming us. I use to live life from a very ego place, and I made many attempts to create a life that felt good to me. I also failed many times. I still try this sometimes, and fail every time, but then the POWER of community helps me remember this main ingredient to living a happy life, which is HUMILITY. Today, I connect with other people who live their lives with humility. I reach out and help someone else. I pray, meditate, and look for reasons to be grateful. Today I GET to feel excited about embracing my reality, whatever it looks like, and appreciating the current moment. Today I am HUMBLY grateful for all that I experience…the good, the bad, and the ugly…because ultimately there is no suffering in pain. There is only suffering in our perception of the pain. What we feel is merely a fact. Suffering only occurs in our judgement of the fact. This keeps me humble, because I know happiness is a choice I must make. Happiness comes from a shift in my perception of the fact, and community reminds me of this daily and helps me shift my perception. I can choose to accept my feelings at face value, allowing me to actually feel them and have the experience of them, and be in the moment… or I can believe the story my ego wants to make up about what I am feeling, and get transported out of the present moment. There is no suffering in the NOW, there is only suffering when we are not living in the NOW. I am humbled by this knowing. I am humbled by the knowing that I cannot remember these simple things without community. Thank Goodness for Humility! Because I am humble, I am open, teachable, connected, and willing to do whatever it takes to live a good life. I will spend the rest of my day writing, enjoying my family, and eating food that loves me back. Here’s to HUMILITY!

Gobble Gobble,

Erin

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: celebrity trainer, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, facing adversity, gratitude, Health Coach, holistic fitness, humility, integrative nutrition, life coach, living without suffering, shift in perception, suffer no more, Thanksgiving, Wellness Coach

Dec 6, 2010

Staying Grounded

Hey everyone…it’s been a little while! Last week totally got away from me and I just realized I haven’t blogged since Thanksgiving…eeek! I guess I have been enduring a silent phase. I find these phases are a natural part of one’s progression and transformation. I know for me, there are times when I’m very “out there” and externally generating and creating, and then there are the times when I am a little more quiet, a little more internal. It’s as if I need time to allow all the new information I am currently receiving, to download and have the time to be digested, assimilated, and integrated. That is where I have been…downloading, digesting, assimilating, and integrating. How about you? For me, the challenge is always staying grounded. Do you know what I mean? When we are expanding and our consciousness is raising as a result of our self-development and healthy habits, what inevitably happens is a routine “house cleaning.” When we come more into alignment with source energy, the universe, and with our purpose, what is no longer in alignment with us MUST FALL AWAY. This can feel like our world is literally flipping upside-down. That is why it is important to do what we can to stay grounded. I find that I can really anchor myself in certain things such as doing what I know I CAN do rather than focusing on what I CANNOT do.

There are the tools we have collected along the way, that keep us inspired, nurtured, healthy, and feeling loved. What are these things for you? When times are challenging, in any way, good or bad, it is easy for us to justify not taking care of ourselves because we are “too busy” or have to deal with “bigger issues” or “can’t afford it.” However, the truth is…when times are tough, the MOST productive thing we can do is keep ourselves healthy, feeling good, and therefore taken care of. There are plenty of ways to take care of ourselves that are not expensive. Also, when we stay committed to living a healthy life, we will always find that our healthy habits or “tools” help us access more energy rather than less, and we are therefore more capable of getting the tasks at hand, and then some, accomplished. For me, the most important and beneficial thing I can do to support myself through the duration of a transitional period, is to PICK UP MY TOOLS!

What are your tools? Some of mine are, eating food that loves me back, like lots of organic fruits and veggies;drinking lots of water and taking my supplements;exercising at least 4 times a week;staying connected to my blog;reaching out to friends to share with another person what I am going through;scheduling at least 1 day/night in a week to do something fun that has nothing to do with work or self-development or spirituality;praying;meditation;surrounding myself with healthy, positive people;reaching my hand out to someone else in need; and participating in groups that support what I am doing in my career life and personal life. I find that COMMUNITY is a HUGE resource and tool to turn to when life is doing its thing:-) There are many things I CANNOT do. There are definitely things I CANNOT control…but these are the things I CAN take responsibility for. I can stay focused on them, lean into them, and anchor my feet in them when the ground beneath me is falling away. When our current foundation falls away, it was never that strong to begin with. When the new one is laid…we will have more security, stability, and safety. This is exactly what we want. YES?

I hope you all are staying warm, dry, authentic, but most importantly…grounded. Worry no more…We are exactly where we are supposed to be.

Stay with it…Live Strong:)

Erin

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: celebrity trainer, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, facing adversity, Health Coach, holistic fitness, holistic nutrition, how to overcome adversity, integrative nutrition, life coach, Nutrition Coach, stay healthy, staying grounded, staying in the moment, tools for success, trust, welnness coach, when your life gets flipped upside-down

Dec 9, 2010

What Being Fit Means To Me

What Being Fit Means To Me- I have talked about this with all of you in previous posts. It seems to be something I ponder often. I think this is because I realize on a daily basis, that being “FIT” means so much more than we give it credit for. Yes, it means the obvious, like healthy eating and exercise habits, but to me, REAL FITNESS shows up in our ability to be resilient and flexible in the face of adversity, transition, and what appears to be an impossible obstacle to overcome.

Lately I have been undergoing some major changes. Some expected, some totally unexpected, some I wanted, others I wouldn’t have even considered. I am being divinely challenged to “Clean Out” my life, in order to make room for what wants to become of me. I recently was reminded of the Vacuum Law of Prosperity, which states that “Two things cannot take up the same space, and therefore we have to let something go in order for something new to replace it.” Well, I am relieved by this knowing, otherwise I may start believing that I’m loosing everything. It certainly can appear that way at times. However, I know that Divine Intervention is up to something in my life and in the lives of all of you. It is actually exciting, almost like Christmas…I know I am receiving many gifts, but I do not know what they will be just yet. I am looking forward to opening each gift, as they arrive in all their uniqueness, right in front of my face.

Being fit is having the strength and willingness to keep a constant state of awareness. Fitness is endurance for life. It’s a consciousness, a philosophy…an attitude. It’s the way in which you get up out of bed each day and move through the moments that confront you. Being fit is definitely external, but even more than that, it is internal. How internally fit are you? Remind yourself that everything in your life is meant to be there or it wouldn’t be. Think of that trust game, you know the one where you totally relax and fall backwards, trusting the person behind you to catch you? Live this way. Breathe deeply, completely relax, surrender your will and your power, and turn it all over to something bigger and greater than you. Allow yourself to take the “fall” and watch how grace steps in to catch you.

I hope you all are making the most out of your circumstances, friends and families, and every single day. Happy Holidays my friends.

Stay tuned for my next Article…”What Are You Holding On To That Needs To Be Released?”

Love,

Erin

Watch this cool Video on The Vacuum Law of Prosperity!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Mind Body Spirit Thursday, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: celebritiy trainer, christmas, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, facing adversity, Health Coach, integrative nutrition, living with optimal wellness, randy gage, the definition of fitness, vacuum law of prosperity, Wellness Coach

Dec 14, 2010

What Are You Holding On To That Needs To Be Released?

Hello Everyone! How are you? I hope you are inviting in your opportunities today. In my last post, called What Being Fit Means To Me, I said I’d be back to write this article, so here I am I talked about the Vacuum Law of Prosperity in that post (so check it out if you haven’t already), and I gave you access to a cool clip on You Tube that I found interesting, informative, and applicable. So…What are you holding on to that needs to be released? Like the Vacuum Law of Prosperity states…we must clear the way, to create a vacuum, so the universe has space to deliver something new.

Over the weekend, I applied this Law to my life in many ways. I began taking inventory of the people, places, and things that I had been unwilling to let go of up to that point. I noticed how much stuff I had lying around, filling up drawers, closet, and my brain. I decided to give my house a complete makeover and I vowed that I was finally ready to LET GO of the past. I was ready to uncover, discover, and discard. So all day Sunday I went through drawers, closets, bags, piles of papers on my desk, and I was brutal! As I tossed things into the “GO” pile, I noticed how each thing, whether it was an old photo, a card of birthdays past, an old plane ticket, a pair of shoes an ex bought me, or a jacket I bought myself for my first job, there were feelings attached. A lot began to surface for me. I took a trip down memory lane and it stirred up all the feelings attached to those periods in my life. That’s when I realized the power of clearing out and making space. It’s not just about the stuff. It’s about the energy the stuff creates in our environment. These things of the past are like anchors, keeping parts of our consciousness where it use to be. As I cleared and cleansed my house, I cleared and cleansed my heart, my soul, my mind, and my body. I not only made space in my external world, but I created space in my internal world, and I made a very clear statement to the Universe that says ”YES I am available, open, and ready to receive your gifts”. I believe that our external world is a reflection of our internal world, so I couldn’t deny that my house was mirroring back to me, all the people, places, and things that I was remaining emotionally attached to and unwilling to release. As I took a look around, and noticed that every nook and cranny of my place was filled, I could see why I’d been making it so difficult for the new to enter my life. Actually, a lot of the stuff I had, was not anything I even really wanted or used anymore. It’s just that I had always been afraid that if I threw it all away, I wouldn’t get anything better to replace it, and then I’d have nothing. This fear was coming from Limiting Beliefs and LACK. I was basically telling the Universe that I didn’t trust it to bring me something better, and so of course it could not. I have NEVER filled so many trash bags, at one time, in my life! For whatever reason, I was ready…ready to let go and let God. Today, I sit here, open, available, aware, full of space, and in awe of the gifts that are already pouring in. I am grateful…oh so grateful.

What are you holding on to that needs to be released? If you are feeling stuck or like you just cannot move past certain patterns and behaviors, consider letting go of the things that are sitting around, both internally and externally, that no longer serve your highest good. I’d love to hear your thoughts and process around this. Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vacuum Vitality!

If you seek Health Coaching, please email me at ELM.Coaching@yahoo.com.

Happy Holidays!

Erin

Filed Under: Fitness, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: Cleanse, detox, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, Health Coach, integrative nutrition, let go let God, letting go, life coach, vacuum law of prosperity

Dec 21, 2010

Inspired Yet Again

“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.” ~John Allen Paulos

Hi Everyone…Happy Holidays! How are you doing out there? I know this time of year can bring up SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH for us. Personally, I am feeling so many feelings, from the past, present, and future, that have literally got me holding on to my seat so tight, that some days I have to remind myself that I can be grounded if I breathe and find my feet. You know, there are definitely days that feel like they may just swallow me whole, but since I have survived all of those days thus far, I am learning to find inspiration in them, and to even laugh at them more often than not. Ahhh, INSPIRATION. Sometimes, when there is nothing else to hold on to, I can always count on this, because if we really commit to our process, and breathe, and look around us in every moment with awareness, INSPIRATION will always be there, waiting for us to unwrap it just like a gift. As many of you may already know, from blog posts and my FB statuses, I am on an intense journey. I have no doubt that all of you are on one as well…in fact I KNOW we all are on a truly profound ride. There can be really bumpy, rocky parts on this path we are on, but you are ok right now right? In this very moment, we are all ok. Here are 3 things that help me find Inspiration in what feels like even the darkest of times:

1) Stay committed to your process NO MATTER WHAT. Never forget that life is happening FOR you…in your FAVOR. I know it really doesn’t look like it OR feel like it sometimes, BELIEVE ME I know. However, if you stay committed to this perception throughout your journey, you will begin to see things very differently, and ultimately, you WILL find Inspiration at the end of the day Inspiration saves me every time. To understand more fully about how life is happening FOR you, see my article on Tiny Buddha “Life Is Happening For Us: All Things Are Gifts.”

2) Lean into the unknown, uncertainty, and insecurity. Tiny Buddha has a GREAT quote up on the site today that I love:

I believe having faith, is when we can believe even when we don’t see how things could possibly turn around or end up ok. It is in the times of darkness that it is most important for us to turn to Source, Spirit, the Universe, a God of your own understanding, and to turn here FIRST. We so often try everything our way first, and try to fix things, and make things go our way before we actually get humbled enough to surrender and ask for help. Lean into your unknowning, uncertainty, and insecurity, and turn to something bigger than you FIRST. Seek, ask, and be open to what comes.

3) STOP…Find your feet…take a DEEP breath…let out a big laugh…and look around. When you notice you are spinning out, crazy, anxious, worried, hating on yourself for not being all that you think you should be, blaming others for your suffering, beating yourself up, judging your life, your relationships, your own success or lack thereof, and making decisions about how worthy or unworthy you are of being loved…

a) STOP- just quiet your mind, check in with your body, ask your body how its feeling. Tell it you are here, you are listening, and it has your full attention. Just BE with yourself.

b)Find your feet- Get present. You only are where your feet are. Find them and stay there, Free Yourself.

c) Take a DEEP breath- Bring your attention to your breath. Big inhale, long exhale. Feel your heart rate slowing down and the race inside you slowing down.

d) Let out a BIG laugh- Observe your own craziness and don’t take it personally OR seriously. Learn to laugh at yourself and at life…it really is funny:) We ALL are going through it with you!

e) Look around with committment and awareness- What is available to you in every moment? Be like an infant who was just born, or a child who is meeting its first animal. Have this level of curiosity and desire to explore and experience what is right in front of you and all around you.

Ok my beautiful friends, please share your experiences, questions, challenges, AH HA! moments, and inspirations with me here on the blog! Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

I love you!

Erin

Filed Under: Art, Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: Coping with adversity, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, Health Coach, inspiration, Inspirational Quotes, integrative nutrition, Knowing nothing, Learning to live life, life coach, living fully, overcoming fear, Tiny Buddha

Dec 28, 2010

Breathing Courage In 2011

Good morning friends. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday thus far. It’s been so nice moving a little bit slower these last couple weeks hasn’t it? I am grateful for the time to breathe, reflect, and recharge. Something I wanted to talk about today is Courage. I heard a quote the other day that I LOVE…

“Courage is not having no fear at all, but feeling the fear and doing it anyway.”

Personally, this is a relief to me because I always feel fear. Fear comes up for me every time I go to train a client, before every coaching call with a client, every time I sit down to blog, when I think about all the changes I want to make regarding my business and website, and when I think about the future and visualize it being filled with abundance, prosperity, optimal health and well-being, my enchanted love, children, traveling the world, writing books, public speaking, and having multiple passive revenue streams through all the ways I choose to be creative and express my message with the world. I feel fear around these things because they are all things I want so badly and feel so passionately about, and I can feel this desire to have them and be good at them to my core, in the deepest part of my soul. There’s a powerful article on Tiny Buddha, called Cracking Your Comfort Zone: How To Face A Fear, and in this article, the author shares something he heard, that I find very helpful. He says “Fear is excitement without breath.” Wow! This totally resonates for me because when I am afraid, it’s usually because there is something I really want, and have never had, that requires me to do something I’ve never done. I immediately feel excited and then, I tense up all over and experience feelings of paralysis. Of course I do…I am not breathing, and the thoughts sound a little something like this… “But what if I can’t or don’t know how? What if this is just way to big for me? “Who am I? Do I really have what it takes? How can I possibly be smart enough or creative enough or talented enough? There’s way too many people out there who are already doing this better than I ever could,” etc, etc, you get the point. However, this gets me no where, and I cannot work from this place. Therefore, next time I feel fear, I am going to implement what this author was talking about. Instead of getting all carried away and caught up in those thoughts that do not serve me, I will observe them, reject them, and then breathe into the excitement that I am really feeling about becoming my expanded self, achieving and experiencing things that are all new to me. I may not know if I will or can do all the things my heart desires, but right now, I do know I CAN breathe and lean into the unknown with excitement and OXYGEN:-)

What are your fears? What plans do you have for your life, and what are some things that could support your vision this year? Are you afraid to step outside your comfort zone? We all are, but as long as we do it anyway, fear cannot hold us back. Please share your experiences and fears here with all of us. Your input is appreciated!

Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Love,

Erin

Filed Under: Entertainment, Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: Courage, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, feeling the fear and doing it anyway, Health Coach, integrative nutrition, life coach, overcoming fear, reach your goals in 2011, taking things to the next level, Tiny Buddha, upleveling your business

Jan 1, 2011

Happy New Year:5 Things I Wish I Had Known Earlier In Life

By Erin Lanahan · 9 Comments

Hi! I am reporting here from the California coast, and we have exactly 6 hours and 50 minutes, and counting down, until we transition into 2011.

I have been inspired by a personal development blog to write about some of my Life Lessons and things I wish I’d known earlier in my life. I feel like this is the perfect time to reflect on the past, as I make a conscious decision this New Year’s Eve, to feel gratitude for all that has been, to bless it with love, and to let it all go, putting it all behind me.

Tonight I contemplated going out on the town with friends, and believe me, there was no shortage of options for me to choose from. However, when I really got quiet and tuned into my own gut, heart, and listened to my intuition, I was able to feel certain that tonight is a night for me, to sock in, to get clean and dressed in my comfy pj’s, with a notebook and pen. I plan to write a letter to all the things I’m letting go of, and then I will move to my next lists that will acknowledge all my accomplishments in 2010, and list out my intentions and goals for 2011. Then, I will make a vision board, exercising my creativity of course , and finally, end the night deep in meditation as the clock turns from 11:59pm 12/31/10 to 12:00 am 1/01/11.

Tonight I plan to get super clear about my vision for this coming year because I feel the excitement as it nears closer. I know that I have so much to look forward to and I am already welling up inside with gratitude.

I have grown into a place in my life, where I really have no regrets anymore, because I truly believe that everything up to now needed to happen exactly how it did. However, life would have been a lot easier for me in the past had I known the things I know now.

Here are 5 things I wish I would’ve known earlier in my life, that if I had known, would’ve saved me lots of suffering.

I wish I’d known…

1) That my body is sacred. I did not feel this way about my body as a child or teenager, or even up until recently (and I’m 31 now). If I had known just how sacred my body is, I wouldn’t have treated it the way I did, or allowed others to treat it the way they did. I am grateful that I finally do know that my body is beautiful, wonderful, and a sacred place for me to live in and inhabit, and therefore, I will treat it so. I will feed it foods that nurture it, I will give it exercise, I will only engage with people who treat it with love and respect, I will keep it free of emotional, physical, and mental toxins, and I will appreciate it exactly the way it is every day.

2) That I AM love and deserve nothing but love. Most of my relationships were not very healthy. I have always had good friendships, but romantic relationships are a different story. I have come to learn that they were a mirror for me. They were showing me where I did not respect or love myself, and however painful it was at times, I know that I learned from all of it. It would have been nice to know this earlier in life, but I am just happy that I know it now, and moving forward, I will recognize when someones treatment towards me doesn’t feel right in my body. I will pay attention and I will use it as a tool, to ask myself what it is showing me about myself. Where do I still judge myself or where am I still unable to feel validated and good enough? Then I will let that person go who does not have my best interest at heart, and I will do my own work on why I even attracted them in the first place.

3) That life is happening for me. I use to feel like a victim a lot. It always felt like life was happening to me. This disempowered me in a huge way. This is the perception that there is no higher meaning or purpose or plan behind the things that happen in life. For me, I just cannot live that way. I have to believe there is more, there is depth, purpose, meaning, and a reason for all things. So I choose to know life as happening FOR me and FOR us. This perception allows me to see all things, whether they are scary, painful, challenging, joyous and amazing, or less than ideal…as opportunities for me to continue to break down the barriers within myself that keep me from fully showing up in the world as my truest, most authentic self, living my most amazing and best life. These opportunities give me the inspiration I need to continue searching for meaning and helping others do the same. Some days, that’s all we have. I choose to be inspired vs. intimidated.

4) That I AM worthy of great things, and if I believed that, then I wouldn’t be trying so hard to prove it to others. My entire younger years were spent running around, winning this or that, accomplishing, achieving, proving, and at the end of the day…I still didn’t feel like enough. I blamed others for a long time for not granting me the validation I longed for, poured my heart out for, and gave my blood, sweat, body, and tears over for. Then, recently, I woke up. I realized that I am the ONLY person who can validate me and allow myself to feel worthy of great things. The fact that I was trying so hard for others to do this was the evidence I needed to show me I did not believe it to be true within myself. Now, as soon as I see myself people pleasing and looking outside myself for validation, I know right away that I am really seeking my own validation, and I actually have an inside job to tend to

5) That ultimately everything we do, mistakes or not, will be used by a power greater than us, for the greater good…the bigger picture plan. I use to feel so much guilt or regret or suffering over choices or decisions I made, or about things I did that I was not proud of. I spent years of my life feeling shame, self-loathing, and disappointment over “who” and “what” I was, defining myself by how perfect or imperfect I was in my own eyes. I don’t do this anymore. I have learned, or chosen to believe, as a result of my own journey and self-development path, that EVERYTHING gets used to heal the whole. Even if we do something awful or terrible, just to learn never to do it again, there’s a source bigger than me that will make it good, and all is always forgiven. This helps me forgive myself and others, because I know it is not up to me to understand everything, except that all will be made good. I know this in my heart of hearts, that all is always made good.

So these are some of the things I’ve learned, and although I may have saved myself suffering had I known earlier in life, I consider myself to be blessed and lucky to know what I do know now. I am grateful.

Thank you all for participating with me here. I appreciate you. Here’s to a happy and healthy 2011, filled with all our hearts desires.

5 hours and 40 minutes and counting…

I love you,

Erin

Filed Under: Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: Abubakar Jamil, E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, Health Coach, integrative nutrition, Law of Attraction, learning from mistakes, Learning to love yourself, letting go, life coach, Life Lessons Series, New Year Resolutions, personal development blogger, power of intention, Reflecting on life, setting intentions and goals, vision board

Jan 5, 2011

Align With Nature: Retire When the Eating is Done

To keep on filling is not as good as stopping. Overfilled, the cupped hands drip, better to stop pouring. Sharpen a blade too much and its edge will soon be lost. Fill your house with jade and gold and it brings insecurity. Puff yourself with honor and pride and no one can save you from a fall. Retire when the work is done; this is the way of heaven. -9th Verse Tao Te Ching

I decided to share the above with you,which is the 9th verse of the Tao Te Ching as spoken on Dr. Wayne Dyer’s Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life Audio Book, because it touches on something that we all experience or have experienced at one time or another. We live in a society that is addicted to more, more, more.

We have become disconnected with the ALL THAT IS within us.

Deep within ourselves, we know when enough is enough,and that we actually already have everything we could ever need. Connecting back to this, is to be like the Tao, knowing exactly when to stop, and to just let go and enjoy the fruits of our labor, knowing that all is already perfect.

There was a time in my life when I could never get enough anything. There was never enough love, enough money, enough weight loss, enough food, enough alcohol, enough drugs, enough attention, enough validation, enough achievements, enough success, enough beauty, enough fun, enough freedom, enough talent…never enough anything! In fact, the more I consumed of these things or of the things I thought would bring me happiness, the more I wanted, and although I became satiated quickly, I continued to over consume. It was a very ugly and vicious cycle. The more I consumed, the more I wanted. I was desperately seeking everything outside of myself to make me feel better, to tell me that I was doing a good job, and to give me some kind of anchor or feelings of safety in the Universe. I was so far removed from the truth that resides within me, that I was actively participating in the “more is better” and “more will bring happiness” movement. I got sicker and sicker as a result.

My life became extremely unmanageable, and ultimately, I was no longer able to live in the world and function healthfully.

When it became too difficult for me to show up for my family and friends, and for my own life, in a way that felt honest and authentic, I knew it was time to take a real look at what I was allowing into my experience. My obsession with the overconsumption of everything had its hold on me, and I was no longer an active participant in the creation of the life I came here to live.

Overconsumption was my solution, and I’d been consuming whatever I could to relieve me of the feelings I didn’t feel strong enough to face. I was trying to avoid what awaited me, and I finally realized that it would continue to wait for me until I confronted it. Afterall, my solutions were not working anymore, and therefore it was time to deal with the real problem…me and my stinking thinking.

You see, I had to come to terms with my own abusive behavior and lack of self-love before I could be available for healing. I had to come to terms with the “radical concept” that Enough IS Enough, and that we can never get enough of what we DON’T actually want, so we must find what we are really looking for. If it’s happiness and freedom we seek at our core, then money, relationships, beauty, and success, will never feel like enough, because ultimately they cannot bring us those feelings of peace, joy, and freedom within. We must arrive at those places within ourselves FIRST, and let the rest manifest from there. Otherwise, we end up with a whole lot of stuff on the outside, with nothing but pain, suffering, and feelings of being broken on the inside. Hence, stuff does NOT bring happiness, but happiness certainly can manifest great stuff.

I needed something much bigger than myself to help me see things differently, because I was screwing things up nicely trying to do things on my own, and in my own way. Therefore I landed in a place of pure and utter humility. Coming from a place of ostentation and overconsumption, humility was actually the perfect place to begin a transformation. As a result of this humility, I was willing to do whatever it took to get better physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Only then did a paradigm shift begin to take place in my life.

Here are 5 things I did to embrace this shift in consciousness and to support total transformation in my life:

1) I stopped the use of all mind altering substances. For me, I just cannot stay connected to Source when I am using something outside myself to cope with life. Therefore, it was my path to seek help so I could begin to make different choices. Staying connected to Source means, I remember daily who and what I am, and what my purpose is in this life. It means that I live in alignment with nature and the Tao as best I know how on any given day, because for me that is living in accordance with my soul’s plan.

2) I began to seek the tools I needed to help me reconnect with the ever-present, ALL THERE ISness, inside of myself. I used and still use meditation, prayer, different forms of yoga, a life coach, lots of self-development and spiritual books, and became a part groups of people who were involved in the community and sharing a similar healing and spiritual path as me. I find community is a huge resource for healing and I truly believe that if we stay connected to others, we stay connected to Source.

3) I made a committment to CONSTANT and CONSISTENT Awareness. I began looking for answers in every conversation, every experience, and everything that crossed my path. Healing takes true courage and commitment, to stay with your process even when you don’t want to or it feels way too intense. I just kept asking for guidance, and then I opened myself wide open to receive it. I also had to work on, and still have to work on, practicing patience, so I can wait for that which I want from a state of excitement and anticipation, rather than focusing on it not being here yet. This helps me enjoy the ride, just like I would on a plane

4) I began to find ways that allowed me to feel more fully self expressed. I knew that a large part of my addiction to more, was because I was not in alignment. I was out of balance with Source, and with my purpose and passions. So I started blogging first and foremost. I also made sure to honor my body, eating only the foods that nourish and nurture me, and I stayed committed to exercising regularly. Feeling healthy and being creative were the best ways for me to feel fully expressed in the beginning, and those loving acts toward myself lead to many other outlets for me to be even more fully expressed. Being fully expressed is what our hearts and souls long for, because this is our birthright. By taking one small step at a time, I was able to express myself in small ways, slowly getting more connected to who I am, my truth, and the message that resides within me. I gave myself permission to listen to the language of my heart, and to speak from that place. It just gets easier and easier to connect to your heart, which leads you to who you are, the more you allow yourself to do it. ”

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” -Lao Tzu

5) I got brutally honest. I just stopped. I called it complete. Enough was enough. Through my committment to awareness, I began to realize how bad I felt when I over consumed things. Even after I stopped the use of mind altering substances, I was still over consuming in lots of ways. I was using things like sugar, caffeine, food, work, and I was interacting and engaging way too much in unhealthy relationships. However, awareness took the numbness away that had previously allowed me to ignore the pain and destruction that resulted from my behaviors, and I could no longer continue. So I got brutally honest with myself and with others, and that was the beginning of my reconnection with Source and the remembrance of who and what I truly am.

“The only way to get what you really want, is to know what you really want. And the only way to know what you really want, is to know yourself. And the only way to know yourself, is to be yourself. And the only way to be yourself, is to listen to your heart.” -The Universe

What the 9th verse of the Tao Te Ching is helping us see, is that we must “Retire when the eating is done.” Eat, but stop when you are full.

“To continue stuffing food into a satiated body, is to be trapped into believing that more of something is the cause of your happiness.” -Wayne Dyer

The same goes for stuffing yourself and your life with any false sense or artificial symbol of success.

Be like the Tao:

1) “To keep on filling, is not as good as stopping.” Enough is not only enough, it is in alignment with the total perfection of the eternal Tao.

2) “Seek the joys of your activities without focusing on the ego’s agenda.” Ego will have you imprisoned in gathering more, more, more for your actions, for as long as you allow it. Shift. If you are in a loving state and feeling appreciation for all that is, then you are in a state of letting go of worrying about how everything might ultimately benefit you. This is true freedom.

Do the Tao- Practice with your food. Practice portion control and pay attention to your motivations behind eating, or consuming anything for that matter. After several bites, ask yourself if you are still famished and if not, just stop and wait. If no hunger appears, then call it complete, and practice humility rather than overconsumption. At this one meal, you will have practiced the last sentence of the 9th verse of the Tao Te Ching. “Retire When the Eating Is Done, this is the way of heaven.”

Are you struggling with the more, more, more mentality? Are you using food, work, alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, or something outside yourself because you still believe that is the answer? Enough is Enough. I am here to listen to you, so please leave your questions and comments below for me. Thanks for visiting. Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Love,

Erin

Filed Under: Favorite Quotes, Fitness, Food, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: 9th verse Tao Te Ching, change your thoughts change your life, enough is enough, Erin Lanahan Metho, Health Coach, integrative nutrition, stopping over eating, Wayne Dyer

Jan 13, 2011

Use What You Got To Get What You Want

Use What’s Available To You Now, To Be Available For New Possibilities.

Wow, I have been loving this new way of looking at things lately “Use What You Got To Get What You Want.” This is the most current lesson I have been putting into practice in my life. How it began? Last week, I was on the phone with my life coach, and I was explaining to her that there are certain ways in which I want to expand my business and my life. I told her that receiving ideas and inspiration were not the problem, but that my circumstances were. More often than not, I feel like I get stuck due to my current access to resources, and therefore I do not end up following through on the ideas and inspiration. In other words, I have a story in my head, and what happens is, I get all inspired and excited about life and then ideas begin to pour in from the ethers. What happens next however, is I begin to feel super frustrated and bad because it appears as though I do not currently have the resources it will take to move forward with my ideas. My life coach explained to me that this simply is not true.

Our higher selves KNOW and are aware of what our current circumstances are. Therefore, if our intuition urges us in a particular direction, that means there IS A WAY. If there weren’t, we wouldn’t get the intuition to begin with. It is very important to follow our intuitive ideas and creative flow. Our bodies are brilliant, and they send us powerful messages about where to go and what to do. If we pay attention, and follow these messages, we will experience amazing things unfolding in our lives. The problem I’ve been suffering from however, is that I keep telling myself that I cannot follow through due to this, that, or the other circumstantial reason.

My life Coach shared a really cool story with me, that has been useful ever since. It’s about Moses. When Moses knew he was supposed to lead his people across the Red Sea, he had no idea how he was supposed to do such a thing. But he knew he had to right? He was being guided to do so. So he asked, “How will I ever get us across this sea?” God said to him, “Pick up a stick and hold it high.” So Moses picked up a stick from the ground beside him, lifted it high above his head, and the Red Sea parted down the middle and they were able to cross through it. So, what was the point of the stick? Why couldn’t Moses have just lifted his arm above his head really high? The moral of the story is, when you are being divinely guided, and it appears as though you do not have a way to follow through with the guidance you are receiving, all you have to do is pick up something you already have and use it to take you to the next place. Infuse what you got, with God Power, divine knowing, and use it to get what you want.

If we can remember this, than nothing can stop us from moving forward. For me, I have had a strong intuition to do a bunch of things lately. Some of which are things like, investing in seminars for my business, attending Kundalini yoga classes on a regular basis, and going to dance classes on a weekly basis! What has been happening is, I get these strong messages to do these things and then the story follows immediately saying, “How can I do all these things with no extra time” or “It’s too expensive” or “I can’t get to the classes I like because work conflicts,” and so on and so on. Then, the inner child, my spirit, gets really sad and begins to feel defeated. So I go from feeling really good and inspired, to immediately feeling bad and defeated.

Not anymore however! Hearing that piece of the story of Moses, with that perception, has helped me tremendously. We don’t always have to do things the way we think they should look like. The point is to just do them the best way we can with regard to our current circumstances. What’s important is that we don’t deny our Spirit of the freedom and expression it is currently seeking. By allowing our Spirit these things, we allow ourselves to move closer to having and becoming everything our hearts desire. Like the old saying goes…”Where there’s a will there’s a way.”

As a result of this new perception of mine, I have been doing this. I have been using what I’ve got to get what I want. Example: Yesterday I was on my usual run in West Hollywood and an awesome song with a good beat was playing on my I-Pod. I just wanted to break it down…to dance right there, as I ran down the street. So… I DID. As I was running, I was dancing and popping, and just moving my body freely to the beat and it felt AMAZING! I felt completely and totally fully expressed and in alignment with Source. Of course my head wanted to get me all afraid of looking stupid, but I ignored it because I was way too committed to letting my Spirit have the freedom and expression it was demanding of me right then and there. I may not have had the time to hit a dance class yesterday, but I sure had the time to dance!

As far as Kundalini yoga goes, I intend to pick up a DVD I can do from home in the early morning before my day begins. I also had an awesome client send me information on a scholarship program for an entrepreneurial conference in February. Once again I picked up What I had, which was the opportunity to go for a reduced admission, and I got the scholarship! So now I will be attending a conference, that is a HUGE investment for my business, and I was only required to pay a minimal fee to attend.

So, Dancing…Check. Kundalini Yoga…Check. Investing in my business…Check!

That’s right…it’s that easy. Use what you ALREADY have to move you closer to what you want! You will surprise yourself as you begin to experience more freedom and self-expression.

What are you currently wanting to move toward? What can you pick up right now, to act as the bridge to get you closer? Please share your story with me here.

Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Thanks for being you,

Erin

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Filed Under: Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: E.L.M., Erin Lanahan Method, following intuition, Health Coach, integrative nutrition, manifesting what you want, Moses, overcoming adversity, Overcoming obsatcles, parting of the Red Sea, reaching goals

Jan 20, 2011

Crowding Out:Getting Fit The Easy Way

When the clock strikes 12 am on January 1st, the majority of the world continues to party, knowing that once they wake up later that day, they will find themselves beholden to their New Year’s resolutions. This creates a pressure, one I’m sure we have all experienced, to “perform perfection.”

Do these look familiar…

Did you know that 95% of people give up on their resolutions by January 10th? As a long-time trainer and Health Coach, I have my own beliefs and philosophies about why this happens, based on my own life experiences and those of my clients.

One of the worst things we can do for ourselves is put loads of pressure and expectations on our every move. This is what tends to overwhelm us, and therefore causes us to give up before we even have a chance to honor our beginning. When we make out long lists of things we need to change, which somehow always seems to be everything LOL, we end up with feelings of confusion over where to even begin. So…we decide it’s just easier never to begin. Therefore, something I like to teach my clients to use as a super applicable method for reaching optimal health, hottness, and well-being, and something I also use daily, is a method called “Crowding Out.”

Crowding Out is exactly the opposite of dieting or going on some extreme exercise program. First of all, I am a huge fan of physical, mental, and emotional transformation. However, I believe in accomplishing transformation in a way we can maintain long-term, and therefore avoid the roller coaster of gaining and losing, gaining and losing our goals.

Instead of focusing on what things you must take away from yourself, Crowding Out focuses on what things you can give yourself. In other words, crowding out means you will begin to add in the habits and behaviors that support your overall goals, and thus allow the adding in to crowd out the habits and behaviors that do not match your goals.

So, for starters, take one unhealthy meal or snack, and replace it with a healthy one. The key here is to start small. You don’t want to feel too much pressure or else you risk “rebellion.” Make sure the first few healthy habits you add in do not feel too hard to maintain on a consistent basis. Remember, we want to create healthy habits that last. Make one realistic change per week for 12 weeks, and I guarantee you will feel much less pressured along the way, and will more than likely end up being able to maintain the new lifestyle you created for yourself.

Ok…here’s a good place to start…

If you’ve been eating something like this for lunch:

…try replacing it with something closer to this instead:

Do this for one week and see how you feel. More than likely, you will begin to feel more energy, vitality, and have a bit more of a bounce in your step, which will just make you crave more of that feeling. That’s how it works. After the first week, keep that one healthy shift you made, and then add one more.

For example, if you are doing something like this on your Saturday afternoon:

Try replacing it with something a bit closer to this instead:

If you are adding in one healthy habit a week for 12 weeks, that’s 12 more healthy things you are giving yourself in 3 months. That’s a lot! Also, it’s good to acknowledge that as a result, you will experience many of your unhealthy habits falling away just because there is no longer any room for them. It’s practically magic:) Keep your focus on the new things you get to GIVE yourself rather than what needs to fall away, and as you begin to feel better and look better, you will find it easier and easier to continue doing more of the things that support your overall goal.

That’s it…that’s all you have to do to experience physical and habitual transformation. Too many people get caught up in the negative aspects of reaching health, hottness, and optimal well-being, and that can be extremely counterproductive. It’s ok to have goals, and to make lists…just don’t overwhelm yourself with trying to change everything at once. Changing your body, means changing your mind and your perception about what feels good to you. It is a process, and one that can be deeply profound and beautiful if you are gentle and loving towards yourself along the way. Your journey towards living a life you love in a body you love can begin right now. All you need is the willingness to commit to one healthy addition to your life per week. Those who commit, get fit!

I encourage you to begin your first week of crowding out. What healthy habit are you going to add in first? I’m exciting to find out! Please share with me here! Here’s to your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food, Mind Body Spirit Thursday · Tagged: celebrity trainer, Crowding out, erin lanahan, Erin Lanahan Method, fast food, getting healthy, Health Coach, new years resolutions, Weight loss tips

Feb 2, 2011

Letting Go: Be A Vessel

Hi there! How are you? Things over here are definitely moving along and many cool doors are opening. I am now writing regularly for Tiny Buddha and Positively Celebrity, and you can check out some of those articles to your right, in the green column under “My Articles-Inspirational and Educational.”

I am really excited about writing for these sites and for the projects that I am working on launching over the next few months, and I apologize if all the extra new work has pulled me away from here a bit lately. I am still getting used to all the new work and my new schedule and deadlines LOL! I’m sure you can relate, there can be days that feel really overwhelming. Every day, but especially on those days, I really work at maintaining focus on all the good that is happening. When we begin to receive more of what we want, it comes with new responsibility and it requires us to step outside of our comfort zone too. I just wanted to write this today, to remind both you and myself, that we must not forget that life comes through us.

When I remind myself that I am a vessel, a channel, and messenger, then it allows me to get present and to get out of my head and focus on how I may be of service in the world rather than what I can take from the world. It also takes off some of the pressure of feeling like I have to know all the answers or have things figured out. Instead, I can just do the next indicated action, and take my life one day at a time. This helps me a lot. I hope it helps you too.

I am going to start video blogging soon! Hopefully by next week:) This way, you will get to see me face to face, as well as enjoy written articles. I am looking forward to getting my first vlog up. Keep checking back, because I’m hoping to have my first one up by Monday. Also, I just added a new page up top called “Welcome To E.L.M.” where I posted a welcome video to you. It’s my first video up on this site so I’m excited. I feel like it’s a good way to connect with you…and hopefully you enjoy this new way in which I will be communicating with you! Here’s the video:

Todays Lessons: Just for today, let go of everything you think you know. Let go of everything you think you are, and just allow yourself to be a vessel. Let the wind blow you, and feel what wants to come through you. Let inspiration fill you up and pull you into your next indicated action

Thanks for dropping in here at Erin Lanahan Method. Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: celebrity trainer, education, Erin Lanahan Method, inspiration, letting go, news, poisitvely celebrity, Tiny Buddha

Feb 2, 2011

Erin Lanahan: On Crowding Out

Hey guys, ok…so I couldn’t wait till Monday! I actually already had this video filmed so I’m posting my first vlog now! I wrote an article last week on this same subject, but who cares, LOL, this is the video version Let me know what you think! Love you!

Also, if you have any questions please ask me…I am happy to answer them!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food · Tagged: celebrity trainer, Crowding out, Erin Lanahan Method, Get fit the easy way, Health Coach, lose weight without depriving yourself, video blog

Feb 8, 2011

Love Your Life!

Filed Under: Fitness · Tagged: be the best you, celebrity trainer, emotional eating solution, Erin Lanahan Method, Fitness, love yourself, optimal health and well-being

Feb 8, 2011

Spark & Hustle Inspired Me!

Hey guys…I wanted to share what I’ve been up to this past week. I am truly inspired by Spark & Hustle, and Tory Johnson and her crew. Thanks to you ALL! I encourage anyone out there who wants to turn their passion into profit to got to: www.SparkandHustle.com!

Check this out…

Here’ To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

Love,

Erin

Filed Under: What I'm up to · Tagged: be the best you, entrepreneurial spirit, grow your business, grow your life, inspiration, spark and hustle, tory johnson

Feb 14, 2011

Until You Can Love Yourself, Act As If.

Hi friends. Happy Valentine’s Day! I felt inspired by this day of love to talk to you about my journey and how I have learned to really appreciate love and to really feel deep, authentic love for myself. When we love ourselves, we can truly see love in all things, and therefore, love finds us everywhere we go

I hope you enjoy!

Filed Under: Fitness · Tagged: Act as if, celebrity trainer, daily wisdom, Erin Lanahan Method, Health Coach, Love, love yourself, personal development, Single at Valentine;s Day, Valentine's Day

Feb 18, 2011

Heart Fitness: When Our Heart Breaks We Can Choose To Break Down, Or Break Open

I have been thinking a lot lately about the topic of LOVE. Maybe because this week began with Valentine’s Day, or maybe just because it is something I have been contemplating my entire life.

I think it’s stating the obvious when I say, LOVE is something we all contemplate in one way or another. I have been really learning a lot about it however, in a BIG way, on many different levels. I recently shared my feelings with someone who has been a special part of my life. Telling him that I had deep love for him was totally scary, yet it has opened a whole new world for me. Through the experiences I had with this person, and the interactions, feelings I had to process, and all that I got see within me as a result, I have been blessed with the ability to be vulnerable, and to truly have genuine love, compassion, and respect for myself.

To be able to love deeply, takes fitness of the heart, mind, and spirit.

When our heart gets broken, we have 2 choices. We can break down, or break open. It’s kind of like when you were a kid. Remember playing in the shore at the beach and getting slammed down into the sand by each breaking wave. I was one of those kids who may have gotten slammed down and maybe cried the first time or two, but eventually I learned that if I hung on too long to the pain, I would miss the entire experience and opportunity to gain the courage, strength, and excitement I needed to do it all over again. You see, there was always another wave coming right after the one that knocked me down, and therefore, always another chance to ride gracefully to the shore on it. So I learned to quickly jump up with a big smile and playfully dive right into the next wave.

That’s how I am choosing to see love these days. Each wave is new. No wave is ever the same as the one before it, and with every slam we get into the sand, we get better at not breaking down from the fall, the fear, and the shock, but instead we learn to jump up playfully, and dive right into the next one.

What do you choose to do when your heart breaks? Do you break down, closing off to the next wave, or do you break open, and playfully try again and again until you find the perfect wave for you?

I am grateful that I love as deeply as I do. This is a gift, not a curse, although I would have argued this in the past. Now I can see, that life IS relationships, and being in a loving relationship with a partner is the best stress relief, and one of the most powerful medicines that exist on the planet.

So, until I am in this kind of connected, loving relationship, with another soul I can grow and heal with, I will keep jumping up and diving into each wave, again and again, playfully enjoying the ride. To me, love is worth it.

Please share your experiences with me here, and if you like this article, please SHARE it below with your FB and Twitter friends:) Here’s to the fitness of your heart, mind, and soul.

Love,

Erin

Filed Under: Fitness, Thoughts of the day · Tagged: breaking open, Erin Lanahan Method, healing your life, Health Coach, How to heal a broken heart, learning to love again, Love

Feb 20, 2011

Life Fitness: Creating Habits That Manifest Lifelong Happy, Healthy, Beautiful People

By Erin Lanahan · 3 Comments

I am asked all the time, by strangers, friends, family, and new clients, how to reach a specific goal.

Every one has their own unique goals, but typically they involve getting “optimal abs,” “losing weight as fast a possible,” or transforming their body in some way.

I use to be the kind of trainer who would give you answers that were exactly what you wanted to hear, because I was too afraid to tell you the truth. However, I have become the type of trainer and Health Coach that is going to give it to you straight up. I am more concerned with helping your body heal, and helping you achieve results that last forever, than I am with setting you up for failure just to accommodate your short-term obsessions.

I am totally supportive and a big fan of having goals. However, I have just learned that when we are motivated by the wrong reasons, our motivation for doing things never lasts but more than a few months. Do you relate? You know it’s either been you, or someone you know, who eats really super healthy and hits the gym like a champ for about 3 months or so, and then poof. All those good habits disappear and you or they, begin to swing in the opposite direction for the rest of the year.

This happens for 3 reasons:

1) You are motivated by external results and reasons, and therefore you become bored and unfulfilled by your “Why” behind getting fit and making life changes.

2) You go way to extreme, looking for fast results, and therefore get burnt out and sick of starving.

3) You set yourself up for failure by creating a schedule and regimen that is not realistic to maintain on a daily basis as your new healthy “Lifestyle.”

Notice what I said in #3…LIFESTYLE. Yes, this is because in order to transform your body, your mind, your spirit, and your life, it takes some time.

It takes commitment, and it takes passion, and it takes willingness to stay the course and do whatever it takes to unlearn old patterns and bad habits, and to replace them with habits and behaviors that serve optimal health and well-being in your life.

Afterall, when you have optimal health and well-being, you will naturally manifest the physical results of this inner state. You will naturally begin to just look healthy and fit all the time, due to the way you live your life.

Therefore, it takes a shift in your consciousness around exercise, and nutrition, if you want to achieve results that last a lifetime. I know for me, I had to get off that roller coaster of dieting, bingeing, exercising way too much, then not enough, feeling great, then feeling gross. It was exhausting!

You must come from a healthy mindset around food and exercise, in order to transform your body in a way the lasts forever.

Here are 3 tips for you to begin to create a healthy relationship to food and exercise, and therefore begin to manifest results that last forever:

1) Find your WHY behind getting fit. This must be for you. If you are motivated by something temporary, then when that outside motivation is gone, you are back to square one. Why do you want to get fit? Do you want to feel sexy from the inside out? Do you want to light up a room every time you walk into one because you feel so full of love, energy, and vitality inside? Do you want to be able to look the world in the eyes, and know that you are worthy of greatness, because you act lovingly toward yourself and live a life you are proud of? Find your WHY, and make sure you feel so much passion and are so connected to it, that it moves you into action. Trust, that when you live to accommodate your WHY, your hotness factor will naturally go up.

2) Choose thoughts, actions, foods, and relationships that support your WHY. Take an inventory of your life. Make sure you are surrounding yourself with people who only want the best for you, who support you and lift you up, rather than pull you down and suck your energy. Guard your thoughts like your life depends on it, because it does. Be aware of heavy, negative thoughts that make you feel bad and tired, that do not serve you, and when you notice them, shift immediately to thoughts that make you happy. Example, if you are worried about something, or someone upset you, begin to imagine yourself hanging out with your favorite person, or doing your most favorite thing in the world and feel that fun, the love, and the comfort you feel when you are around that person or doing that thing. Lastly, stay conscious of the foods you put into your mouth and the actions you take. Ask yourself before you eat or do them, “Does this serve my WHY?” It is up to you to decide what it is you want more than anything, and then align everything in your life, to help you get there.

3) Practice progress, NOT perfection. Be patient with your process. Let the pressure off yourself, and allow yourself the time and space you need to unlearn all the unhealthy ways in which you’ve been living your life. We all have to unlearn the ways in which we have been programmed. Take it one day at a time, and just do the best you can. As long as you stay committed to living a life with optimal health and well-being, the rest will unfold, as you transform one day at a time:)

If you have any questions for me, or would like to share your experiences, successes, or struggles with me, please comment right below this post!

Also, if you are interested in learning more about how I can help you as a Health Coach or Personal Trainer, just email me at ErinLanahanMethod@gmail.com.

Please Share this article below, with your Twitter and FB friends if you believe they could benefit from the tips! Thank you!

Namaste,

Erin

Filed Under: Fitness, Food · Tagged: body, Body Transformation, celebrity trainer, Creating healthy habits, Erin Lanahan Method, fitness tips, Health Coach, lose weight, mind, perfect abs, spirit connection

Feb 22, 2011

Feeding Your Whole Being: Reach Optimal Health and Well-Being With Primary and Secondary Food

Hey guys. I wanted to share this video I did with you on the difference between Primary and Secondary Foods. It is important to know the difference, because in order to truly reach optimal health and well-being, it requires feeding the Whole Life. This is what I am always referring to as “Life Fitness.”

I will let the video speak for itself. Please leave me any questions or comments you have. I am happy to answer them Have an awesome day…I’m off to pick up my Aussie Cuz from LAX. I did yoga, ate a good breakfast, now some fun and family. Now that’s what I call Primary food!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food · Tagged: celebrity trainer, Erin Lanahan Method, feed the Whole Life, feeding the hungry heart, Health Coach, Holisitc Health, Lose Weight the healthy way, primary food, secondary food, youtube video

Feb 23, 2011

The Power Of Meditation: How It Can Help You Lose Weight And Reach Optimal Health And Well-Being

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening! As you can see, I am loving this whole video thing I hope you are too? Here is a video I did on the POWER of meditation, and I’m sharing it with you because I truly believe this is such an effective tool to truly living a life you love in every way, in a body you love as well.

Please leave your questions and comments right here for me, as I LOVE hearing from you!

Here’s To Your Health, Wellness, and Vitality!

K…check it Out!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food · Tagged: Erin Lanahan Method, find more balance in your life, getting quiet, holistic health, integrative nutrition, lose weight, Power of meditation, primary food, turn within

Feb 24, 2011

Meditate With Me: 5 Minutes To Just BE

I am uploading this video, per my video blog yesterday. I told you I’d come back today and meditate with you, so that is of course what I am going to do

Prepare yourself for a few moments of deep relaxation and breathing. Get comfortable and in a space where you can close your eyes and do this effectively.

Go ahead and press play when you are ready.

Namaste,

Erin

Filed Under: Fitness · Tagged: celebrity trainer, deep breathing, Erin Lanahan Method, guided meditation, Health Coach, meditatation video, primary food, relaxation

Feb 28, 2011

Patience and Letting Go: Practice Makes Peaceful

I woke up this past Friday morning, with a feeling that still hasn’t passed. My intuition was pulling me to write about what I was feeling the very moment I woke up Friday, but for some reason I did not. Something tells me, the reason I am still feeling these feelings, is because I have yet to write about them.

(Just as a side note to this blog post, I want to thank you all for sharing this blog with me. It heals me in many ways, and I hope by me sharing my experience, strength, and hope with you here, that you find your own healing as well.)

Lately I have been overwhelmed with feelings of impatience. It unconsciously eats at me until I become aware of the frustration I am dealing with in each moment. As a result, I have been contemplating two art forms: The Art of Letting Go, and The Art of Practicing Patience. I am learning two things from my current life experiences.

Number 1: If we want to participate in the act of loving deeply, we must be prepared to master the art of letting go.

AND

Number 2: Life IS patience.

You see, as I feel into my feelings of impatience, it is revealed to me that I am suffering from my own resistance to letting people, places, and things go, and therefore not accepting my life exactly the way it is right now. It is a result of my inability to trust my own process to unfold in a way that feels joyful, secure, and fulfilling to me.

When I become anxious and antsy with intense feelings about wishing things were different, or frustrated that things aren’t happening faster than they are, I lose power and begin to spin out of control.

However, I am reminding myself that I MUST be willing to master the art of letting go if I want to participate in loving deeply in this life, and also, that life IS patience. This helps me shift my perception.

If I really LOVE something or someone truly and deeply, then letting him, or it go, does not mean I will lose anything. It only means I am willing to make room for things to unfold naturally and organically, trusting that there is a Divine order happening in my life. It is a win-win, because letting go of someone or something that is not truly best for you, only means that once you let it go, you will create the space for something or someone better to come into your experience, which CANNOT happen until you let go of what you think you want.

Patience is something that is REQUIRED if we want to experience peace. Life does not happen on MY terms…it happens on Life’s terms, and therefore I must adapt to life, rather than trying to make life adapt to me. Therefore, living life IS a constant practice of patience.

Today, I was getting super annoyed and irritable. I just wanted to cry and scream and blame the heavens for not giving me everything I think I should have by now (yes, i can be drama queen ). But… after I spewed out this yucky energy for a while, and realized how unpleasant it feels to me and anyone who is unfortunate enough to cross my path, I decided it was a self-defeating behavior, and one that I do not wish to repeat from this day forward.

The truth is, I have so much great stuff happening all the time. It may not always look the way I want it to, or think it should, but in the end, I am always pleased with the way things turn out.

I am actually appearing on TV tonight at 9pm EST, 6pm PST, on Discovery Channel’s HD Theatre. I was hired to train the one and only Ryan Freidlinghaus from West Coast Customs on an episode of “Inside West Coast Customs,” his new show. As a result of this job, I ended up training he and his wife for about 6 months even after we wrapped the show.

So you see, as much as I like to believe differently on days like today, things are good for me, and they may be moving slower than I want them too, but they are moving in a good direction, and at the end of the day…that’s the most important thing of all.

So, the moral of the story is, in the name of LOVE, learn to let go of everything you think you want…

at least just for today.

Remind yourself that letting go is the only way you can ever hold on to anything, because real love cannot be held on to. It must be admired, nurtured, and given space to become what it was always meant to become.

Also, patience isn’t just something we need as children when waiting for our parents to give us the toy or dessert we want. It is an art form, that is the very key to the doorway of inner peace.

Love IS letting go, and Life IS patience. Without these two things, we will find it difficult to feel the serenity in our hearts that we are seeking.

So, when you notice that you are giving yourself a hard time, or obsessing over something you cannot control, I hope you STOP. Breathe. Remind yourself, that just for today you can let it all go. Just for this moment, you can allow life to be exactly as it is.

Here’s to your beautiful journey, your health, wellness, and vitality.

Please leave me your questions and comments here, as it is always a gift to hear from you.

Thank you,

Erin

Filed Under: Fitness, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: Be here now, celebrity trainer, Erin Lanahan Method, finding new love, healing a broken heart, Health Coach, Practicing patience, staying in the moment, the art of letting go

Feb 28, 2011

5 Tips To Help You Start Looking And Feeling Better This Week

Here is my most recent YouTube video post. I hope you enjoy it! If you implement my suggestions, you WILL begin to experience a better quality of life right away. I look forward to hearing how it goes for you ;)

Here’s To Your Health, Hotness, Vitality, and Well-Being.

XO, Erin

P.S. You can find more videos of mine, on my YouTube Channel. Thank you!

Filed Under: Fitness, Food · Tagged: 5 fitness tips, celebrity trainer, Erin Lanahan Method, feel better now, get in great shape now, Health Coach, look better now, lose weight, trainer for West Coast Customs Ryan Freidlinghaus

Mar 2, 2011

A Little Action For You;)

Hey guys, this is a video I did a while back for an interview I had with a Royal Family. A lot of you have been asking for a little action so here’s a sneak peek. I am working on home workouts, long workouts, outside workouts, inside workouts, short workouts, and exercise tips, etc, that I will release when I launch my YouTube Channel in a couple of weeks. Until then…enjoy! Feel free to drop me a line on anything you’d like help with and I’ll film something for you!

Here’s To your FIT Life!

Thank you.

XO, Erin

Filed Under: Fitness · Tagged: BOSU ball training, celebrity trainer, circuit training, core training, Erin Lanahan Method, exercise ideas, fitness tips, fun exercise, Health Coach, life a FIT Life, live a healthy life, lose weight, love your body, new workouts, stability training, TRX training

Mar 3, 2011

Life Lessons: The Best Self-Reflections From 108 Bloggers

Hey there! I am excited to announce that an amazing book I was a contributor in, called “Life Lessons: The Best Self-Reflections From 108 Bloggers,” was finally published and released this week! Even better news…you can get yourself a FREE copy of this E-Book right here, at the bottom of this page

This book is filled with inspirational messages from 108 bloggers who wrote from their hearts about what they’ve learned in their lives, and what they wish they would have known earlier in life. The words you will find on the pages of this simple, yet profound book, will move you, shift you, inspire you, and help you feel a sense of connection and forgiveness towards yourself.

I am honored to have been chosen as one of the 108 bloggers who got to share the love in my heart, and the life lessons I have learned on my path thus far.

On behalf of myself, and all the other bloggers, we hope you enjoy this as much as we have. Thank you!

Download Your Free Copy Here

Filed Under: Art, Entertainment, Favorite Quotes, Fitness, Mind Body Spirit Thursday · Tagged: celebrity trainer, christmas gift, Erin Lanahan Method, FREE E-book, Health Coach, inspirational sayings and quotes, Life Lessons, The Best Self-Reflections from 108 bloggers

Mar 3, 2011

Living A Sacred Life: Here’s Some Inspiration For You!

http://sacredawakeningseries.com

Greetings,

I just signed up for the Sacred Awakening Series – 21 spiritual leaders sharing their secrets to living a sacred life over the next seven weeks. It sounds just incredible, and I’m so excited to share this opportunity with you:-)

It’s totally free and features people like Alice Walker, Ram Dass, Jack Kornfield, and Grandmother Mona Polacca. Calls are recorded so you can catch up with ones you miss, as well as gain access to the archives of last year’s series with people such as Marianne Williamson, Robert Thurman, and Sadhguru.

Should be fantastic, so I hope you can join in!

Best,
Erin

Filed Under: Entertainment, Fitness, Mind Body Spirit Thursday, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: Alice Walker, body, celebrity trainer, Erin Lanahan Method, Fitness, Health Coach, higher consciousness, Jack Kornfield, living a FIT life, love yourself, marianne williamson, mind, oneness blessing, Ram Das, sacred awakening, shifting the consciousness, spirit

Mar 6, 2011

Our Teachers Are Everywhere: This Is What A Fence Taught Me

Yesterday morning, which was a Friday morning, I woke up and began my usual routine. However, as I sat down to post my morning Facebook post, in an effort to connect with all of you, I realized that I just really had nothing to say. That moved me into contemplation mode, from which my status for the day emerged. “Sometimes, the best thing to say…is nothing at all.”

Then, I proceeded to twitter and shared my mantra for the day, which was “Today, I will listen.”

As the day unfolded, conversation after conversation, song after song, interaction after interaction, thought after thought…I remained committed to allowing the listening to happen. This was not always easy, as there were many moments I experienced that I wanted to blurt something out, or respond to you on Facebook, etc. But when I noticed those urges, I repeated my mantra…”Today, I will listen.”

I began to really hear you, to hear my heart beat, and to hear lyrics of songs I never knew existed, because I had decided so long ago I didn’t like that song.

The outcome?

Every conversation, every drum roll in my heart, and every lyric in songs I supposedly didn’t like, had a message for me. I learned, when I am silent, there is beauty everywhere, and from the beautiful silence do our greatest teachers emerge.

I went on a long run yesterday morning and, as per usual, was contemplating my daily thoughts, ideas, and feelings. I felt so connected to nature and so deeply inspired by the feelings I was experiencing as I contemplated listening, that I could not have felt any more free, happy, and more alive.

Right at that very moment…I ran smack into a fence.

This is what a fence taught me:

At first, I was a bit shaken up, and startled. My I-pod earphones had gotten caught on the fence, and as I continued to be in motion after I hit the fence, they got ripped out of my ears! I came to a stop, looked back, and my headphones were dangling on the fence, and my left pinky finger was bleeding.

“What the Heck??” I said to the Universe. “Thanks a lot! Here I am, trying to be all connected to you, and you let me run into a fence? You’ve got to be kidding me. Screw You!”

As you can see, I clearly, initially took this “run in” very personally. I felt angry, bitter, and under attack, until…I remembered my mantra. “Today, I will listen.”

Instead of feeling bad…I chose to open my mind, open my heart, and to open my body and ears to let listening happen.

This is what I heard…

“Are you still willing to put yourself out there, and follow your dreams, even if it means you may get roughed up a little along the way? Are you willing to stay committed to your mission and your mantra, even if things don’t look the way you think they should? Are you willing to keep an open heart, mind, and spirit, even if love shuts the door on you? Are you willing to turn to me and listen for the next indicated action, every single moment of the day? Can you accept that everything that happens in your life, is part of a greater plan that you will never be able to figure out? Can you let go of needing to understand everything, and just consider, that maybe what is currently appearing as though it’s “in” the way, IS the WAY?”

After I heard all of those questions within myself, I began to realize how many times in my life I’d had a “run in” with someone or something, and let it deter me. I began to understand that I was being shown the willingness I must be prepared to have, to stay on my path, and follow my heart, no matter what.

I heard that the only way one can change anything, is to first accept the way things are right now. These lessons had me at “Are You Willing?”

My answer?…

“YES YES YES YES YES…and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!

So there you have it. I am inspired, yet again, by the profound teachers and lessons, that emerge from the willingness to let listening happen.

Has this reminded you of anything in your life? Have you ever tried to just listen for one whole day, fighting any urges that come up for you around the need to speak, when it really isn’t necessary? Do you speak just to speak, or do you wait until you have something to say before you interrupt the listening? What people, songs, animals, trees, are you missing out on? What are your teachers trying to teach you or show you that maybe you aren’t giving yourself the chance to learn and see?

I encourage you to listen. Listen for your heart beat, listen for the message someone is really carrying, beneath the actual words they are speaking.

Listen to the trees, and never take for granted, the wisdom of a fence.

Here is how I applied my lesson on acceptance, that was the direct result of my encounter with the fence. I traveled to UCLA today, to film the best butt and leg workout EVER…but something else happened instead! Take a look:

Please leave your questions and comments here for me! I love hearing from you:-)

Love, Love, Love,

Erin

Filed Under: Favorite Quotes, Fitness, Thoughts of the day, What I'm up to · Tagged: celebrity trainer, education, Erin Lanahan Method, Health Coach, inspirational quotes and saying, letting go, live you best life, moving into acceptance, our teachers are everywhere

Mar 8, 2011

Seeking Your Help Please ;-)

http://photos.fitnessmagazine.com/category/vote/photo/728510/33

Hi friends! Guess what? I have been entered into a competition for Fitness Magazine, to become the new face of Fitness Magazine. Yay…cool right!

But…I CANNOT do this alone, so I’m reaching out…seeking your support please.

We have exactly one week, until 3/13/11, to put our combined votes together…to WIN!

You can vote here:

MWWWAH! XOXO!

Filed Under: Entertainment, Fitness, Food, What I'm up to · Tagged: celebrity trainer, erin lanahan as the new face of fitness, Erin Lanahan Method, Health Coach, show your support, vote for erin lanahan, west coast customs trainer

Mar 14, 2011

Thank U! There IS Power In Asking For What You Want :)