“You have power over your mind–not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
-Marcus Aurelius

“In life, we can’t always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first. The second arrow is optional.”
-Buddhist parable

Greetings, friends. It’s been a couple years since my last Lemonade Chronicles post, sorry about that. (Or maybe, you’re welcome.) But I thought today might be a good day to pick the pencil back up. I’ve been writing plenty over the past few years, including finishing a 106,000 word memoir manuscript that I am actively shopping to literary agents (who have yet to nibble the bait). But I’ve also been writing in more of an email campaign format, with something of a different purpose from what I have written starting 10 years ago with this particular blog. The existential angst, butt-of-my-own-jokes prose familiar to TLC readers? Well I’ve managed to evolve that after a good hard look at my lifestyle, digging into the science about health and wellness, starting a new company called Foghorn Fitness, and even developing an entirely new approach to this stuff that I’ve coined The Slowfit Method™. Over the past five years, I’ve morphed into a human performance coach who trains about 100 people a week across group exercise classes, private coaching, and corporate wellness programs. And I send out semi-regular email missives to another 500-ish folks on topics like meditation, improving one’s sleep, physical training, mindset, breathwork, recovery, nutrition, drinking (less or not at all), building resilience, etc. More importantly, as a result of all this work, I’m waaaaay happier and healthier than I’ve ever been, living with an equanimity that I didn’t know was possible.

So now that we’re all caught up (and I hope all is well on your end, by the way), why am I posting on TLC after ghosting the platform for years?

Because things are different now. I should say at the outset that this is not a political message. I’ll leave the Monday morning quarterbacking to folks who are much more astute on that topic than I. Rather, and consistent with this new chapter of my own life and profession, I want to talk about how you can choose to respond to this new reality that we have all woken up to yesterday morning. Regardless of your political leanings, things are different now. By definition, we will be making our way in an environment with the stress dial turned up to eleven.

So what now?

First, notice that I wrote the word “choose” above. On purpose. As the Stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius said, we really can choose how to respond to stress. The Buddha, too, is credited with a similar sentiment, his regarding the pain of a second arrow that we effectively inflict on ourselves. In other words, we don’t have to scream and pull our hair out and go all googly-eyed, foaming at the mouth, emotionally hijacked by external circumstances. It doesn’t have to be that way. We have a choice. Your reaction–the next arrow–is up to you. 

Second, we have a whole grab bag of useful tools to manage stress. Any kind of stress. The hundreds of athletes I’ve coached over the past five years are probably tired of hearing me say this. But it’s true. Yesterday I wrote about a bunch of them at our disposal sort of in-the-moment: Breathing, moving, eating (real food), connecting, and sleeping. For my part, I took my own advice. I doubled down on my regular healthy habits yesterday, and I genuinely felt less overwhelmed by the political events. I’ve started the day the same way today, and I feel…calm. I’m not naive; there will be much ongoing vigilance required and plenty of work to do. From all of us. But I am not consumed by it. I am ready for whatever comes. I am choosing my response. 

Third, let me share a bit more about that response. Please know that this stuff is all science-backed, folks. Nothing woo-woo or otherwise outlandish here. And it’s more relevant now than ever. Because this new political reality is a textbook example of an “evolutionary mismatch” the likes of which is responsible in large part for what ails our species. Metabolic dysfunction, cognitive decline, mental health issues, obesity, lesser longevity, loneliness, and so on. Our brain is on high alert, being chased (over and over again) by a saber-toothed tiger as we peruse our favorite news sites, social media sites, TV news, etc. I can pretty much guarantee that you’re breathing rapidly through your mouth even now just thinking about it all. You are, right? Close your mouth and take a long exhale. 🙂 The “mismatch” is the unhealthy combo of a perceived stressor without the moving around part. Unlike our on-the-go ancestors, we run the risk of being stuck in a chronic state of arousal while sitting at our desks, curled up on our couches, iPhone stuck in our face, smashing Snickers bars, yada yada. Nothing good will come from that, if we let that happen and leave things there. 

So I’m not going to let that happen. And neither should you. I’m going to lean into my meditation, breathwork, physical training (swimming, surfing, cycling, running, lifting, karate, etc.–the photo at the top was taken during a little morning walk today), journaling, mindset, mobility, clean nutrition, proper sleep hygiene, meaningful social connections, building resilience, improving focus and minimizing distraction, etc. Details on all of this stuff can be found here. If you want to deep-dive into the science underlying this Method of mine, go for it; I’ve got links to enough primary sources to keep you occupied for years.

And this is really important: Please do not be intimidated or scared off by all of this. You don’t need to try to be me. This is not about me. It’s my job to do all of this stuff. All you have to do is make a positive change in the right direction. One change. Baby steps. Walk. Take the stairs. Back away from TikTok for a bit. Drink more water. Cut back on the booze a bit. Learn some downregulation breathing. See the sunrise. Or the sunset. Hide the Snickers out of sight. Lift something heavy and put it back down, right where you found it, then do it again. Everything helps! But you do not need to do everything all at once. Just start somewhere. You have so many choices. Make one.  

Lastly, let’s not forget the whole point of this thing. By “thing,” I don’t mean democracy or the United States or the world. Nope. I’m referring to life. Your life. As in, what is the purpose of your life? Nothing that happened yesterday should have had any negative impact on your purpose. In fact, it may have actually strengthened your purpose. It did mine. As I wrote over a year ago, my purpose is to learn and to teach. It can be easy to lose sight of one’s purpose, though, in the mundane day-to-day, or in the perceived crush of new stress.

This past week I received an unsolicited email from a gentlemen whom I’ve never even met. Here’s what he wrote (and yep, I have his permission to share this, but I’m still anonymizing it a bit)–

***

Keir,

Thank you. Thank you for what you do.  What you do is important and it matters! Although we’ve never met face to face you’ve had a huge influence and impact on me!  I began a similar “no IPA / no wine” journey in late November 2022.  I was on a trip to Phoenix with E. and a couple other high school buds in March 2023. During that trip E. asked why I wasn’t having any beer or wine.  I mentioned that it was driven by health concerns and I was making progress in my quest.  He then said “A friend of mine is doing the same thing.  I’ll forward you his newsletter”.

From the point I read your first newsletter you’ve been a part of my journey.  Through giving up alcohol and starting to move my body a lot more I’ve lost over 40 lbs and my body has responded.  My doctor is no longer pushing me to be on diabetes medicine or statins.  My other blood tests that were very concerning have all returned to healthy levels.  While all that is important the one thing giving up the IPA and wine has given me that was very unexpected is the feeling of accomplishment and it may sound simplistic and very basic but…happiness.  Life is good again.

I look forward to each newsletter you send.  Your message in October regarding your two years IPA free was fantastic…congrats!  I look forward continuing my journey and exploring your Slow Fit Method further in late 2024 and 2025.

I’m including a couple pics.  My family is the most important thing to me.  With my newfound health we are hiking and getting outdoors more (S. and I having fun at the top of a small mtn in upstate NY).  I’m even in the process of completing the Spartan trifecta with my two “boys” (J., M. and I after finishing the “beast” at Killington in VT).

This email may be a bit over the top but you’ve had an impact on me.  What you do is important and it matters.  Thank you!

Today is “day 700” of my IPA/wine free journey…thank you for the gift you’ve given me!

Sincerely,
Joe  

***

If I needed a reminder of my purpose (and we all do), why I put my feet on the floor every morning, Joe graciously provided that. I’m grateful for his note, and humbled by it. Sometimes it feels like I’m shouting into the wind with all this Slowfit human performance stuff. But Joe heard me. Thanks Joe.

And Tuesday’s election has inspired me in a similar way, believe it or not. I feel the same sense of purpose that I felt during the Pandemic when I first started Foghorn Fitness. In my view, now more than ever, we need to figure out how to survive and thrive in this new super-charged, stressful environment. Remember your purpose. Move forward, one little step at a time. Oh, and put that second arrow down.  Let’s do this. 

-Keir

PS Keep your eyes peeled, as I aim to do a bit more posting to this here blog. Thanks for reading.