The use of good clean incense can be very valuable on an athlete’s quest.  I often suggest to AOY athletes that they incorporate incense and smell into their AOY exercises and mini-meditations.  In doing your AOY exercises you are practicing quieting the mind, relaxation, calming, deeper self belief, balance (grounding) and connecting with nature.  These are all things that you practice in mini sessions so that you can easily draw from them when you need them in training and competition (and life).
The sense of smell can help tremendously in all of these mini exercises.   This is especially true when you are using certain kinds of smells like natural clean smells from nature. These smells actually trigger certain kinds of emotions which are very desirable in learning how to quiet the mind or connect more to nature for your athletic quest.  And of course, all of this helps you tremendously in both the experience and results you receive on your athletic quest.

Just about all wise indigenous cultures have some form of incense for ritual, ceremony or even everyday use.  There are really good reasons for this.

The best place that I have found for excellent high quality clean natural smell is Juniper Ridge ~ they are all wild crafted directly harvested in the wilderness and created without any added perfumes or oils.  They are also a very small company and give a percentage of their profits to protecting the wilderness.  You can order their products online or sometimes you can find them in your local Whole Foods Store.

*I do not receive any profit from purchases at Juniper Ridge I just love them and highly recommend them, and of course use them myself

If you have any questions about how to begin using them and what to get first please feel free to just email me directly I will be happy to guide you.

For AOY Inner Circle Members ~ I will be teaching much more about the use of certain incenses and mini fun exercises that are extraordinarily helpful for athletes.  I will be teaching you some things from Native American cultures and from ancient Asian cultures.  All very effective, fun and wonderfully inspiring.

In this video I give you a short description of why it’s important to practice what you want to receive in your mental game.  I talk about how you practice to get good at the physical aspects AND how it is just as important to be aware of what you are practicing mentally.  I give a bunch of good examples and advice.

I am so excited and proud of our new AOY logo!  It is designed by the awesome AOY athlete Krista Cavender~  ultra trail runner and uber talented artist & graphic designer. Krista truly captured the essence of AOY.

YES we are going to get race tattoos made asap

I wanted to share with you her design notes because they are so wonderful and insightful and they add meaning to the image you see.

“I created the center Zen Circle of Eternal Life, the “O”, to have white space around it created by the “A” and the “Y”. This white (or negative space) visually represents your outer circle and inner circle ideas.

The orange ink blot in the center is the athlete. Unique and like no other and connected to the “YOU” in your title. Since what you do is about the focus on the individual and their unique abilities I put visual emphasis on this connection.

The font used in the title “Awesomness of You” has a bold, vibrating and organic quality which I felt represents the energy of the individual. The font of the tagline echoes the brushwork in your logo and also mimics the organic and distinctive energy of the individual.”

You can connect with Krista on her blog OR her awesome Zaps Threads Company (Graphic Tees for Runners and Athletes) ~ I’m sure she would love to hear from you!

Krista is an AOY athlete & AOY Inner Circle member. This is a pic of her moving a few things out of the way on a trail run

You will receive a lot more out of each training session if you get into the habit of resetting yourself before you begin your session.  The same goes for races.  When you get into the habit of focusing and re-balancing right before race start you will find that your performance will improve tremendously.

Most people go from work, school or regular life directly into their training sessions.   You will gain so much more in each session if you take a moment to consciously reconnect with your body, mind and soul and balance yourself.  Both your outcome and your experience will improve tremendously.

You want to tap into your primal instincts when you are training rather than focusing on what to do at work or how you did in a test at school.

It’s a matter of quality over just quantity.  And it’s a matter of training your mind to focus on the moment and allow your body to create so much more.

Too many athletes are under the impression that if they just put in the hours and go through the motions that they will create that great performance they are looking for.  Yes you must put in the hours, however, those hours must be focused and meaningful and when you practice connecting body, mind and soul for each sessions you will find a far surpassed outcome.

When you go into your training sessions directly from another task without resetting you are taking leftover tension and distractions with you.

Inside of the AOY Inner Circle  I will be giving you a couple of specific reset exercises you can do before each training session and each race.  If you are not already a member then go to this page.

Learn how to replace pre-race nerves with deep self belief and inner peace.

Great performance happens when you are calm, confident and having fun!

This class is perfect for ALL levels of athletes from your first race to your 500th.