Amy J. Rall

06/05/2024

If only I could put into words how inspiring this woman has been in my life and my fitness journey. If you desire, please take a moment to vote for Brandi to be Ms. Health and Fitness 2024 🌟

Vote for Brandi Vincent to be featured on the cover of Muscle & Fitness HERS and take home $20,000.

31/10/2023

You know who doesn’t struggle with living on autopilot? Children! They always have new ideas, curiosity about the world and a playful spirit. Their innate desire to explore, question, create, discover and play is inspiring. We have a lot to learn from them. That is my final encouragement this month, to be more mindful of your inner child! 🤩

As we get older and take on more responsibilities, we lose that inner spark for fun and novelty. We quit playing and discovering and just stick to what is easy and safe. But we can always rekindle that childhood spirit. Just look for more opportunities for fun! Get outside and explore, master a new skill, try a new recipe, learn how to play a new game, check out a new place, put yourself in a new social setting. Even just one small change or sense of newness makes a difference. Get creative and inspired to break out of the cycle of living in your comfort zone on autopilot!

What is something new and fun that you can do different today to break out of autopilot?

30/10/2023

We’ve made it to week five already, which means we have just a couple days left this month. 😳 Hopefully you are feeling more mindful by this point, so you can continue Pulling Yourself Out Of Autopilot as we move into the holiday season! 🎛️

In this hi-tech, hectic world, our human default is to just go through the motions. We wake up, show up where we’re supposed to, mark off the things on our lists, go to bed and rise and repeat. This leaves us feeling disconnected, dull and distracted. I don’t want that for you, and I don’t think you want that for yourself either. Let’s fight that urge to operate on autopilot! 🥊

I would argue that the biggest culprit contributing to autopilot mode is our phones. 📱 I can say this because I have experienced it. It is addictive. The endless scrolling pulls us in and captivates our minds, literally changing our brain and attention span. That all just further exacerbates our tendency to just go through the motions. How often do you feel refreshed, joyful or satisfied after an episode of scrolling? 😏 Probably not very often or maybe ever.

That is why my tip today is to be more mindful of time on your phone! Break the cycle and free up more of your time with these quick tips:

✅ Turn off any notifications that are not absolutely necessary
✅ Set limits on your screen time and for certain apps
✅ Keep your phone in another room except for designated times
✅ Designate ‘screen free’ times and zones in your home
✅ Check in with yourself and why you are scrolling

By implementing these few things, you will be amazed at how much time and energy you are able to free up in your life. That time and energy can be used for more mindful activities to pull you out of autopilot!

Implement at least one of these phone limitations today.

29/10/2023

Today is our last Sunday of the month, which means I have just one more mindfulness practice for you to try! I hope you are using these ideas to build up a go-to list for whenever you need a mindful minute. It is helpful to have a few things you can turn to so you can do whatever is most appropriate in the moment. 🙌

One of the simplest ways to practice mindfulness that we haven’t talked about yet is journaling. All it requires is a couple minutes, a pen and paper. Yet it allows you to become completely aware of your thoughts and feelings. So, grab that notebook and pen, maybe a warm fall drink, find a comfy and cozy spot and let’s get to it! ☕️

There are a few different mindful journaling techniques. Give them all a try at some point, but always choose what feels most natural for you, especially in the moment.

📝 Gratitude or Affirmations
Make a list of things you are grateful for, praises, or a list of positive affirmations (or a combo). It could be a quick list of 15-20 simple things, or a more in-depth list of 5-10 things.

📝 Doodling or Coloring
If you are more visual and artistic, let the creativity flow. Express yourself through drawings or coloring pages that reflect your current thoughts and feelings.

📝 Completing Prompts
Keep a list of prompts in your journal and choose one to complete each day. They could be just for fun or more serious and thought provoking.

📝 Check In with Yourself
Create a scale for yourself (like 1-5) to check in on how you are feeling with different areas of your life. It could be things like relationships, work, home, faith, health, etc.

📝 Freeform
There are no rules here! Just set a timer for 2-5 minutes and let whatever comes to your mind come out onto paper. You can sort through it later.

Pick a mindful journaling technique to do today and let me know how you feel once you are done.

28/10/2023

Here we are again, can you believe it?! Another Saturday, another beautiful day to enjoy all that fall has to offer. This is our last day of Mindfully Making More Memories, so let’s make the most of it! 🍁

I truly hope you have used Saturdays this month to be fully present and engaged with others, being mindful of the moments you have together and treasuring them as a sacred gift. None of us know how much time we’ve been given on this earth, so every day should be treated as a gift to fully embrace those we love. Please don’t stop being mindful of your time with them just because this month is ending. You owe it yourself and your loved ones to keep mindfully making those memories! 💕

Choose 2-3 activities to mindfully make memories with your family this weekend/week.

27/10/2023

My final tip for this beautiful Friday is to have fun with your movement! 😁

The best way to be present in your movement is to enjoy what you are doing! Make sure you are incorporating fun types of exercise into your routine. Let go of your worries and stress and just have fun moving your body. Join a community sports league or try a new skill like surfing, snowboarding or paddle boarding. Go for a bike ride or hike or trail walk. Splash and swim around just for fun or have a dance party. Play a family game of catch, flag football, soccer or basketball. Get others involved with you!

There are so many ways to have fun with exercise! It doesn’t always have to be serious and intense or feel like a punishment. Remember that movement is a gift. And mindfulness happens much more naturally when you are doing something you enjoy or trying something new. So, change things up, try new things and just have fun! 🥳

What kind of movement do you have the most fun doing?

26/10/2023

If you want to experience your workouts to their fullest for the best results, then remove the distractions! The less distractions there are to pull your mind away from the movement, the easier it is to practice mindfulness in your exercise routine. 👌

Create the most mindful environment you can. Don’t try to multitask during your workout, like watch TV or do other things between moves. Also make sure you work out in an environment that is not distracting, whether that means outside or inside, in a gym or at home. Finally, workout at a time that is best for you. Find out what works for you to stay the most focused.

One great way to make sure you stay focused in your workouts is to anchor your attention to something. ⚓️Before you even start moving, identify something that will be your ‘anchor’ that you can re-focus on when you start to get distracted. It could be your breathing, feeling your breath move in and out, slowing it down or counting your breaths. Or it could be the sensation of your feet hitting the ground, certain sounds or a beat in the music. Choose anything that you can easily find and focus on to ground yourself when you start to get distracted.

What environment are you able to focus best in for your workouts?

25/10/2023

Today’s tip for mindful movement is to tune into your body! It is such a gift to be able to move your body. Even if you have limitations, you can be grateful for a body that moves in some way. What a blessing it is to fully feel that movement and the physical sensations that come with it. 🙏🏼

Movement and exercise are full of physical sensations. Whether it’s your breathing, heart rate increasing, feeling your feet hit the ground or floor, feeling hot and flushed, sweating, the weight and pressure of lifting something or the uncomfortable sensation in your body when things get tough. Those sensory experiences provide an opportunity for mindfulness. Pay attention to them. Tune into how your body feels. Listen to what it’s telling you.👂🏼

Not only does this provide a mindful and sensory experience for you, but it is safer and better for you physically too! If you are not tuned into all those things, you may be overdoing it and putting your body through too much stress. Even worse, you could injure yourself if you are not mindful of how your joints feel, your heart rate or other indicators of injury or stress. Or, you may not be pushing hard enough and need to challenge yourself more. 💪

Tune into your body during movement today and see what you notice.

24/10/2023

Movement brings about emotions. If you have ever had a good walk or run or intense weight or cardio session, you know what I mean. 😅 As you move or exercise, you can notice different emotions coming up. Sometimes they are positive, sometimes they are negative. Either way, we usually shove them aside and focus on the physical work.

My tip today is not to ignore those emotions! 🙅‍♀️ Instead, recognize your feelings and move with them and through them. Your thoughts and feelings have value and are surfacing for a reason. Practice mindfulness by acknowledging and accepting them, and even adjusting your movement as necessary to work through them.

For example, if you are doing a weight lifting circuit and can’t finish your reps, you may feel upset, frustrated, maybe like you failed. Pause and acknowledge those feelings, name them. Give yourself a moment to stop and re-group. Recognize what else may be triggering those thoughts and feelings. Assure yourself that it is perfectly fine to have those feelings. Then grab a lighter set of weights and continue to move through the emotions. You can pray through the movements or repeat affirmations that are appropriate for what you are feeling.

It doesn’t always have to be negative feelings that you embrace, either. Moving your body can and should be fun! If you are feeling joyful, proud, energized or strong in your workouts – recognize that too! Move with a smile on your face and joy in your heart. That is true mindfulness! 😍

Be mindful of your emotions during your movement today and embrace it.

23/10/2023

We can’t go through this month without talking about exercise. 👟It’s a huge part of overall health and Each & Every Movement Matters, so that’s what we’re talking about this week! I am going to share little tips all throughout the week to help you become more aware of your movements (both in daily life activities and in your actual workouts).

My first and most important tip is to just slow down. 🐌 You may be noticing a theme here this month, that mindfulness requires moving more slowly. When you are moving too fast it is pretty much impossible to be fully mindful of what you are doing. Not only can you get a better workout or more fulfilling experience when you focus and slow down, but you can also reduce the risk of injury. Slower forms of exercise make it easier to focus on your form, movement and breathing.

Here are some options you could try to slow things down:
Stretching
Pilates
Martial arts
Walking
Swimming
Biking/cycling
Weight training
Low-impact bodyweight moves

There is a time and place for faster moving cardio too if you enjoy that type of exercise. But don’t ever feel like you are not doing enough if you are just taking things slow. Go for quality over quantity, moving through full range of motion and feeling every movement to the fullest. This allows you to be present and mindful so you can be more intentional in how your body moves. 👌

Try a slower form of exercise and see how it changes your focus and intention.

22/10/2023

Falling into Mindfulness: Week 4

Are you ready for Week 4? If you are still here after all these weeks, drop me a hello in the comments.

22/10/2023

Feeling more mindful yet? I know I am! 😁 And I am so thankful for the timing right now because I am fully experiencing and embracing fall with all this mindfulness! That is why I am super excited to share today’s mindfulness practice with you. It’s a five senses exercise, from Positive Psychology. 🖐️

This is something you can turn to in any situation, inside or outside, alone or with others. It can be a quick grounding exercise to help pull you out of a stressful or chaotic mindset. Here’s how to do the exercise...

Stop and notice:

👀 5 things that you can see
Look around you and notice 5 things that you can see. Pick something that you don’t normally notice. Or, look at something as if you are seeing it for the first time.

🫴🏼 4 things that you can feel
Focus on 4 things that you can physically feel or touch. It could be clothes against your skin, the chair you’re sitting in, a breeze blowing on you, or something you are holding.

👂🏼3 things you can hear
Stop everything and just listen, whether you are by yourself, outside or inside a crowded place. It could be the hum of a fan, leaves crunching, birds chirping, background music, cars driving by or people talking.

👃2 things you can smell
Take a deep breath and notice smells that you usually filter out or don’t really think about, good or bad. It might be flowers, food, someone’s perfume, coffee, or even unpleasant air pollution.

👅1 thing you can taste
Focus on one thing that you can taste. It could be a drink of water or another beverage, a piece of gum or food. If you don’t have anything of that on you at the moment, you can focus on the current taste in your mouth.

It’s that simple! 👌 Just takes a couple minutes, and brings you right into mindfulness!

Try the five senses exercise today.