There was a time in my life in the not so distant past where my ‘WILL POWER’ was practically nonexistent - I had no control over many of my choices and fell victim to many of life’s temptations on what seemed to be a daily basis - I remember making vows to myself on boys night out not to drink alcohol and partake in some of the other extra curricular activities - without fail I would put myself into a situation and no matter how hard I tried to resist, for one reason or another I would break down and give in - In those situations the giving in was usually influenced by peer pressure - but there were other situations where there was no one to point the finger at but myself - An example of that came soon after reading the book ‘The Sugar Blues’ by William Dufty - After William enlightened me to the dangers of sugar I decided to stop eating it cold turkey - The health threats that his book pointed out were enough of a motivating factor to support my decision for nearly six months - till one day I walked into a 7-11 to get a drink and had a complete meltdown - It started with a crispy creme doughnut and a Yoo Hoo chocolate drink - then it spiraled out of control and I had a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, four reese’s peanut butter cups, and a package of vanilla wafer cookies - I felt like a crack addict that just fell off the wagon - These are just two examples of my many failed attempts to control temptation and cravings - Maintaining control over one’s desires/cravings/temptation is very tricky business - I like to compare it to a juggling act where we have to keep 5 balls up in the air - We need mental fortitude - a healthy and well nourished body - emotional stability, which requires the balancing of our brain’s mood stabilizing chemicals like serotonin and dopamine - a desire to be fit and healthy - and most importantly the knowledge and the tools to make these things a part of our lives - ChiForce and The Seven Disciplines offers that balance and will help us take control of our choices - to learn more go to www.chiforce7.com

Posted by John Nies

In the spring of 1996 I was sitting in the living room of a very bizarre home waiting to meet the man that was supposedly going to help fix my “problems”. I say bizarre because I was surrounded by hundreds of what seemed to be very rare and very expensive works of art - statues - pottery - carvings - tapestries among many other things - It felt more like a museum than someone’s house - My girlfriend at the time had brought me to San Jose, Ca to see a doctor she referred to as a Chinese healer  - I soon learned that he was actually Vietnamese and much much more than a healer - Upon my introduction he started his assessment of me and within five minutes it was as if he had dissected my body, my mind, and my spirit - how he knew what he knew was and still is beyond my understanding but he was dead on - of all the profound things he said there was one thing that concerned me most - after asking me how many years I had been in school - he prophetically stated that the entire time I felt that I was stupid - that I couldn’t remember the things that I read - that I couldn’t concentrate and had no focus - this was the truth and exactly how I felt about myself - the good news was that he said there was a solution - that day was the first of many that I would spend learning and training under his tutelage.

His primary objective was to teach me how to become the “master of my mind” - what happens to to some of us as we develop from young boys and girls into adults is we lose control of of mind - when that happens the body takes over control and our lives become dictated by cravings, temptation and desires - when this happens we’re in trouble and it doesn’t take long for some form of suffering to set in - with the loss of control over our mind it’s like being out at sea on a boat with no rudder - just drifting around aimlessly having to go wherever life takes us - as some of us know all too well this is not a good feeling - Fortunately there’s a solution to this problem and I refer to it as ‘MENTAL FITNESS’ - there are certain activities that we can use to make sure that we don’t lose control and get lost out at sea - believe it or not there is a way to exercise that supports our mental fortitude and I teach this method here at The Power Center - there are other things to do as well such as meditation - visualizing and studying to name a few - All of these things are a part of a life enhancing program I created called ChiForce - by learning and applying the principles that make up the ChiForce program you can take your mental fitness to great heights, insuring yourself against many of life’s adversities - things like depression - anxiety and incessant worrying to name a few - there is really no need for us to suffer we just need to understand that there are solutions to all of our problems and if we are diligent and committed to being healthy on all fronts - physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally than life becomes much more enjoyable - If you or someone you love needs to learn how to ‘train the brain’ than don’t wait another day - call me today and let’s get you on the path to taking back control over mind and your life - Here’s to your health!!

John Nies

To commit to a goal or a way of life - self sacrificing devotion — These are two of the several ways to define dedication - the chosen subject of this weeks blog - Considering the overwhelming health crisis that our country and many others around the world are facing, there’s no better time than right now to dedicate ourselves to making some changes in our collective lifestyle - I consider the people that occupy this earth to be one enormous family - a family that needs to come together and solve some of our problems - problems that if we continue to ignore will threaten millions if not billions of lives - WE are sick OUR earth is sick and WE all need to dedicate ourselves to healing ourselves each other and mother earth -  Our physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health has been compromised by our way of life and making better choices needs to be our top priority - I truly believe with all my heart that the large majority of human beings can take back control of their health and contribute to the global healing movement that is so desperately needed.

SELF SACRIFICING DEVOTION - these three words speak volumes - if we step outside of ourselves for a moment and put our egos aside it’s so easy to see that we need each other - we need to come together as a people - not as a country - not as a religion - not as a political party - as human beings - all part of the same family - we need to help each other - support one another - share the information and the resources that will promote change - every individual needs to take responsibility for themselves - it’s up to each of us to make the decision to get healthy - I say we all dedicate the next year to changing the world by changing ourselves - we’re all blessed with free will - the ability to choose - I’m choosing to dedicate myself to be strong - mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally strong - What are you going to choose to dedicate yourself to?