Lynn Twist, in her presentation about her book called “The Soul of Money” said “that which you appreciate, appreciates.” When things are tough, like your bank account, or losing a job, or facing rising costs, it’s easy to fall into a mindset of scarcity, the idea that there’s simply not enough to go around. Lynn talks about how this mentality drives us into hoarding, competition, and fear.

I remember the times I had to audition for a show - and I never had a feeling of competition. It wasn’t because I didn’t care to succeed - it was simply because I knew that I would do my best, and if they picked me it was because I was right for the job. If they didn’t, then I knew my skills would be better in another project.

I thought this way because I didn’t know any better - for those of you who don’t know my background, I started acrobatics when I was 19, with zero knowledge of the performing circus world. In other words, I just went out there and had fun, and anything that came my way, I was grateful for. Ironically, I got everything I needed, though not everything I wanted (or thought I wanted).

Which brings me back Lynn’s words: that which you appreciate, appreciates. If you focus on what you are or have, she says, it will expand. Christmas is a funny time of year - a time of giving, sharing - but suddenly what happens when you don’t get that gift you wanted? What happens if plans change and the family doesn’t get together (or worse, gets together!)? The heavily accented mood of this holiday emphasizes everything you get and don’t get.

My suggestion to you in the next few days… find the simplest thing you can appreciate and spend a minute saying a prayer, meditating on your gratitude, or acknowledging it in your own way. It could be something you overlook daily, like the car you drive, the roof over your head, the computer you read this blog on… Here is one thing we all have to be grateful for absolutely: the fact that you breathe and can read this letter. Cheers to that!

Merry Christmas,

Alvin.

Do you ever ask yourself, How can I get more energy? This is the question we answer in the ENERGY Accelerator, now LIVE.

I sent out a survey a few months ago and asked what we could create that would help you most - and the answer was: HOW DO I INCREASE MY ENERGY?

A quick FAQ: what you’re going to learn is not what most people might teach you about energy. It’s not about the latest diet, the latest pushup, the latest thing you can buy or do. It’s much deeper and more significant than that.

Here’s a little “spy photo” of the cover:

There’s more that I don’t have room to put on this post. You can read the full letter at:

www.soulacrobats.com/energy

Health and Peace,

Alvin.

A couple answers to your FAQ:

1. What does the ENERGY Accelerator teach me about?

The ENERGY Accelerator teaches you what is really behind ENERGY. As an acrobat, I have found that accessing and applying energy when I needed it was a key component to having a successful and mostly injury free career. Low energy results in low performance and greater risk of energy. That’s why this book is about increasing your energy, regardless of the circumstance.

2. Is the ENERGY Accelerator a book about fitness?

This book is about fitness of your mind. If you are looking for an exercise plan, simply email me and I will be happy to recommend one for you. However I didn’t choose to write a book on exercise because fitness first starts with the mind; you choose to become healthy and be energetic through building good habits in your thinking first. The question “How do I get more energy?” is answered in this book.

3. Why is it only a digital download?

We are releasing this book as a downloadable PDF so that you can have instant access to the information. The final version was only proofed last week; printing, and duplication would put the book behind schedule. So we want you to have the book as soon as possible. Also, I am going to include bonuses to the book as an appreciation for your patience.

FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD

In the meantime, I have a FREE MP3 download of a presentation I made several weeks ago at an outdoor event called the Las Vegas Peace Project. I was asked to speak about what my interpretation of PEACE is. It’s very entertaining, with a band providing improvised music underneath and an energized outdoor crowd. To get the download all you have to do is send an email to info@soulacrobats.com and put PEACE in the subject line. That’s it!

-Alvin.

The best injury prevention is your mindset. I’m not sure if this is what you were expecting or if this statement sounds oversimplified but I’ll relate a quick story testifying to this personal truth.

When I was training in the circus school I was very lucky to be surrounded by coaches, medical staff, and access to hospitals and rehabilitation facilities. The irony of the situation was that I often found myself needing a band-aid over some part of my body. If my ankle wasn’t recovering from a sprain, then my back was in spasm. If my neck wasn’t sore and stuck, then I was plagued with the latest seasonal flu. It was a circular type of affliction, a merry-go-round of injuries and illnesses.

The eye-opening experience came when I left on tour finally as a professional performer. On tour you don’t have the luxury of being pampered with emergency services, on-staff therapists, and most importantly, time off. You perform out of sheer necessity, and especially in smaller casts, there are no backups and no understudies. Just you.

I never once missed a touring show ever for an injury or a cold. I remember thinking at the end of a year long tour once that I was only sick once and that was because of some bad water in Mexico. But I never hurt myself. I was fascinated and puzzled by that fact since what I was doing involved extreme acrobatics, heights, and plenty of exhausting touring.

The only answer I figured out was that injury prevention was entirely a product of necessity and will. I couldn’t get injured because 1) no one could replace me and 2) I wouldn’t get paid. (Forget workers compensation!) And so, out of sheer will, I stayed healthy.

But aren’t some injuries fluke accidents? I can’t answer that. I think yes… and I also think the majority of injuries serve a purpose. It may be there to slow you down or help you realize a very important aspect of your life. The meanings are as varied as the injuries, but uncovering its message requires artful observation and most importantly, honesty with oneself. It’s easy to deny an ugly truth, and sometimes only an injury can jar you and create awareness.

Like I said in the last post, there are many physical remedies to raise your chances of preventing injuries, like sleeping enough, eating well, taking your vitamins. Beyond the obvious physical preparations, think of all the reasons why you would benefit from an injury. That’s right. I said “benefit.” It’s a twist on perceiving injuries, a change in the way we think of injuries. If you realize what you can “get” from being injured, then you are already 50% there to preventing it.

Health and Peace,
Alvin.

PS: The ENERGY Accelerator book will not be available for another few weeks. That’s why, as I mentioned in the email, we’re going to be making our 5-Part FLIP Matrix e-course available this Friday.

This is such a great question. Not only have many people asked me about it but I’ve had to ask myself about it also. At the moment that I write this, I am getting over an ankle sprain that has left me training-less for the last 2 weeks.

There are thousands of vitamins, supplements, ointments, and other treatments that you can take to brace your body against potential injuries. Obviously I don’t know all of them so I can’t recommend a particular brand, a gel, a pill, a patch, or a cream that will make it all go away, or at least stay away in the first place.

As an acrobat for the last 15 years, I’ve had the time to see when injuries occur, how they occur, and most important WHAT THEY MEAN. There is no definition for injuries but each person has his own way of interpreting an injury. What am I saying?

I am saying that injuries are - you guessed it - a result of a mindset. This is not to say that you cause ALL your own injuries, or that you should feel guilty if you did get injured. What this is saying is that injuries serve a purpose, and it is essential to dive into the meaning of that injury - what it means TO YOU.

Some injuries are your body’s way of saying slow down. That is an obvious “meaning”. You might approach this whole concept on injuries by seeing them not as nuisances, or troublesome events, but as nature’s way of sending you a message to become more aware of something in your life.

But aren’t injuries some random occurance? In my years of training, I’ve noticed how un-random they are. There are many times I’ve taken a hard fall, jumped too high, or tripped, and I should have been injured. But I wasn’t. And then there were times when I was stepping off a mat, running on a trail, or falling off a 3 foot high table, and I ended up injuring myself the most.

The most important thing about preventing an injury is to ask your body EVERY DAY what it needs. When you ignore its needs (not enough sleep, not enough food), you force it to communicate to you in harsher and harsher ways, until you finally experience an injury.

There is so much more to written and said about this topic so we’ll continue in the next blog. For this week however, keep your awareness open to your body and ask: what does it need?

Health and Peace,
Alvin.

PS: By the way, the ENERGY Accelerator book is now over half done! Coming very soon…

Take a look at the new website! Redesigned so it makes more sense…

Also, we are now releasing our new FREE REPORT: THE 5 BEST COACHING LESSONS. Here’s what’s inside:

Coaching Lesson 1: THE BEST WAY TO IMPROVE CREATIVITY

Coaching Lesson 2: HOW TO LIVE WITH JOY

Coaching Lesson 3: THE POWER OF PURPOSE

Coaching Lesson 4: THE TRUE MEANING OF FEAR

Coaching Lesson 5: HOW TO INCREASE YOUR ENERGY

Click here to get your FREE REPORT: 5 BEST COACHING LESSONS.

And our latest excerpt from the ENERGY Accelerator:

It’s been 2 weeks since our last blog because I was up in Canada getting married! Jaime and I had a wonderful wedding on 8-8-08 and, if any of you are interested, please email me and I’ll send you a photo. (alvin@soulacrobats.com).

Our last blog had to do with INCREASING YOUR ENERGY. Coincidentally I did an acrobatic demonstration for the Las Vegas ATA Karate for Kids School which have monthly themes and their theme this month is POWER.

In this short video I mention very briefly about how to raise your power, or your ENERGY. I don’t get into in the video but I’ll explain quickly what I was talking about:

Raising your energy is about knowing where to put your energy. A common misconception is that increasing your energy is about GETTING MORE energy. The truth is that we are surrounded by nearly limitless sources of energy and the focus is on knowing WHERE to put your available energy.

The first step to knowing where to put your energy starts with building awareness. For example, if you consistently lack power when you play sports, you need to become aware of where you are exerting power. Do you use energy while you should be resting? Do you use energy to activate muscles that have nothing to do with the movement? Do you waste mental energy by projecting your focus into the future or the past instead of being present?

I hope this short blog has sparked a few answers for you regarding energy and power.

Health and Peace,
Alvin.

P.S.: These are the questions that we address in The ENERGY Accelerator which we are still working on. As soon as it is ready in a couple of weeks, we’ll let you know first!

By the way, the next blog will be a posted video of an improvised Drum and Dance workshop that Jaime and I did for Lululemon Athletica while we in Canada last week.

We had many great responses from you. Some of your questions were:

1. “How do I stay motivated to be more active (not necessarily exercise - just move)?”

2. “What can I do to have more energy (what food, stress relief strategies, self talk, etc)?”

3. “My biggest obstacle is procrastination. I need help with disciplining myself… help with focusing on the immediate that requires attention.”

4. “I just think you all are amazing - you say you are are going to do something and it happens - so I guess a question would be - does it all just flow or do you really have to get creative to make your life move forward like you do?”

I wanted to share with you a few of the excerpts from our book in development, called The ENERGY^TM Accelerator. Here’s a few excerpts:

Excerpt 1 from The ENERGY^TM Accelerator:

You are constantly using and projecting energy at all times, whether your thoughts are positive or negative. When a person claims to lack energy, there is in fact no such thing as a lack of energy, only a misdirection of energy. The same energy that went into creating a negative thought can instead by used to create a positive thought. This is the main principle of “directing your energy” first.

Excerpt 2 from The ENERGY^TM Accelerator:

Most people say that they want to have an even, consistent energy level. If you want to have an even, consistent level of energy, the first thing to do is to change your perception of what energy is and how it is acquired.

Excerpt 3 from The ENERGY^TM Accelerator:

Much of our societal teachings encourage us to work harder, study more, or become greater, in order to achieve goals. These teachings assume that you begin at an inferior level and must rise to a superior place in order to be successful. In other words, you begin with little and must accumulate more and more until you are “complete”. We naturally carry this mindset over to the concept of energy as well.

I was planning to release the book by early August but there is so much more material to cover than I thought. Also (P.S.) I have some important dates coming up (I’m getting married next Friday to lovely Jaime) so I will be a little occupied! If you haven’t had a chance to meet my lovely soon-to-be wife, you can click here for a picture of her.

Thanks for your patience, I hope you enjoyed these short thoughts on energy!

Health and Peace,
Alvin.

Las Vegas Lululemon welcomed Soul Acrobats photography by Marylene Hickok, currently a Cirque du Soleil artist in KA. Here’s a video of the great event, featuring performances by former Cirque du Soleil artist Alvin Tam and dancer-painter Jaime Tam.

You can visit Marylene’s gallery at Soul Acrobats here.

CLICK BELOW TO WATCH A VIDEO OF THE EVENT.

Health and Peace,
Alvin.

P.S.: Thanks for all the responses we’ve been getting from our last survey. We are still developing the product, but it’ll look something like an e-book with audio interviews and will be somewhere between $60 and $70. It will definitely focus on increasing energy in mind and body and managing and overcoming fears. Thanks for all your feedback — the product will be out within weeks!

As some of you may already know, I am training for my very first adventure race. What is an adventure race you ask?

Well it is a 12 hour or more trek across barren desert on a mountain bike and whatever is on your feet. The event is mixed in with bouts of swimming and kayaking. This is not a solo sport - you have team members, navigation skills, and immense strategy.

My realization that I want to share with you this week is that I fell into the trap of telling others about the adventure race because it would feed my ego. In fact, whenever I told somebody I was going to do this race, I emphasized how little I knew about it, thereby magnifying the WOW factor of actually doing it.

My dear guide Carrie and my lovely fiancee Jaime turned the mirror quickly in my face and made me ask myself, why am I doing this race? Why would I want to push myself so hard? Is it all just for momentary admiration or is there something deeper?

I realized there is greater depth in doing this race but I let ego take over for a while - like a cloud obscuring the true radiance of the sun. I realized that I really do love to explore, mountain bike and be in nature. That is the reason I am doing this race.

So… I leave you with this thought. What do you brag about, boast about, talk about repeatedly that is merely a way to reinforce your ego? Your sense of status, achievement, power? And then… what is the true motivation behind those activities? You may discover something quite sincere, quite true, yet covered by a different (and false) story.

Happy Uncoverings,
Alvin.