ALL ABOUT ME

I have dedicated my life to unlocking the doors to health and wellbeing. A path that has rewarded me enormously on all levels - more energy, strength, calmness, clarity, and a sense of feeling connected and alive.

“Health and wellbeing are the cornerstone of our life, there is nothing more important, as without these, all life experience and performance is limited.”

My path started from my early introduction to meditation (at the age of seven), where I learnt the importance of mental and spiritual health; I believe these to be the most important aspects of our health (whichever way you achieve it) as no matter how healthy our body is, if our mind is unhealthy, we cannot utilize the health of the body.

I then started following the naturopathic philosophies of Dr Bernard Jensen and found that the food you put in your body directly affects not only your physical health but also directly affects your mental and emotional wellbeing. This realization I found incredibly empowering. “You can positively and greatly affect your life with your food choices!”

Soon after I found a great passion for the Indonesian martial art of Perisai Diri, a system that not only uses a variety of dynamic physical movements, but also incorporates meditation and breathing into a complete program designed to enhance every part of the practitioner. From this training my body felt charged and alive like never before.

During this time I started my studies in naturopathy. The naturopathy course incorporated diet, clinical nutrition and herbal medicine, along with medical subjects of biochemistry, pharmacology and pathophysiology. These studies changed my life, there was so much to learn understand and practice, I thought I knew the basics of a good diet, but it was far more complex and in depth than I could ever have imagined. I developed a great passion for all the natural health fields but particularly herbal medicine. I love herbs, I have a deep respect for their healing abilities there is a (for lack of a better word) magic to them - along with the intellectual application, they have a personality of sorts, a combination of qualities that helps guide you in their use.

The path of nutrition was not as straight forward as herbal medicine. The variations in ideas and beliefs is vast, ranging from minimalistic raw foods to carnivorous paleo feasting and all backed with “strong evidence” and testimonials. It has taken time, but I have managed to sort out the truth from fiction in diets and, not surprisingly, the extremes are nearly always wrong. But, I have also learnt that extremes in diet are a powerful tool when used for short periods, used for the right person at the right time, they can have a dramatic and permanent healing effect. After finishing college I continued my studies, delving into the traditional medicines of Ayurveda and Chinese medicine ( I found that the naturopathic system, though strong in modern nutrition and science, was lacking a link to the wisdom of the past, and had lost much of the wholistic approach to health).

Finding the links between science, naturopathy, Chinese medicine and Ayurveda gave me a solid base to work with -  if all systems agreed then the knowledge was sound.

Over the next  20 years I ran many clinics, and I discovered during time that practice is the key to knowledge and understanding, there is no substitute for it, no matter how much you study, how many books you read how well you do in exams, it is the practice where you really begin to learn and understand about the immense complexity of human health.

The importance of physical fitness.
Physical exercise has been a part of my life since high school where I was competing in track and field. This ignited my desire for physical fitness- the freedom and energy you get from having a fit body is something I wanted to build on. Through the years I have never stopped training and I have benefited enormously from it.

With my clientel I have seen the importance of exercise, comparing those in their 60’s and 70’s who exercised to those who didn’t, there was a profound difference. The effect on exercise helped these people not only with their body, but also their mind - sharper, happier and more positive mentally than those who didn’t exercise.

We have evolved for hundreds of thousands of years with daily body movement, the body is dependent it. So to feel vital, to avoid disease, and run at an optimum level, we need to exercise daily.

WHAT DO I KNOW

Diet
I will always have powerstart daily. I eat it to make sure I get my omega 3 oils, protein, micro minerals, anti-oxidants and prebiotics. Everything my body needs to run well.

I always begin my day with protein – I have found this to be one of the most important changes you can make in your diet. Protein for breakfast – maintains your energy, stabilizes your blood sugars, increases fat burning, gives you amino acids for muscle repair, decreases food cravings and keeps you fuller for longer.

Each day I make sure I eat plenty of vegetables - Vegetables are key for health, whatever your dietary beliefs are, you need lots of vegies, 4-6 cups daily, not including the starchy vegies (potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, parsnip etc) Vegetables increase detoxification, protect against cancer and heart disease, feed good bacteria in the gut and are full of vitamins and minerals.

I eat with the seasons - We should not stick to one diet all the time, we must change and adapt to create a balance with our environment: Summer is time for smaller lighter regular meals, with more raw foods and less meats and fatty foods. Winter is best with more cooked meals that are less frequent and are larger with more proteins and more fats.

Intuitive eating
I eat what I feel like eating- Being in tune with what your body wants, is very important. It is essential not to mix up intuitive eating with what you crave. The difference is one follows the body’s needs, the other follows its imbalances.

Conscious eating
I think about what I eat, I work towards having a balance through the day and have a variety different foods and nutrients with every meal. Protein, carbs, fats, sugars, raw foods and cooked foods.

Mind and spirit
I start every morning with a series of stretching breathing and meditation exercises. Done correctly this sets me up for a day full of energy, creativity, and peace. This does not have to be long process, it is more important how well you do it than for how long. Connecting deeply and moving though these in 15 mins can be far more productive than 2 hours of empty practice. As these practices are very subtle and require a lot of explanation I won’t go into them here.

Exercise
My philosophy on exercise is to stimulate the body not exhaust it. The body responds to stimulation by adapting to it, so all that needs to be done is regular stimulation on muscles bones, heart and lungs. The body will adapt by growing stronger, faster, more resilient, and flexible. It is easy and very effective, done daily you gradually and permanently build fitness. What is great about this style of training, is it doesn’t exhaust you, so you have energy for other sports and hobbies. And as it takes less time, you can work it into a busy schedule.  Also, as you are not in prolonged state of “pushing yourself”, you build a much more positive relationship with exercise. With less pain and fatigue, you finish feeling strong and invigorated and look forward to your next workout.

I do a Combined 20 min training daily. 10 min martial arts practice with 10 min strength training. (this done with intensity, gives - strength, mobility and endurance) I combine super sets (moving through different exercises without rest while targeting a specific muscle group) with martial arts body movement and low repetition high resistance training. From this I get cardio, muscle endurance and muscle strength.

Equipment
I highly recommend to anyone to get some roman rings. They are cheap, easy to use, and highly effective. Used correctly they strengthen support muscles as well as the major movers, creating true strength and protecting the joints.  These are my favourite piece of exercise equipment and if need be I could do all my strength training for the whole body with them alone! Swiss balls are also fantastic.

Please note: It is very important to do recreational exercise as well as a fitness routine, you want to establish joy and fun into your relationship with body movement and exercise. So get out there get strong, get vigorous and most import, enjoy.

Diet exercise and meditation has changed my life and it can change yours too.

Health and Happiness
Jason Olderoy