About
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Michael Sieber
My name is Michael Sieber and I am someone who loves every single second of my life. Every breath I take is a blessing and I love nothing more than feeling a deep and profound connection with my body. I thank my legs on a daily basis for carrying me around town, deadlifting 350lbs, or climbing mountains.
I am an individual with an intense passion for functional fitness and the human body. I am a Personal Trainer and a self-proclaimed Nutritional Expert. I love the human body and the study of anatomy; I have an intense passion for performance and functionality throughout sports and everyday life. When I see so many people injury ridden or sick I feel as though it is my job to fix their problems.
Throughout my years as a trainer I have learned much about the body and myself. One of the things that I learned is that there are MANY different layers to being a human being. I learned that our body and the results we get in performance are directly correlated with our beliefs and the mental focus of our minds. I also learned that as human beings we must acknowledge our spirituality and emotions in our performance as well.
To reject any aspect of what makes us human, whether it is the physical or metaphysical, will lead to dysfunction and sickness. My goal is to help others understand how to align the: body, mind, and soul, as one.
I was not always a healthy individual.
I did not always understand how to balance myself physically and spiritually. Throughout my years as a teenager I suffered from depression and anxiety. I ate a diet of mostly processed sugar and fried foods. My social life was lackluster at best, and I lacked real world experience and confidence. I had a stressful home life at times and was very weak.
One day in the weight room, when I was the weakest person in the gym, I decided that I was going to change things. I made the decision that I would become the strongest person in the gym eventually. I still remember what it felt like when I made this choice, I was so weak and frail, I could barely lift a 10lbs weight. Looking back now I can hardly believe that I used to be that person, it seems so foreign.
Strength training taught me something though, it taught me how to harness my mental energy and focus, and more importantly, it connected me to my body. So I set out on the path of becoming the strongest athlete that I could become.
Becoming an athlete…
After years of hard work and determination, I had become an injury ridden and weak boy, into a strong and chiseled man. I knew what it meant to pour my heart and soul into something to fulfill a dream, which in my case ended up being my body. I did multiple grueling 12-week workout plans, which involved heavy functional weight training.
The peak of my training eventually culminated in completing a grueling basketball workout routine, and it made my body flexible, agile, and extremely strong. I played basketball multiple times a week now and did quite well, a sport that I always SUCKED at when I was younger. I would always be embarrassed when family or friends made me try out for a basketball team, even though I was 6’ 4” I was so weak and uncoordinated.
I finally knew what it meant to be a competitor and give my all in a sport, something I had wanted to truly experience since I was a young child, but was always too afraid to see through. It took me years of focus and intense training to compete on a high level. I had to pour my heart and soul into connecting to my body, I had no time or focus for anything else. There were periods that I would be in the gym 7 days a week doing two-a-days. I was truly connected to my body and my strength, I now knew that I could harness my willpower and body to achieve any goal that I wanted to, but I eventually grew tired from the physical pounding my body was taking.
Burning out…
Eventually I burned out from all of the training. My body was constantly sore and I was beginning to experience more mental stress. Something was out of alignment with my heart and soul. I knew that I needed to get better socially. I wanted to find a partner to experience life with, someone as high caliber and determined as the person that I strive to be daily, and I also needed a change from the physical beating that I was taking.
I toned down my workout routines from a professional level, down to something more moderate. I weight trained just three days a week now, and then I found yoga. For a period of time I focused entirely on yoga. My body needed to become more flexible and my spine needed more stability. After years of pounding the crap out of myself the yoga was very healing and restorative. It was during this period of doing yoga daily that I discovered how much I loved meditation.
I have an extremely over-active mind and yoga is one of the most restorative ways to begin meditating while being somewhat active. Yoga and deep stretching allows one to connect to tension in their body and release it. To me yoga is often about letting go and experiencing the moment. My best yoga practices were always when I was able to just accept my body for what it was in that moment.
This is when I decided to live my life moment to moment, and always stay connected to my body. I did not need to become a professional athlete, nor did I need to weight train to the point of over-training. I just needed to respect my body and listen to what it was telling me. So I stopped lifting all together for a while, and focused all of my energy on yoga and meditation.
I became extremely flexible and began to start writing again. I decided to go out and talk to more girls and make new friends, things were looking really good for me.
Falling back into depression…
After learning so much about myself physically, I was deeply affected by the illness of a family member. My whole family was stressed out from it. It was during this time that a lot of extra responsibility was thrust on to me. I did not know how to cope with the stress. I would often go to McDonalds and eat pure shit just to binge and escape. I would smoke pot to escape or do reckless things.
During this time period I developed a chronic skin condition that began to define me the condition is called Vitiligo. It is a skin condition that causes the skin to not properly produce pigment and cause blotchy white patches. Someone with Vitiligo cannot go out into the sun, and there is not a definite cure, everyone responds to treatment differently. I was told by the dermatologist to just avoid the sun and use steroids that could cause skin cancer (no thanks).
I had no idea how bad my skin would continue to be affected. I let a physical issue define my psyche and used it as an excuse to be afraid and fearful. I would stare in the mirror often and pick apart my looks. For all the progress I had made, I was still reverting back to the same insecurities I had as a teenager.
I had not yet learned how the mind and our emotional health directly correlate with the body. I was abusing myself physically in the gym and simply assuming that exercise and a somewhat decent diet was enough to prevent bad health. I felt like everything I had worked so hard for was just a joke. I had begun to define myself with the person at the gym, and my ego was so focused on how others perceived me that I did not take the time to cultivate a healthy relationship with myself.
So I made another choice…
I chose that no matter what happened to my skin or my appearance, that I would use this period of intense stress and depression and overcome it no matter what. No matter how bad my appearance got, or no matter how much resistance I faced, I would not make excuses. I chose to take responsibility for my life. It was finally time for me to begin crafting my reality once again and not focusing on the sickness that I had manifested into my life.
It was extremely difficult at first. I had to overcome many negative thought patterns and the intense focus I had on my skin and anxieties, but I eventually started going out again.
Meeting new people and finding new ways to eat…
I started going out every single day once again to socialize with people. No matter what excuses I could muster up, I would go out every single day to a public location and talk to girls or just make new guy friends. Maybe I would just go out or apply for a job. I started training again, but this time things were different. I did not over-expend myself with weight training, and I did not have a desire to eat processed foods ever again.
This is when I adopted a Vegan diet for the first time. I went Vegan for 30 days and completely detoxed my body from all toxins and crap from years of abuse. I also started experimenting with fasting and balancing out my reward system. These practices really helped to give me more mental focus and clarity during a period of change. The plant-based diet boosted all of my plant nutrition levels and balanced out my vitamin deficiencies. I burned off toxic fat and replaced it with healthier fat.
I felt extremely light and balanced. I would often have multiple kale shakes with bananas every single day and would often eat a pound or more of carrots. My social skills were beginning to improve drastically, I had an abundance of friends and was meeting plenty of pretty women, but I still had not found the person that I had dreamed about for years, I had a lot more work to do still.
Re-connecting to my body through yoga, walking, and weight training…
Throughout this period, which ended up being the fall/winter of 2012 I started going to the gym and doing yoga again. But this time my yoga practice was deeply spiritual and profound. From cleansing my body and building a better relationship with myself I found a space where I could tap into an intense focus and presence. I had never experienced such clarity or connectedness in my entire life. I felt the love that I had often experienced as a child once again. I got great joy from the smiles of others, I began to see people’s auras more often than before, and I was very in touch with how I physically responded to other’s energy.
My weight training was extremely focused and precise, the yoga had made me more flexible, and my new outlook and attitude allowed me to truly be connected to my body. If I did not feel like lifting heavy that day, I would simply stretch. Sometimes I would go to the gym and not feel so hot, but my body would warm-up and I would end up breaking my personal bests. I had learned how to truly be present and listen to my body.
Yoga and my training had once again centered me and grounded me, except this time I had much more focus and presence than before. I had more wisdom and experience. I learned how to control my negative thought patterns and cultivate my life force through deep breathing and meditation; I was ALWAYS connected to my body.
There were periods of time during this point in my life where I felt connected to a power higher than myself. I experienced god/the universe/whatever. Whatever word you want to label the beauty that is life, I experienced more deeply than ever before. I would find myself in a stretch and melting away into a space that was so much deeper than just my body. It took deep focus and profound awareness and an ability to just go with it.
Manifesting my dreams…
I had always had a vision since I was a young boy. I envisioned the most beautiful woman on earth, with an energy that had all of the colors of the rainbow in it and shone so brightly. We would give ourselves to each other completely and become one. We would shatter limits and travel to new and exciting places filled with beauty together.
I always thought that the only way I could get someone like this into my life was to chisel out a body of perfection, like a statue or Arnold Schwarzenegger. Except that path simply led me to burnout. I needed to be a balanced and wholesome individual. I had to love my life and myself before I could experience that beauty with another.
I had now spent years developing my social skills by meeting new women and dating, building my mind-body connection, eating a sound diet, and learning to truly love. And all of my hard work finally paid off.
I met the love of my life, Jenna, at just the right moment in time. I had to use all of my social acuity to attract her to me, but I also needed to be present enough to realize what I was experiencing and let my guard down. The night we met she told me not to be afraid and it broke down all of the walls I had put up throughout my entire life in a single moment. I had not felt so connected to someone ever.
When Jenna first told me that she loved me and I felt a giant surge of energy run from the base of my spine all the way up to my skull.
One month later I traveled to the first real beautiful place I had ever vacationed to, which ended up being Vermont. We went on a few small hikes and saw mountains and beautiful waterfalls, in just one short weekend. It had shattered what I perceived my reality to be. You see I did not have the money to do these things. I did not have the ability to travel or see beauty, these were not things that I ever did and I had built limiting beliefs around them, but Jenna helped me shatter them.
A few months afterwards we went to California where I got to see the beauty of a Redwoods grove, and visit Lake Tahoe where we summited Mt. Tallac, which is when we developed our true love for hiking.
That summer my skin issue nearly completely went away, even when doctors told me that it was something I would have to live with forever.
We still continue to love one another and travel together to this day. My dream ended up becoming a reality, and it all worked out the way it was meant to in the end, but I had to follow my heart. I had to have a connection with my body.
Jenna and I down the Jersey Shore
Movement is the expression of life…
To achieve our dreams we need to be connected to our body. We have to learn what foods to eat and how much to eat. Paying attention to when we need a piece of fish, or when we need to go vegan for a few days. It all starts with a sound diet and maintaining the physical body.
If you are meeting resistance and you worry about whether it is physical or mental, the truth is that it does not really matter. It is the chicken or the egg; it really does not matter if your problems are predominantly physical or mental because they are directly connected to each other. When we go inwards physically we can also see the state of our psyche and spirituality if we are mindful.
When you do yoga you can begin to cultivate the awareness to realize when you are forcing a stretch vs. just letting go. Or when you weight train you can develop intense strength and determination. Maybe your energy is stagnant and you just need to get in touch with your creative side, which calls for going on a long walk or a hike.
Always try new things physically. With enough outlets you will never be left without a way to express yourself. Allow for restful activities and active ones. Realize that there is a time to slam heavy weights or a sledgehammer, and a time to do yoga or just sleep.
Connect to your body through a more mindful diet…
Over the years I have read just about every piece of advice and tried nearly every diet under the sun just out of curiosity. What I learned is that our diets are just like we are, always changing and evolving. To blindly say the veganism is the best, or that you need to eat a certain way forever is foolish. One man’s food is another’s poison.
I find that listening to my body is the best way to know what and when to eat. Some days I may fast, other days I may be vegan, another day I will have a juicy steak. Do not listen to someone saying that there is only one way to eat, our bodies are always changing and have different requirements.
I aim to help others achieve a better relationship to their body and diet by cutting out all processed foods and allowing the body to truly heal and become nourished. The best food in the world will not do much good if someone cannot break it down or is overburdening their body with toxins.
I will show you how to eat better and offer the resources to do it.
Reprogramming our mind and body with positive experiences…
Positive thinking alone is outdated in my opinion. I tried brainwashing myself with positive messages all the time, and so do others. But what really works better than all else is a love-based experience. Go out with some friends and experience true connection. Fall in love. Travel to somewhere beautiful. Think differently by choosing to act differently consciously.
The conscious choice to experience new things will begin to rewire your subconscious mind to attract more positive and desirable experiences into your life. I always try to help others experience love by extending my gratitude and love whenever I can.
Vail, Colorado
And lastly, cultivate your spirituality and connection with the whole…
Connecting to life and others is a beautiful thing that begins with going inwards. I am here to help others feel comfortable with going inwards and facing their own insecurities or beliefs.
I truly believe that we are all connected to each other I call this connection love. I do not bother with going to church (although I am not judging if you do, and I fully support exploring religious beliefs and idealisms) or worrying about whether or not god exists, because I have experienced this love firsthand. Always have a dream and always fully experience every moment that you can.
But Mike, how do I feel this connection?
If you have not yet felt true presence or connection to life, then you must cleanse your body and mind first. This is done by cultivating a sound diet and expressing the body physically as needed. This website is here to help. I will give you the resources and ideas to implement that will ensure you build a profound and lasting understanding of yourself as an individual.
Plenty of people will tell you what is the right way to do things, I do not want to do that, I want to simply help discover what YOURS is. There is no right or wrong way for everyone to follow, you need to discover what works on your own, and this site is here to help you on that journey.
Once your body is not being overworked or stressed from toxic foods, and your mind has more focus and clarity, you will have the ability to connect with life on a much deeper and fulfilling level.
Start expressing yourself physically and eating well to build a strong Body.
Meditate and experience new things for a more focused and less negative Mind.
Connect, love, and share, to grow spiritually and be one with your Soul.
That is my story that I choose to share because to me it verifies that there is something bigger than just myself that I am connected to. It proves to me that dreams come true and that as humans we have the tools to accomplish them. There is always hard work and resistance that makes it all worth it in the end. But when I see so many people stuck in the trenches of health issues or over-thinking themselves to death, I just wish that they had the knowledge to cultivate balance.
It is my goal to help share this knowledge. Thank you for taking the time to read about my life, I am grateful for the attention that any individual chooses to give me and take my responsibility as a trainer and coach very seriously. I aim to never give bad advice and always share what I believe to be the truth.
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