Emotional Fitness Dojo is the legacy of Burt Lo,
who passed away from a recurrence of liver cancer in January 2020.
Talking about Emotional Fitness - especially in regards to the health and well-being of Men,
was what most lit Burt up during the last few years of his life.
(Aside from talking about his daughter, of course.)
In the confounding two years since his death, Burt's life partner, Cara H. Cadwallader, prioritized her's & her son's mental health by regularly practicing Emotional Fitness.
Now, Cara is ready to share these life-affirming workouts with you!
It was through her body, & play, that Cara was first able to connect with others. Even though she had no emotional vocabulary & was fearful of intimacy, Cara yearned to connect deeply with others. Dance & later embodiment became another means through which Cara was able to build & nurture rich, lasting relationships.
Meditation, movement, exercise & dance, are all ways to practice being in your body; feeling with more of your senses; letting go of the thoughts in your head; releasing stress; being present & more.
Begin with where you are right now.
How do you feel? Can you breathe into what your feeling & identify where in your body you are feeling this?
"I feel.... creaky. And, crackly." says Burt. A regular Dance Church member, watch Burt give you a demonstration of what being with "What Is" looks like in getting up from your desk for 5 minutes and taking embodied action.
"There are very human things that we all have in common as people. The thing that connects us is our human experiences. We are not all going to experience the same things exactly, but we can experience the same emotions & have similar experiences. In doing so, & in describing these to one another, we can discover that we have more in common than not, regardless of our color, shape, size, belief system, ideas, etc."
Burt in this video that he recorded a year before he was diagnosed with cancer. His sage prescience shines through in offering us, his loved ones, the words of what he most wants us to know in the event of his death. What would you most want to share if you were to die today?
Common Sensei
Burt embodied INTEGRITY, COMPASSION, HUMOR, KINDNESS & UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. Let us redefine our definition of what it means to be BEAUTIFUL with these qualities in our heart mind. Let's embody more self compassion & empathy for others.
Burt would say that: "Emotional Fitness is for people who are looking to expand their emotional vocabulary in order to experience more meaningful, rich and rewarding connections - in all of their relationships." Burt was revered in death due to the generosity of presence & unconditional heart that he gave to others when he was alive.
Burt would also say: "An emotionally un-fit person will be hindered from the breadth of life, because they’ll have limitations and liabilities that will prevent them from both perceiving life clearly and responding to life fully - such as: with anger, violence, resentment, withdrawal, shut down, addiction, shame, guilt, unworthiness, and other emotional pain."
"As important as physical health is to living a vibrant, optimal life, our emotional selves have everything to do with the way we move through the world, with our relationship to ourselves, and to others.
Emotional fitness is developing a person’s emotional self, the part of them that responds to & expresses life through emotions."
--Burt Lo
Today, Burt's partner Cara relies on Emotional Fitness as a tool for doing her "Inner Work," which is to bring awareness to all of the places within her in which fear is unconsciously at play. She is excited to do this work with you, too - so that you may experience more expansive & sustainable states of connection & belonging; acceptance & peace; power & pleasure; freedom & joy.
-- Common Sensei
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