You know that feeling you get after a weekend away: you feel totally relaxed, refreshed and ready to charge forward towards your goals? Don't you think we could all use that a little more often? In this week's episode, we talk about making that a scheduled part of your year. We walk about how making a regular disconnect from the world, to enjoy yourself and allow for the natural (or purposeful!) reflection, accounting and goal setting that comes from those mental and physical breaks from our regular routine, is a strategy that will improve your health, energy, motivation and ultimately your health. I hope you got this over your Canada Day long weekend and if not, I hope this episode inspires you to do so sooner than later. Need a Reset now!?: Check this out: http://dralexritza.com/reset-curriculum/

In a what feels like a previous life I backpacked through South America for 3 months with no phone, minimal $ and a lot of time on long bus rides. There was a lot of time to be bored and stare out the window with nothing much. But on those long rides with almost no stimulation, I was granted some of the clearest, deepest and most productive thinking I have ever done. I was able to ask myself big life questions and take the time to answer them. I was able to address and deal with points of stress, anxiety, and depression that normally get pushed to the side in favour of a more stimulating task. I had time to write, blog and journal without interruption. That deep thinking dramatically changed my life but I do not think that you have to go to South America for 3 months to get a similar experience. I do however think that it is going to take effort and a conscious approach to give yourself the time to do the much-needed thinking that improves ourselves. This podcast is all about how and why you should do it. A little more help here: http://dralexritza.com/reset-curriculum/

This could be a LIFE CHANGING episode for you. Please listen and stop living in The Gap. "The Gap" is the space between where you are currently at with your goals and accomplishments and the distance to your loftiest goals and ambitions. It is like looking out from a ship towards the horizon and no matter how much you try you will never be able to reach. When it comes to how we assess ourselves; the way that we judge and characterize our accomplishments, living in "The Gap" is a miserable, anxiety-provoking, frustrating and depressing place to be. It is a place devoid of satisfaction, accomplishment, pride, happiness, and motivation to push forth towards reaching our highest ideals that always sit on the horizon. Most of us have been taught to think this way by our parents and/or by society and it is deeply ingrained. I have spent nearly all my life thinking this way but I am finally choosing to flip the switch and stay out of "The Gap" and in "The Gain" In this episode, we discuss how living in and measuring your goals based on "The Gain" leads to more happiness, satisfaction, and success. Enjoy the listen and the E-book I reference from Dan Sullivan can be found here:

Do you ever find yourself getting into arguments or disagreements that you later regret? Sometimes we fight because we just what to be "right" and often it isn't worth the collateral damage, energy, and stress that those conflicts or worse yet, fights can create. Not all conflict is bad of course! Constructive disagreements can be really beneficial for your relationships at home, work and with friends. It is the destruction conflicts, the disagreements or arguments that serve no purpose that chip away at our relationships that make us less happy, less fulfilled and more alone. In this episode, I discuss the mantra that I use that [when I use it - I am working on it] helps me make sure that the conflicts I do have are worth fighting for and that I pick my battles better. Somethings in life are worth dying for, some are not worth a second of our time, I hope this episode helps you make better and more thoughtful decisions on a daily basis about which are which and make your relationships better, happier and more fulfilling.

We have all experienced it: you are in a "funk", your brain chemistry is just not right or you are simply going through a hard time in your life. Sometimes when you are in life's valleys, it feels like you are never going to emerge and that things will never get better. This podcast is all about making sure that when this happens next in your life that you can ensure that the valley is a little less deep and your time there is a little less long. Even when things are conspiring against you and life is out of your control, there are some things we can control - our mindset and our lifestyle that can help us survive and maybe even prosper despite the circumstances. But first, it all starts with just showing up, even if it means going through the motions. I learned a lot from a recent period of overtraining when I couldn't get my mind right - hopefully, this will help you get yours. For help with your plan and every aspect of your lifestyle necessary for health: - Dr. Alex

Somethings hurts? But what is it? Can I keep playing? Can I workout tomorrow? Is it serious? What do I do to recover as fast as possible so I can get back to life? In this week's episode of the Better Ever After Podcast, we answer all these questions and more that you will have (or have had) when something hurts and you are officially injured. Being injured sucks. We want to get back to being active as soon as possible but often don't know how to start. This episode discusses: - The importance of rest to allow for tissue healing and recovery. - The need for a proper examination and understanding of the injury and the underlying mechanisms - The multi-prong approach to correcting the underlying Core Problems that could have caused it - How to return to sport and when you know you are ready - MOST IMPORTANTLY: The mindset to keep you sane through it. And no, you shouldn't "suck it up" and play through it because it could leave you with a worse injury that ruins your entire season or delays your training for months. Hope this helps :)

Few things stop us from doing what we love and make us miserable like being in PAIN! But as much as you might wish to never feel pain again, a failure to feel pain would literally kill you. Whether it is a chronic or acute issue, we have all experienced a time in our lives where something hurt and we would do anything for it not to and to better understand what exactly was going on. For being a universal experience for human beings, most of us are taught very little about what pain actually is, what causes it, why do we feel it, why pain is important for our survival but is a TERRIBLE barometer for our health and how to interpret pain when we experience it. In this episode, we take a brief dive into the incredibly complex world of pain science and I do my best to explain all of this and more in less than twenty minutes. I think you are going to not only learn a ton from this episode but will also walk away with a better awareness of how to feel about pain (pun intended) and how doing so will help you manage it better. Links mentioned: Cool pain videos

Not enough time in the day to get the important things done and get your workout in? I know this feeling. I should actually say that I knew this feeling. In this episode, I share the 3 mindset and 3 practical strategies that I have implemented that have catapulted my productivity and organization and have left me rarely lacking the time (and motivation) to get in my workouts and the time needed for the most important things in my life. Better productivity means having more time for the things that are most important to you in your life: whether it is working out, working or being with your family, I hope this episode helps you put more hours of the day to good use. - Dr Alex

How many times have you said to yourself, "I am just working way too hard"!?   Odds are that how hard you are working isn't really the problem, but how much time and energy you are devoting to recovering and resetting from that work that is.   In this episode, we discuss Overtraining Syndrome in athletes, what it is, how to avoid it and most importantly, how the principles that athletes should use to avoid it, are the same that are going to help you will some of the most difficult health challenges in your life.   As mentioned, below is the link to our RESE Curriculum E-book that will help you find more balance in your life and the strategies that will help you heal and recover faster

Got SAD (season affective disorder) or just need winter to be done?   Join the club! Winter in Toronto or anywhere else where it seems to last half the year is challenging; with the lack of vitamin D, fresh air, the desire to forego all socializing and just hunker down on the couch it can be a time of year where we find ourselves depressed or at least not at our best.   I always struggle with winter but a recent challenge from a practice member (thanks Maeve!) and a coincidental dinner with a friend (thanks P) have given me a new and simple strategy that has started to make getting through winter seem much more manageable!   For those of you that don't have a car or can't take up a winter sport outside of the confines of downtown, I think and hope that this makes the rest of this winter better and gives you a recipe for success for next year.