The following is an excerpt from the "The 4-Minute Peaceful Warrior Workout" on-line course. If you would like to enroll in the course, click here.

Unlike the broad range of topics covered in my 12-week Course -- Master the Path of the Peaceful Warrior -- The Peaceful Warrior Workout has a clear purpose and focus -- to teach you a series of movements that can provide the leverage to improve many other facets of your life. Taking only four minutes each day provides a significant step towards healthy, positive habits to help reshape your body, your attitudes, and your spirit.

Like many people, you may have mixed feelings about your body. And like many others, you sometimes indulge it, deprive it, stuff or starve it. The time has come to accept (love and admire) your amazing human body -- the only possession you are guaranteed to keep for a lifetime.

When you treat your body well, other facets of life fall into place. Three ways to treat your body well -- keys to optimal physical well-being are:

1. Regular, moderate exercise (active rather than sedentary lifestyle)
2. A balanced diet (suitable to your own genetics and circumstances)
3. Sufficient rest (to start each day afresh)

Paavo Airola, Ph.D. who dedicated his life to healthful eating, once stated that "... it would be better to eat a "Standard American Diet" (S.A.D.) and do regular exercise than to eat an organic vegetarian diet but not exercise." (This advice, coming from a vegetarian and expert in nutrition!)

In this course, we'll focus on the first of the three keys -- regular, moderate exercise -- because starting your day with a conscious movement routine encourages you to eat a more balanced diet that contributes to weight loss and better sleep as well.

Expect psychological as well as physical rewards. As author Geoffrey Norman observed, "A lot of what passes for depression these days is nothing more than a body saying that it needs work." Because the human body is built to move, to stretch, and to breathe deeply.

Conscious Exercise and Your Bio-Energy Field

A strong energy field contributes to physical vitality. Thus, the flowing movements and deep breathing of this workout enhance your functioning on physical, mental, and emotional levels. Your energy field becomes larger, brighter, and cleaner, like the atmosphere after a good rain. You'll feel more expansive, alert, and relaxed.

While the 4-minute routine is not the same as an hour at the gym, yoga studio, or running trail, it does include all elements of fitness in an efficient package to enliven the body. It requires no heroics or particular will-power. You don't need to be as fit as an athlete in training (unless you are one) -- but you will experience improved level of strength, stamina, suppleness, balance, and coordination.