Your Ability To Relax Is The New Super Power (E)
Mike Chang
Mike Chang is a globally recognized fitness and life transformation expert, known for transforming physical training into a deeply healing, mind-body experience. After building one of the most successful fitness platforms in YouTube history, Mike shifted his focus inward, exploring the science of the nervous system, ancient healing techniques, and trauma-informed embodiment work.
Today, his Flow60 practice is being used every day by tens and thousands around the world fusing together fitness with emotional resilience, deep release and expanded states of presence.
Learn why your ability to relax and let go of tension can allow you to access your “super powers” to make more money, improve your relationships, and become the best version of yourself.
"When we don't blink, we control our attention and can focus on the present moment. Bring your attention to your eyes, breath, and body feelings to stop your mind and be fully present."
Summary
- Focus on non-blinking, nose breathing, and body awareness to anchor attention and stay present, enhancing inner and outer presence. - Complete a progressive workout: warm-up, strength training with 12 exercises, and cool-down with stretches, breathwork, and meditation for physical and mental balance. - Emphasize relaxed breathing through the nose during exercises to manage tension and emotions effectively under physical or emotional stress. - Practice body tapping and massages on various parts for muscle relaxation, energy flow, and lymphatic activation, aiding detox and immune health. - End sessions with deep breathing and meditation to cultivate calm, clarity, and stress resilience, aiming for a default relaxed and centered state.
Article
The power of staying present: why learning to relax may be your most valuable skill
Fitness expert Mike Chang teaches breath, awareness and release at Swiss wellness gathering
In a spacious hall in Kemptthal, Switzerland, dozens of participants stood with eyes fixed open, breathing steadily through their noses as fitness transformation expert Mike Chang guided them through an unusual challenge: don't blink. For many accustomed to high-intensity workouts focused purely on physical results, this deliberate practice of awareness marked a different approach entirely.
Chang, speaking at the Heal Play Love Festival on 5 September 2025, has spent recent years transforming his globally recognized fitness platform into something deeper—a practice that merges physical training with nervous system regulation, trauma-informed embodiment work and expanded states of presence. His Flow60 method, now used daily by tens of thousands worldwide, represents this evolution from conventional exercise into what he describes as a "deeply healing, mind-body experience."
Three anchor points to stop the racing mind
The session began not with jumping jacks or warm-up stretches, but with instruction on managing attention itself. Chang presented three "anchor points" for bringing awareness to the present moment: maintaining open eyes without blinking, breathing exclusively through the nose, and tuning into bodily sensations.
"To clear your mind, all you have to do is just take your attention to the present moment," Chang explained to the assembled participants. "Because in the moment right now, the mind doesn't exist."
The practice of keeping eyes open without blinking, he noted, strengthens the eye muscles whilst simultaneously training the capacity to control attention. Similarly, nasal breathing serves as a constant reminder of the present moment—each breath an opportunity to return from mental wandering.
Chang distinguished between what he called "outer presence" and "inner presence." Outer presence, he suggested, allows people to create and accomplish things in the physical world. Inner presence, cultivated through breath and feeling, provides the sense of fulfillment and wholeness that external achievement alone cannot deliver.
"If we only focus on outer presence, we will create all this stuff and have no fulfillment, no sense of accomplishment," he told participants. "If we only connect to the inside, nothing happens on the outside—nothing is created."
From tapping to strength training: a progressive physical practice
Following these foundational instructions, Chang led participants through a comprehensive physical routine designed to warm up, challenge and ultimately relax the body. The session incorporated full-body tapping, rhythmic movements, self-massage techniques and dynamic stretches before transitioning into a circuit of twelve strength exercises.
The tapping sequence moved systematically across the body—shoulders, chest, sides, lower back, hips, legs, arms, face and head. Chang explained various hand formations for different effects: closed fists for deeper impact, open palms for broader coverage, cupped hands for versatility.
This physical practice, he noted, serves multiple purposes beyond simple muscle activation. Tapping along meridian lines supports energy movement throughout the body, whilst self-massage provides opportunities to notice areas of tension, pain or potential health concerns.
The strength training circuit included push-ups, presses, prone cobras, burpees, pike push-ups, squats, lunges, leg raises, kicks, strikes, jumps and planks. Participants voted to complete three full rounds of thirty seconds per exercise.
The revolutionary instruction: relax during exertion
What distinguished Chang's approach from conventional fitness instruction was his repeated emphasis on remaining relaxed throughout physical exertion. Rather than pushing through discomfort with gritted teeth and held breath, participants were instructed to maintain steady nasal breathing and consciously release unnecessary tension.
"Your body doesn't know the difference between exercise discomfort or emotional discomfort," Chang explained. "Practicing relaxation during tension teaches you to let go in real situations."
This principle represents a fundamental shift in how physical training can be understood—not merely as a means of building strength or endurance, but as practice for managing stress, anxiety and emotional overwhelm in daily life. The gym becomes a laboratory for nervous system regulation.
Throughout the strength circuit, Chang reminded participants to take breaks as needed, to listen to their bodies, and above all to maintain nasal breathing rather than switching to mouth breathing when the exercises became challenging.
Cooldown as the culmination
Following the strength training, the session transitioned into stretching, breathing exercises and meditation. Participants moved through forward folds, leg stretches, side bends, pigeon pose and spinal twists before lying on their backs for pranayama breathing.
Chang guided the group through twenty connected breaths—continuous inhalation and exhalation through the nose with no pause between—followed by a breath hold and slow, controlled release through slightly parted lips.
The final meditation invited participants to simply notice sensations, sounds and the quality of relaxation in their bodies. Chang encouraged them to practice "not labeling sounds" but rather listening to the silence between sounds, and to notice any resistance to the present moment.
"Notice if you wish this moment were different; just let go and fully embrace what is," he instructed.
Building a practice, not just a workout
Throughout the session, Chang emphasized the importance of establishing regular morning and evening practices. The goal, he suggested, is not merely to feel good during the session itself, but to train the nervous system to return more quickly to a state of calm and clarity.
"A daily morning and evening practice helps your body remember calm and relaxation, clearing your mind and enabling quick release of stress and tension," he told participants.
This concept of the body "remembering" relaxation represents a practical application of neuroplasticity—the brain's capacity to form new patterns through repetition. Just as muscles grow stronger through regular training, the nervous system can be trained to default to calm rather than stress.
The new superpower
As participants left the session, many appeared noticeably more relaxed than when they had arrived, despite having completed a challenging physical workout. This paradox—feeling calmer after exertion—illustrates Chang's central thesis about the transformative potential of combining physical practice with nervous system awareness.
In a culture that often valorizes constant productivity, achievement and the ability to push through discomfort, Chang's message offers an alternative vision: that the capacity to relax, to return to the present moment, and to release unnecessary tension may be the most valuable skill one can develop.
For those seeking more than physical fitness from their movement practice, his approach suggests a path forward—one that honors both the body's need for challenge and its equally important need for rest, presence and deep release.
Part of Heal Play Love Festival