If you're in the middle of Merf and you're, you know, however you're breaking it up and you're doing air squats, you're not thinking about work, you're not thinking about anything other than just need a squat, stand back up, count one more time and keep breathing, you know, and it really becomes this major exercise in presence, which is so powerful because you leave there and yes, you feel better physically and, you know, you, you had a workout, but you

also were totally present for that time when you were doing something, and you didn't have a phone, you didn't have any distractions, it was just you and the breath and just back to basic.

Hello and welcome to Pursuing Health. I'm Dr. Julie Fouche, family physician and former CrossFit Games athlete. Here I bring you information and inspiration to help bridge the gap between fitness and medicine and support your journey toward your health yourself.

This episode is one of a series of pursuing health stories. Here I feature inspiring stories of regular everyday people who've used lifestyle to overcome some incredible health challenges.

And in this week's episode, I share a conversation with Michael Astorino, who talks about his journey from a young lacrosse athlete managing the chronic stomach condition known as gastropresis to a college sophomore struggling with alcohol and drug abuse.

When Michael recognized that his addictions were damaging his relationships and preventing him from upholding commitments, he sought help from others who were sober and with their support, he started on a path to self-betterment.

Along the way, fitness, spirituality and mindfulness have all played key roles in his recovery.

And in this conversation, Michael shares how he came to recognize the power of living life in the present moment and just how CrossFit helps him live a life free of alcohol and drugs, focused on connecting with the ones he loves most.

Before we dive into the episode, I do want to make it clear that this podcast is for general information only and does not provide medical advice.

I recommend that you seek assistance from your personal physician for any health conditions or concerns. So with that, let's get to the episode.

Welcome to pursuing health. I am very excited to be here with Michael Astorino.

Difficult last name to pronounce, but I think I got it kind of like mine. And so I'm just it really excited to connect with you and hear your story.

I know you have a really incredible story, personal health story, spirituality story and CrossFit. So a lot of my favorite things to talk about.

So thank you so much for joining me.

Thanks so much for having me, Julie.

Awesome. Well, why don't we start off with just your life growing up in school through high school.

I know you were really into sports growing up and so tell us a little bit about what that time was like for you.

Absolutely. So when I was a kid, I had the I had the the life of if it's nice out, you have to be outside.

And so I had a younger brother and we had a lot of people in our neighborhood. And so I really grew up playing sports outside.

We had a spot that we would go without the end of our street. And you know, we would play football. We would play baseball. We would sort of play all these, you know, games that kids play, just running around, you know, really having a good time.

And as I got into school and got into organized sports, you know, I was really into hockey and across. And then I eventually became a just lacrosse all year round. That was really the thing that I love.

And, you know, it really brings out that sort of competitive side, which I think as we as we go through and talk, I'll get into, you know, sort of losing that and then getting that back through CrossFit, which is really a wonderful thing.

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