Never Give

all the heart, for love
Will hardly seem worth thinking of
To passionate women if it seem
Certain, and they never dream
That it fades out from kiss to kiss;
For everything that’s lovely is
But a brief, dreamy, kind delight.
O Never give the heart outright,
For they, for all smooth lips can say,
Have given their hearts up to the play.
And who could play it well enough
If deaf and dumb and blind with love?
He that made this knows all the cost,
For he gave all his heart and lost.

W.B. Yeats In the Seven Woods

Notes:

Be well today.

CultFit Fresh


The Sweetest Thing

Earth’s crammed with heaven…But only he who sees, takes off his shoes-

I vow to develop UNDERSTANDING in order to live peacefully with people, animals, plants, and minerals.

I vow to develop my COMPASSION in order to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals.

THE TWO PROMISES

CultFit Tracks

The Workout-

Shoes off at the door please, let’s carry on with a nice CultFit Flow (if you would like to know what this is? just ask …)

Notes:

Self-awareness and compassion are amazing skills to help guide you. Allow these feelings to nurture accepting love in your heart. It’s love, yes Love, that will help you to heal and change your outlook on Life.

CultFit Still


Be Easy on Me

We can only evolve so far sitting still in comfort-

Take a gentle moment to close your eyes and observe the thoughts that arise within your mind. You don’t have to share what popped up although chances are, your mind either brought up something from the past or moved into the future. More times than not, this mental commentary is a constant distraction that keeps us from focusing on the here and now.

CultFit Aware

As we begin to slow down in this hectic world, our mind quiets down and begins the slow process of focusing on one thing: Now. In the present moment there are no marathons in two weeks, parent teacher conference in two days, fear of failure, or anxiety prior to showing up to the big event. These “things” are the direct result of our mind endlessly sliding from the past into the future.

When we settle into stillness and embrace the life in front of us right now, our fears and worries dissolve.

The Workout-

A simple Walk, nothing more.

Notes:

The greatest gift of stillness comes when we’re able to maintain this present moment. Just something to ponder whilst taking a self-shoot of yourself, in the bathroom, after blasting your abs at the gym …

CultFit Awake


Cool Place to Park

Seven attitudinal factors constitute the major pillars of mindfulness practice: They are non-judging, patience, a beginner’s mind, trust, non-striving, acceptance, and letting go-

Day after day in my blog-o-thing reader, I read stories from passionate men and women who have been neglecting their bodies. They lead the lives of a secret double agent, as they try to hide the pain from themselves and from others close by who love them. They go through heart wrenching injuries, blog about said injuries, all the while inflicting tremendous pain on their children, friends and family. Or they try to make a desperate, tear filled, heartless effort at holding on to the shreds of a life they had before they kept re-injuring themselves.

They tell stories dutifully detailing the pain they have gone through for a quick thrill, a medal and a t-shirt or a furtive moment of being superior to their peers. Oftentimes they lament not remembering making the decisions that tore apart their knee, their back, their life: “It just happened …“.

It’s easy to judge from the outside looking in on this madness. How could someone risk everything in life, for what really?

The Workout-

Our signature Workout. The perfect fusion of body weight work, breathing control and being present in every moment.

One Minute Hand Stand Hold

One Minute High Push Up Plank

How many times through is up to you?!?

Notes:

I want to spend the rest of this week talking about three, immensely powerful words: Stillness, Awareness and Comfort. It really has taken two years and 600 posts to come up with just three words. STILLNESS, AWARENESS and COMFORT…  Something to think about this evening as you take pictures of your feet, while resting an icepack on your sore knee.

CultFit Sadness


Cooking with CultFit

The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude-

Chili. Every blogger from hither and yon has a signature chili recipe, except us. Here’s the deal: Many of you will change the very underpinning of our White/Green Turkey Chile goodness. You’ll start gathering the ingredients at your local co-op and figure … “Hey, I could add this and take this out and do some other cool stuff with this recipe!”

So on that note, we offer up this recipe to you as a “suggestion” … You are going to do and add whatever you like anyways.

The Ingredient list-

  • 2 lbs. Ground Turkey Breast + 1/2 lb. Ground Turkey Thigh (thigh peeps, dark meat – the darker the better!)
  • 1 Yellow Onion (Yellow, not red, not white – Yellow!)  Chopped fine, like real fine.
  • A generous amount of olive oil (if you are going skimp on anything? Don’t skimp on the precious oil)
  • 2 green Bell Peppers, 1 Anaheim pepper, 1 Poblano pepper, a few Jalapenos, a handful of Pasillas …  (cored and chopped) If it’s green and a pepper/chili? Put them in there! *remove seeds if you’re a chump!
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 2 tablespoons ground cumin (add more if you like)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano (add less if you like)
  • 3 cans tomatillos, drained and rinsed (give these guys a good rinse!)
  • 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles, drained
  • 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 3 cans Great Northern beans, drained

*  NOTE: We know Texans don’t care for beans in “their” chili. This is the part of the recipe where we take a moment to tell the Texans (reading in their pick up truck) to suck it! Oh, add a bottle of Shiner at this point to add some peculiar Texan flavor to our chili recipe.

  • Chopped cilantro, for garnish (do whatever you like with this?)
  • Grated fresh Free Range – Pasture Fed – Monterey Jack Cheese (It’s called a garnish, dude)
  • Sour Cream, for garnish (this is not optional)

The Sides-

  • Beer

Method to the madness-

Put a big blue Le Creuset pot on the stove top, medium heat. Pour in copious amounts of olive oil. When it’s hot, add the turkey and cook, stirring often, until browned. Transfer to a bowl and return pot to the oven. Add some more olive oil, the bell peppers and the onions, cook em’ up until softened and golden brown. Return our delicious turkey to the pot and add coriander, cumin and oregano. Stir well to combine. All the other peppers and stuff go into a food processor – blend them up and add to the mix, oh, don’t forget the broth, reduce heat, kiss your loved ones and simmer, 45 to 50 minutes. Gently stir in beans and cook for 40 minutes more.

Who knows when this chili is done and how many it serves, we don’t know. It does however taste better the next day, so quite being a bum and make it a few days before you want to enjoy it.

Notes:

Chili, enjoy!

CultFit Twerk