A Gentle Dissolve
Posted: March 31, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, freshly pressed, Gentle, gluten free, happiness, hipster, kettlebell, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, nebraska, Omaha, paleo, passion, pilates, Power Yoga, running, trail running, walking, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga, Zen 10 CommentsNothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength-
“Slow down, you move too fast … Life, I love you, All is groovy.”
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Can you recall the last time you were in love, with life? Noticing the subtle – yet profound flowers blossoming from the dormant grass below ?
During lunch with a close friend this past Friday, I struggled to put into words this exact thought: When was the last time you fell in love with life. All of us have become multitasking savants, hastily doing no fewer than three things at once. Making breakfast while texting about the NCAA tournament and updating a post we have been working on for a few weeks. Our minds are literally filled to capacity, overflowing with “things“. When does the Sun rise tomorrow? The Sun does rise – right? Why does Windows take so long to boot? What’s the forecast for this weekend? Am I out of shape? I look bloated! What if I perform poorly in yoga class, my next 5k? This latte is too much, are they stealing my debit card information? Will it snow tomorrow? I need to book an appointment to have my nails did – done – whatever? What time is it, do I have time to workout/run/swim?
Time is flat, circular and restrictive. We continually arrive back at the same point, with a gadget of some sort close by.
Can you recall the last time you went for a leisurely walk after dinner? The “garden of life” variety of walk that didn’t involve a pedometer, taking a selfie or tweeting to the masses the calories you burned, and all the “other” information we vitally need to live.
Daily Meditation:
If you can name the song and artist that set the gentle tone for the post today,without using your Google Machine – You win a prize or something! All, truly is groovy!!!
: UpGrade :
Posted: March 28, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Bliss, Calvin and Hobbes, CultFit readers rock!, cycling, family, love, meditation, musings, Omaha, Psycowpath, thank you, weekend, yoga, Zen Leave a comment…
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If you are lucky enough to be in Omaha tomorrow morning, and want to do some yoga and cycling – check out the festivities at Swanson Park … Have a beautiful weekend Dear Reader(s) – Take care and be well!
Moose in the Morning
Posted: March 27, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Bliss, blogging, Buddhism, freshly pressed, happiness, health, kindness, life, love, May Sarton, meditation, Moose, Morning, musings, nature, Omaha, passion, Poetry, writing, yoga, Zen 4 Comments…
Oh wild and gentle beast,
Immense antlered shape,
This morning in the meadow!
Like something ancient, lost
And found now, promise kept,
Emerging from the shadow,
Emerging while I slept—
Wilderness and escape!
You set me free to shirk
The day’s demanding work
And cast my guilt away.
You make a truant of me
This moose-enchanted day
When all I can is see,
When all I am is this
Astonishment and bliss.
Tomorrow Comes Today
Posted: March 25, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Ahimsa, cycling, family, freshly pressed, life, love, nature, Omaha, passion, Tadasana, yoga 8 CommentsWith the new day comes new strength and new thoughts-
I love practicing yoga, alone, mid ride in an open field or a hidden park off the trail. I love the way these quiet moments make me feel spiritually, mentally and physically. I love returning to my breath after a spirited sprint, the practice of mindfulness after being harassed in traffic. I love improvising poses outside of a yoga studio – Getting creative and inventing new poses like: Sore Back/Hips 1 and 2, old man standing on one leg pose, picking ear wax pose, happy cyclist pose … many poses, all of them good, even when they become challenging …
There is this one intricate pose though that I just can’t get seem to get my spirit around, metaphorically and my heart around, literally. That pose is called Tadasana. Tadasana is infinitely easy if you your mind likes to wander hither and yon, like mine does. Tadasana is extremely difficult for me to surrender to during a mid ride yoga session, and extremely embarrassing to watch if you’re looking at me from the swings.
Being the forgetful* dude that I am. I avoided Tadasana, altogether, or I would fleeting pass through it – swiftly moving into old dude bending over in a park early one morning pose.
Suddenly I remember a few words a dear friend recently shared with me: Return to you – Return to your breath.
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We become stronger, more confident, when we not only face the difficult “things” in our lives, but embrace them.
Daily Meditation:
As unmasculine as this may sound, Tadasana has become my best cycling buddy, well second to riding with my Son.
Urban Buddhism
Posted: March 24, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Bliss, blogging, Buddhism, Commuting, compassion, cycling, exercise, fitness, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, joy, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, nature, nebraska, Omaha, passion, perspective, simplicity, writing, yoga, Zen 13 CommentsKeep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you-
” … Get your bike off of my road asshole!!!”
Last summer I built up an old Jamis road bike in order to make it more efficient and useful for commuting back and forth from work. For me – This is the perfect way to get a bit more exercise, heal and rehab some old injuries, save a couple precious dollars on gas, and in all honesty – I enjoy the ride, alone, the peace and quiet of spinning along in the early light. (I’ll save my rant about saving the environment for later this summer)
On my afternoon ride two Thursdays ago … I was waiting at an intersection near home for the light to change, when an Audi Q7 (affectionately adorned with five look at how many kids I have created stickers in the rear window) squeezed past me to get to the front of the line. The “kids” driving turned sharply in front of my front wheel and the driver kindly shared her advice mentioned at the beginning of the post.
My first reaction was one of slight amusement, as an avid cyclist, events like these happen all too often. I was simply waiting to cross the last intersection after a long day of work, when out of nowhere I was called some rather amateurish names. Instead of reacting, I simply crossed the street when the light changed, and then gently rode home.
When I arrived home and started to remove my helmet, I thought for a moment what was shared with me 15 minutes earlier … The recalcitrant behavior of our society is nauseating.
Daily Meditation:
Why do so many people feel the need to make these kinds of remarks in the first place? I’ll share with you my theory as to why: There are critical thinking flaws present in the way we live our lives, especially pertaining to unwarranted inferences from others.
CultFit 