(I) Remember
Posted: July 2, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, compassion, exercise, happiness, healing, health, hipster, hope, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, musings, natural, Omaha, passion, pilates, running, whole foods, WOD, Wounds, yoga 8 CommentsAfter nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world-
I don’t think I’ve been gentle enough around other people’s vulnerable, exposed wounds. Mainly because my short coming for all these years is that I have a tendency to get all self-righteous, to make myself “superior” to people once I’ve seen them in a vulnerable position. I make myself “right” and others “wrong” and then my ego convinces me that I shouldn’t have to walk on eggshells around someone else’s wounds, I should step all over them. I used do this all the time when I would first learn of someone’s weakness while competing … Seeing a runner ahead on the trail struggling to finish the last few miles, pulling away from the pack during a mountain bike race, watching someone struggle with an advance pose during yoga class, knowing I could do better, I would show them how its “done” or whatever that is supposed to mean.
Sometimes though, walking gently around someone’s raw wound(s) is the perfect opportunity to practice compassion and to demonstrate love. Not only towards ourselves but to other kind folks as well.
This Dear Reader, is my wound to work on. Maybe one of you could put arnica oil on it for me? Just being compassionate with this side of myself, the side I’m not so proud of, is a good start. Slowly over the years the lights have flickered on… No longer am I blind to how I created my own suffering for so long.
Notes:
May you find this post in light, probably on a tablet or whatever the kids call them these days. Take care and be well!
Lose Your Way
Posted: July 1, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, Canada, Canada Day, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, musings, natural, paleo, passion, whole foods, WOD, yoga 11 CommentsOh! that gentleness! how far more potent is it than force-
No healthy path I explore is going to lead to having “success” waiting at the end. During the course of my 37 years, in my experience, the long-term success of my path depends largely on the amount of gentleness I bring to my “failures.” Spending time exploring my path requires enormous amounts of energy to confront and then walk directly into discomfort, to shift away from prior habits. Fighting with myself drains much-needed energy, quickly. Gentleness, on the other hand, creates internal harmony and allows my inner energy to flow, to be regenerated, released. I’m not sure of a singular event that made it possible for me to accept myself to the degree that I do now. I still screw up daily, although I do know that acceptance has left my inner landscape truly a gentle place, a place for me to find myself once again.
At some point wandering around this vast path, I lost interest in protecting myself: Worrying endlessly about working out, staying fit, eating right, recklessly practicing yoga, competing in frivolous races, caring more about my outward appearance than loving my inner-self. Whether it was by finding grace after constantly injuring myself, self-acceptance of where I was at, or the help of some close friends. I came to full ownership of the “path“, completely free of the: “should I do this” or “I have to do more”.
The most empowering aspect of inner alignment is the ability to arrive back onto the path when I fall off. My old habits still remain, as hard as we try there is no erasing old “habits“. When I am not conscious of my actions, when my resilience is perilously low and I feel helpless in the face of daily challenges? I still tense up from the fear of the unknown and lose connection with myself and family members. Even in these most trying moments, my deep commitment calls me back onto the path.
Notes:
Happy Canada-Land Day folks, please be well and take care … Eh!!!
Auot Pilot
Posted: June 28, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: acceptance, Blame, blogging, exercise, fitness, Forgiveness, free range, freshly pressed, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, musings, paleo, pilates, running, whole foods, WOD, yoga 7 CommentsFor after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain-
The single most important practice we can cultivate is gentleness towards ourselves. Yes, even more important than a regular yoga practice, healthy eating habits and “exercise“. Cultivating gentleness is especially important when we discover, once again, that we have tripped and fallen, head first, into a pattern of reaction instead of making well thought out choice(s). Sadly, we are more likely to react to prior injuries rearing their ugly head once again, falling off the diet train and sitting on the couch marinating in self-pity. By constantly putting the blame back on ourselves, we fail to open our warm beating hearts to our own human fallibility, accepting exactly where we are in this amazing world.
As part of this comforting engagement with ourselves, we tap into our curiosity and try to formulate reasons as to why our energy is drawn to placing blame. Why do we place such importance on blame, especially given that placing blame is against so many other values we are trying to develop?
What we discover today, this weekend maybe, can help us dampen the blame we throw towards ourselves.
Notes:
Blaming ourselves and others is re-markedly easy, gravitating towards acceptance on the other hand? Is not.
A few of the posts next week will be about me, the humble dude that writes this blog-o-thing. I have been reluctant to do this for many reasons, the most important of which is: I loathe talking about myself, its boring and dreadful. But, for the sake of where these posts originate I fell its important to give you some context. Be well this weekend and please take care!
Free (it) Out
Posted: June 26, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: Bliss, blogging, Buddhism, happiness, health, hipster, kindness, life, love, lululemon, meditation, motivation, musings, running, walking, whole foods, yoga 7 CommentsFor every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness-
Let’s talk about happiness, love, yoga, cycling and maybe Buddhism if we have a few minutes to spare.
We often assume that if we are “healthy” and “fit” we don’t suffer from any aliments during daily life, all is perfect in our precious little world. Out here in the hinterlands of the “real world“? Normal well-being is just dreadful. We are still prone to experiencing frustration driving to work, anger at the cyclist(s) who fail to announce they are passing, irritation with your friends on Facetube, disappointment with your progress training for an upcoming marathon and being self-absorbed while practicing yoga (extremely sore subject with me …).
Buddhism, yup Buddhism, introduces us to a radically different idea: All of us are “unhealthy” and certainly not “fit“. The profound idea of eudaimonia was lost on us during the enlightenment, and with this loss, we lost the idea of exceptional states of well-being. Buddhism certainly has not forgotten this and argues that we humans have been empowered with reason and we can use the gift of reason to condition and nurture ourselves. Eliminating all conflicting, harmful states of mind. Allowing us to cultivate a positive state of mind instead, which is pretty cool.
Notes:
For many folks, healthy and fit will be normal. There are no exceptional states of mind nor any experiencing states of mind, just normal. For the rest of us, being normal can lead to exceptional, starting the whole saṃsāra cycle all over again.
Light Rides
Posted: June 25, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: Authenticity, blogging, exercise, freshly pressed, happiness, health, hipster, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, mind, Mindfulness, musings, natural, paleo, passion, pilates, relationships, running, sex, spirit, trail running, whole foods, WOD, yoga 6 CommentsTruth is not something outside to be discovered, it is something inside to be realized-
Can we all agree that some of the posts here are rather cheeky at times, silly, wasted, pointless? Who wants to talk about authenticity, forgiveness, spirituality, mindfulness?
The best gift you can ever give those you love, and those who care deeply about you, is a healthy “you“. Sounds cheesy, right? Seriously, I thought having a chiseled body doing yoga and performing 1000+ crunches a day was well enough, but a healthy “you“?
Consider for one fleeting moment this morning what I am suggesting. If you are as healthy as you can be, in both mind and spirit, you will be the best possible version of yourself. Less time talking about failed run times, painful yoga sessions and more energy devoted to exploring the world with others.
We could talk about knowing our personal limit(s), making the best use of our time and energy while maintaining a healthy relationship with our body … But this topic is dull and painfully tedious?!?
Quite possibly the greatest gift you can ever offer yourself is not running a marathon or becoming a yoga teacher. Accepting yourself, right now, with no make up, pink bunny slippers and all, is so very powerful … Maybe not as powerful as doing 103 sun salutations in a row, but close enough?!?
Notes:
When you offer your true, whole self to whatever(*), in both mind and spirit? … Boring stuff right?
* (I figuratively and literally mean whatever: relationships, sex, fixing a flat tire, running … whatever.)
CultFit 