(I’m) Reckless
Posted: May 7, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: Addiction, blogging, crossfit, exercise, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, intensity, jogging, kettlebell, kindness, life, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, pain, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, running, simplicity, social media, technology, trail running, walking, whole foods, WOD, yoga 10 CommentsIn this world of numbness and information overload, the ability to feel, my boy, is a rare gift indeed-
You scowl at your running partner(s) for running with headphones in. You can faintly hear ‘1901’ blasting from their ears. They are insistently checking their GPS watch, every ten steps, although 10 miles later during a quick stop to refuel? Out comes a magenta hued insta-message to let the world know you just slammed a gel pack. Don’t they realize how much it annoys you? The anger on your face is plain as day …
Remember when placing an emergency call meant stepping into a phone booth? Today’s electronic do-dad’s and wireless communications gadgets have made it possible for us to handle emergencies in near real-time, help us to find and reconnect with long-lost friends and the best part: Fantasy Sports. Although all of this “convenience” we have at our finger tips comes at a steep price. The incursion of technology into our lives both at home and while out for an evening run, means less down time and we become ungrounded from our true spirit (tomorrows post). FaceTube and iThings rip into and tear apart relationships and thwart leisure pursuits. I often lament about leisure/life balance, oddly the term “Balance” seems to be a thing of the past.
What in the world is the meaning of balance anymore?
Steeping back from the running story, we as families are feeling this pain at home as well. Social experiment for the day: Engage a teenager in an eye to eye conversation. Let me know how that works out for you. Today’s teens have booth feet, wading chest deep in a technology sinkhole, sad.
Notes:
Know what? It’s rather easy to blame social media and technology, I should know, I am rather adept at it. Over the past fortnight I have been thinking about this issue ad nauseam, what “balance” truly means, the mixed blessing and danger of technology and many other things (NHL Playoffs). Even though social media and technology have placed the world at our feet, the 24/7 access impedes our spiritual health and quality of life.
Ask yourself today: Has the convenience been worth it?
I paid the taxi driver
Posted: May 2, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, By Night in Chile, freshly pressed, happiness, health, hipster, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, paleo, perspective, pilates, Poetry, Prose, Roberto Bolaño, running, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga 4 Comments… got out with my suitcase, surveyed my surroundings, and just as I was turning to ask the driver something or get back into the taxi and return forthwith to Chillán and then to Santiago, it sped off without warning, as if the somewhat ominous solitude of the place had unleashed atavistic fears in the driver’s mind. For a moment I too was afraid. I must have been a sorry sight standing there helplessly with my suitcase from the seminary, holding a copy of Farewell’s Anthology in one hand. Some birds flew out from behind a clump of trees. They seemed to be screaming the name of that forsaken village, Querquén, but they also seemed to be enquiring who: quién, quién, quién. I said a hasty prayer and headed for a wooden bench, there to recover a composure more in keeping with what I was, or what at the time I considered myself to be. Our Lady, do not abandon your servant, I murmured, while the black birds, about twenty-five centimetres in length, cried quién, quién, quién. Our Lady of Lourdes, do not abandon your poor priest, I murmured, while other birds, about ten centimetres long, brown in colour, or brownish, rather, with white breasts, called out, but not as loudly, quién, quién, quién, Our Lady of Suffering, Our Lady of Insight, Our Lady of Poetry, do not leave your devoted subject at the mercy of the elements, I murmured, while several tiny birds, magenta, black, fuchsia, yellow and blue in colour, wailed quién, quién, quién, at which point a cold wind sprang up suddenly, chilling me to the bone.
Roberto Bolaño – By Night in Chile
Notes:
Be well today.
Loving You Live
Posted: May 1, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: compassion, Education, family, freshly pressed, friends, health, hope, kindness, Learning, life, love, meditation, musings, nature, Poetry, reading, writing, yoga, Zen 7 CommentsAnd then there are the times when the wolves are silent and the moon is howling-
We can learn so much by looking up at the sky, with wide eyes, in wonder. We can feel deeply when sitting beneath a tree, in stillness after practicing yoga with some close friends. We can experience every sense nature presents to us while lying down in dewy grass after finishing a race. Nature is here to remind us and allow us to become curious about the great mystery of balance, harmony and life.
One of the Gifts that can arise from a recent bout of injuries, the inevitable surgeries, and rehab is a gift that can also be reaped from reading cheeky a poem by Shel Silverstein: Slowing Our Pace In Life. In the time it takes you to recover from injury so many clouds will gently float past you, you’ll start to take notice of the flowers growing diligently in a nearby field. The words filling the page will take on completely new meaning, depth. This simple act of just “being“ will ignite a new understanding of yourself, forgiving you for all the abuse you have subjected yourself to.
Notes:
Because of our mind numbing daily pace, we all forget, that sometimes, we are an integral part of nature. Be well today and take care.
Know your Enemy
Posted: April 29, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, crossfit, exercise, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, gluten free, happiness, Healing arts, health, hipster, hope, intensity, jogging, kettlebell, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, paleo, passion, pilates, running, trail running, walking, whole foods, WOD, yoga 8 CommentsOur wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us-
Today, I ask you to consider a rather different, more personal formula for recreating a healthy and happy life: Embracing the Arts (painting, drawing, prose, poetry, writing etc.).
Embracing the Arts does not entail you picking out a new foam roller to soothe your aching body after a recent run, cancelling another doctors appointment to have your knee locked at, bending and twisting in yoga class beyond your limits in order to express your inner beauty. Embracing the Arts does require you to reclaim your innate curiosity about your own body and its limitations.
Embrace the Arts to reduce the violence we are hopelessly addicted to. Yes, I believe writing or even taking the time to commit to memory a poem you enjoy, is infinitely better than a “recovery run, shake, workout – whatever“. A slight change in perspective, attitude and focus will make a drastic change in your life …
Notes:
We as a culture need to focus on and discover true beauty in nature, to help us heal, smile and generally: Be somewhat tolerable to hang out with.
Be well today and please take care.
Dare to Be
Posted: April 25, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, Dare, exercise, fitness, freshly pressed, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, paleo, passion, running, WOD, yoga 7 Comments… When a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully.
When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light.
When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it.
When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway.
When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back.
When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some.
When you’re feeling tired, dare to keep going.
When times are tough, dare to be tougher.
When love hurts you, dare to love again.
When someone is hurting, dare to help them heal.
When another is lost, dare to help them find the way.
When a friend falls, dare to be the first to extend a hand.
When you cross paths with another, dare to make them smile.
When you feel great, dare to help someone else feel great too.
When the day has ended, dare to feel as you’ve done your best.
Dare to be the best you can –
At all times, Dare to be!
Notes:
Take care today and be well!
CultFit 