Mind(Full)
Posted: August 6, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, Earth, family, fitness, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, kindness, Kissing, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, running, Truth, whole foods, WOD, yoga 9 CommentsWalk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet-
Where is your mind when you’re “working out – running- cycling – racing“? Is your mind busy planning tomorrow’s running route as a bottomless ravine moves closer and closer towards your aching feet? Is your mind still wrapped up in some excitement from earlier in the morning, replaying a conversation over and over again as you put another ice pack on your sore knee(s)?
When we are looking forward to the future or back into the past, then by definition we cannot be in the present moment.
Walking, slowing down the pace of life, mindfulness, turning off the phone, yoga and many other cool “things” provide us a wonderful opportunity to be present, mindful and aware, as opposed to being distracted, stressed and overwhelmed. Presence, mindfulness and awareness provide us an opportunity to train our mind and spirit, to understand what it means to be in the here and now, with a healthy sense of appreciation, patience, and a non-judgmental attitude. It’s also a fantastic opportunity to get back in touch with the world, the world in which you live in.
Notes:
*Read below
Desert Wind(s)
Posted: August 5, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, pain, passion, Patience, perspective, pilates, running, Suffering, trail running, whole foods, WOD, yoga 4 CommentsRivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day-
What does patience mean to you personally in regards to mindfulness and living an authentic life?
Patience: the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, difficulty and annoyance without getting angry or upset.
What are we to think after reading this definition of patience I pulled from a dusty dictionary? You may be asking: “Will I encounter delay, difficulty, or annoyance in my life?” All of us share a universal answer: (we) can’t recall a single day in our lives when at least one of “three” –delay, difficulty and annoyance … Didn’t make an appearance.
Throughout the years, my reaction to the presence of any one of the three was to get “angry” a little “upset” and completely “ticked off.” Then early one winter morning I realized that my normal response served only to make an already unpleasant situation, worse, much worse. Thus began my journey to making a conscious effort to respond to “delay, difficulty and annoyance” differently than I had done before. On the worst days? The best I could do was to simply “tolerate” their presence in my life. Although with practice, just like riding a bike and doing the yoga thing, I was better able to “accept” them kindly, with a smile and as an inevitable part of daily life.
When we start to weave tolerance and acceptance into delay, difficulty and annoyance … We sit up straight and start to notice a few things. Firstly, patience is a gentle way of treating ourselves with compassion. Keep in mind Dear Reader: Compassion is the act of reaching out to those who are suffering … Including ourselves.
Secondly, I noticed that being patient gave me a feeling of calmness that makes it infinitely easier to ride life’s ups and downs without being tossed about aimlessly. Seeing the correlation between patience and enhanced self-compassion and awareness convinced me of the value of practicing patience.
Notes:
I suffer deeply when I stray from the path of patience, lack of patience is a stress response to whatever is going wrong in my life. Stress firmly grips both my mind and my body … Cultivating patience is my way of taking care of myself, which is the heart of self-compassion. the calm acceptance of life as it is, right now in this precious moment
Now how does one share to the world, the hyper obsessed runners and fitness aficionados that the idea of suffering and stress from punishing our bodies is NOT taking care of ourselves?
Heat (the) Pot
Posted: August 2, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, community, exercise, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, humor, kettlebell, kindness, life, love, lululemon, lust, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, Omaha, paleo, passion, perfection, Place, running, trail running, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga 16 CommentsIf people reach perfection they vanish, you know-
Many folks who wander around these parts consider themselves perfectionist and they also consider perfectionism to be one of their most valuable attribute (a close runner-up is their charming smile). As a perfectionist you are likely to obsess over bringing attention to detail: Your yoga mat and running shoes have to match your outfit. A keen eye on organization and following a well intended plan, as well as a clear sense of how all of the pieces of the “big picture” relate to each other.
It seems that having good intentions (wanting to excel no matter the discipline) and working hard would result in our meeting a desired outcome(s). However, as we well know, this doesn’t happen as often as we think it should. In fact, you might be frustrated by the fact that your perfectionism pays off in keeping your socks organized and your Prius meticulously clean but backfires horrendously during your adho mukha svanasana.
Why is this so?
Even more confusing and frustrating is when we use our perfectionism in one instance and it works great, but then we use the exact same strategy in another situation? It doesn’t work in the least. Quick example: Obsessing about making mistakes can make you detail-oriented and a key asset in your work place. Or obsessing about making mistakes can make you fail miserably during yoga class and during your next “big” event.
Notes:
I decided not too long ago that I wanted to better understand when and under what circumstances perfectionism worked and when it backfired. Race preparation and event planning – A touch of perfectionism helps, a lot! Enjoying yoga class and a nice flowing trail run? Not so much. I’ve also seen people (myself included) literally kill themselves in the pursuit of the perfect mile, split time and perfect rep … Totally not worth it!
Sing a Simple Song
Posted: July 30, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, exercise, family, fitness, freshly pressed, friends, health, hipster, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, nature, Omaha, passion, whole foods, WOD, yoga 4 CommentsThe words ‘I Love You’ kill, and resurrect millions, in less than a second-
Chances are many of us have endless “should(s)” that occupy our lives; things we want to change in order to make our lives better. Passion can shed a new light on these “should(s)“.
Passion offers us insight(s) about our behavior that touch us most deeply. Passion calls to us, often in our most undefended moments, and its call carries a sense of urgency and truth that we feel deep inside. If we can pick out the core elements from the cacophony of life’s demands, and if we give these elements the priority they deserve? Our lives will shift into a completely new direction.
Notes:
The journey to finding what we love is more akin to a treasure hunt than a straight path. When we listen and follow the message we’ve discovered, intimately, passionately? We are then led onto another path, another treasure … What we discovery may very surprise and delight us, there’s only one way to find out!
Thank you for your continued support of CultFit. Take care this evening and be well!
Come and Find (Me)
Posted: July 26, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, passion, running, trail running, whole foods, WOD, yoga 13 CommentsThe best gifts come from the heart, not the store-
Our core gifts are not the same as our unique talents or killer athletic skills; Core gifts, quite simply are the places within us where we feel and care the most deeply.
Core gifts reflect our true spirit, our generosity to others and a profound sensitivity to feeling(s), Just as your fingers caress your favorite double latte today, our core gifts are as unique as our fingerprints, as unique and amazing as each one of us. When we treasure and become aware of our true gifts, they become the most exciting and straightforward path to whatever we choose to do: Embracing your lover, running with all your heart, surrendering to the moment …
When we surrender and become true to ourselves, we sense in our soul that we have something precious to offer the world. It’s in these places where we feel the strongest. It can be terribly painful when our friends and family, the people we love dearly … Do not value these intimate parts of ourselves. They don’t want to hear about love, passion, kindness, simplicity, surrender – Helping you to heal, to run faster, to bike with all your heart. They want split times, sets, reps, numbers, miles and sweaty, vain self pics … We learn to bury and cover these beautiful gifts we have to offer, we keep them safe, hidden in our heart. With each layer we build, we hide, we take one step further back from sharing our unconditional love of being.
Each one of us can rekindle, find passionate love for whatever (I mean whatever … Sex – Running – Yoga – Get creative) by reclaiming our true gifts.
Notes:
As we start to unravel and open up our hearts, something amazing happens. We find that we start to attract people who love us for who we really are; Not who we are expected be. The more we embrace and live in the power of our true selves and vulnerability, the more attractive we become–without ever losing a pound, stepping on the worn out scale or buying a new yoga outfit.
I was inspired to share this post by a few of you reading this morning (you know who you are). Surrender to yourself and rekindle your love, your true gifts and offer them to the world – Be well this weekend and please take care!
CultFit 