Why is it always this way?
Posted: May 20, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: compassion, fitness, free range, gluten free, gratitude, happiness, health, hipster, kettlebell, kindness, life, lululemon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, paleo, passion, pilates, running, walking, whole foods, WOD, yoga 8 CommentsEverybody will get their wants, when they heartily want-
How much time did we waste wanting “things” this past weekend? Searching for a new pair of minimalist running shoes, a new GPS gizmo for the bike, the latest and greatest all natural yoga mat? Wanting to be thinner, healthier. In today’s world it seems we are always caught up with wanting and searching for newer and better “things“.
Did you wake up this morning eagerly chasing after the “things” you could not find the prior two days? When we spend all of our time wanting we leave little room for the possibility of ever having a calm, peaceful state of mind. Our mind becomes like a playful dog, panting and drooling at your feet, waiting to chase after the next ball. Better yet, just like a like a dog, many of us are rather adept at chasing after our own tail! The direct result of all this play time is that our mind becomes unfocused. We focus more on what might happen or could happen, rather than what is actually happening right now. So in chasing after the next great “thing“, we miss out on the present.
For many of the kind folks reading today, there is the real daily grind of reality and there’s what they think life should be like if they had more stuff to make it better. The space between the two is usually equal to the level of disappointment and frustration when things don’t go as we’d like them to. Somewhere in the middle lies acceptance of things as they are and a greater sense of appreciation for the small “things” in life.
Notes:
The start of the week is an excellent time to take a moment or three to reflect on what, or who, you are most grateful for. Not wanting things to be better, just content for what you have.
A Dude’s Musings On Mother’s Day
Posted: May 12, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, exercise, fitness, free range, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, intensity, kettlebell, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, mothers day, motivation, musings, natural, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, running, simplicity, walking, whole foods, WOD, yoga 10 CommentsI believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy-
I wanted Mother’s Day to be different this year. I wanted to continue my climb upward on the Mother’s Day Classiness Gift Giving Scale. Last year was pretty pathetic, a cheap card from Target and a box of Govida Truffle’s. This year? I wandered into our local Lululemon bodega (our Lulu store is right next to a wine shop = Awesome!). What could possibly go wrong?
For us dudes, a few steps into a Lululemon store is a highly visual, sensual and erotic experience! We are greeted by provocatively attired mannequins, I mean staff … and, further back in the store, just beyond the camel toe concealing yoga pants, women are exiting fitting rooms attired in raiment that often do not seem to fit—literally, and with no pun intended, figuratively.
This sight started my mind wandering on this sultry weekend afternoon, with my lovely wife’s purse in one hand and a strawberry banana smoothie in the other: How damaging can a woman’s relationship with her body be? Damaging enough to result in pain of both a psychological and physical nature?
Throughout their lives, women of all ages must deal with idealized, societal norms and how they “measure up” in life. There are different stereotypes spanning the entire spectrum of a woman’s shape: A girl or woman with large breasts, thick hips may have to contend with unsavory assumptions about her sexuality. From a different angle, this same girl or woman may feel inadequate should she have smaller breasts and no hips. Both are patently absurd.
It is therefore not surprising to see women this afternoon squeezing into garments that don’t quite seem to fit, as they struggle daily with how they confront societal myths, that don’t quite fit.
So, I thought: “Maybe I won’t buy anything in this store? Maybe a bottle of dark chocolate wine from next door would be the better option?”
Happy Mother’s Day!
*Back by popular demand – The most viewed pic in the history of CultFit*
Lately
Posted: May 9, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, Deborah Garrison A Working Girl Can't Win, free range, happiness, health, hipster, kettlebell, kindness, life, love, lululemon, lust, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, paleo, passion, pilates, Romance, running, Seduction, whole foods, WOD, yoga Leave a comment… I can’t help wanting us
to be like other people.
For example, if I were a smoker,
you’d lift a match to the cigarette
just as I put it between my lips.
It’s never been like that
between us: none of that
easy chemistry, no quick, half automatic
flares. Everything between us
had to be learned.
Saturday finds me brooding
behind my book, all my fantasies
of seduction run up
against the rocks.
Tell me again
why you don’t like
sex in the afternoon?
No, don’t tell me–
I’ll never understand you
never understand us, America’s strangest
loving couple: they never
drink a bottle of wine together
and rarely look at each other.
Into each other’s eyes, I mean.
– Deborah Garrison A Working Girl Can’t Win
Notes:
How hard is it to put down the gadgets, pull your lover close, eye to eye, heart to heart, open a bottle of wine, chill?!?
Short but Funky
Posted: May 8, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: 90's, blogging, crossfit, exercise, fitness, free range, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, kettlebell, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, paleo, perspective, pilates, pop culture, quiz, running, simplicity, walking, whole foods, WOD, yoga 14 CommentsMan is the only creature who refuses to be what he is-
10 “things” that I learned in the 90’s that still resonate, painfully this morning on the mat:
The price is wrong!
There’s no crying in baseball.
In Paris, it’s a Royale with cheese.
You can’t handle the truth.
We are all connected in the Great Circle of life.
The bums lost.
Life finds a way.
Life is like a box of chocolates.
You can’t triple stamp a double stamp.
You need more flair.
Notes:
First response that can correctly name the movie the quotes appear in, wins something. There is consideration for style points and what these quotes are in reference to (Hint: I was the only dude in yoga class). Time to get creative peeps …
(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?
CultFit 