Thought(S)
Posted: October 9, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, compassion, Critical thinking, culture, cycling, exercise, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, gluten free, happiness, health, Intelligence, intuition, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, mind, Mindfulness, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, recovery, Religion and Spirituality, rest, running, Social psychology, Thought, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga 5 CommentsIf you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people-
We tend to naturally treat some of our thoughts as superior to others. Moment of honesty folks – All of us at one time or another believed we were smarter and superior to those around us … At times these intuitions guide us fairly well and during other times, rather poorly. Gather around if you like, as I lament, once again about honing our intuition and judgment …
As much as we tend to think our perfect little lives are well – perfect. Our intuitions and actions have evolved, we have learned subtle adaptations honed slowly to fit the “imperfect” world we live in.
Touching on mindfulness once again … I firmly believe mindfulness is best cultivated through critical thinking, through taking inventory of our weaknesses, the places where we’re naturally prone to misinterpret reality. Thinking Slowly and Diligently rather than Fast and Easy. I – We automatically favor thinking fast, it’s what we have been programmed to do after all! We favor the path of least resistance, although with practice we can make the harder path easier … That’s why we do what we do right? We meditate because its easy, we perform yoga because we are super flexible, we max out the leg abductor machine because its easy, we write touching blog posts about painful situations we are too scared to confront in real life, it’s why we argue with loved ones via text than face to face, held close – The easier path …
Mindfulness practice is easy. Breathing is just being. It takes courage to let go of a pesky thought, the ability to say, “I’m thinking way too much about this” and to ultimately – let go, surrender.
Notes:
I wish more people would allow mindfulness to expose the “sad but true” moments in their lives. I passionately do … Be well today and please take care.
Decidir V. Decidido
Posted: October 8, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout, Yoga | Tags: blogging, crossfit, cycling, Facebook, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, kindness, Learning, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, mind, Mindfulness, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, philosophy, pilates, running, Thought, trail running, walking, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga 9 CommentsIf someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart-
If through practicing mindfulness, we practice letting go of thoughts – hopefully? We need another practice for letting thoughts in, getting comfortable with threats from soccer moms, the risks associated with yoga class, discouraging and difficult thoughts during a recent early morning run. We need to exercise our ability to comprehend the tedious, harsh and more discouraging thoughts we encounter during the day more so than blasting reps and sets in a gym. Without ever practicing letting thoughts in? We tend to interpret the world through the lens of easy, wishful thinking …
We need to be brave enough to take our shoes off, expose our knackered and worn toenails to step confidently into dark, discouraging and confusing waters in our quests for uncertain gratification.
It’s not enough to be able to dismiss all the “thoughts” we process and return to the here and now as “mindfulness” practice encourages. Seriously folks – Please read the last sentence again. This is where many people get mindfulness wrong, horribly wrong: Mindfulness practice is most attractive and helpful to people who succumb to the weight of negative thoughts and feelings.
Consider that most often mindfulness is meant to discourage, discouragement.
You may be able to tell I am clearly frustrated with the current view, adopted by so many in regards to mindfulness. The power of neutral-thinking, an ability to, in effect pre-grieve the possibilities of not having the latest yoga fashion(s) so that we aren’t scared of living without them, limbering our minds much the way we learn to breathe into and surrender to the searing burn of a stretched hamstring during chair pose.
Notes:
By letting thoughts in, we have already visited failure, humiliation and injury. We are prepared to contemplate deeply even when it’s not cool or trendy. Here’s the harsh truth that many yogis, blog posts and tired yoga magazine articles fail to provide us: Mindfulness practice is not believing you can ward off undesirable outcomes by not thinking about them.
Trying My New Wings
Posted: July 16, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, family, freshly pressed, friends, happiness, health, hipster, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, Mindfulness, motivation, Omaha, Oneness, passion, spirit, walking, whole foods, WOD, yoga 5 CommentsAll differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything-
There is only one universal concept that brings everyone -everything together in this beautiful world – Oneness.
The concept of oneness and being part of a vast, infinitely elaborate web of interconnectedness is not a new concept. Let’s pause and think about this for a moment. When we arrive at yoga class (just one example – embrace any event) it was our decision alone to be there, to show up, unfurling our mat(s) and opening ourselves up to the limitless possibilities we are about to explore. Oneness is a unifying concept that has survived even in our neomanic world. You can physically feel the energy flowing during class if you open your body and mind, allowing “oneness” to fill your spirit.
Too many people are living in a dystopian world, embracing illusions of separation, “me” first – Sadly.
Notes:
Focused intention on living our daily lives with oneness at the forefront of our thoughts? Will be reflected in everything we do, during yoga class or while stuck in traffic. Welcome to reality …
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.)
It’s Time
Posted: March 13, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: acceptance, blogging, exercise, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, gluten free, happiness, health, hippie, hipster, hope, life, love, lululemon, meditation, Mindfulness, minimalism, minimalist, motivation, natural, paleo, passion, peace, pilates, running, Surrender, whole foods, WOD, yoga 16 CommentsNothing like being scolded by a hippie-
The idea of acceptance, mindfulness, minimalism are so trendy of late. You can see this trend growing with the popularity of meditation/zen/whatever blog-o-posts, green this and green that folks, yoga-moms/dads from far and wide. You can read about it here, on this blog-o-thing if you pay attention for just a few weeks. People are being asked to come into better contact with the present; to be less attached, entangled by social media and humble; focusing more on purpose and meaning. All of these changes raise an interesting question (so I think).
Why now?
None of these topics and approaches to living authentically are new. Neither are single speed bikes, fedora’s, Pabst Blue Ribbon and black rimmed glasses for the sake of argument. Just like you, these ideals have been puttering along, kicking cans down the road for eons …
Why the sudden resurgence of popularity?
Hippies?!? New research studies and science!?! The inter-webz?!?
I suspect acceptance, mindfulness and minimalism are trending of late because normal folks are yearning for something remarkably simple right now: That acceptance, mindfulness and minimalism may help nourish and guide them in their busy lives.
How many of you read a yoga magazine while watching “reality” tv? Watch a streaming TV show while working on your computer? Heck, watch a TV while running on a treadmill even?!?
And what substance is in the gush of media and connectivity we have unleashed on ourselves? Everything imaginable in the world is available, for us to consume, all at one time. Although if you slow life down and actually seek? Through seeking you will discover the images of courage, bravery, unconditional love and connection that surround us are simply being overwhelmed by the pain and judgment we stream into our minds endlessly.
Acceptance, mindfulness and minimalism are immensely important right now for a simple reason. In order for us to prosper inside this modern bubble, that each one of us have created. We need to learn how to relate to our own minds in a different way. There is no retreating, unplugging or escaping … I implore you to move forward in life, just in a slightly different way.
Notes:
I’m not leaving until you surrender, peacefully.
CultFit 