No More Rain (In these clouds)
Posted: July 8, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, crossfit, exercise, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, natural, paleo, running, whole foods, WOD, yoga 7 CommentsPresents are made for the pleasure of who gives them, not the merits of who receives them-
There are many different types of giving. There’s the giving that we do to feel good about ourselves, the giving we do because we expect something in return and the type of giving which comes from a place of kindness. Sadly, the gift of kindness is all but forgotten in today’s world. Does this make us all terribly rotten people? Nope, it’s much better to give a little than not to give at all, no matter what your motivation is.
Although giving kindness does give us cause for reflection. When we give to others and ourselves, is it from a place of insecurity, inner pride, desire? Or is giving kindness from a place of peaceful confidence, of unadulterated kindness which, just like the brilliant blue sky above, is always present, unchanging and limitless in nature.
Notes:
Have a beautiful day today and please be well!
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.
And For No Reason
Posted: June 20, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, family, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, Hafez, happiness, health, hipster, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Poems, Poetry, Prose, trail running, walking, whole foods, WOD, yoga 9 Comments
And
For no reason
I start skipping like a child.
And
For no reason
I turn into a leaf
That is carried so high
I kiss the Sun’s mouth
And dissolve.
And
For no reason
A thousand birds
Choose my head for a conference table,
Start passing their
Cups of wine
And their wild songbooks all around.
And
For every reason in existence
I begin to eternally,
To eternally laugh and love!
When I turn into a leaf
And start dancing,
I run to kiss our beautiful Friend
And I dissolve in the Truth
That I Am.
خواجه شمس دین محمد حافظ شیرازی
Head Over Heels
Posted: June 19, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: biking, blogging, cycling, exercise, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, kindness, life, love, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, nebraska, Nirvana, Omaha, paleo, passion, pilates, running, whole foods, WOD, yoga 10 CommentsRules for Happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for-
At the beginning of yesterdays post I conveniently dropped in your lap a rather unfamiliar word: Eudaimonia. Depending on who you ask and what phase the moon currently resides in, Eudaimonia is most often translated as happiness or genuine happiness. For our conversation here, let’s adopt the more precise translation: Human flourishing, the path to reaching a perfect life (nirvana, moksha).
Keeping in the spirit of this blog-o-thing, I will try to keep this pithy and digestible. If we were to talk about happiness, normally, we toss out phrases like: “happiness as a state of mind“, “contentment“, “joy“, “pleasure“, “love“… All of these terms are caused by external factors. We obsess over money, how highly book “educated” we are, the $2500 newest and greatest carbon fiber road bikes, we even think the lousy weather outside has a great influence on the happiness we experience, day in and day out, while in all actuality, they have little if nothing to do with happiness at all.
The problem Dear Reader with these hedonistic, deleterious perspectives we have conveniently adopted?!? The exact moment the stimulus is taken swiftly away, the “happiness” they brought, albeit briefly, will disappear in a flash.
Notes:
Authentic spirituality makes us torchbearers of an inner light, your inner light! Alive in humility, courage, action, joy and love, we grow in self-awareness when external factors are removed. Only then are we open to experience the fulfillment of life and our true purpose.
Just don’t take my bike, please … I beg of you. Happiness would evade me if you did …
Directo Al Alma
Posted: June 18, 2013 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: blogging, exercise, free range, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, natural, paleo, passion, perspective, Soul, whole foods, WOD, yoga 4 CommentsFreeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another-
Are you fully open to experiencing this beautiful life without censorship or bias? Living fully in the current moment, where our physical actions feel fluid, rhythmic; rather than static, tired and wasted. Do you trust your inner experience to guide you throughout the day? Empowered to interact with nature rather than automatically reacting to events as they unfold in front of you. Is taking a creative approach to living authentically a foreign idea to you, lost years ago when we surrendered to technology, relying on routine and habit to fill every crevice of our lives.
Notes:
Welcome to a new a chapter of authenticity here at CultFit, exploring long-lost traits of true happiness, bliss. As always please feel to join the conversation and help shape where this tangled mess is heading …
CultFit 