Its Your VooDoo Working
Posted: May 30, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Being Present, Good Life Gravel Fondo, Gravel Grinding, nebraska, Omaha, Reflection, yoga 13 CommentsThe course of true love never did run smooth–
Letting go of “something” is perhaps the most promising mechanism to discovering your true self, and for me personally, this meant giving up running, being attached to “gadgets” and endlessly abusing my body competing.
Giving up fighting for something that should be naturally easy, can be enormously relieving. I went from wanting to run marathons and ultra events to needing them … Comforting the tenderest of heartache after a sour performance, surgeries, ice packs, and a lingering limp is all the self-knowledge and reflection that I need. Despite my losses – I now know that I have to put my health first. This knowledge has been immediately reparative and began a cascade of positive changes and feelings of well-being that I feel deeply in this very moment: The first sip cup of coffee in the morning after riding to work.
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As I slowly went through the process, grieving the loss of who I thought I wanted to be, and others thought they wanted to be through me by proxy … I also experienced the soreness and pain this “something” brought into my life. Not wanting to experience this pain again, I began to reflect on who I was, and what I truly need for ultimate fulfillment: Family and Friends, a good book, thousands of miles of gravel roads, and a quiet spot to practice yoga – no mat needed!
Daily Meditation:
This kind of reflection, when done gently and over a period of time – Is pretty damn cool! Have a beautiful weekend and please take care!
Midnight : Flight :
Posted: May 14, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: biking, blogging, Commuting, compassion, cycling, exercise, family, fear, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, nebraska, NHL, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, Playoffs, running, simplicity, trail running, Yeti, yoga, Zen 6 CommentsWe can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light–
These early morning cycling commutes have me thinking about fear, a lot …
Maybe I’m out of touch this morning, although I don’t think anyone in their right mind wishes to walk this beautiful path in life completely fearless. At least after the rush of a close encounter, we can appreciate that our internal warning “thing” is aligned with the red traffic light up ahead, preventing us from crossing the intersection and becoming tasty roadkill for the turkey vultures circling above (I miss roundabouts). Thinking about this for a moment, I don’t think I know anyone who appreciates being afraid for no good reason, or even just being anxious about future events; which just so happens to be my definition of being a “worry wort.“
Once I start worrying above and beyond what is needed for the most basic survival (food – water – family – bikes – fantasy hockey …), worry builds upon worry, and my thoughts spin out of control. The question is what to do about worrying when it makes no sense?!?
: Take a deep breath and return to the present moment :
Daily Meditation:
Our “worried” minds are accustomed to seeing only the negative in life, ignoring the awe-inspiring spectacle of beauty, love, and boundless opportunity that awaits us. Instead of “worrying” about these threats – Red Lights – Road Kill – Turkey Vultures … Maybe we can hone in on what is right in our life, the “little” things, such as the beautiful sky above, dew on a blade of grass and the Pittsburgh Penguins being eliminated from the NHL playoffs.
Secret : Energy :
Posted: May 7, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Bellevue, blogging, Breakfast, Commuting, compassion, cycling, exercise, family, fear, fitness, For the Love of Food Truck, free range, freshly pressed, friends, health, kindness, life, love, meditation, motivation, musings, nature, nebraska, passion, perspective, social media, writing, yoga, Zen 8 CommentsDo not be afraid; our fate
Cannot be taken from us; it is a gift–
“What would you do if fear was removed the equation?”
A close friend once asked me the very same question I am asking you this beautiful morning, and I’m here to tell you, this simple little question changed my life. Well, that and the best breakfast burritos in Nebraska did …
This seemingly simply question helped me to pause, to listen, in order to break decisions down to their very essence. What I realized was that I was not living each day to the fullest because I was desperately afraid of getting hit by a car, letting my family down, even of success – Tasty success that is!
Pondering this question allowed me to separate my fear, from my dream of breakfast burritos, and in doing so, I realized that I really wanted to hit the road a bit earlier, stay alert early in the morning, in spite of the fear of getting crunched by a Prius.
My friends question helped me to identify my fears and determine whether they deserved as much power as I was giving them.
Daily Meditation:
Often at times I have those dark nights of the soul at 4am, when I’m overcome with fear. Do I let these thoughts rule my choices anymore? Damn right I don’t!
I would like to thank Moisés and Jacklyn Salgado, purveyors of the – For the Love of Food Truck – For helping me to overcome my fear of commuting in the insane, reckless morning traffic in Bellevue, Nebraska. Yes! Their breakfast burritos are totally worth it!!!
When you have a moment today, head on over to their Facebook page and give ’em a big “Like” (or whatever the kids call it) from CultFit!
Up(rising)
Posted: April 29, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, Compitition, crossfit, cycling, exercise, Fairness, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, hope, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, nebraska, Omaha, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, running, trail running, walking, WOD, writing, yoga 5 CommentsThe world isn’t fair, Calvin.”
“I know Dad, but why isn’t it ever unfair in my favor?–
I want to go back and touch on “should” thoughts for a moment before we move onto today’s post. Contemplative thought is truly a brilliant tool to exploring your true potential, just not when its time to perform. I like to call these – trigger happy thoughts or reactive thoughts. Let’s dive a little deeper and to maintain some clarity, I’m relating the post today to competitive outings and more specifically: Running.
What are your initial thoughts and feelings when I tell you that “Fairness” – Is a fallacy? Fairness is rubbish and compete utter nonsense?
Many of us (maybe this hits close to home for you) … Cloak ourselves with the falsehood that there exists only a single standard of fairness and – SPOILER ALERT! – It’s our very own! What we consciously choose to ignore, and this is when we start our “should” thinking, is that fairness is a completely subjective concept, based on our individual needs, expectations, and values. The big boy truth, is that your definition of what’s fair? Is completely self-serving (mine included).
If your buttons have been pushed in the past, or even right now because you thought you were being treated unjustly? Let me share a classic example most runners have lamented about: “I should not be in the 30-39 year old age bracket! It’s too competitive! If only the race organizers would change the ages – my time in a different bracket would get me on the podium!”
Daily Meditation:
The next time you find yourself questioning fairness, your mind clouded with “should” thoughts? Try this on for size at the starting line – What I see as fair? Is a direct reflection of my own deeply held personal preferences. Then proceed to run the race of your life!
A Gentle Dissolve
Posted: March 31, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, freshly pressed, Gentle, gluten free, happiness, hipster, kettlebell, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, nebraska, Omaha, paleo, passion, pilates, Power Yoga, running, trail running, walking, whole foods, WOD, writing, yoga, Zen 10 CommentsNothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength-
“Slow down, you move too fast … Life, I love you, All is groovy.”
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Can you recall the last time you were in love, with life? Noticing the subtle – yet profound flowers blossoming from the dormant grass below ?
During lunch with a close friend this past Friday, I struggled to put into words this exact thought: When was the last time you fell in love with life. All of us have become multitasking savants, hastily doing no fewer than three things at once. Making breakfast while texting about the NCAA tournament and updating a post we have been working on for a few weeks. Our minds are literally filled to capacity, overflowing with “things“. When does the Sun rise tomorrow? The Sun does rise – right? Why does Windows take so long to boot? What’s the forecast for this weekend? Am I out of shape? I look bloated! What if I perform poorly in yoga class, my next 5k? This latte is too much, are they stealing my debit card information? Will it snow tomorrow? I need to book an appointment to have my nails did – done – whatever? What time is it, do I have time to workout/run/swim?
Time is flat, circular and restrictive. We continually arrive back at the same point, with a gadget of some sort close by.
Can you recall the last time you went for a leisurely walk after dinner? The “garden of life” variety of walk that didn’t involve a pedometer, taking a selfie or tweeting to the masses the calories you burned, and all the “other” information we vitally need to live.
Daily Meditation:
If you can name the song and artist that set the gentle tone for the post today,without using your Google Machine – You win a prize or something! All, truly is groovy!!!
CultFit 